Dust. Wind. Dude.

My wife sure does like The Real Housewives of New Jersey and I don't begrudge her that at all since I set up our DVR for just about every Bravo show she wants (I draw the line at The Rachel Zoe Project, though), but the reunion episode airing tonight is incredibly uncomfortable to watch. I enjoy both versions of The Office (UK and US) and many other awkward, uncomfortable comedies. This weird, so-called reality show, though? Man, I don't even know what comes after awkward. Awkwadruple? Sure, why not?

The Brave Times staff had their first "late night" this afternoon. Obviously, "late night" is a bit of a misnomer. The staff stays for a few hours after school, but, instead of staying past 8pm as has happened in the past, everyone is out by 4:30pm.  The first issue is looking great, and the staff should meet the deadline.  I can't wait for the school to see the issue and some of the other great things the newspaper has in store this year.

Frosh
You attended Mrs. Irwin's library orientation. Tomorrow's verse will be the same as the first. Just remember to be prepared for the essay terms test on Wednesday.

Senior
We finished the lit terms. Here's a reminder list for the test on Friday. Keep these terms at the forefront of your mind while reading your lit project books because knowing how to find and identify them will be the key to doing well on the annotation.

1. analogy
2. theme
3. hyperbole
4. syntax
5. foil
6. alliteration
7. oxymoron
8. stereotype
9. pun
10. sarcasm
11. satire
12. imagery
13. diction
14. allusion
15. style
16. tragedy
17. motif
18. personification
19. metaphor
20. paradox

After that we began discussing the history of Socrates but didn't get too far. Prepare for some more big ideas, especially once we get into the Allegory of the Cave. Meanwhile, here's a bit of Socrates' wisdom in 1980's teen time-traveling comedy form.

That did not go as planned.

Randy Couture taps out James
Toney minutes into the first round.

Frankie Edgar proved he has BJ Penn's number and Kenny Florian proved susceptible to the same style that bested him against Sean Sherk in his first grab at the lightweight title, but the rest of my picks weren't too far off. Unfortunately, UFC 118 had more boring fights than exciting ones, but the exciting bouts were really satisfying. Joe Lauzon and Nate Diaz put on great performances, but that paled in comparison to Randy Couture doing exactly what everyone thought he'd do and embarrassed James Toney. Forcing Toney to tap to an arm triangle choke was the perfect capper to a game of trash talk that the boxing champ started and ultimately couldn't finish. The biggest laugh of the night came in Toney's post-fight interview when Joe Rogan asked him if there were aspects of his game, most notably his grappling, that he may want to address if he attempts MMA again. Toney's response was as delusional as his hype when he replied, "My ground game is fine" before walking out of the cage door.

The next three upcoming UFC events aren't setting my world on fire. I'll definitely check out the Fight Night on September 15 that will serve as an introduction to the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter, but there aren't any marquee match-ups taking place. Even though Frank Mir can talk up a fight tremendously and he's a spectacular man, I'm not all that hyped for him facing Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 119 (Mir is my pick, by the way, probably by way of submission late in the first). Then there's UFC 120 in England with Michael Bisping taking on Yoshihiro Akiyama, but it's a show in England that'll also be free on SpikeTV. There's really no need for me to get excited about it if I don't have to pay for it. However, after that my favorite fighter and the baddest man on the planet, Brock Lesnar, will be fighting Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight championship in a fight that I will be attending live. Expect me to talk about that at length in the weeks leading up to it.

Get used to seeing this logo
in many an English class.

Frosh
On Wednesday, you brought books for outside reading and we went over the guidelines for the Outside Reading Updates. ORU 1 is due Friday, 9/10. We also went over body paragraphs and broke down how a chunk should be formed when writing in the Jane Schaffer format.

I was gone on Thursday and Ms. Keepers was there in my place. You did some commentary practice, which we will continue to do next week after library orientation Monday and Tuesday and your essay terms quiz on Wednesday.

During my meeting on Wednesday, the other frosh teachers hammered out our plans for Forward Fridays. This is the English department's collective push to increase test scores, and we'll be starting on September 3. I'll explain more about this starting Thursday, but just know that come time for the CSTs in the spring, everyone will be prepared.

Seniors
We went over lit terms on Wednesday, and on Thursday you read a poem called "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, OH." Pay attention to the lit terms, not just because there will be a test next Friday on them, but also because they will be some of the key things to annotate in your lit books.

UFC 118

James Toney will lose.

UFC is awesome and I enjoy writing about it, so let's discuss the top matches for tomorrow's debut in Boston.

BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar for the UFC Lightweight Championship - Frankie Edgar shocked the world by not getting destroyed by BJ Penn back in Abu Dhabi a few months back in a five round decision. The reason he didn't get destroyed is that Frankie Edgar is a great fighter. His one loss came from Gray Maynard, a boring decision where Maynard does what he always attempts to do: throw people around and use the fact that he's bigger than most lightweights to his advantage. But I'll get to Maynard in a minute.

Edgar has tremendous boxing and, due to his smaller stature as a lightweight, speed and endurance that many in the division don't have. The first Edgar/Penn affair saw Penn fight Edgar's style of fight. BJ never went for a takedown and he was noticeably slower than usual. At the time, speculation ran wild that BJ was injured or sick, especially since BJ wore a knee sleeve that he normally doesn't wear. It's also possible that the Abu Dhabi climate and the fact that the event took place outdoors may have played a role in BJ's reduced endurance. However, Edgar wasn't 100% either, as most fighters rarely are. He had a staph infection that put him in the hospital shortly after he returned to the US. The fact is, Edgar edged out BJ and fought a better fight that night. I see the rematch going much differently this time around.

BJ is more motivated than before (losing a belt will do that to a fighter) and the spotlight is on Edgar like it's never been. The psychological aspect of MMA oftentimes gets overlooked and way more is riding on this event than on the last one where the two fought. Penn has spent the last eight years fighting in main events, many bigger than this one. How will having the main event match in a high profile venue affect Frankie Edgar's performance? I suspect things won't go well for him.

BJ has been training with lighter guys and knows what to expect from Edgar. I don't see Edgar doing anything different in this fight compared to the last one as that was the ideal gameplan for a guy like Edgar. I do see BJ going for more takedowns, using his balance and head movement to throw off Edgar's footwork, and attempting to grapple on the ground more in order to put his jiu-jitsu skills to use. Ultimately, I see BJ winning by TKO in the third.


Randy Couture vs. James Toney - No matter what, this fight shouldn't see the second round and if it does, I'll be completely flabbergasted. There's one of two ways this goes. One sees Toney managing to clip Couture's jaw in the first two minutes, knocking the Natural out and sounding like a gassed out Mushmouth in the post-fight interview. The second, and more likely, scenario sees Couture finding a way to take down Toney and probably choke him out.

Toney has a puncher's chance. But he's old and fat and fights better in the clinch. Couture, while older, is  in great shape and a five-time champion. He's beyond being a wrestler and admittedly not a boxer; he fights MMA. It's not just that he knows the rules of this particular game; it's that Couture has been around long enough to know what to expect from people more nuanced in the game than Toney.

Most importantly, if anyone wants to get a good idea about Toney's chances, they need only watch the Countdown to UFC 118 special that aired earlier in the week. Often, the people creating those shows attempt to use the best footage possible to insure that the match looks as competitive as possible. Toney looked like absolute garbage during that Countdown special. He had no idea how to defend against a takedown and his attempts to stand up looked atrocious. He has no ground defense and the weigh-ins showed that he did not feel the need to get into any kind of noticeable shape for this fight. Meanwhile, Couture has approached this fight like he has any other, making sure to ply his strengths in preparation.  Randy Couture will win by choke in the first. Seriously, though, I'll eat my hat if Couture doesn't win.

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard - While Maynard is undefeated, he's not nearly as good as his record would have people believe. He had trouble with both Roger Huerta and Nate Diaz. Meanwhile, Kenny Florian only loses to whomever the champion is at the time. Maynard's two strengths are his wrestling and his size. Everything else is in Florian's wheelhouse: he has better striking, better submissions, takedown defense, speed, movement, experience and a host of other things in his favor. Florian is more talented than everyone else in the lightweight division save BJ Penn, and even that is a closer fight than their last bout showed merely because Kenny had a terrible gameplan and didn't adjust it when it didn't work. This is Florian's fight to lose, but I see Kenny Florian choking him out in round two.

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis - Marcus Davis is a good striker with okay submissions, but Nate Diaz is a punk, almost to his detriment, that has no fear, good striking and awesome submissions. Davis has been susceptible to all of those things in his gatekeeper career. While Diaz loses in the size battle, he's going to be audacious enough in his initial striking to make Davis believe he can win at any level. That will be his undoing, as Diaz will sucker him into a triangle or armbar and get the tap out in the third.

Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger - Gabe Ruediger is a local guy who's replacing an injured Terry Etim who has a better opinion of himself than his talent as a fighter allows. Joe Lauzon will tap him out in the first.


Also, Demian Maia will probably win, too. I'm guessing by submission.


So what do you think?

There is very little nice to say.

Today was an exercise in frustration for many reasons, many of them not school related. If the blogging becomes light or scarce or non-existent over the next two weeks, please understand that it is a result of my impending move and not a reflection of my dedication to the craft or the class. But if someone doesn't have something nice to say...well, I'll often say it anyway, which is a bad habit on my part.

One interesting thing that came out of the meeting I attended this morning was reinforcement of the idea that everyone wants what they can't have. A teacher from another high school in the district raved and raved about how much she enjoyed the previous evening's Back to School Night. Said teacher explained that it blew away the Report Card Night the school used to do, and she appreciated the fact that she could lay down the law to the attendants about the responsibility that comes with education.

Oddly enough, my experience with Back to School Night was just the opposite. Ten minute mini-periods usually don't provide enough time to really allow teachers to get across a meaningful point. Plus, the people who attend Back to School Night are not (in my humble opinion) the folks who need any kind of law laid down.

Meanwhile, Report Card Night, an event that I believe takes place shortly after the end of the first quarter, does allow parents to focus on what they perceive to be the problem subjects. While that may mean long lines for certain teachers, the parents can take the time to really find answers to any questions they have. My only hope is that the English teachers get a well-ventilated area this year, as the small gym doesn't have much in the way of air conditioning and a sweaty teacher isn't a pretty sight.

Frosh
You worked out of the grammar book on parts of speech due to my absence.

Seniors
We discussed the book options some more and set a lock-in date of September 23 in conjunction with the book check date of September 7. We then finished off our discussion about ethical essentialism and ethical relativism.

White Weddings, Birthdays and New Hair Beginnings

The iPad is functional at weddings, barmitzvahs and
other religious ceremonies.

It figures that the weekend before my wife and I move into our first house that we'd have one of the busiest Saturday and Sunday combos in quite awhile.

Ask anyone in their mid-twenties to early thirties and they'll discuss at length their Summer of a Million Weddings: a period of time when it feels like a wedding happens every other weekend - all that changes is the level of involvement. My wife and I have been having this summer for the past three years. Between serving as a groomsmen, a bridesmaid, a best man, a maid of honor, or just attending as a guest, weddings have factored into our plans for the past few years now. There's only one more on the horizon that I can think of off the top of my head, and we're only expected to attend as guests. After that, I can't think of too many single friends that I have...period, which is odd now that I come to think of it.

Saturday was the most unique among these different wedding soirees as I put my Internet ordination to good use and actually officiated over the ceremony. It was short and sweet with the only hiccup coming by way of the bride getting confused about the hand on which the ring went. And, really, can that be considered a hiccup? My left, your left, her left? Who wouldn't get confused? The ceremony came by way of my iPad and the whole experience was both rewarding and incredibly fun.

The next day didn't really give us the chance to rest, as it was Angela's birthday. Since I am old and she wanted something small, we celebrated with friends and family at The Old Spaghetti Factory. She and I took some visiting friends over to see the soon-to-be-ours house, and that's where I made up my mind. See, moving is not fun, and I've done it so often over the past decade that I know the pitfalls inside and out. One thing that's completely necessary when switching domiciles is comfort. With that in mind, I made the decision that my long-ish hair needed to go, hence the newly shorn look I sported today. The regrets, I got none. It's hair, and male-pattern baldness was not nearly has harsh as I imagined it to be. Whenever I get the inclination again, I'll grow it out and be annoyed during the awkward stage. But right now I'm really enjoying the lack of pooled neck sweat. My only regret is that now the bobblehead made in my image is outdated.

Frosh
Both Friday and Monday were days that saw us go over Jane Schaffer essay terms together. Be prepared for the test next Wednesday (9/1).

Seniors
Friday, you provided a writing sample based off the Subject A writing entrance exam, the name of which I may have mangled in some fashion. Monday, we discussed the Senior Reading & Analytical Research Project, also known as the lit project. Make sure that you ask any questions you have about possible book choices sooner rather than later in order to allow you to start reading right away. There will be a book check on Tuesday, 9/7.

Rehearsals

I get to do this guy's job
on Saturday.

Happy birthday, Finbar.

Today I get to act in the official capacity of officiant for the first time at a friend's wedding rehearsal. The wedding itself is on Saturday, but today we're doing a run-through to make sure everyone knows where to stand. I've never performed a marriage ceremony before. In fact, I only used to joke about being ordained through an Internet church because I could talk a big game without ever needing to follow through on actually doing the deed. Then this couple called me out on it by asking me to be the man at their wedding. I'm a little nervous but mostly excited. Never before in my life have I looked at more wedding-related websites than I have in the preparation and build-up to this weekend...not even for my own. The ceremony is all written out and it's bride-approved. As long as I don't start a dry-heaving panic attack or faint due to the combination of heat and a black button-up shirt, everything should be coming up Milhouse. I imagine that I can't mess it up too bad, though, because they'll still be married at the end of the day.

Frosh
You worked to complete your life graphs and the accompanying sentences, which you then turned in at the end of the period. Good times, but work on the noise level next time, period four. Tomorrow we get to begin studying our essay writing terms.

Seniors
We had quite the lively discussion about the dilemma questions, some of which I would like to tweak next year just to make them more difficult. There's no wrong answers and yelling is always a plus during this particular discussion.

Tomorrow. Finbar. Seven.

McBride's kids rank among my favorites in the world, behind only my own niece and nephew. A buddy of mine had twins back in January, and it's still a little early to tell where they rank what with the two of them only being 7 months old and all.

Frosh
We went over a few of my personal positive and negative life events as a way to demonstrate how to use those events to create a graph. Remember to take the lists made yesterday and to pick 10 of those events to graph. You'll choose 5 of those events to represent visually, whether that means drawing a picture or finding one. You will also write 2-3 sentences explaining why you chose and ranked each of those 5 visually represented events. The idea is to aid in determining which events are more important in a text.

Seniors
You got time to work on the essentialism and relativism ethical dilemma questions. Take a side! And don't forget to explain why! We'll discuss your answers tomorrow. That's always a fun class period.

High School and Philosophy

Bonus time for both classes in yesterday's entry is still in effect until tomorrow at 11:59 PM. GET TO STEPPING!

Also, club rush began today, so join a club. Like-minded people in large groups can do some great (and sometimes scary) things.


Frosh
After finishing up our discussion about the expectations and policies in the class, student listed 14 negative life events and either 11 or 15 positive life events. The arbitrary numbering is intended to get people interested because neither is a usual listing-type number. The idea is for students to rank the events on 1 to 5 scale, positively so for the positive events and negatively so for the negative events. Each event should be written in a list in chronological order by tomorrow.

Objective: Having named various positive and negative life events, A S W rank the events in comparison to one another.


Seniors
We began by having each student write their own definition of philosophy, morality and ethics. After coming to a consensus with my input from the handout, we discussed ethical relativism and ethical essentialism. This is a dicey subject that's difficult to fully grasp. I enjoy these discussions, though, because the questions students have in trying to understand the distinction between the two concepts always helps to better my own understanding.

Objective: Having discussed ethics, morals, and philosophy, A S W be able to distinguish ethical essentialism from ethical relativism.

School Pride

Our school starts an hour late on Fridays so that teachers can meet up, usually in departments sometimes as a whole, and discuss different matters that can eventually lead to improvement in the school. Often we will use this as time to collaborate with each other at the grade level or explore test results in order to reflect on why they may have gone up or down. Lately, the content of our meetings has been directed by administration to focus on the latest acronym that can help us get that job done.

The discussion this last Friday saw the conversation turn from test scores to school pride. Many teachers in our meeting see a correlation between the two. There are a lot of great things that people can and do say about Alta Loma. Our campus is a pretty accepting environment, we have teachers that genuinely care about students, and there are more good folks than bad people at the school. One thing that's not in abundance, though, is school pride. It's easier to be cynical and tear things down than to think something the school does is cool.

I'm not a saint in this regard. I eat lunch alone in my room and attend few school events. It's hard to even explain why except that, again, it's easier not to do so. The one event I did attend during the last school year was the dodgeball tournament where I served as referee. And you know what? That was so much fun. It was a great event and I had the opportunity to interact with students in a relaxed setting. I realize now that it'd be great to be involved like that more.

Bonus Time (10 points) - So I put the question to you, the reader, and more specifically, my students: what does school pride look like to you? How would you describe school pride? Where do you see school pride lacking? What do you think the school can do to encourage school pride and what can you personally do? In order to get full credit, answers need to be between eight to ten sentences. Both freshpeeps and seniors are eligible. Post responses as comments on this blog and make sure to leave your name and class period. Answers must be submitted by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, 8/18.

Frosh
Friday, you received the opportunity to provide a sample of your writing. On Monday, we covered the department policies and practices as well as the class overview.

Seniors
Friday, we discussed the quotes you found. For Monday, check out the frosh description because that pretty much covers what the seniors did as well.

3

And on the third day, Talbot phoned it in.

Frosh
Students finished the Brigance, completed the Botel and then utilized the rest of the time working on the I Am poems, which are due tomorrow.

Seniors
We finished and discussed "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace, with many people sharing what they believed to be the big idea from the speech. We also discussed what other things could be analogous to the water used in the anecdote/joke in the beginning of the speech. Ideas included school, societal life and the idea that everyone is living on a giant rock flying through space. After that, students wrote down questions about college life and class expectations, but we didn't get to delve deeply into too many answers.

This is School

Day two ended with me collapsing onto my couch with my dog for a nap. This going back to work thing is not easy.

Frosh
Students received the I Am poem assignment and worked on the Brigance assessment after I locked everyone into their seats. My goal is to know everyone's name by the end of next week, but please remember that I'm human and will make mistakes. If I happen to get a name wrong, feel free to flog me only in relation to the severity of the mistake.

Objective: Having completed the Brigance assessment, A S W write a first draft of the I Am poem.


Seniors
David Foster Wallace is one of my favorite authors. This was such a great way to start the year and I really hope it sets the tone for how we view everything we study. There really is a common through line between "This is Water" and how we can read the rest of the core literature. Additionally, there are many books in the lit project that also tie into some of the major themes of the speech. It's a tremendous piece of writing and I'm really looking forward to finishing it and hearing your thoughts tomorrow.

Objective: Having read "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace, A S W discuss its meaning and impact with the rest of the class.

The First Day of School

The first day of a new school year never ceases to completely exhaust all of the energy I ever thought I had and then some. I am a character in a Street Fighter game and the bar is filled with red because my opponent, the school day, beat me from pillar to post.

Frosh
Objective: Having named their favorite pop culture icon, A S W explain their fascination with said pop icon.

Third period saw me attempt to learn everyone's name on the first day. In year's past, this was not a problem. Each time someone new was introduced, I would repeat every student's name, ending with the latest addition. However, the class size increase this year caused me to kill all of the time in the class period by attempting to do that and find out some information about everyone. As a result, not everyone got a chance to introduce themselves. I managed to learn from this faux pas for the rest of the day.

Senior
Objective: Having named their favorite pop culture icon, A S W explain their fascination with said pop icon.

A student in sixth period asked me to identify my worst English experience ever. This had never occurred to me before, and I still can't think of a single experience that I can name as the worst ever. Don't get me wrong, there have been plenty of bad experiences, both as a student and a teacher, but I've just never thought to rank them. Color me intrigued and inspired, and look for a future entry based on this idea, hopefully contrasted with one that can display the best experience, too.

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling

Here's a video of the speech I wrote about in my previous post.

"I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared."

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

Detective McNulty and Stringer Bell
exchange a look.

The first season of HBO's television show The Wire is absolutely brilliant in its take on systems that have been corrupted to their very core and what happens when (mostly) good people attempt to work within the confines of their rules. More importantly, it explores what happens when people attempt to work within the system as if it is fair. It's inherently not. Police work and the subsequent court battles are one such system; the Game, the name given to the system of drugs, hustling and betrayal by the individuals involved, is another such system. The thing they have in common is futility; it's a running motif throughout the first season, which I just finished watching for the first time, and I expect it to continue throughout the rest of the series.

Attempting to change the system from within, or even attempting to live above or away from it, becomes futile. Like Sisyphus and his rock, there is no variation; a person like Detective McNulty or D'Angelo Barksdale may want to prove they can effect change in their respective field, but when everyone else has succumbed to the attitude that "business as usual" is the only approach, it becomes impossible to make those differences happen.

Keep in mind that this is a television show, albeit a brilliant one, and this is just my interpretation of one of the many things the show tries to say. Maybe I, like Detective McNulty, am my own fatally optimistic worst enemy by hoping that The Wire is wrong. That's where Erica Goldson comes in. She graduated from Coxsackie-Athens High School back in June and gave the speech linked above.

As a teacher, this is quite the inspiring speech because of -- not in spite of -- its blunt honesty. More than anything, it is my greatest hope that my students figure out how to think, especially for themselves. That's something I'd love to see them demonstrate on a regular and consistent basis, and it saddens me when they clearly don't. Writing a coherent paper or knowing not to fragment sentences comes secondary to a student that can see the Game for what it is. Make no mistake, as it stands right now, education is every bit the Game that The Wire shows every other system to be. It beats original thought and new ideas out of students so that it can measure its own progress as a way to pat itself on the back. Effecting change becomes next to impossible and teachers have to resign themselves to the incremental progress they may or may not see in the students they teach for an inkling of hope.

Erica figured that out. Those caught in this particular Game oftentimes fail to see it. She stood up when an opportunity arose and made it known that she saw school for what it is and what it can be. She yearns to change the system but knows that it has to be done at the individual level. It's a student's job to question and explore. Reality is based exclusively on perspective and, as Erica says in her speech, students must "create your own perspective." In a culture that has thus far encouraged students to regurgitate the opinions of others in lieu of their own and where opinion is something that can be obtained from Sparknotes, there is an urgent need for students to take ownership of their own education.

It is our job as teachers to be the "avant-garde" educator that can get students to see the world for themselves instead of as the perception that the system would like them to have. This inevitably means going against the system, butting heads with it and making life harder. The easier road is the one where a teacher puts their head down, goes along with the latest educational fad and toes the company line; in my short time as an educator, I've found myself guilty of taking this easier road. I want to be able to keep buying DVDs of The Wire, after all. That becomes hard to do when there isn't a source of income present.

My goal is to reflect back over the course of this new school year on Erica Goldson's speech while I'm trying to incorporate learning objectives and scales into my teaching. I want to encourage students to recognize the Game around them and hopefully impart a little bit of my own experience to encourage said students to speak up and challenge me with -- and not to mention form -- their own opinions.

And if that doesn't work I will just give up. No, wait--!

Welcome back to the world of tomorrow!

As readers (HAH! I assume people read this...) may or may not know, I also serve as the adviser to ALHS' newspaper, the Brave Times, which also includes teaching the journalism class. This semester will start my sixth year in the position. Most of the teaching of that course occurs as the students actively create the latest issue of the newspaper. It is easily my favorite class to teach because it has such a different vibe than my other classes. The atmosphere is a little looser, and I get to know the students better in that class because they often stick around for a second or third year if I'm lucky.

This year looks to be pretty monumental because the staff plans to implement a Brave Times website. Yes, the newspaper is finally entering the 21st century a mere decade after the fact. I'm investigating a few different sources in order to get this venture off the ground, and many of them are promising. It's a pretty exciting time, both for myself as an adviser and for the students who will be doing something new and lasting for the school.

There isn't a better newspaper in our district, and pretty soon we'll have the best newspaper site in the district, too.

Let's all talk about UFC!

One of my big conflicts in blogging in a forum that specifically targets students, parents and colleagues is trying to find that balance between the personal side of things and the professional side. Part of my desire in transitioning into using Ask Mr. Talbot - The Blog! more is to encourage students to write more by setting the example of doing so myself while also becoming comfortable in my own skin as a person and a teacher in what I write. The less distinction I make in those two ideas, the better I've found myself to be as both.

With that being said, I am an ardent and unapologetic fan of the combat sport of mixed-martial-arts, the biggest name brand of which is UFC. Every other sport bores me to tears for the most part. I can watch a baseball game live, but I'm not sure how I ever did so without an iPhone handy. Basketball can be exciting, but it's not my cup of tea. The most interesting thing that happened in basketball that caught my attention was the LeBron James debacle, and it was clearly for all of the wrong reasons. Football only holds my attention when I watch Friday Night Lights, one of the top five television shows of the last decade. The only athletic endeavor that captured my imagination prior to getting hooked by MMA back in 2002 was pro wrestling.

WWE, which was called the WWF back when I first got into it during the build-up to Wrestlemania IV, represented something bigger than life. It felt like I was watching the superheroes from my comic books settle their disputes in the confines of the squared circle. Finding out it was "fake" didn't bug me either. In fact, that only made me more intrigued because this little thing called the Internet came along and, holy wow, there was a whole other world to these pre-determined sporting events. I still follow pro-wrestling today, but oftentimes the backstage component will intrigue me more than what happens on-screen. That, however, is a totally different subject that can fill up many of other bloggy-type deals, so let's instead focus on last night's UFC -- specifically the plight of Jon Jones and his need to be nice all of the time except when he's elbowing someone's face.