Week 14

In the end he made his Masters victory look so easy, but after what Tiger Woods has been through in recent years it was anything but. A simple tap-in for bogey on the 18^th green sent Augusta into raptures and completed his 15^th Major win and one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time.

For most of the day it looked like he’d struggle to catch overnight leader Francesco Molinari but Augusta’s 12th hole once again had something to say on a Masters Sunday. Molinari was two ahead of Woods standing on the tee, but as so many have done before him, he found the water, and the double bogey that followed meant they were level with six holes to go. The Italian had shown his first real sign of weakness and Tiger pounced. Birdies at 13, 15 and 16 put him firmly in control, as several players briefly challenged but ultimately faded away. Molinari found the water again at 15 to add his name to the list of those who have thrown away a winning position here on a Sunday. The rock-solid game he displayed for three and a half rounds all but disappeared, and he was left wondering what could have been.

Other challengers came and went, with Patrick Cantlay briefly threatening when he moved into the lead at -12 after an eagle at the 15^th. However, the pressure of the moment seemed to get to him and he followed that up with back-to-back bogeys to fall back into the pack. Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele also got to -12 but it was Brooks Koepka, Tiger’s nemesis from the USPGA last year, who got closest. He had decent birdie shouts on 17 and 18 but neither dropped, meaning Tiger was given the comfort of knowing a bogey on 18 would be enough. That’s exactly what he delivered, with the five at the last leading to joyous scenes with his mother and children on the edge of the 18^th green. Never before has a bogey been celebrated so wildly by so many.

The comeback was complete and a fifth Green Jacket was secured, 14 years after his fourth. This beat Jack’s record of 11 years between 1975 and 1986. If Tiger can stay healthy for the foreseeable future, who’s to say another of Jack’s records won’t fall in the coming years. This comeback was one of the greatest in sports history, and it is just starting.

Week 12

Music is often a common language among most people. A lot of people use music as a escape from all of the stress in their lives, and so do I. There are many different types of music in today’s world. Some of the more popular ones are Hiphop/Rap, Pop, Rock, R&B, and Country. Most of the artists stay within their preferred genre, but some decide to adventure and try a new one. Music is truly one thing that can connect people of all races and ethnicities.

There are many different festivals for each genre of music. One of the genres, EDM have raves where people can come and just bust a move any way they want. These raves along with the EDM music are for a select type of person. Often times they involve a lot of drugs and illegal activities so it is not meant for me. The music is produced with a lot of bass drops so that during these festivals, they can have a ton of lights flash at the same time. There are a lot of young people in todays world that love this type of music because you can party to it but I am not one of them.

One of my favorite genres of music is country. I love all different types of country music wether it is old country like Alan Jackson or Brooks and Dunn, or wether it is some of the newer country like Thomas Rhett, Luke Combs, or Jon Pardi. I love this type of music because it is so easy to listen to and just relax. One of my favorite things to do is listen to country music on the pontoon in the middle of the lake and just take in the beauty of nature around me. I also love listening to it in the winter because it reminds me of how nice the summer will be and what I have to look forward too.

One of the music festivals that goes on right in Minnesota is called WEFEST. WEFEST is a country music festival where there are concerts for three straight days. A lot of big name artists love to come to this festival because of all the passion for country music in our area. Some of the recent names that have been at WEFEST include Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, Luke Bryan, and Florida Georgia Line to name a few. It is also a great spot for up and coming performers to get their name out there. One that comes to mind is Kane Brown. He came to WEFEST around 2017-2018 and now he has taken off in the music industry.

Another popular music festival that a lot of people in the younger generations love to go to is Coachella. Coachella is a two-day festival with a bunch of rap and hiphop artists. Coachella is kind of like the EMD music festivals but with out all of the crazy light shows that go on. Some of the big names that have performed there are The Weekend, Beyonce, Eminem. This festival is one of the biggest around in todays time. It is held in California so the warm weather is another reason people love to go to this festival.

Week 11

With the weather finally starting to get nice outside, I have thought a lot about what I could be doing this summer. One of my favorite things to do is to travel and see as many places as I possibly can before my time runs out. I love history so I would love to go to Italy and look at all of the roman history that is there. Some of the other places that I would love to visit would be the seven wonders of the world. They all have different things to see, but being able to say that you have been to all seven wonders of the world would be pretty cool.

To begin, lets start with the Middle East. Although it sounds dangerous, and probably because it is, the Middle East is still filled with a large amount of beauty. The Middle East is made up of a total of 22 countries that have some of the richest histories in the world and whose history goes back to the start of time itself. If you love a mountain landscape and love to travel to a place with more than 5,000 years of history, Amadiya, Iraq would be perfect for you. Multiple different religions have left their mark in Amadiya and it’s believed that the Three Wise Men who made their pilgrimage to see Jesus after his birth lived in Amadiya. If mountains are not for you, and you would prefer to see beautiful untouched landscape, Masandam, Oman will apparently take your breath away. Situated on the Strait of Hormuz, Masandam is composed of a rocky desert landscape filled with cliffs and a large variety of wildlife.

Next, let’s move into another portion of the world that a lot of people don’t think about traveling to, Africa. Tanzania’s wildlife a reason in itself to travel to Africa as nearly year-round hundreds of thousands of animals cross the terrain as part of their migration. The two most commonly seen animals are the Zebra and the Wildebeest. South Africa is a destination in itself as it is extremely Americanized and has countless things to do, but if you love beaches and a great location to take pictures, Table Mountain is the perfect location for that. Table Mountain is arguably one of the best beach cities in the world while providing cable car rides for you to soak up the entire scene. Much like South Africa, Morocco is a great place to travel to, especially because it’s so close to Spain and the rest of Europe.

Finally, Asia is overlooked oftentimes as a tourist destination for us in the United States because of how far away it is from us and how expensive it is to travel there. It would be a shame to overlook another one of the World’s Greatest Wonders in the Great Wall of China. This would be considered a must-see for anyone traveling to China, or even Asia for that matter. Much like China, Japan has some must-see destinations for anyone that is in Asia and as the time and resources to travel around. Tokyo is an extremely lively city that won’t leave you feeling bored as it’s filled with things to do. Indonesia is also filled with beauty and a great vacation destination for anyone who enjoys to sit back and relax instead of being on the move constantly.  

Week 9

March Madness is one of the craziest times of the year for sports. College basketball teams are fighting to get into one of the biggest college tournaments around. Only 64 teams make the tournament every year so it is truly the best of the best in this tournament. This is also a huge time to participate in the March Madness bracket challenge on ESPN. This bracket challenge is a nation wide ordeal with millions of people participating in it.

There have been some amazing teams that have been a part of this tournament. But a lot of them have fallen short of winning the National Championship. One of the most exciting parts of March madness is all of the underdogs that are in the tournament. Some of the more recent upsets in the tournament include FGCU VS Georgetown in 2013 in the first round of the tournament where FGCU was a #15 seed and Georgetown was a #2 seed. Another one that is recent is when UMBC played Virginia. Virginia was a #1 seed and UMBC was a #16 seed. UMBC came into the game a 20.5 point underdog, but that didn’t stop them. They ended up beating Virginia by 20 points and making history for defeating a #1 seed in the first round.

During this march madness event, Americans are projected to spend more than $10 billion on sports betting. While most of it is legal, it is one of the largest times for sports betting in the world. There are many different types of betting that can be done, but one of the most popular is the bracket challenge. This challenge consist of filling out an entire bracket and hoping that you are able to make all of the right picks. One year billionaire Warren Buffet offered to pay someone one billion dollars to anyone who had a perfect bracket. No one has ever had a perfect bracket.

This year there are many different teams that will have a good chance at winning the tournament. Some of those teams are perennial power houses like Duke, Virginia, UNC, and Gonzaga. But just because those teams are good every year doesn’t mean they will win. There are some other good teams that could make a splash this year in the tournament. A few that come to mind are Kansas, Kansas State, and Wisconsin. These teams are kind of flying under the radar this year but could make a run.

This year is bound to be another great time for all college basketball fans. March madness always seems to live up to all the hype it gets with all of the upsets and last minute shots. A lot of people will try and guess the winners in their brackets, but only few will be able to pick the right one. This will likely be the last college basketball game for a lot of players in this tournament so they want to go out with a bang.

Week 8

The NFL draft is coming up and there is a lot of great players that could make a big splash in this draft. Many of these potential draft picks have gotten a lot of air time on the news and on different sports networks to help raise their draft stock. There are thousands of different mock drafts that are done every year by many different people to try and predict all the draft picks but there are far too many factors to pick all of the draft picks correctly.

One of the best ways that future NFL can get more exposure in front the scouts is at the NFL combine. The NFL combine is a few days of events where only the best of the best get to come and compete. At the combine there are many different events to test to the athletes ability to compete at a high level. All of the NFL teams are in attendance at the combine so it is very crucial for the athletes to perform well to show why they should be drafted.

Some of the different events that the NFL scouts pay particular attention to at the combine. One of the biggest things that the athletes get tested on is their speed. The 40-yard dash is make or break some scouts say. Others will say it is where the money is made. In the NFL, all of the players are going to be the best of the best so it is important for NFL hopefuls to have a good 40 time. This test is what separates the men from the boys in the league. If you are able to have just the slightest separation between you and your competition that could mean some big money on your rookie contract.

There are some big names in this years NFL draft eligible athletes. Quarterback is always a position that is in high demand when it comes to the NFL draft. There are many very good prospects this year, but none better than Kyler Murray. He is a very special athlete and one that doesn’t come around very often. Kyler was a two sport star at the University of Oklahoma playing baseball and football. Kyler was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the MLB draft, but he chose to follow his heart and go after football instead.

NDSU has gotten a lot of recognition lately since Carson Wentz came on the seen. Ever since he was the second overall draft pick in the 2016 there has been constant talk about NDSU and the caliber of players that come out of the program. The latest player that is getting a lot of attention is Easton Stick. With a name like that you know he has to be good. But he is the winningest quarterback in FCS history and following in the footsteps of Carson Wentz really has to help with the big name that he has become.

Week 7

The MLB is known to be America’s past time. the MLB was founded in 1869 and the first professional team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The current MLB League has 30 teams for all across the United States. Some of the more recognizable team names around the world include the New York Yankees, Boston Red socks, and the Chicago Cubs. Baseball is a popular sport around the world for all ages, especially in the Dominican republic where a lot of professional players have come from.

The MLB attracts many different kinds of athletes every year. The sport is different than most other professional sports, in the American league, they have a position where the players only job is go and bat. It could be compared to kickers, and punters in the NFL, but the athlete profile between the two different sports couldn’t be more different. The NFL kickers and punters are often the smallest guys on the field while the DH (designated hitter) is often the biggest guy on the field.

Some of the most influential players in the history of the MLB have been the designated hitters. One of the more recent designated hitters to retire was David Ortiz or better know as Big Papi by most people. He helped transform the MLB and the position DH into what it is now. He is the definition of a home run machine. Throughout his 20 seasons, Ortiz hit 30 or more home runs 10 plus times. But he didn’t just hit home runs, he was a 10 time All-star and a 6 time Silver Slugger award winner. In 2013 he also won the World Series MVP award.

Most professional athletes just focus on the one sport that they play, but baseball is a little different. Over the years there have been some iconic football players that have also played baseball. Coming out of college, Bo Jackson was a stud football player for the Auburn tigers before he got drafted to the NFL and played for the Raiders. He also played for the Kansas City Royals. Bo was an incredible athlete and drew the eyes of everyone in the crowd on both the football and baseball fields.

In the past recent years, the MLB has been known for teams that hand out huge long term contracts. The most recent long term contract is manny machado’s contract with the San Diego Padres. Machado signed a 10 year $300 million contract which is the richest contract in sports history. This is just the first big signing of this off season. Bryce Harper is still unsigned and is expected to get an even bigger contract than Machado did. The MLB is the place to go if someone if looking for a major long term contract.

Week 6

Greek life all across America has often gotten a bad rap from a few bad things that have happened. The media loves all of the coverage of the few bad things that happen with in the greek life community. The whole stereo type is that all the people within the greek life community are bad. Well from personal experience i can guarantee that this is absolutely not the case. There are many good people within the greek life community that are doing great things.

At NDSU there are many students that are involved with greek life. On campus there are 14 Fraternities and 4 Sororities. Unfortunately this is not something that is pushed by a lot of the NDSU staff and faculty. These opportunities are life changing for some people and it is really a shame that more faculty and staff don’t push for joining greek life. All of the chapters at NDSU do so much for the community with philanthropy and community service.

Coming into college I always knew that I wanted to be part of a fraternity, I just didn’t know which one. With this many chapters to choose from at NDSU alone it was a hard decision, but it was a very fun decision as well. During recruitment week we go to all of the different chapters events and see what they are about and who you would fit in the best with. During recruitment week I was able to find a group of guys that I fit in really well with and I decided to join them. The chapter is called Delta Tau Delta, and it is the second largest fraternity across the states.

I can truly say that this is honestly one of the best decisions that i have ever made in my entire life to join this great group of guys. I have gotten to meet so many new people that will be my brothers for life and so many others within the greek community itself. I have been able to grow as a man, student and as a professional. There is many leadership positions that i have been able to take advantage of and develop my skills as a leader. I think that joining greek life should be highly considered by everyone, because has enhanced my college experience exponentially.

This past week I was able to take a trip with my brothers to Muncie Indiana for our Northern Division conference where 40+ other Delta Tau Delta chapters come together and learn more on leadership and how to develop our own chapters. I was able to meet other brothers from Ohio University, Case Western Reserve University, and U of M in Minneapolis just to name a few. At the end of the conference we had a banquet to celebrate all of the accomplishments across the division. There were 20 awards given out at the banquet and our NDSU chapter won 7 different awards including our very first Hugh Shields which is given to the top ten chapters in the NATION. It is a great feeling being recognized nationally for all of our hard work that we do here at NDSU.

Week 5

The NBA season is just about at the half way point of the season and it has been a wild ride. There has been a change in power for the best team in the league this year based on record. The last few season the Golden State Warriors have been a power house in the NBA. They have won 3-4 past NBA championships and have become a house hold name around the world. This is the closest thing to the Chicago Bulls 90’s team .

The Warriors have drawn a lot of controversy over the past few years for some different reasons. One of the main reason is Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant left his longtime team the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors and create the 2nd super team the current NBA has ever seen. The first NBA super team was created when Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwane Wade joined forces in Miami with the Heat.

The second reason that the Warriors have been drawing a lot of controversy over the past few years is the man on the right side of the picture above Draymond Green. Draymond Green has been know as one of the dirtiest players in the league for a while. He racked up the second most 15 technical fouls in 2018 and already has 11 this season. He has become a villain for referees with all the yelling and arguing he does with them.

Another big story that is going around the NBA was the trade deadline. There have been some big names on the trade block. Anthony Davis was the biggest name on the trade market, and the Lakers were bound to get them but the Pelicans held onto Davis to find other offers after the season. The Lakers were basically offering everything but Lebron James to get Anthony Davis. Their top offer included Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, and two first round picks. Everyone was very surprised when the Pelicans declined the offer but this offseason will be crazy.

The NBA has many good teams this year that could make a run at the playoffs. The west division is obviously the stronger of the two divisions, but there are some teams from the east that could contend for the title. The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that comes to mind with a very young but talented roster. This offseason is going to be very hectic with all of the big name free agents on the market and all the Franchises looking to make a super team.

Week 4

The Super Bowl was the total opposite of what I thought it was going to be this year. Coming into the game, I thought that the two high powered were going to be the focal point of the night scoring a bunch of points and having it be this big shoot out. That was not the case this year. The defenses were the strong focal points in the game.

The over-under line for the game was at 56.5, and a lot of people thought that it was going to go way over the line with the way that the offenses have been playing this season. The first half was honestly one of the most boring halves of football I have ever watched. Neither of the offenses could get anything going and the score at halftime was 3-0 in favor of the Patriots. The second half was a little better with more points being scored but it still wasn’t the barn burner that I was hoping for.

A lot of the people that watch the Super Bowl every year, just watch to see the halftime show or the commercials. In the past there have been just one main halftime headliner, but this year there were two in my opinion. Maroon 5 and Travis Scott. Maroon 5 was the bigger name of the two, but Travis Scott is definitely an up and coming star. The third performer was Big Boi who I was not a fan of personally but thats just me.

The commercials during the Super Bowl are the most coveted TV time in the world. Last year there were 111 million Americans that watched the Super Bowl and I can only imagine that the number of viewers was that amount if not more. The cost for having an ad during the Super Bowl is crazy expensive. The average cost for a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl is $5.25 million dollars. That is a crazy price tag, but the amount of sales that might be generated from that one ad would probably outweigh the expense of the ad.

There is always some classic commercials that people look for during the Super Bowl. Some of the iconic commercials are the Budweiser, Snickers, and Doritos. These are the commercials that people find the funniest or the most harm warming. My personal favorite every year is the Budweiser commercial. Two big reasons are the dogs and horses that they use in their commercials. I love all kinds of dogs, and the clydesdales which are the horses. The horses have become a true icon and the face of the company.

Week 3

NFL football is coming up on the biggest game of the season soon. This super bowl is going to be a legendary one with a two very different quarterbacks. On one side you have Tom Brady who was the last pick in the 2000 draft. His opponent is Jared Goff who was the first overall pick in the 2016 draft. This is definitely going to be a super bowl to remember.

Tom Brady has been one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game if not the best to ever play it. The man is practically an ageless wonder the way he can still pick apart defenses and continue to get back to the super bowl. At 41 years old Tom Brady has put on a show in 2018 so far but he isn’t finished yet. Brady has had a 65.8% completion percentage this season which is above his career average of 64%. Tom has shined in the spotlight of big games during his career and he will have another chance on Feb. 3rd.

The dynamic duo of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have been one of the best player and coach duos to ever play a professional sport. They have appeared in 8 super bowls and are on their way to a 9th this season. With a 5-3 record in those super bowls it is easy see why they are the greatest player and coach duo ever. Brady and Belichick will be forever engraved in the sports world for their championships.

Jared Goff was the first pick in the 2016 to the LA Rams, who had just moved from St. Louis to LA. The first season for Goff was not very entertaining because he was a backup trying to learn the offense and get used to the speed of the game. The next season was the first season as a starter for Goff and the wins didn’t come as Goff would’ve hoped. Then there was a coaching change for the rams and it really changed things.

The man that turned things around was Sean McVay. McVay is the youngest coach in the NFL at only 33 years old, but he is an offensive mastermind. He was able to turn one of the worst offenses into one of the best. Jared Goff and Todd Gurley are two main reasons the offense is successful. With two great quarterbacks and two great coaches, this super bowl is set to be a shoot out.