V-Day & non-sports items

A very happy Valentine's Day to everyone. The Blue Team loves you...not only for the person you are, but for the reading of this blog that you do. Ok, mostly for reading this nonsense. I am not a huge fan of this holiday. No, I'm not mad cause I'm single and can't find love. And no, I'm not mad cause my wife will hold out on doing The Wild Thing with me because my V-Day gift is a letdown. Nonetheless, I'm not a huge fan. Why? Try this one:

My buddy from work and I go to lunch today and he realizes he has not yet sent a card to his girlfriend who lives in another state. This is clearly a problem. We journey to the Hallmark across the street where this story takes place.

Within thirty secnds of entering the store, I want to leave. Cards are everywhere, but none of them are intermediate words. Everything is sexually-charged, flirty, or "to the one I love"; neither of us fit in those categories. I, having been a good boy, had already mailed my cards off, so I had time to waste while he looked around.

I suddenly realized why this sucked so bad: here we stand amongst red and pink in a Hallmark with scented candles, Croc shoes, and Vera Bradley. I see "Francine" cards and love cards everywhere. Whitney Houston is blaring over the speakers (and I do mean blaring) with her early nineties hit "and Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii will always love yoooooooooou." I looked at my friend and told him this was the very reason that most guys hate this day. Whitney was followed up with Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" and Edwin McCain's "I'll Be," which is still stuck in my head. Mercifully, my friend found a card and some sort of V-Day candle without further delay. $13.96 later, we were out the door. He looked at me and said, "that's 13.96 that I'd have rather given to the homeless...what a waste."

So I don't really hate the holiday as much as it seems. I actually think taht when I'm married, it's kinda sweet to have a day to recognize the love I will hopefully have for my wife. I want her to feel loved and appreciated throughout the year, but especially on such an occasion. I don't believe in trying to make a huge to-do about it, but a sweet and thoughtful gift and card will suffice. However, the above story just goes to show how over-hyped and painful such a day is for most guys. Almost as over-hyped as Terrell Owens (token sports reference). This doesn't even consider the pressure girls put on guys: trust me, you do it and we feel it. No matter how many times you claim to not care and that it is not a big deal, we know better. And guys, if you don't know better, take it from me: giving her a car battery for V-Day is a guarenteed year in the dog house, minimum (yes, I know of someone who actually did that; surprisingly, he is still married).

On a related note, if I saw another Zales or Kay Jewelers commercial this weekend, I thought I would go insane. We get the point, every kiss begins with Kay. Does you kissing my butt begin with Kay?

I hate the chorus on "Grillz" by Nelly and Paul Wall. The girl that sings "yeah, your grill, yeah yeah, your grill" is annoying as crap. Thanks to my co-worker from the shopping adventure for helping me realize this.

Also, Destiny Child's songs are good except for two things: the destiny and the child (or would it be children?). I think their songs are generally catchy; however, repeating the catchy chorus 14 times while showing off your octive range makes catchy become annoying. Listen to the version of "Check up on it" that comes on the hip-hop stations and count how many times the chorus is repeated, especially at the end of the song, and notice how Beyonce sings over the top of it. Then, listen to every single one of their other singles and notice the exact same pattern. Almost as bad as Nickelback now and Creed back in the day.

Ok, enough. Sports update coming soon. Holla atcha boy.