1) Michael Ward - My good friend accepted a job at East Carolina University this past weekend. This is a great move for Michael and his wife. They are able to continue on with their careers and move much closer to home. I'm thrilled for both of them. It is well deserved.
2) Eric Nichols - Hard work pays off. Eric has been here at Vanderbilt for six years. He has worked his way up from events and facilities assistant to his most recent position, as of last week, Director of Marketing. It just goes to show you kids, that if you do work hard, good things will happen. Even if you are a midget.
I suppose I should congratulate Flippen and Katie as well, as I was asked to be in their wedding this coming August. I mean, it is totally their honor. And instead of being the drunken guy in the back of the church, I'll be in the drunken guy in the front! WOO HOO! I really am honored to be a part of their special day. Two weddings, back to back weekends, with me as a groomsman. Ladies, look out.
Congrats to both the Pats and the Panthers for putting on one of the greatest Super Bowls of my life time. I thought it would be hard to match the excitement of the 2002 Super Bowl, but I was wrong. And I'm not just talking about Janet Jackson flashing her boob. Of course, that was undoubtedly cool, but still the game was outstanding. I was hoping for a Panther victory, but it's better to be there than be at home.
Things are going well at work. Our men's team had a great victory over Kentucky this past Saturday. I think Memorial Gym has to be one of the coolest facilities in college basketball. I love the atmosphere we present there for the big games. I'm not a big fan of our kids rushing the court for the second time in two weeks, but i suppose it is something we have to figure out how to handle. I know this place has been without a winning men's program in sometime, but at some point you have to act like you've been there before. I really was proud of the fact that we were able to convince the students of this at Northern Illinois. It was a challenge at football games, but it did work. I hope we can do the same here.
I'm excited to have the Georgia Lady Bulldogs coming into town Thursday. I'll be able to see a few people that have always been special to me. Mike Mobley is the women's hoops SID and really dealt with me when I was fairly immature. He saved my butt several times during my SID days, but I also learned a great deal from him and the rest of that staff. I've always been a fan of Coach Landers. His fire and passion would be enough to scare the hell out of me, so it is amazing how his girls respond to him. He's been doing it for 25 years at Georgia, and I'm damn proud to have been associated with him. Katie is one of the assistants, and a good friend since my grad school days. I'm hoping to hire her as my head women's coach when I'm an AD someday. She'll be a head coach well before I'm an AD, but I can always steal her away.
More and more people here at Vanderbilt at finding jaylowe.com. Someone asked me if I was nervous about that. I can't say I am. I'm not embarrassed of anything on this site, including the thong. Yes, even I have a sense of humor. It may be a strange one, but I dig it.
I'm off to Tallahassee this weekend. It will be nice to get out of the apartment and work for a few days. Baseball season is only a couple of weeks away, so my Spring will be just as busy as my winter. Probably more so. I do enjoy the spring sports though. Baseball and Tennis are two of the more underrated college sports. I've been to the tennis nationals, and one day I hope to make it to Omaha. Preferably with a school for whom I work.
I've been trying to write lyrics more and more the past few weeks. I go through spells where I'll write nonstop for a month, and then nothing for weeks. ONE of these days I am actually going to learn how to play more than two songs on my guitar and MAKE some music. That is the most frustrating part about being away from the ARGUS boys. I really can't make any music. I can write up a storm, but I can't put it to anything. This is one of those things I don't want to put off ... time to dedicate more free time!