Blackberry App World?

Last week I bought a Blackberry Bold 9000.  I think I’m in love.

One problem I have had with the phone is the lack of apps I tend to find for it.  I have been told to check out this site or that site, but I’ve come up pretty empty.  Apple seems to make finding apps so easy on the iPhone with its app store easily accessed right from the phone.

Well Blackberry is answering back.  Coming soon, Blackberry.com is releasing its “App World.”

From what I can tell of the site, App World is going to be set up much like the iPhone app store.  It will be catagorized and easily searchable.  The price ranges go from “free – $9.99″ which appear to be payable through PayPal.

I have not been able to hunt down a date of release yet, but hopefully “Coming Soon” doesn’t mean 3 months from now.

Blackberry.com has been averaging over 1.5 million visitors a month since October according to this.  The Blackberry site also seems to be the place most users look first for apps, which could make App World a success.

In my personal opinion, it is nice to see someone putting up some competition against Apple.  Good luck Blackberry!

Detroit…here I come

So the word is out…I made it, in the CokeZero Tastethemadness contest, to the Final Four!  Thank you so much to everyone who helped by posting pictures.

Turns out this trip is going to be a lot more than I thought it would be.  I leave April 2nd and get back April 7th.  Friday I will be spending the day doing promos for Coke, interviews with CBS and hanging out with some Coke Executives.  Talk about a HUGE networking opportunity.  Any tips?

Another cool thing happening is we (me andthe three other people that won) are supposed to bring our video cameras with us and document the things going on, then post them to their site.  I think they mostly want us to get fans at the games, but I’m going to try to keep pictures, blog posts and tweets going during the whole experience.  It should be quite an adventure (and a test of how well Bill has been teaching).

One small problem with this trip: I don’t drink carbonated beverages.  Haven’t my whole life.  I just don’t like the way it tastes.  So that includes all pop, beer, anything fizzy.  Problem is, I signed a contract saying while in Detroit I would only drink Coke products, with the label showing, and would not drink any competitor’s drinks.  Maybe they’ll have some Dasani water on tap for me? 

Overall, I am so honored to have made it to the Final Four of this contest.  I couldn’t think of a better ending to my career as the Orange Skirt Guy. 

–Matt

Big XII Tourney, here we come

I’m not going to lie…I haven’t posted much recently because I’ve been worried I would jinx our run. 

How ’bout them Cowboys?  Ended the season 6-1, losing their final regular season game to UO, but not without a fight. 

During the game, I tweeted about how the “classy fans in Norman were chanting ‘O-S-U Sucks!’”  I did not mean to cause an uproar, but when that tweet landed on my facebook page, a large discussion broke out.  Just to clarify my point, yes, OSU fans and UO fans all make that same cheer against each other…here are the differences:  OSU fans start the cheer, other, more intelligent fans, yell at them to stop and it ends.  UO fans look at their pony mascots (how do you represent a “cheater” in a costume?) starting the cheer (Pete would NEVER do this), everyone chimes in, and there it is on national television showing how classy those UO fans really are. 

One last tangent…at this point, you have probably decided I just can’t type “OU” correctly.  In all reality, they are the “University of Oklahoma” but go by “OU” which to me = Oklahoma University.   In all of my confusion, UO just makes more sense.

Now back to business…Cowboys play Iowa State at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.  The winner goes on to play UO Thursday night.  It sure would be nice to have another whack at those guys from that school down south.  We’ll just have to see what happens. 

GO POKES!

Ulimato at Mardi Gras

Last weekend, the OSU Ultimate Fribsee team made the trip down to Baton Rouge for the annual Mardi Gras tournament, hosted by LSU.  The drive was long and we had people arriving at all times between 11 pm on Friday and 5 am Saturday morning.

If you look at our record from the weekend (4-2), the tournament went very well.  From the bitter-and-never-pleased captain’s (me) point of view, we played mediocre.  Yes, on Saturday we only lost one game to South Florida, which we played pretty solid until the second half.  But the only teams we beat were two “B” teams, plus a forfeit by TCU. 

The only moment I’m actually proud of from the weekend was our game against Indiana Sunday morning.  We fought hard in the windy conditions and due to time, the game came down to one final point:  it was tied 9-9, next point wins.  Usually for Ultimato, this situation gets ugly quick, but Indiana turned the disc on their own goal line and my co-captain Matthew Summers threw the final pass to me for the point and the win!  It was great to see my boys pull that one out.

Then came the game against LSU…I’ve never seen a team go from such great play to such horrible play in 30 minutes.  Long story short, my boys couldn’t get it together and we lost 13-3.  On a side note, last month we beat LSU 15-8. 

Sports are 90% mental and 10% physical…we get that now.

Finally, a game to be proud of

Valentine’s Day isn’t always my favorite holiday of the year.  There are just too many people trying to do the same thing and every guy thinks him and his girl are more important than everyone else at the restaurant, plus there are only so many things you can actually do for the girl.  Needless to say, I was thrilled there was a basketball game!

OSU vs. Iowa State…we’ve got to win this one right?  RIGHT!

Although we dug ourselves into a hole to start, our boys pulled out the win.  I am very excited for our boys.  I’m more excited for my girlfriend and me.

At halftime there was a “Celebrity Kiss Off” that involved President Hargis and his wife Ann, Zac Robinson and his girlfriend Jackie, AND me and my girlfriend Holly (HUGE HONOR).  The rules: the girls had to put on lipstick and try to cover the guys’ faces with kisses.  Most covered face wins. 

Holly and I pulled out the victory (more so she did…I just sat there).  It was for sure one of my most favorite memories in GIA. 

Final word:  www.tastethemadness.com   It is up and running.  As far as I know, the person with the most views and their videos wins…so please at least check it out to get me one more view on some of them!

P.S.  Holly and I made dinner at home after the game (I’m not a HORRIBLE boyfriend)

Bad PR for OSU Men’s Basketball?

Why is it that people make such a huge deal about nothing?  This obviously happens with people who are more in the spot light, but recently it has also happened to someone in the third row.

At the Texas Tech basketball game last Wednesday night, a fan in the third row (just a few seats behind me) wore an orange wig and painted his face black.  Just to clarify in case everyone forgot, OSU’s school colors are…that’s right…orange and black.

After this image appeared on ESPNU, many blogs and forums, including Deadspin.com and Orangepower.com, started a racial discussion.  The arguments basically state that this student was being racist by painting his face black. (For more details, read here http://www.orangepower.com/showthread.php?t=64862)

My personal opinion: I’m just glad someone was painting up for the game.  Recently, the “Rowdiest Arena in the Country” has been mediocre at best.  The only time you can get anyone to make some noise is after Page hits a three pointer or the refs give us yet another horrible call.  Leave this guy alone…he’s not racist.  He’s just showing his school pride.

One final word on bad news for OSU…Coach Travis Ford was busted during the Kansas game on Saturday calling Obi a “F****** Idiot!” on national television.

Many people have a problem with Ford’s use of language here, and I have to say, it’s probably not the best choice.  But to the people who are upset with him for talking to his player like that…GET OVER IT!  Any player knows that it is nothing personal when a coach yells at him.  It is one of the first things I tell new players at the beginning of the year of Ultimate Frisbee.  I’m only yelling to get the point across that this is something important.  My boys know that if I tell them they look like a chimp trying to hump a doorknob I’m not being personally mean to them; they are just not doing the right thing.

That’s all for my rants today.  Voting for the CokeZero contest starts very soon.  Stay posted!

P.S. A-Rod…you suck.

Big Day for OSU

Yesterday was signing day and it looks like Gundy got himself quite the recruiting class.  I saw in the O’Colly that he actually said that have “chemistry” which is really weird to say about a recruiting class, but I think I like the way it sounds.

I’m most excited about our pick up of Jeremy Smith, four star running back from Union.  Although my opinion as a Union graduate makes me a little biased, I’ve seen this kid’s moves and he is legit.

I’m seeing my final season as an Southside Savage in GIA coming to a close, and I worry every game how it’s going to end.  Last night’s game against Tech was no where close to pretty.  About 4 minutes into the game, I decided our boys didn’t want to play so I was going to suit up. 

I’m glad we pulled out the victory, but now our boys need to pull their heads out of their hind parts.  I can’t have my last season as a student go down in flames!

On a side note…I’m representing OSU in the CokeZero Taste the Madness NCAA fan contest.  The web site is supposed to kick off next week and I’m going to need everyone’s help and support to win.  The prize: a free trip to the Final Four in Detriot where I’ll get to watch some basketball, but also do promos for Coke!  Get excited!

A little behind schedule…

I know Bill assigned this over a week ago, but what a busy week it has been.  I have finally decided on a subject for my blog though!  I will be posting about Oklahoma State sports (big surprise, right?).  This will not, however, be limited to NCAA sports.  I will also be including as much as I can about sports clubs here at OSU, primarily the Ultimate team.

Speaking of the Ultimate team…we travled down to Denton, Texas this weekend for “Big D in the Little D,” a tournament consisting of 17 college teams.  We came in ranked #11 overal, but were ready to turn some heads.

Our record of 3-4 on the weekend may not sound so good, but we did end up finishing in 6th place which is fine by me.  I was very impressed with the way my boys played this weekend.  We generally give up when we get behind, but we fought hard in every game we played.  We topped off our weekend with a huge win over LSU on Saturday (15-8), plus an upset against Texas A&M Sunday afternoon (14-10).

One of the best things about this weekend was the use of Twitter from the fields.  After each game, I posted updates about how the team was doing.  Throughout the weekend I got encouraging words back from several followers and friends on facebook.  I even had a teammate’s girlfriend requesting more updates than I was giving so she could stay up to date.  Twitter really does work!

Really, Mr. Official?

I’m not usually one to rant about the officials at a basketball game. I understand they have a hard job…there is a lot going on at once, 10 people to watch and only 6 eyes watching them. Then you add fans (and spirit band members who don’t have a clue) heckling them for calls they missed.

But REALLY?!? This is the second game in a row we have lost in the final minute because the officials made the wrong call. As my sister said, “Hopefully this means we’ve got good karma heading our way,” which would be nice, considering Bedlam is on Monday night.

However, I will also add this. We shouldn’t have ever been in that situation against Missouri. How do we expect to win if we don’t score in the first 2 minutes and let them have a 16 point lead in the first half? That’s pathetic.

One more problem I had with last night’s game and then I’ll quit complaining. My seat was taken last night. I know they are general admission seats and anyone who gets there first can have them, but come on! I’ve been sitting in the same seat for the last 3 years and it’s not like you haven’t seen me there. I got in line an hour before the doors opened, then left to get newspapers for the students. I come back and the people that showed up in front of me stole my seat. I wouldn’t have had a huge problem with it except that they did not do their job. The front row in GIA is not just a good seat for a game…it is a responsibility. That is why I sit there. When you are on the front, you HAVE to be the loudest, most energetic people in the arena. It’s contagious. But when the people are the front aren’t yelling, aren’t jumping around and aren’t doing the traditions that make GIA so great, the rest of the students behind them will also not do any of those things…and that’s why we’re not the “Rowdiest Arena in the Country” anymore.

The way a fan should be

P.S. Alumni…you suck for leaving early (that one is for you, Bill)

It’s time to get out

The days are starting to get more and more redundant.  Every day this week will be class at Noon, work 2-8, eat some dinner then fall asleep.  I have an itch that needs to be scratched:  I need to play Ultimate. 

During the school year I have practices twice a week, plus tournaments usually every 2-3 weeks.  That keeps me pretty busy.  With all of this work and no play, I think I’m starting to get fat.  I’m not actually worried about it, but gaining 12 pounds in one month isn’t the best thing I’ve done this summer.

What I need to do is get out of town.  Versailles, Ohio…here I come.  The plan is to leave Thursday night so we can get to Poultry Days by the mid-afternoon on Friday.  With this tournament, getting there early is key.  You have to get a prime camping spot close to the pond, but not too far from the pavilion.

      

 I can’t wait to get to Ohio.  Last year this tournament was so much fun and I imagine it will only be better this year.  Wish me luck!