I have been in contact with an individual named Brandon Barber. Brandon seems to be one of those 'pay it forward' type people who is very generous and has been helping me out trying to find a job in which i can hone my skills. After all, what good is 5 years for a degree if you cant use it. Brandon turned me on to a place called Davison Design. I sent them my resume and have an interview on Monday. This will mark the first "job interview" i will have to participate in since graduating college. The real world is about to hit me full force. Whether it is with acceptance (fingers crossed) or declining, this interview will welcome me to adulthood on the job front. Im told there is never a perfect interview and more times than not, they dont go the way you want them to. Ive been getting ahead of myself with this whole situation, as i always tend to do. I welcome the whole situation into my life, and man, do i hope i get this job. A change of scenery would be awesome. Wish me luck.
Edit: Interview was changed to Wednesday. Keep the positive energy coming my way.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
a weekend of awesome sports
This weekend really was awesome for sports. Personally at least. First and foremost, i am a Pittsburgh guy. Ever since i can remember taking an interest in professional sports, i remember being a fan of Pittsburgh teams. In central PA you are either a Pgh fan or Philly fan. Being brought up in a household of die hard pittsburgh fans set my path for me. We would watch them all, even the pirates (believe it or not, they at one time, didnt suck miserably). I guess that is a brief background of why the teams i love are the teams i love. So the purpose of this post is indeed to brag about how great of a weekend it was for my favorite sports teams, because in all honesty, these moments are few and far between.
Lets start with the Penguins (vs Carolina 1/22/11):
As you are all familiar, i am a die hard pens fan. Without Sid or Geno we all knew this game was going to be tough, in fact im sure there were a ton of people out there who didnt watch for that exact reason. I love Crosby. Geno is the man. But the heart of the team are in the players that have roles. Not in the spotlight like the superstars, but people like Craig Adams in the penalty kill, and Matt Cooke agitating. One of my top favorite penguins is former WBS Penguin Mark Letestu. He had a goal in this game, as well as our most recent call-up Dustin Jeffrey. Duper netted a short handed goal and in the end the pens defeated the hurricanes 3-2.
AS Roma (vs Cagliari 1/22/11):
Working Lunch shifts is okay on days that the penguins play. At least i know i will be home in time to catch the game. What bummed me out about working a lunch shift this saturday was knowing i would miss the AS Roma match, which is a rare US broadcast on the fox soccer channel. I tried to go all day/night without finding out the score, but crumbled almost immediately after i got home. I was able to catch the highlights and read some articles on the game, and from what i gathered, it seemed like an awesome game, including a goal from my favorite player; Francesco Totti. If only it were as easy to be a soccer fan in america (especially one of an Italian Serie A team) as it is to be a football or hockey fan, my social life would be in real jeopardy. In the end, Roma managed a 3-0 victory over Cagliari and for saturday my teams were up 2-0.
Pittsburgh Steelers (vs NY Jets 1/23/11):
This was the AFC Championship game to determine Super Bowl contenders vs the Green Bay Packers. Work dragged on anticipating this game, and in true Covino family fashion we had a steelers party. The game couldnt have started better, and it needed to. As i mentioned to Scott, the Steelers had played this game in an almost identical way to the penguins on saturday. They went up big, early. They had to. Steelers were up 21-3 going into the half. Those would be the last points they scored but it was enough to hold on for the win. Turned out to be more of a nailbiter than i wanted but we flipped out when the final first down was earned. Super bowl XLV here we come!
A few notes:
I hate people that live update about the game on facebook. I wish there was a filter for that stuff. If people care about the game, they are probably watching it, so dont post about it on your status for 3 hours. Watch the damn game
If i have to work during the super bowl i am either calling off or quitting.
The NHL all star game is coming up. I really love the format, but wish sid and geno were healthy enough to participate.
Guillotines play wednesday. If we had a rival it would be the Ice Ninjas. Toughest games are against them, they always bring their 'a' game. Love them off the ice, love to play them on the ice. Expect a tough one
Lets start with the Penguins (vs Carolina 1/22/11):
As you are all familiar, i am a die hard pens fan. Without Sid or Geno we all knew this game was going to be tough, in fact im sure there were a ton of people out there who didnt watch for that exact reason. I love Crosby. Geno is the man. But the heart of the team are in the players that have roles. Not in the spotlight like the superstars, but people like Craig Adams in the penalty kill, and Matt Cooke agitating. One of my top favorite penguins is former WBS Penguin Mark Letestu. He had a goal in this game, as well as our most recent call-up Dustin Jeffrey. Duper netted a short handed goal and in the end the pens defeated the hurricanes 3-2.
AS Roma (vs Cagliari 1/22/11):
Pittsburgh Steelers (vs NY Jets 1/23/11):
A few notes:
I hate people that live update about the game on facebook. I wish there was a filter for that stuff. If people care about the game, they are probably watching it, so dont post about it on your status for 3 hours. Watch the damn game
If i have to work during the super bowl i am either calling off or quitting.
The NHL all star game is coming up. I really love the format, but wish sid and geno were healthy enough to participate.
Guillotines play wednesday. If we had a rival it would be the Ice Ninjas. Toughest games are against them, they always bring their 'a' game. Love them off the ice, love to play them on the ice. Expect a tough one
Monday, January 17, 2011
Guillotines vs Avalanche 1/14/11
Keeping these updates brief because, as i said, Jae runs a blog dedicated to game recaps and things of that nature. Anyway i just wanted to touch base and give a quick synopsis of what i took away from our recent matchup vs the Avalanche.
This game started sloppy. When i say sloppy i mean that i dont understand how we didnt end the first period down 5 goals. All the rudimentary hockey sense we showed such promise in at our last game vs the Goon Padres was apparently thrown out the window. I can see this being a problem as we progress through the season unless our guys can find some time to work on the basics off the ice. Its winter for god's sake, go find a pond! Anyway, as i was saying we kicked this game of with some decent zone time but few shots on goal and terrible passes. Scott kept us alive in this one long enough for us to kick ourselves into gear and get to our game. Tyler Rabold began the scoring in this one, and goals were later tallied by Jared Pufka, Myself and Brandon Grimes. We managed to hang on to the shut out for Scotty but with the chances we created we should have had more than a 4-0 score to show for it. As i said countless times in the game, this goalie had the longest legs i had faced to date, so his lateral movement was impeccable and for such long legs he had his five hole sealed. Hopefully for our next outing vs the Ice Ninjas we can convert our scoring chances into goals and get to our game quicker.
This game started sloppy. When i say sloppy i mean that i dont understand how we didnt end the first period down 5 goals. All the rudimentary hockey sense we showed such promise in at our last game vs the Goon Padres was apparently thrown out the window. I can see this being a problem as we progress through the season unless our guys can find some time to work on the basics off the ice. Its winter for god's sake, go find a pond! Anyway, as i was saying we kicked this game of with some decent zone time but few shots on goal and terrible passes. Scott kept us alive in this one long enough for us to kick ourselves into gear and get to our game. Tyler Rabold began the scoring in this one, and goals were later tallied by Jared Pufka, Myself and Brandon Grimes. We managed to hang on to the shut out for Scotty but with the chances we created we should have had more than a 4-0 score to show for it. As i said countless times in the game, this goalie had the longest legs i had faced to date, so his lateral movement was impeccable and for such long legs he had his five hole sealed. Hopefully for our next outing vs the Ice Ninjas we can convert our scoring chances into goals and get to our game quicker.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
DirecTV = Satans Dick
I couldnt be more furious right now. I was scheduled a lunch shift today, which means i would be done by 4:00, 5:00 at the latest. The penguins play at 1 so i gave away my shift for a dinner shift. Sure i would have loved to see the steelers play, but I wanted to watch the penguins today. I wake up to watch the game and i switch on my tv, to see a little box in the bottom corner "searching for satellite signal". An hour later and its still searching. Ive switched inputs, ive switched connections, ive switched cards, ive even switched power supplies, and the god damn thing is still searching for satellite signal. I have had to watch the game streaming online with Bruins announcers (who might I add are god awful). DirecTv is a piece of shit television company that has no benefits unless you make 6 figures. Im done and I urge everyone who is considering switching to DirecTv; Dont.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Last time i wanted to do a short post about our game... this time i will
No more of that huge recap stuff. Not for our most recent game at least. Heres the run down for you, however:
For our second game of the season, we were up against the 1-0 goon padres. For their first game this season they came out on top 11-6. We had as many players as our first game, nine, but we were short one defenseman. I took it upon myself to drop back and play D; this would be my first full game playing defense. We set our lines up with two full forward lines and 3 defense who would rotate. For the most part we kept the play in the offensive zone and capitalized on our scoring chances. Thats not to say we didnt give up some dangerous break aways, but luckily our goalie Scott covered up for us. In the end, we came out on top with our first shutout of the season and our second shutout in team history. The final score was 8-0 with goals from Mike Millward, Brandon Grimes, Harley Ickes, Matt Cushion, Derek Vaughn, and Myself. Our next game is Friday vs The Avalanche @ 11:00 PM.
For our second game of the season, we were up against the 1-0 goon padres. For their first game this season they came out on top 11-6. We had as many players as our first game, nine, but we were short one defenseman. I took it upon myself to drop back and play D; this would be my first full game playing defense. We set our lines up with two full forward lines and 3 defense who would rotate. For the most part we kept the play in the offensive zone and capitalized on our scoring chances. Thats not to say we didnt give up some dangerous break aways, but luckily our goalie Scott covered up for us. In the end, we came out on top with our first shutout of the season and our second shutout in team history. The final score was 8-0 with goals from Mike Millward, Brandon Grimes, Harley Ickes, Matt Cushion, Derek Vaughn, and Myself. Our next game is Friday vs The Avalanche @ 11:00 PM.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Guillotines vs Hawks 1/5/11 RECAP
The game started off with a few bad bounces and some rust. With a two week break there is always bound to be that rust, but last night, it came with a 3-0 deficit early. The thing about the guillotines that i have noticed through the past few seasons is how we never give up. It could be 8-0 or 0-0 we always play the same hockey. Although we still play aggressive even when we have a lead, and that can sometimes be our undoing. In this situation though, we all kept our heads up and played smart hockey.
Tyler Rabold opened up the scoring for us with a goal that to be honest, i cant even remember. All that i can remember is thinking that this goal could potentially open the floodgates for us, and more importantly destroy any chance of being shut out. After that, the guillotines added goals from a sick re-direct from a Jarred Pufka shot from the point by Matt Cushion. Tyler Rabold had another beauty on a great pass from Alan Pickrell on a long and awesome shift by Alan Tyler and I. The Hawk's got their last lead by going up 4-3. I tallied a breakaway goal set up by Tyler, scoring on the rebound from my initial shot, which tied the game at 4-4 at the end of the second period.
One thing our goalie Scott Pickrell is awesome at is recognizing a huge moment/period/game and he knows when to shut the door. He did just that. Although it helped that our defense was fantastic in the third, shutting down some very promising scoring chances from the opposition. Jeff Guyer, a former guillotine who took a break from hockey last season, made his return last night. As could be expected, he didnt have his legs back initially in his first game in several months. With our lack of players last night i opted to move Jeff, who is regularly a defenseman; to play as a forward. In the third period Jeff hammered in a rebound at the doorstep to mark his return as a guillotine, and giving us our first lead of the night. I mentioned to D man Derek Vaughn at the second intermission that i would kill for a lead. Well this is the lead we wanted and we werent letting up. The defense was clearing pucks and the forwards were dominating zone time. With a bench that was three times as large as ours, the Hawks were the ones looking gassed.
There was some physical play in the defensive zone between Tyler Rabold and one of their bigger guys and goal scorers. The Hawks forward was slashing, cross checking and hooking Tyler but he was unwilling to cough up the puck and the refs apparently swallowed their whistles. Rather than take a stupid penalty in response, Tyler came back the best way possible: carrying the puck coast-to-coast and scoring on a truly nasty shot over the shoulder of the goalie, short side. With a two goal lead you are never safe at Galactic Ice. The clock at galactic ice is a continuous one, meaning there are no stoppages in time for icings, offsides goals, etc. The only time they stop the clock is any time within the last 2 minutes of the third period, and only when the score is within 2 points. It just so happens that was the scenario of the game, and we couldn't afford the stoppages. The clock was our enemy at this point and we all knew we needed to get another goal to seal the deal. With one minute left in the game, I carried the puck into the zone with Jamie Smith driving hard to the net. After pulling two of the hawks defensemen and the goalie to my side of the net i slid a pass across the crease to a wide open Jamie. Buried. Guillotines win 7-4.
I mentioned in passing the tremendous efforts of our d-men but I have to mention them individually for their great efforts last night. Jarred Pufka had some great shots from the point and some great shut downs in the defensive zone. Derek Vaughn has been juggled back and forth from defense and forward and every time he does it without question and tears it up. Last night was no different, when i asked him to drop back to allow Jeff Guyer some time as a forward, he knew what he had to do, and did it with ease. Finally in his second season as a Guillotine (and second season ever playing ice hockey) Michael Martin had a tremendous game. Last season he was paired with one of Altoonas greatest hockey players, Sam Peoples, who now plays for the A-Leagues' Al's Tavern. So on his first game of the season without Sam by his side, Mike showed some fantastic effort and drive, shutting down some definite scoring chances. In fact Mr Martin even had a few shots on goal. Overall, every one of our players showed up to play last night and I cant express how happy i was with how everyone played. I know its just game 1 of the season and surely there will be losses to come, but this was a great start to the season.
I dont plan on recapping every game this season on here, and Jamie Smith has his own Blog you should check out : http://greenwoodguillotines.wordpress.com/ But this was a fun one and a hard fought game so i wanted to share the details with everyone who couldnt make it out.
Thanks for taking the time to read this if you did.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Years!
Another year has come and gone. I can't say 2010 was the worst year of my life, and i cant say it was the best. I also cant say im sad to see it go. Cheers to the new year, and to the one that has passed.
If you know me, you know i often categorize things into 'top' lists. It seems fitting to compile a few top 3 lists for the year 2010, so i present:
My top things of 2010:
Top personal moments:
1 Graduating College (5 years later, it seems like a fitting number one)
2 Spending another year with all my grandparents around. Love them more than anything
3 Second Raystown Float
Runner up: Game 2 overtime victory over the Pylons in the summer season at galactic ice
Top Albums:
1 The Damned Things- Ironiclast
2 Foxy Shazam- Foxy Shazam
3 Mumford & Sons- Sigh No More
Top Television Shows:
1 Dexter
2 24/7 Penguins-Capitals Road to the Winter Classic
3 The Walking Dead
Top Films:
1 The Fighter
2 Kick Ass
3 How to Train Your Dragon
(bear in mind i have yet to see Inception so it may well be among my top films when i do)
Top Video Games:
I wont put these in order so you cant make me! I loved or am currently loving Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, Fable III, Fallout: New Vegas (minus all the bugs), Red Dead Redemption, Heavy Rain (didn't even play it, just watched my friend Scott finish it, awesome)
So that's Just about all the lists I can come up with at this time. Other things of note in 2010 have to be things like the introduction of our new pup Olivia into our world, Beach trip, Chips run, and the Greenwood Guillotines.
Hope everyone out there had a safe and awesome New Years Eve, and have a terrific 2011!!
If you know me, you know i often categorize things into 'top' lists. It seems fitting to compile a few top 3 lists for the year 2010, so i present:
My top things of 2010:
Top personal moments:
1 Graduating College (5 years later, it seems like a fitting number one)
2 Spending another year with all my grandparents around. Love them more than anything
3 Second Raystown Float
Runner up: Game 2 overtime victory over the Pylons in the summer season at galactic ice
Top Albums:
1 The Damned Things- Ironiclast
2 Foxy Shazam- Foxy Shazam
3 Mumford & Sons- Sigh No More
Top Television Shows:
1 Dexter
2 24/7 Penguins-Capitals Road to the Winter Classic
3 The Walking Dead
Top Films:
1 The Fighter
2 Kick Ass
3 How to Train Your Dragon
(bear in mind i have yet to see Inception so it may well be among my top films when i do)
Top Video Games:
I wont put these in order so you cant make me! I loved or am currently loving Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, Fable III, Fallout: New Vegas (minus all the bugs), Red Dead Redemption, Heavy Rain (didn't even play it, just watched my friend Scott finish it, awesome)
So that's Just about all the lists I can come up with at this time. Other things of note in 2010 have to be things like the introduction of our new pup Olivia into our world, Beach trip, Chips run, and the Greenwood Guillotines.
Hope everyone out there had a safe and awesome New Years Eve, and have a terrific 2011!!
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