Angie, you really hurt me.....

Don't worry, I haven't strayed. I'd like to introduce "Angie", the name of a crossfit workout I attempted yesterday morning.

"Angie"

For time:
100 Pull-ups
100 Push-ups
100 Sit-ups
100 Squats

Straight-forward enough-don't move on to the next exercise until you've completed 100 reps. After about my 50th pullup, I had to use a stool to pull myself up, and just do negative reps. Today my biceps are the more sore they have ever been. EVER.

I stumbled on to some crossfit workouts a couple weeks ago, and now I'm hooked. The website posts workouts daily, mesage boards, video demos, and other fun stuff that helps one guide their way through this newfound method. It's all about "Functional Fitness", which is right up my alley considering my jobs/interests. The workouts are never the same; they revolve around basic exercises (pullups, pushups, squats, situps), weightlifting (squats, cleans, deadlifts, and presses), gymnastics, plyometrics, and relevant cardio.
From the Crossfit website, "What Is Crossfit?"
" CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.
Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.
The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs.
The needs of Olympic athletes and our grandparents differ by degree not kind. Our terrorist hunters, skiers, mountain bike riders and housewives have found their best fitness from the same regimen. "

Whatever. Check it out for yourself.

www.crossfit.com

NFL Mock Draft, Version 2.0

Alright fan(s), here it is. DC's first "published" NFL mock draft. The differences between myself and Mel Kiper?
1) Kiper's a pu$y
2) I'm a frikkin' 225 lb IronMan
3) I am also quite a handsome devil
4) Kiper uses more hair product than me
5) Kiper does this for a living, whereas I do this for my cousin Jon, and so that Uncle Frank can print this out and share with my Dad and Grandpa (Kate says hi guys! Dad, send me an email!)

I'll try to explain a little bit the reasoning of my selections-chances are your arguments will be futile against me. As a free bonus to everyone that survives my First Round mock, I will have a link to my FULL seven round mock at the end.....just kidding, I will have a best-guess at who my Browns will be taking in Rounds 4, 5, 6, and 7. This also takes into consideration the trades involving Pac Man Jones and Jerrod Allen.
Enjoy.



1) Miami-Jake Long, OT UM: Already signed, moving on...

2) St. Louis-Chris Long DE UVA: see above. Great kid, great bloodlines, all-around great guy from what I've read/heard.
alternate: Glenn Dorsey

3) Atlanta- Glenn Dorsey DT LSU: Feel free to flip-flop the guys at 2 and 3 ATL has a ton of picks in this draft, and can really improve if they don't blow the draft. They also might reach with Matt Ryan, in order to distance themselves from Vick; however, ATL has several early picks in order to select a QB in the 2/3 rds.
alternate: Matt Ryan, Long

4) Oakland-Vernon Gholston OLB/DE tOSU: McFadden is the popular pick, but this guy's a Rick James-Superfreak athlete. DC Rob Ryan can really showcase Gholston's many talent in his 3-4/4-3/4-6 packages. Oakland has spent a lot of money on the DL the past two years, so it might not make sense to pick VG; however, Al Davis is a space alien.
alternate: Darren McFadden

5) Kansas City-Sedrick Ellis DT USC: After the Jerrod Allen trade, the Chiefs can now go for best available lineman. They could go with the Boise State OT Clady, but there is OL depth throughout the draft. Plus, HC Herm Edwards is an old defensive guy, and I just heard on NFL radio that Ellis had a great workout with the Chiefs.
alternate: Brandon Albert, Ryan Clady

6) New York Jets-Darren McFadden RB Arkansas: This pick will be delivered to the podium in record time, if the speedy RB is still there.
alternate: Gholston

7) New England-Brandon Albert, OL UVA: The Pats are all over this versatile, high-character OL. UVA HC Al Groh is a friend of Beilicheck, so I'm sure there have been some B-Albert conversations the past few weeks.
alternate: Leodis McKelvin

8) Baltimore-Matt Ryan, QB BC: ATL might snag this guy, and then look for the Ravens to go C, OT, or trade-down. Warrior Steve McNair ust retired, with tOSU QB Troy Smith perhaps being cut, the Ravens need a young QB to take over.
alternate: Ryan Clady, Leodis Mckelvin

9) Cincy- Keith Rivers, OLB USC: This is the thinking of the Bengals' strategy for their first round pick: DL, Rivers, CB.
alternate: McKelvin, Ellis

10) New Orleans- Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy:

11) Buffalo- Dominick Rogers-Cromartie, CB Tenn State: Look for a tradedown by the Bills, so they can get MSU WR Devin Thomas. Thomas at 11 is a bit of a reach, so a top corner will really help fill the void left by Nate Clements.
alternates: Thomas, Rivers

12) Denver- Ryan Clady, OT Boise State:


13) Carolina- Jeff Otah, OT Pittsburgh:

14) Chicago- Rashard Mendenhall, RB Illinois: This is the smart pick for the Bears; hopefully they realize the Cedric Benson experiement is a wash.

15) Detroit- Derrick Harvey, DE UF

16) Arizona- Michael Jenkins, CB USF

17) Kansas City- Chris Williams, OT Vandy

18) Houston- Felix Jones, RB Arkansas: They need help at DB, but not as much as they do at RB. Might go cason, and then try their luck with the deep RB class later.

19) Philly- Devin Thomas, MSU WR: I also like Phil Merling here.

20) Tampa Bay- Philip Merling, Clemson DE: I got blasted for taking this guy as the Tampa GM for a scout.com mock draft. Ask the Giants how stockpiling DL worked out for them. This guy is tough against the run, and is big enough to move inside on 3rd down. Plus he's Gaines Adams' old teammate. I'd hate for the Steelers to get this guy. Bucs go WR and CB later.
alternate: Antoine Cason

21) Washington- Calais Campbell, DE The U: Very inconsistent in college; however, the DL coach he had during his best year (soph I think) is now on the Redskins staff. This guys HUGE.

22) Dallas- Limas Sweed, WR Texas: Now that Dallas has PacMan, and Felix Jones was already taken, they look for the top WR on the board. DeSean Jackson might do OK here at 22, but Sweed has size and speed teams covet.

23) Pittsburgh- Antoine Cason, CB Arizona: There CBs are terrible, but so is the Steeler O-line. Cherilus from BC is doable here, as well. Cason is a Cover 2 CB that can tackle.


24) Tennessee- Jerod May, LB Tenn


25) Seattle- Fred Davis, TE USC

26) Jacksonville- Kentwan Balmer, DL UNC

27) San Diego- Jonathon Stewart, RB Oregon

28) Dallas- Chris Johnson, RB East Carolina

29) San Fransisco- James Hardy, WR Indiana


30) Green Bay- Brian Brohm, QB Louisville

31) New York Giants- Tyrell Johnson, S Ark State









Browns picks

Rd 4 Antuan Molden, CB Eastern Kentucky

Rd 5 JoLonn Dunbarr, ILB, BC

Rd 6 Vincent Redd, DE/OLB Liberty (6'6" 260, 4.6 40)

Rd 7 Xavier Omon, RB Northwest Missouri State (5'11, 228#, 4.52 40)



UDFAs

Andy Studebacker OLB Wheaton
Marcus Dixon DE Hampton
Devone Bess, WR Hawaii
Cory Boyd, RB South Carolina

Mandatoried......

It about two weeks, I'll be moving to a new station, shift, and crew-all thanks to the powers-that-be. Since I was such a go-getter in my first two years at the F.D., I was able to get qualified to ride on a Ladder Truck quicker than most. As a result, I became the least senior Truck Guy. Now I am transferred to an Aerial in the outermost section of the County, whereas my current assignment is about a 15 minute drive away. Thankfully, I know have a Ford Expedition as my personal vehicle, so I'm pretty stoked about the additional gas I'll be buying.
My new station averages enough calls/day so that it is consistently in the top five LEAST busiest stations in the County; however, my current station is always one of the busiest. Less calls means: less fires, less entrapments, less good calls, less driving the engine, and less opportunities for me to maintain my work-related skills. Not to mention that there isn't any workout equipment at my new station.
The worst part of the whole thing is that I'll be leaving my crew, which is basically of my closest, best friends, and family combined into one (still a distant second to my girls though). Plus they will be on a different shift than I, so getting together will always be a major obstacle for me. This is something that I will definitely need to work on....
After a few weeks of going through all the phases of grieving, I have been on acceptance for a few days now. I could go one of two directions with this transfer: (1) Piss, moan, mope, and not do anything to better myself, or (2) Use it as an opportunity to make myself better. I've chosen Option #2. I plan on hitting the books pretty hard for the upcoming promotional exam in the fall, taking 1-2 classes online at UCF, and will try to learn everything I can about my new truck. I also plan on bringing my bike trainer out of retirement, and will use my new idle time to get back into triathlon shape.