Well after taking a day to recuperate from dismal FSU loss to Louisville on Thursday night, it was time to move on with life. Friday night Barbie and I went to “Wine Club” at Vanvy and Mike’s new house. “Wine Club” is something that Barbie put together over a year ago where friends get together the last Friday of every month to hang out, drink wine and eat appetizers. Each person is responsible for bringing either a bottle of wine or some food, and the location always switches between different people’s houses. Sometimes there is a theme…ie. French Wines, Red labeled wine, or the best so far…”World Cup”, where the wine had to be from the country of those competing in the soccer “World Cup”. Anyways, we had a good time that evening, and were amazed at house nice Vanvy and Mike’s new house was. It’s got a ton of room and is set up very nice.

Saturday we headed out to the infamous beach house because I had a triathlon to do the next morning. Saturday was basically spent just relaxing. The weather couldn’t have been any better though because there was no fog and you could see all up and down the coast, from Carmel to Santa Cruz.

Sunday was the day of the RACE . My goal was to just survive and not kill myself since I hadn’t been training that hard in the past month or two. The waves on the swim at times were pretty bad…just check out the picture, but everything else was really nice. My RESULTS were about what I expected. The only thing I did differently this race was to relax on the run and try to speed up if someone from my age group passed me. Unfortunately two people from my age group did pass me and I couldn’t keep up…but that will change in time. Let’s just say that I am glad the tri-season is over, but I am very sore right now. Next race will probably be a marathon, if not, perhaps Wildflower again. Either way it is time to concentrate on wedding stuff and not racing.

P.S. Wish me luck tonight because it is monthly Poker night!!

FSU lost 26-20 against Louisville in what was one of the more frustrating games to watch as Noles fan. The rain just poured all night long, rendering our offensive passing game useless. We’re supposed to have a running game to make up for that, but Gregg Jones couldn’t do anything, and the coaching staff didn’t give Maddox the ball enough. Special Teams was a real killer, although it could have been much worse if our defense hadn’t stopped them twice from scoring TD’s…once from a 1st and goal from the 2 yard line. Basically the Noles looked like they were playing not to lose, and Louisville figured our defense in the 2nd half and exploited it. Rough night, and our season is going to get any easier with Miami, Notre Dame and Florida still to play. It could be another 4 loss season for the once dominant Seminoles.

The picture on the left pretty much shows everything about last nights game. Frustration, Defeat and the terrential downpour of rain that didn’t stop all night. It was like a bad dream.

Well the Seminoles are in Louisville tonight playing a one time Heisman hopeful, David Ragone. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, he’s got no shot of winning that illustrious trophy due to their 2-2 start this season. FSU, favored by 15 points, should be able to win by 20+. Heck, I’ve even got money on the game [but don't tell my mom or Barbie ]. Here is my two cents about tonights game from Free Money Bets.

FSU @ Louisville (FSU -15)
Louisville is upset at being 2-2 going into this game. They were hoping to be 4-0, ranked in the top 25, and have a chance to beat the Noles. Too freaking bad! They are 2-2, with losses to Kentucky and Colorado St. Their only wins have come against Duke and Army. Louisville is thinking upset, but I’m thinking blowout. Ragone’s offensive line is suspect, allowing 10 sacks already. The only bright spot for the Cardinals is their defense, which returned 10 starters. Look for the game to be somewhat close in the beginning, with Noles pulling away late due to their depth and just flat out better athletes.
Take FSU -15 **** (* is rated from 1-5, with 5 being high)

This weekend was spent relaxing at the Beach House. It was a nice change of weather since it is about 20 degrees cooler over there because of the fog that roles in whenever it is really hot in the Bay area. Saturday we went to the place we are getting married and made some final arrangements regarding the times of when appetizers, dinner, dancing etc. were going to start. After that we headed over to Michael’s on Main to taste some wines for our rehearsal dinner. We love to go there not only because it where our rehearsal dinner is going to be, but also because we get to hang out with the owner Michael. He’s got a bunch of great stories and works with us regarding every detail. The food and wine is going to be awesome. That evening I spent watching football and trying to convince myself to work out…failed mission. The next day we had some breakfast and again tried to convince myself to work out during the afternoon…failed mission. Instead I ended up power napping. However, I did get in a running workout that evening…mission accomplished.

That night Barbie and I headed over to the Seascape Resort to check out our room on the night of the wedding. It was great, especially since it has a huge jacuzzi tub!! Unfortunately I only get one night there and Barbie gets two…but then again she is the bride.

I forgot to mention in my last post about what happened last Friday. Barbie went and got our marriage license!! We were thinking all morning that they wouldn’t let us get it because I didn’t have a birth certificate or passport. However, the barbster called them up and convinced them it wasn’t needed. OKAY, I don’t know if she had to convince them or that I really didn’t need it…either way we got the license. I didn’t realize that a marriage license actually expires…so we only have 3 months to get married! It’s a good thing our wedding date is only 1.5 months away

Interesting fact: There was an option to buy a private marriage license as opposed to a public one. (Can you believe we have to pay for a license? Big brother is milking everything he can out of us.) Anyways, the lady told us the original reason for having an option for private licenses is because back in the 1800’s there would be couples who had lived together for many years, had children, raised the family, etc….all without being officially married. So, in order to hide the fact that the children were born out of wedlock, they could buy a private marriage license so no one else could find out the actual date they were married. A lot of states have what is called “common-law” marriages, which is when a couple has lived together for X number of years…then they can be considered married, but Cali doesn’t recognize such a thing. Damn westerners!

I’d like to start off this post by saying my sympathies go out to Scott and his family. I do not want to go into details, but know that your prayers for them are needed.

On Friday evening, Barbie, myself and Justine (a colleague of Barbie’s from the UK) went up to Scott and Amy’s house in Mill Valley to spend the evening and then head to Napa Valley in the morning. We had a great time that night eating dinner and drinking some wine. We also got to watch Scott and Amy’s wedding video which had been created by one of their friends with a bunch of raw video footage from numerous cameras. The next morning, we decided to grab some breakfast. We headed up to Napa and ended up showing Justine all the sites that we know, and buying a ton of wine. The highlight was the last winery (Mondavi) because Barbie was able to get her favorite wine, which had been sold out for the last year. (1994 Mondavi Cabernet)

That evening I got to watch the Seminoles destroy the Terps. I had an entire sports bar to myself watching the Seminoles, Penn St. vs. Nebraska and Iowa St. vs. IOWA. Needless to say I was in heaven. I was also happy to see that my picks from Free Money Bets were all correct (5-0 this week!). If you haven’t had a chance, check out the site.

The next day I got another happy surprise as the Fins put a whooping on the Colts in the first half…but then had to struggle to hang on for the victory. I also did pretty well in my bets that day. That afternoon was spent working out…20 mile ride on the bike, followed about an hour later by running up the bleachers at Stanford Stadium with Nick and Jeremy. Let’s just say I am pretty sore today since I haven’t done that kind of exercise in a while. I definitely needed to do it since my next race is coming up in two weeks. Let’s hope I’ll do OK.

I would like to send my condolences to Linda and the families of those who died a year ago today. Linda was Barbie’s roommate at the time of the attacks, and her fiance’ Tim Ward was aboard United flight 175, the second plane that hit the south tower of the world trade center. Tim lived in San Diego and was on his way home from visiting Linda in Boston for the weekend. Tim and Linda would see each other every weekend without fail, despite living over 450 miles apart. He was a great guy who was always upbeat. Linda and Tim had been dating for over 10 years, and were planning on getting married within the next year. Tim was 38 when he died.

Did UM look good or what? They absolutely destroyed Grossman and Gators 41-16! Unfortunately, the Seminoles have to play the Canes on Oct. 12th. I’m assuming both teams will come in undefeated, but I’m not sure the Noles will leave undefeated. The Hurricanes looked impressive on both sides of the ball, and that was at UF…aka. The Swamp. I can’t imagine how good they are going to be in the Orange Bowl. All that said, the Seminoles do have a shot at beating the Canes…but they are going to have to learn how to play both the 1st half and the 2nd half. If they can learn to play the entire game as well as they have played the first half of their 2 games…then I’m calling for an upset right here and now!! That’s right..put your money on the Noles if they start putting up big numbers within the next few games. The best thing about Oct. 12th is that I will be there!! It’s been 3 years since we last beat the Canes, and this year won’t be an easy one to snap the 2-game losing streak, but I’ve got confidence in our boys … Go Noles!

Jordan sent me a great link today that shows some idiot Gator writer talking about how the Canes supremacy will eventually be passed by the Gators. He predicted this 5 years ago when the Canes were on probation…I wonder what his predictions are now. Check out the article for yourself.

Finally…be sure to check out all the latest photos that Barbie has been constantly updating.

OK…the Seminoles are 2-0, but let’s just say that is only because of their first half performances. They have put up 24+ point leads on both IOWA St. and Virginia, only to find themselves almost losing to Iowa St. and then not covering the spread against UVA. Yes…I put money on the game and got burned because of a last minute fumble that gave UVA an oppurtunity to go down and score a TD. Well they are 2-0…and since the BCS doesn’t take into consideration “margin of victory”, I couldn’t be happier. We have a lot more balanced offense this year…which is great…but we don’t get those 40+ yard plays anymore. It’ll all come together as time goes on.

As for this weekend…it’s UM vs. UF!! A renewal of a rivalry that has been in hibernation for about a decade. This is the first of 3 games between the powerhouse football teams from the State of Florida. FSU, UM and UF are all playing for State bragging rights and a trophy which is awarded to the winner. If all teams go 1-1, then the winner is determined by who gave up the fewest amount of points. Isn’t football great!

Well this past weekend was the first of my two bachelor parties. Of course we went to VEGAS…arriving Friday morning and getting back Sunday evening. I can’t tell you how exhausted I am right now though…it’s a good thing we came back Sunday instead of Monday, b/c today would have been a rough day at the office.

I’m pretty sure everyone that went had a blast… if you discount the gambling losses. I’d like to thank all you fellas who made it out there…especially Scotty since he came all the way from fabulous Ft. Myers, FL. Also…thanks to Trewin for setting up the Scramble golf tournament on Friday. Although it was kind of suspicous that the best golfer (Rich [12 handicap]) was on Trewin’s team, and that there team won. They were the only team that shot under par (3 under). Although, I hear that Trewin was the big shooter and carried the team. Despite all that…the highlight of the day was the 17th hole. Our group (the last group) shows up on the 17th (a par 3) and see someone lying down on the green and the other people huddled up near the green. First we are thinking that someone has passed out due to the 100+ temperature, but it was just Lindner taking a break. We then find out that Bourne, who was in the first group, hit a shot that bounced off the cart path and broke a window on the house that was at least 40 feet away from the cart path. Talk about a bad bounce. Well the owner of the house came out and filed a claim against Bourne…not sure what the end result will be…but it was hilarious.

Here is Graver’s top 10 highlights of the weekend:
10. Raggio’s and Nick’s back to back birdie putts to get our group back to even.
9. Scotty V. making it out all the way from Florida
8. $10 Long Island Ice Teas
7. Talking trash about college football to a bunch of Midwest knuckleheads
6. Wayne Brady Show (actually the guy from the audience who made the sound effects during one of his skits was the funniest)
5. Finding out that Bourne had just broken a house window
4. 10 hours of college football despite only winning one bet. Although that was one more win that Lindner could muster.
3. Blake playing Irkle
2. Coyote Ugly followed by Voodoo Lounge
1. Meeting Brad Pitt (a.k.a Nick in Gucci sunglasses)!!