Celebrate the 4th, with a 5th

My grandfather said that to me this weekend, so I thought it was fitting to use it for this post's title. This weekend was my sister Kristy's wedding in Boston and was a great time. This weekend was obviously Fourth of July weekend and everyone had today, the 5th off as well. I'm guessing that is what my grandfather meant when he said celebrate the 4th with the 5th. I took it a different way. 4th piece of cake? Celebrate it with a 5th. (2)4th beer? Celebrate it with a(2)5th. 4th bowl of ice cream? Celebrate it with a 5th. It was the theme for the weekend. We started the weekend out on Friday night with a rehearsal for the ceremony, which I did not attend cause I was busy making athletes better. Afterwards though we headed out to Concord, Mass for a rehearsal dinner at a very nice country club. I forget the name of it now, but it was nice. I promise. Everyone mingled and the Danes were meeting the Americans and getting to know our future in laws. (Kristy's husband Joen is from Denmark, and has been living in the states for quite some time, but still has a lot of family over there). There was a delicious spread set up along with an open bar and some appetizers. For some reason the caterers would come out of the kitchen and walk straight to me. I guess I'm an easy sell when it comes to food. It was a good night, with a couple quick welcoming speeches and introductions, then everyone headed home to get ready for the big day.

Saturday rolls around and it's the big day. The girls were busy with getting their hair and makeup did, so me and my old man pretty much had the morning off. We went for breakfast and then I headed back up to the room and watched some TV and dozed off for a bit. Weird, never happens. I decided to go for a walk up to City Sports on Boyleston because I wanted to get a pair of Vibram Five Finger shoes. They are weird and people look at you funny, but I wanted a pair cause I love being barefoot. As I mustered the courage, and money, up to buy them I get a call from mom saying I had to be ready for pictures in 15 minutes. Oops. I put the box down and bolted out of the store. That was the 2nd time I had a pair of the shoes and couldn't pull the trigger. Anyway, I hurried back to the hotel and got ready. I shaved my face with a razor for what could've been the first time in a year. I couldn't imagine doing that every day. Yikes. So I'm ready, I look all dapper and 007ish in my tux from high school prom and we go for some quick pictures in the hotel before the ceremony. By the way we stayed at this small hotel, some of you may have heard of called the Four Seasons. We snap a few still shots and head over to the church on Newbury. Remember I said I didn't go to the rehearsal so I was unsure of my roll. I knew I had double duty walking my mom and my sister Kelly down the aisle. I felt like I was doing 150yd shuttles in the church. I dropped off my mom and sprinted back to the back of the church to pick up Kelly. Now from there I didn't know where to go so while walking down the aisle I kept asking Kelly where I was supposed to go. She wasn't saying much as she was focused on smiling and looking good for the camera. It just comes naturally for me so I wasn't worried. Anyway, she pulls me along side of her and we are up on "stage" at the church. Right next to the alter. Great. Right on center stage. I couldn't get away with anything. It's a beautiful church, but there was no AC so needless to say. I was hot. Real Hot. Like sweat dripping down my hands and back. I tried to keep it under control but it was no use. I even yawned too for some reason, but I don't think anyone caught that. Thank goodness. After the nice ceremony it was some more pictures and then off to the reception. OPEN BAR DUDE!! I got to catch up with some relatives and old family friends, many of who are loyal readers. Mr. Wathey and Mr. Giannuzzi actually requested this blog so this is dedicated to them. Cocktail hour was delicious and weird the caterers came right to me every time. The country club must've told them about me. Oh well, no complaints here. The reception started and Joen's brother in law was the toastmaster and he was hysterical. My dad, and two other sisters gave very nice speeches along with some speeches from Joen and Joen's family. Lots of teary eyed folks in the audience. After awhile the reception was jumpin and Joen's buddies asked me and Rob my other brother in law to participate in some Danish traditions. So we follow them wondering what we were getting ourselves into. We get into the elevator where we are told we are going to trash the bride and groom's suite. I was shocked at what I heard, but apparently it is Danish tradition. And you can't mess with tradition. I looked at Rob and he looked at me and gave a quick high five and we got to work and started bouncing ideas off each other. I don't think the Danes realized who they were dealing with. We've tornadoed a room or two in our day. It was hysterical. We did our job and headed back downstairs where the band was starting to fire it up. Cue the dancefloor. Some real movers and shakers out there and I certainly was one of them. I was complimented by several folks about my moves and as my mom said, I had some really "groovy moves." What can I say. The full course meal served throughout the night was delish, so why not cap off the night with a snack time consisting of an ice cream bar, strawberry shortcakes and sliders and fries. Diet starts monday! The night ended and the day was a huge success. Bruch yesterday morning and a little BBQ at Courtney and Rob's for the fouth to cap a great weekend. Back to "work" tomorrow. Could be a tough workout tomorrow. I might be sweating out Amstel Light and Sugar.

Sorry no pictures or videos today. Too lazy. There's enough material to keep you occupied.

OK OK, I'll write a new blog

So, I'm really slacking on this blogging thing. I've talked to many people who say "Hey Schaeff, I check your blog every day and I'm dissapointed every time I don't see a new update. My response is always "Ok ok, I'll write a new one." This is for you guys. It may not seem like I've been busy, but I have. Sort of. So last time we left off, I was just getting up to Boston and squaring away some housing stuff. I'm all settled in to the place now. Uncle Tony and I had some work to do as the previous tenants have never heard of windex or lysol wipes, so we spent some solid hours cleaning up the place. We're all set now, minus the fact that it has been really hot the last few days and AC was not in the lease plan. It's like I'm back at 7 Ames. I think I'm gonna have to head to the store and buy one as I like to sleep in the cold. The location is unreal with tons of awesome restaurants and bars around the neighborhood, and there's always something going on. Which is good and bad. The area is very Italian so these people go bananas for the World Cup. All in all it's a fun spot to be in. The boys have indulged in the local water holes (I feel like I say that in every blog) like Tia's, Joe's American Grill and the new spot Whiskey Priest. Both spots on the water where you can enjoy being outside. Really diggin this place Whiskey Priest and can see myself heading there a lot this summer. Tia's is fun but nobody wants to spend 50 bucks for 3 beers and a drink. Kidding, but not really. I guess everything has it's price.


Speaking of the World Cup. I don't get it. I'm sorry, but I just never was into soccer. Sure I was a star goaltender on the Stimson 7th and 8th grade teams, but I can't get into it now. It seems pretty boring. Like I know hockey isn't the highest scoring sport, but at least it's fast paced and intense. Soccer is just some running around and no scoring. The only thing I like about soccer is the goal celebrations and the diving. Dives are pretty frequent but the goal celey's are few and far between.







So I'm well into my workouts now and feeling good. BodybyBoyle has moved into a brand new facility so it's pretty legit. Check it out. www.BodybyBoyle.com. The summer camp started today as well so the gym was absolute madness. Probably about 400kids walking through the door. It's a factory in there. Just shuffling out Bodies By Boyle. That was gay. Let's move on.


Memorial day weekend I went to Nantucket. The place is a little heaven on Earth. Just a bunch of bro's bro'ing out. We had a sweet house that Ryan "Wild Bill" Weston set up for the guys. Well done by Westo. We hit up the local spots and of course the best bar in the world, "The Chicken Box." All roads lead to the box. Everyone from the island goes there and it's just a huge..well box. Live music, tons of babes and bro's. Going down to nantucket you're always bound to run into guys and gals you know, but it gets crazy sometimes. Actually all the time. The best part is showing up "early" to the bar at 8:00pm and seeing the line is down the street. Usually a good sign of things to come. The Rock is definitley my favorite vacation spot. It's hard not to have the best time there.


With American Idol being over and obviously Lee winning, I don't have any shows to watch. I tried watching the bachelorette, but I couldn't get over the tools on that show. But I guess I was the one watching so who is really the tool huh? We have OnDemand so I ripped through the last season of Entourage. I'm open to any other show ideas. The OnDemand is pretty awesome though. Anything you want at your finger tips.


It's time to go cook some dinner. I'm not near the cook that Tony is so maybe I can somehow weasel that little guy to cook some food for us. I'll hit you guys up on the next blog..whenever that is. Smell ya later.

It's Summer Time!

Hello everybody. I've had a lot going on lately the past few weeks so I would like to try and catch up a bit. I left off in my last blog with me getting back to New York. I spent two "fun filled" weeks there. I use the term "fun filled" loosely cause it is both true and completely false. I got home and started work the next day. Painting fences and sheds, cleaning the pool, washing windows, I did it all. As people started calling me Pedro word got around town that I was the best painter in the South Huntington area so I was called into duty at neighboring locations as well. I had the pleasure of painting one of the most complex fences for the Wathey family. The fence was beaten up with paint chipping off and a criss-cross pattern that left a smooth painting stroke near impossible. The good thing was that there was a thorn bush located directly in front of this fence making painting that much more fun! No, I am exaggerating slightly for the sake of the story, I didn't mind painting at all. I had nothing else to do with my time. On the weekends I would head into the city to hangout with my two good buddies Eric Thomassian and Craig "Ned Flanders" Sanders. We had a great time hitting all the local establishments and taking in all NYC had to offer. Unfortunately I needed to paint about 200 more fences to be able to afford another weekend in the city. Let's just say you're not going to find too many drink specials out in the big apple. Hey you can't take your money to the grave right? I keep telling myself that. While at home I had the pleasure of getting to the Matthew Giannuzzi Charity basketball game. I found I had two huge fans of the blog in Mr. Sutton (Eddie Sutton on facebook)and "The Dean" Mr. Giannuzzi. It was a thrill to hear from some loyal readers. This is why I sit down and write my butt off. For all the fans out there. As per usual while at 7 Ames I was able to catch up in pizza and dessert consumption skyrocketing the body fat percentage. Hey you only live once right. I tried to balance it out with some good dieting on the other days and a few trips to the NYSC to workout...and scope out the local talent. All in all I had a great time with the family, seeing my niece and nephew and catching up with the hometown. It was time to move on though as living with your parents isn't high on my priority list these days. No offense Mom and Dad.

I drove up to Boston to square away some apartment nonsense and I'm glad I did. The spot I had originally picked out fell through as I think the landlord was arrested. I then picked another spot where I had a friend to remain nameless take a look at to see if it was good. KATE GILFILLAN said it wasn't bad so I decided to take her word for it and told the landlord I would meet at the apartment to dot the T's and cross the I's. I show up and the apartment is not so hot looking. They had a new fridge, stove and microwave.....and that's about it. And it was half below ground with bars on the windows. Not quite what I was looking for. I told the guy I would be in touch and bolted. I started scrambling and pulled up at a Boloco (Unreal spot to eat BTW) to use the wi-fi and find a new place on craigslist. It's amazing how things can work as Iwithin an hour I ended up finding a sweet spot in the North End in the middle of all the downtown action. I visited, and shook hands with the sublettors and was relieved to get a place. Move in is June 1. Laser Show. Relax.

American Idol is down to two finalists! Crazy I know. We've seen Big Mike and Casey James get the boot with Bowersox and Lee Dewyze left standing. Last week we saw a performance that we won't soon forget. Simple Man and Hallelujah are two unreal songs and Lee smashed them. I consider myself a pretty good judge of music and his versions were some of the best these ears have heard. See for yourself. In my eyes he won the competition last week. Unless he takes the stage this week pulls down his pants and takes a Thomassian dump on the stage he will win.




I went to the Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group Hockey and Basketball Symposium this weekend at Northeastern. It was a sweet two days with some good people and I was able to learn a lot. The strength and conditioning field is definitely something that continues to interest me and looks like could be a part of my future. Glad I was able to attend.



I'm at my wonderful sister Kristy's apartment watching Rudy as we speak..Or I write. I cry when he gets accepted to Notre Dame and jump up and down when he gets the sack. Everytime. No questions asked.


Thats all for now. I can't keep my eyelids open. Heading down to Nantucket next weekend so I'm pretty stoked about that. I'll report back later! Smell Ya!

Finally, I have come back to Blogging!

I apologize to the millions......and millions of fans of my blog. It has been pretty busy the last few weeks with playoffs and travel and whathaveyou. But no need to fret, you're fearless blogger is back.

Let's start with the ill-fated Checkers playoff run. The team had high hopes of making a strong run to the Kelly Cup, but couldn't make it past the second round losing out to the Cyclones of Cincinnati in a hard fought 7 game series. A few lucky bounces and a hot goaltender led to the Checkers demise. A sad ending as the team will no longer be together, as the franchise is moving to the AHL. With every season ending loss comes the season ending bender, which is always the best time. It's pretty much a race to see who can eat the worst food and drink the most beer over a few days time. The Jack-In-The-Box across the street from our apartments got some good business(They make a mean oreo milkshake), while the BlackFinn Bar in Uptown was pretty fed up with our antics after 3 straight nights of tearing up the D-Floor and pouring beers on each other's and our own heads. The Charlotte Checkers were a good hockey team, but a great drinking team. With such a bunch of beauties, we all had a great time and left our mark in the Queen City.

As the season ended, I made the drive back to NY to stay with my folks for a couple weeks. The trip was going great, I was jammin' out to some tunes, taking in the beautiful countryside. Then I started sharing the road with a bunch of huge trucks. Now their are two types of trucks. Fast ones and slow ones. (Thanks tips!) The fast ones buzz around weaving in and out of lanes like they're a mazda miata. They run up on your ass and flash you the brights and make you poop your shorts as you see a mac truck in your backseat. The slow ones drive 45 miles an hour causing a traffic jam as two of them are side by side blocking both lanes. So now I'm driving the West Virginia, singing John Denver, when the rain comes. And boy did it come, I could barely see my hood it was pouring so hard and of course the fast trucks are acting like its 80 and sunny and there's not another car on the road. Once I got past that, it was smooth sailing once again...until I got to the armpit of America New Jersey. Besides Kevin Kielt, Bon Jovi and The Boss, Jersey has nothing good to offer. It took me an extra hour to get through the GWB cause not everyone has an EZ Pass so the tolls were backed up. It still baffles me that people don't have these things. It saves so much time on your trip its unreal. Figure it out "cash only lane" people.
Another thing I noticed is gas is like 40 cents more expensive in NY too. Not a good start back home. While I'm ranting, another thing that grinds my gears is my parents still do not have AC at the house. It's like a chilly 85 degrees in my room and I guess Sears stopped making fans cause those are no where to be found too.


In other sad news, Siobhan Magnus was voted off American Idol. "The saddest thing in life is wasted talent." She had all the talent in the world, but just couldn't put all the pieces together. She was getting average while the rest of the group was stepping up their game. Casey, Lee and even Big Mike are putting on great performances along with that pipsqueek Aaron and the talented Crystal Bowersox. It's anyone's game now and everyone needs to be on the top of their game. I think it will be Casey, Lee and Bowersox sprinting to the finish line.



Song of the week:



I'm going to enjoy the next two weeks at home catchin' up with some old friends and then it's on to Boston for the rest of the summer! Stay tuned!

Road to the Kelly Cup

It's playoff hockey time! The NHL playoffs are underway and as usual the games are exciting as ever to watch. But that's not the most important hockey going on right now. The Charlotte Checkers are in the middle of their playoff push for the Kelly Cup. After finishing off the Toledo Walleye in a best of 5 series, the Checkers are taking on the Cincinnati Cyclones. After dropping the ball in game 1 and losing 4-3 those pesky Checkers bounced back with a 5-0 wiping of the Cyclones. The next three games are in Cincy, where the Checkers will look to continue their winning ways.


I know I posted this on facebook, but still think it's pretty funny.


It's been a while since I posted American Idol news, so let's take a few steps back. A couple weeks ago some serious drama went down as Big Mike was voted off and was forced to sing for his life. Well he did, and in dramatic fashion the judges saved him. I've been a fan if Big Mike since day 1. Just an all around great guy and the man has a set of pipes on him. And he can sing. (No Homo. He's jacked!) Tim Urban came out firing on all cylinders with his rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love." As Simon said he did go from zero to hero and showed he actually has some potential. My girl Siobhan has been steadily good, but not great. She hasn't wowed the judges like the first couple of weeks. I used to get amped up to see her and she's just been blah lately. Expect big things of her in the next few weeks. Andrew and Katie were voted off last week which was expected by many. They just weren't up to snuff. Two of the favorites Lee and Casey are getting better and better each week as well. I'm excited for the next few weeks. God I love this show.



What else? It's spring time. I love this weather, it's fun going to the rink and leaving with a nice day out to do whatever you want. This also means I'll be heading back to Boston soon which I am pretty excited about. There's nothing like summertime in Boston. Get to reunite with some good people at the finest local watering holes and soaking up the sun down the cape and Nantucket. Ahh good times. Can't wait. Before that though there's only one thing left to do..



(sorry it's fuzzy..but you get the point)

Superstitions

In my last blog I told you I would write an entire blog on weird superstitions I have seen in my career. So that's what I am going to do today. I really don't have to look far either cause I could've been the most superstitious person in the history of life early in my career and in college. Hockey players are no no notorious for being very superstitious...Here are a few examples starting from pre-college days...

I would get dressed the same exact way everytime I put my equipment on. Everything left to right. I always had my stick to my left as well while getting dressed. I then would put my gloves on, left, then right, without touching anything else. So I would have to put my left hand into the glove without touching anything else. Then my right hand into the right glove without touching anything else. That was just weird.

During warmups and in between period I used to have to skate 3 circles, then stretch again. The refs used to get mad at me cause I would delay the faceoff, but I had to do it.

I used to stretch before the games in my dress clothes before getting dressed. I would be stretching out in my khakis, dress shirt and shoes. That was just uncomfortable. I probably did this once and played well that game so I continued to do it every other game. Yikes. I think I was the only person to have superstitions back then too.

During my college days our lives were much more structured so the superstitions would take on a whole new level. It all started from the top. Our coach was very very superstitious, to say the least. He wore the same "coaching shoes," said the same things all the time, came in to talk to us at precisely the same exact times. He would not use a marker in practice that was the same color of the team we were playing! PSYCHO!!! We had a goalie that never spoke on gamedays..not even in class, even if he was called on. One guy wouldn't talk to girls on gamedays, not even his girlfriend. How about eating the same Bertucci's meal every night before a game. (on the road he would call 411 asking for the local bertucci's seeing how far they would deliver). These were just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone would get dressed and do their own little quirky things while getting ready. One game I read a newspaper on the way to our pregame meal and played well that night so I continued to read a newspaper before pregame meal. Sometimes there were no new papers so I just read the same one over and over again. How weird is that! I also wore the same pair of socks for a long time before they got too many holes in them and were just pieces of cloth on my feet. Our trainer Larry Venis picked up on some of my rituals and just looked at me in astonishment. During the game, I would never use the gate on the bench, I would just hope the boards everytime. I would also squirt the water bottle, before I drank it, then spit half it out. Don't ask me how I started all of these, they just evolved and then it turned into what it was. Now since the pro season is a lot longer and a lot less structured my superstitious ways have calmed quite a bit, but I still have a few here and there that I'll keep to myself. I know this blog was kind of all over the place and there were no pictures but I was just typing what came to mind. Hope you enjoyed!

PS. It's playoff time now so the time honored tradition of growing playoff beards starts now. WOO!!!!

The Mike Maher Blog

(I was looking for a good picture, but couldn't find one without his better half in the picture)
My good friend Mike Maher wrote a message on my facebook profile asking when I would "split some wisdom" to the world with a new blog. I asked him for some material he wanted to hear and this is what he replied:

Mike Maher hmm..some topics:
-re-naming "March Madness"... perhaps, "Spring Shitshow" is more fitting.
-Your dad's opinion of Gilbert Arenas
-The greatest mascot of all time
-Best superstitions you've come across in your teams
-tiger wo- wait nevermind
-Cheerleading: Sport or extracurricular activity
-Names your parents were going to na...me you prior to deciding on the WASPY "Kevin"
-Condiment you can't live without
-Nutsacks; just silly or underrated?

No need to thank me. Just send me a check.


So here are my answers..
march madness should be renamed.."Expletive!!! Butler always does well in the tourney and the Big East sucks the house out. There goes my life savings. I hope that bookie doesn't try and kill me." Not sure how CBS would broadcast that though.
My Dad hates the NBA and everything it stands for. Won't even watch it. If he turns it on he usually just yells at the TV and all the players on it for not playing fundamental basketball and not playing defense. So I'm sure Gilbert Arenas is just another reason to hate the game for him. I told him I saw the Wizards coach Flip Saunders out to eat last night and my Dad asked if he was packing heat.
Greatest actual mascot of all time has to be the Stanford Tree. It's a tree, that just bombs around during the games. Thats funny to me. The greatest name for a team would have to be the University of California at Santa Cruz "Banana Slugs." "Here we go Slugs" Let's go get 'em!!"
The best superstitions I've seen while playing could be a whole Blog in itself. So it will be! check back later for that one!
Tiger Woods. I'll say something quick. He is playing at the masters, but I don't really care about that. I can't wait to put the Masters on TV and take a nap on the couch. PERFECT sleeping noise. Instant snooze button when that comes on.

Cheerleading-Activity. But the male cheerleaders I respect. We all know why they are there, and they are usually pretty jacked. No Homo.
My dad legit wanted to call me Hubble Gardner Schaeffer. I think he heard it in a book or a movie one time, but I probably would've never left my house if that was my name. Or talked to my Dad. Both. Ever.
I absolutley cannot live without Ketchup. I put it on EVERYTHING. When in doubt put ketchup on it. Eggs, steak, potatoes. Check. I didn't like hot dogs when I was young so I would take the hot dog roll and pour ketchup in it and eat it just to fit in. Pretzels, dip them in ketchup. Potato Chips, dip them in ketchup. Ketchup, dip it in ketchup. I need to switch over to Organic ketchup now though cause there is way too much high fructose corn syrup in regular ketchup and I'm trying to watch my figure.


Nutsacks. Silly. I love when you see a truck with the nutsack hanging from the license plate. I laugh at that.


Thanks for coming out!

It's Upset City Baby!

I filled out my bracket this year with high hopes. I was writing in a few upsets here and there, picked some teams that aren't a high seed but usually do well in the big dance. My picks were just flowing off the pen and I felt like I had a winner. Then the games began and teams that I picked decided to take a huge dump on the tourney and use my bracket to wipe their behinds. The Big Least really let me down, especially after hearing all the ESPN analysts talk about how it was the greatest conference in the country this year. Guess Not. Hey Villanova, give me my money back cause you were godawful this year. I actually picked them to win the whole thing this year. They were a #2 seed and usually do well in the tourney. Boy I was way off! I'm rooting for Cornell to go all the way this year. I picked them to reach the sweet 16 and they did. And as usual, I would like Duke to go far. I just don't think they have the athletes to do it. Only time will tell! As much as I am upset that my teams S'd the bed in the tourney, it does make for an exciting March. I mean who doesn't really enjoy an upset. (Besides the guy who lost a buttload of money to their bookie) It will be interesting to see how the rest of the tourney plays out! Check back to see how I finish in our pool.

As my man Randy Jackson would say the Charlotte Checkers are hot baby! They have rattled off 7 straight wins and have gotten a total of 17 out of a possible 18 points in their last 9 games. With a tough road schedule out of the way, the Checkers are going to enjoy a nice 5 games at their home barn, then finish off the regular season with a nice trip to Florida for two games.(Just in time to catch some Red Sox-Twinkies spring training ball). Last time we were in Florida this is what we were looking at:





Tough Life, I know...
It should be a fun trip. With a few games in hand on the teams in front of us in the standings we have a shot at getting first in the conference. With the playoffs right around the corner I hope the Checkers are peaking at the right time. Especially since our owner promised us he would match our playoff bonus and said us all on vacation!! Count it!! Let's do it Checkers!
In not so awesome news, but not really that bad, I received my 4356322nd black eye over the weekend. Add that to a cut under my eye and the cut on my lip and I look pretty good. This time my left eye was the victim of a hard and high hit, while a reebok 7K got me good in the lip. Every person I see looks at me funny or asks if I won the fight. I wish I could tell them a cool story, but once again..I got nothing. I bruise like a peach!


Anyway with all this good weather, I'm not excited for the season to be over, but excited for summertime. I guess not many people aren't. It's not like you ever hear anyone say "Ughh, the weather is getting so nice, I'm dreading this upcoming summer, it's going to be miserable." That was dumb. Anyway until next time enjoy this classic! Ohh nooo, Ohh she's really hurt. I hope she's ok!

Tiger Tiger Woods Ya'll

Just found out Tiger Woods is coming back for the Masters. That's going to be a circus. All eyes on Tiger at that tournament...So I guess things haven't changed too much. Anyway the reason I bring this up is because we had our Checkers Charity golf tournament yesterday. Awesome time and beautiful Weather. A few guys ended up getting some good sunburns and mixed that with the some wobbly pops and it's a fun day. Throw in a few more wobbly pops and it turns into a great day. It usually gets pretty scary though leading up to the tournament because you never know what kind of group you are going to get stuck with. It could be a LONG 18 holes if you're with some random jabronis. Luckily for me I had a great group. All good guys, but all good golfers. I for one am not the best golfer. Trust me, I look good, but it doesn't usually translate to good scores. I haven't swung a club in about 5 months too so I was pretty sure I was going to embarrass myself. Well I didn't embarrass myself I actually played pretty well...for the first 9 holes. After that the wheels started to fall off. I duffed a few shots pretty bad. And I couldn't sink a putt for the life of me but that's neither here nor there. All in all I had a good time and it was all for charity!




So does everyone remember seeing the video Everday Normal Guy? Yes? No ok, so this guy made a video a few years back that was pretty funny called Everyday Normal Guy. It's pretty self explanatory. I was just introduced to another song of his that I can't get out of my head. I think it's hilarious. So for your viewing pleasure I give you both: (Warning: Bad Language)







Ok, so I know I've been on a music kick lately, but also check out the link on my facebook profile with Zac Brown and Jimmy Buffett. Classic!

Rolling Stones theme week on American Idol this week too. In case everyone was on the edge of their seat wondering. They better step up their game. I haven't been too impressed so far.

By the way the Checkers are hot. Hopefully we can keep this unbeaten streak going. We are in gorgeous Elmira, NY then the old stomping grounds Reading, PA before returning home to take on Uncle Tony Zanc and the rest of the Trenton Devils.

See ya next week! And tell me you didn't laugh when you see this picture..

The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful!

So we've had a few awesome days down here in Charlotte. Yesterday, we took a boat out on Lake Wylie which is a few minutes away from our apartments. It was awesome. Just a bunch of us guys jammin to some tunes throwin back a few adult sodas. Some real male bonding going on. It was just nice enough to throw the shirts off a bit and try and get some sun on our pasty white skin. When the wind picked up it got a little cold, but it was principle that we were out on the lake, so we had to go Sun's out Guns out! Here's a snapshot of a few beauties to the right! It unfortunately rained today, but hopefully after that it will start to get real nice for the rest of spring. Can't wait!

Beauty!!!




It's a Wednesday night, so obviously I am watching American Idol. And of course I didn't miss it last night either. I was not impressed by any of the girls, but I think Siobhan, Didi and Crystal are the best. In that order. Now the guys just finished and I will say I was impressed by my main man Big Mike. YEAAA DAWGG!! BIG MIKE IN DA HOUSE! He killed it, making Kara cry. I hate Kara more and more after each show by the way. I thought everyone did a pretty good job though. Pretty much the guys beat the wheels off the girls. Which is to be expected cause guys are better than girls at everything. It's science. Look it up.



Staying on the music scene, I got a couple good tunes for you to check out. Here they are:





If you have any songs for me to check out let me know. Love checkin out new tunes!

I got The Hurt Locker Fired up in the DVD player and I've been itching to see it, so that's all folks.

We're Still Better Than You

So Canada won the Gold Medal. Well Whoop-Dee-Doo. A big collective sigh of relief by Canada. All of Canada is gloating about their big win against the US in the gold medal game yesterday. I'm not gonna hate on them by making excuses because from what I heard it was a great game. (I had to play my own game during the gold medal game so I couldn't watch. It was only one of the biggest games in recent memory, No big deal.)But I'll let Canada live it up for winning you know why? Because it's all they have! Name something else Canada is good at. Curling is all that comes to mind. Mike Myers, Jim Carrey and Shania Twain. That's about all Canada is good for. So let them have their glory. I'd like to compare it to the US winning the gold medal in basketball in the summer olympics. Like they should win. Everyone in America plays basketball, everyone in Canada plays hockey. Good job Canada for winning..err not blowing it. We're still better than Canada in the game of life.

A true Canadian.


Ahh Regency 202. Good times!


As I mentioned earlier, the Charlotte Checkers took a nice road trip out to Cincinnati, then on to Kalamazoo, Michigan for a 3 game road trip. The trip started out good as we won a good game in Cincy on friday night, then we unfortunately dropped two games to the Wings. Let me tell you, what a city! Beautiful! Anyway, it was great to grab some dinner with some good friends Tom Morrow and Brian McGuirk. Oh wait, no Guirky decided he had to go play with his dog instead of coming to dinner. What a great guy huh? We even made plans during warm ups, but I guess since he scored a goal in the game (illegally) he was too cool to meet up with an old friend. I enjoyed my company though. Tom and his lovely girlfriend Lauren made for great conversation, while enjoying a great meal.



A quick American Idol update. My girl Janelle Wheeler was given the boot. Unfortunate, but her performance looked like it belonged at T's Pub on a Tuesday night. My good buddy and big AI fan, Adam McQuaid was distraught over Janelle getting sent home after sending me a message displaying obvious signs of disgust. Just don't make fun of him or else he'll do this to you:



Anyway, I was very unimpressed by the last weeks performances. I hope this week the nerves will be calmed and some good performances will prevail!

I am going to see Darius Rucker and Kellie Pickler in concert this week. You're kidding yourself if you don't think I'm yelling "HOOOOOTIE!! PLAY LET HER CRY!!!" the whole time.


Hi-yah to this blog post!

USA!

Keep this playing while reading. It will make it seem more important!

Well I figured I would write up a quick blog cause there's a couple of things I wanted to write about and well I'm pretty bored.

Team USA beat Team Canada last night in a great game. It really came down to goaltending. Ryan Miller was unreal in net for the US, while Marty Brodeur was the opposite of unreal for Canada. Bad time for the best goalie in hockey history to take a dump in the net. I was excited for the win, but I'm not getting too excited as we haven't won anything yet. We still need to win a few more games to claim gold. Let's do it! (Canada picture courtesy of Barstool Sports)

Miller




Brodeur




Not to be sexist, so I am watching the women's team play right now also as we speak and they are putting a hurtin' on Team Sweden. Weird. Besides Canada I think every other country just asked a bunch of random girls if they wanted to play hockey in the olympics. Remember in the movie Little Giants. "Do you know how to play football? No "Do you want to play football?" No "Do you like football?" No. "Good you can play on our team." Anyway, some of these girls on US are pretty talented and have some good style. Some look pretty cute too through their cages. What? Maybe cause they are playing some seriously weak competition, but some of these girls have a bad case of dangleitis. Anyway the game right now is 7-1. One thing I don't like about the girls is that they continue to celebrate every goal, like Mike Eruzione just scored the game winner against the Soviets. No need for that, and no need to blow the air horn after scoring goal #7 in a 7-1 game.

In non hockey related news, I've been eating a lot of oranges lately. There's only one problem though, it's nearly impossible for me to peel an orange. Is this not one of the hardest things to do ever? Am I the only one? Like first it takes a few minutes to actually get a cut in the skin to start peeling. (I don't use a knife, I'm all natural). So then I stick my finger in there to start peeling and then piece, by piece, by piece....by piece it comes off. It literally comes off in like 100 little pieces. Why can't it just comes off all at once? Remember when you played soccer as a kid and at halftime you had orange slices. They were perfectly sliced, none of that crappy white stuff on the edges. I WANT THAT!! Maybe someone can give me some tips..

While I was in Hartford, one of the sports writers wrote an article about me which was pretty cool. Too bad I was sent back down to Charlotte, the day the article came out. Oh well. As they say any press is good press. So anyway, I'm back down in Charlotte now and went for lunch today and a good spot down here called JustFresh. Some good sandwiches. So I ordered a Santa Fe. Just a chicken sandwich with some works on it. Very tatsty. So I'm waiting for my sandwich and the chef yells out, "I got Santa Fe's, Chipwiches, frozen fruit bars, ice cold snicker, FUUDDGGEEEYYYWUDDGEEYY bars!" I started dying laughing. And if you're not from Long Island, or have never been to Robert Moses you have no idea what I am talking about, if you have though I'm sure you are laughing. It made my day.


Until next time!

Do you believe in Miracles! Yes!

Gotta love Mike Eruzione at the Miracle on Ice squad.

The olympics are in full swing now and I'm soaking it all in being an American super fan. Curling, figure skating, speed skating, skiing, I've been checking out all of it. The speedskating baffles me. I mean I play hockey and have been skating for about 20 years now. And I still love to skate. What I don't like is skating in circles and for a long time. It just isn't fun. I hate skating laps. I guess thats why they are in the olympics and I'm not...I actually loved watching the skiing though. And not just because Lindsay Vonn is all the rage right now, but it reminded me of how badly I want to go. I haven't had the chance to go because of hockey for so many years, but as soon as I am done playing that is one of the first things I want to do. I went one time when I was real young, to Ski-Shawnee in the Pocono's. I was maybe 5 years old so Poppa Schaeff didn't want me to go down the regular slopes, I had to go to the bunny slopes. Let's just say I was not happy. They made the kids hop around and sing these songs that I wanted no part of(Something along the lines of..something Ski!-Shaw!-nee!, What do we do?? We Ski!!). They only let you go down a hill comparable to a speedbump. Naturally I threw a fit that my folks were not happy about. They have seen way too many of those in my day.
Another blog will talk about that. Anyway, my dad had enough so he threw me down the normal slopes, probably hoping I would crash and burn to teach me a lesson, but of course I was sick, rippin down the slopes like a regular Bode Miller and ending with a full stop, spraying a picturesque wave of snow.(Maybe a slight exaggeration, but I was good). Anyway, that's all I remember from that trip, but ipso facto I want to go ski.

Another thing I wanted to mention about the Olympics is how you work you're whole life for your event and then it comes to your turn, and than BAM!that's it. Your whole life is riding on that one shot. Talk about pressure. I mean a game is different, anything can happen and if you make a mistake, you get a chance to make it up. With some of these other sports one mistake and it's lights out. Pack your bags you're going home. You lost by .0001 seconds so you did not qualify. Now that is pressure.

"What do you know about pressure?? We'll I have kissed a man"

Oh by the way, there is hockey to be played as well. US took care of the Swiss today and Canada is taking care of international powerhouse, Norway. Hopefully the young American squad can come away with a medal, preferably gold, but we'll take anything. Hopefully Canada loses the rest of the way.


Watching American Idol as we speak as well. I've been watching this show too long that I can read Simon like a book. He tries the old, you weren't good, very inconsistent and there aren't many spots....but your through to the next round, wink!
He's gotta get rid of that wink. It's a little creepy. And Ellen continues to be a great fit. That woman is hysterical.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done...Smell ya later!

So much for that storm..

So the past few days all I've been hearing on the news is how big this snowstorm was supposed to be. Well I think in Hartford the total was about 2 inches. Maybe 3. I know some areas got hit pretty hard, but I guess Mother Nature spared HartCity. Thanks Mother N. So the hotel I'm staying at is great. They feed you breakfast and dinner almsot every night, and most people who go their are staying there for an extended period of time. The cast of The Lion King, the broadway show, or off broadway I don't know what you call it, is staying here with us. I think the show on Broadway is like the big times and this one is like the minor leagues. Like me! Anyway, they were nice enough to grab us a few extra tickets so a bunch of the boys went. .
Now I've seen the show before in NYC and I thought it was pretty good. Now I know everyone is going to say, "But Kevin, that's a disney movie, what a loser!" Well those people are below me. Well I saw it again and it was still freakin sweet. Bravo! Bravo! I highly recommend it. And I'll keep an eye out for Rafiki in the hotel




On Monday, the Terriers lost in the beanpot finals to the bad guys at BC. It was a good game with back and forth action. If BC didn't get those few lucky bounces and the Terriers didn't hit a few posts, The Dugout woulda been rockin' early into Tuesday morning. Oh well. BU still owns the tourney. And I still have three pots of beans on my mantle. I don't REALLY have three pots of beans...nor a mantle I would put them on for that matter.


For those of you who don't know I happen to be a big American Idol fan. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. Although being a big American Idol fan while watching Broadway plays, I might need to mix in some monster truck ralleys or something. Anywho, I liked what I've seen out of Ellen so far. I think she is very funny to begin with but I think she's a pretty good judge as well. Hopefully she keeps it up. I've seen some talent in the past few shows and I'll try and write a litle something about some contestants that move on in the next few weeks. I'm sure my Idol associates Quilty Powers, and Kelly Schaeffer will have some input too. A lot of great Idol minds there. I say keep an eye out for Janelle Wheeler. I thought she was great. You know who else thought she was great...my man Tim Tebow. Turns out they are "romantically linked." I guess I know talent when I see it.


And I had to get this off my chest as well.
Dear Facebook,
STOP CHANGING THE LAYOUT! Everytime it gets worse and worse. I just don't get why they change the damn thing. If it aint broke, why fix it. Now for guys(stalkers) like myself it makes browsing(creeping) on facebook much harder. That really grinds my gears. Speaking of..


Thanks from your #1 fan,
Kevin Schaeffer


Another thing that grinds my gears is this years superbowl commercials. I'd say they were pretty lame..with a capital L..and an exclamation point after the E so therefore they were...Lame! Here's another classic brought to you by the great folks at Bud Light. I really should get paid for the free advertising...and for all the BL's I've drank.


That's all I got for today. Pretty busy weekend coming up. Peace in the hair grease!

Superbowl Time!

Hopefully everyone is getting ready for their Super Bowl parties to watch the big game. You absolutley can't talk about the Super Bowl without referencing some lines from Ace Ventura. We are having our party here a in a bit and it should be fun. We just returned from a road trip down to Norfolk, VA. We drove through the whole night and snow storm down in the DC area. It was quite a disaster as our bus was not ideal for sleeping conditions. Guys were spread out everywhere, under the seats, over the seats. Remember in the movie Airplane where they said to assume crash positions? That is what the bus looked like. Needless to say if you did not have a few sleeping pills you weren't going to get much shut eye. I think I maybe slept for a total of 20minutes with my back and neck in every which way.



Short one today cause I have to get ready to party. Hope everyone has a fun evening watching some foosball, eating unhealthy food and drinking some adult sodas! Maybe we can see some more sweet Bud Light commercials like this one!

Insert Clever Title Here

Just a few things I wanted to write about quickly.

I watched the grammy's and saw Lady Gaga and Elton John's performance. I'm not really sure what was going on to tell you the truth. To me it looked like Sir Elton and Gaga just got done trying to do an oil change at Jiffy Lube and then came straight to the show. Whatever sells I guess.



Also, Ricky Martin? Seriously Still? He hasn't had a song in about ten years and he throws around the "it's hot" like he's still livin la vida loca. Move on Grammy's and move on Ricky.

And Taylor Swift. I like her music, I know a lot of her songs. She is talented. But PLEASE act like you've won before. I mean you have won a buttload of awards already and everytime you act like it's the first time and how you're so surprised and can't believe this is really happening to you yaddah yaddah yaddah. We get it. You win. A lot. Accept it, say your thank yous and let's move on. Thank you.

By the way the Terriers won the first round of the 'pot and will face BC in the finals. Never happens. Cue the terrible BC Beanpot Trot..



Now Cue "The Song"!!!!!

Ouch!

My senior year in college I had a black eye for pretty much the whole year. That's a whole story in itself that I will not get into, but most of you may know. Anyway, In my game Friday night, I got hit from behind into the boards and my face hit my visor. And this was the result! Makin' it look mean!! It doesn't hurt so please don't feel bad. Although I will take sympathy from any fine females out there. So today we had a big team function where we were meeting the fans, playing some games, taking pictures and signing autographs while raising money for charity.

This conversation happened at least 25 times.

Fan: Oh man! You have a black eye??
Me: Really?
Fan: How'd it happen? Did you get beat up?
Me: No I got hit from behind.
Fan: Oh. Well that sucks.
Me: Well it wasn't fun


Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Kickin' it in HartCity / Beanpot Time

What's up ya'll. As some of you may know, and some of you may not, I was called up to Hartford to play for the Wolfpack so I've been here for a few days now. Let me tell you, what a city! Just a lively and vibrant place to be. I tend to think of Hartford as that girl you call a "50 footer." She looks good from 50 feet, but once you get closer you realize she's not even close. Well that's kinda like Hartford. Coming off the highway it looks like a nice little city, but it's not close. Granted I've been in much worse places that's for sure, (Reading, PA, Binghamton, NY.Brutal.) but I was expecting a little bit more. Oh well, beggers can't be choosers. They do have a MOE's Southwest Grill, so I'm good. It is snowing today so maybe that doesn't help the mood.




(Curry was probably giving interviews or something cause he sucks)

So the first two Mondays in February are almost here and we all know what that means..BEANPOT TIME!!! I have been to the last 6 'pots, playing in 4 and then watching from the stands the last two, but I don't think I will make it this year. Which is kind of a sad day for me. Some of my greatest memories I don't remember in college were from the Beanpot. The great times at "Le Dugout" and 115 Baystate Road..Hold on a second. Give me a moment..Ok, I'm back. Sorry I had to get a Kleenex to wipe away some of these tears. Be Strong. OK so back to what I was saying, playing at BU we won 3 Beanpots and it was an unreal feeling. PLaying in front of 17,000 screaming fans with the bands going. Surreal. There is nothing that compares to that, especially not in pro hockey. The fans are not nearly intense or passionate about their teams.



Good interview, better hair..



As you can see from the videos it's quite an experience and we were lucky enough to win a few of them. The Beanpot can jumpstart the rest of the season, so hopefully this years Terriers can take home the 'pot and ride it with some W's till the end of the year.

Another good thing about the Beanpot is finding gems like this..




Peace, I'm outta here!!

Time to Ketchup

Hey all. Sorry I've been slacking on here a bit, the last week or so has been pretty hectic. I'll try and get back on track this week. First off, let's talk about the big news story. Is Brett Favre serious? Was that pass serious? Did he bet the Saints winning? He looked like PappaJohn serving up a pizza on a silver platter. I mean I know it's the heat of the game yaddah yaddah yaddah, but I'm pretty sure the guys playing football in the Wrangler jeans commercial could've made a better read. Maybe Brett just wanted to end the season and put on his Real. Comfortable. Jeans. OR he should've been wearing his wranglers underneath his uniform, because he's most comfortable in them.


I don't know but I would be pretty pissed if I was in the Vikings locker room. Then again, who am I to judge. The guy is one of the best QB's ever and I'm writing a blog that about 10 people read talking about him. Oh well. Also, Adrian Peterson is a beast. Just a freak of nature. That's all.

Now let's look ahead to the upcoming weeks. All Super-Bowl all the time. Every Channel, every hour. Maybe even a few Peyton Manning commercials. They're always funny. Heaven forbid they mix in a hockey highlight over the next two weeks. But I hope the Saints win anyway. The Colts have had their day in the sun.


Back to my favorite show ever, Jersey Shore. Unfortunately the show is over,
but they are bringing it back for another season. I've heard a bunch of different scenarios for next season. I've heard them bringing back the same cast for next year, bringing in some new blood with a new cast(blood type Ragu) or having a show with a bunch of Massholes. I think a new cast with some new loveable guidos and guidettes to follow would be the best bet. We'll be seeing plenty of this years cast trying to extend their 15 mins of fame with bar promotions and "celeb" reality shows. I heard they make 10,000$ per promotion. 10grand to go to a bar act like an idiot and get drunk?? I'd do that for free! I'm in the wrong business. These people will be getting paid a crapload of money for just being themselves...morons.


That's all I got for today. But like Arnold says..

Live from New York It's....Tuesday Night!!

I am currently sitting at my parent's house in New York. There's a few things I always do when I get the chance to go home. It all has to do with food. I go to either Victor's or Rosa's Pizza. Best pizza ever hands down. Ever. I also go to Bagel Biz and get my sandwich. Turkey, American Cheese and Pickles on an Egg Bagel. I get a strange look every time I order it but I love it. No mayo or mustard, just plain. I used to go to "The Biz" after high school all the time with my old buddy James "Puggs" Maltese. Manmailer Eric Cohen used to work there and would sometimes give me the sandwich for the price of "on the house." I was there today and saw some St. Anthony's Friars enjoying some food and it brought back some good memories. (I'll get to more on good old St. Tony's later) The other thing I do is battle with myself to not eat sweets. Anyone that has been to my house is dumbfounded at the amount of dessert foods that are in the Schaeffer household. We have on average 4-5 cartons of ice cream, some Entenmann's cake, cookies and candy. That's just in the kitchen! Family room. Boom! box of chocolates. Computer area. Boom! M&Ms in a jar. Bathroom, BOOM Cupcakes. No I'm kidding about the bathroom, it's just more candy. During the holiday season, take everything and double it! It's bad.

Your average day at the Schaeffer House.



So back to St. Anthony's High School.
It was recently voted the best high school sports program in New York State. So because of that they decided to build this HUGE field house on the school grounds. They call it the Student Center cause it's not just all for sports, but for the Chorus, Band and Art Program. I finally was able to get a tour of it today and let me tell you I was blown away. But it is pretty much all for sports. I think I saw a trumpet, CHELLLOOOOOOO, music stand and a paintbrush and the rest was all athletic facilities. They also have a Physical Therapy clinic at the school! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! It was a top knotch facility too with an aqua treadmill. I've seen some D1 college programs with a lot worse facilities. Oh well, maybe I'm just jealous.


My colleague Kevin Kielt pointed out a gem for me online as our good friend Mr. Met John Curry was interviewed after practice with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The interview sounded great, but can someone get this kid a towel? He's got sweat all over the place, leaking on the microphones, rubbing it all over his face. Do they only give Sid the Kid a hand towel there? Act like you've been there before Johnny! Clean it up. Check it out on the Pittsburgh Penguins website under "GameDay Video." Hopefully it will still be up there.

As I mentioned earlier, Sean Sullivan was playing in the AHL all-star game tonight. Canada beat the PlanetUSA all-stars in a shootout. Final score 10-9. Sully finished with a respectable 2 SOGS. He's keeping all of his points for the regular season I guess. Can't blame him! Jack Parker was interviewed after the game saying he was upset about Sean's lack of desire, determination and will to win.

Also, after the first week of my blog I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind words of support of my blog. Here are a few examples: (names may have been changed)

ALL AMERICAN LAXER: "WOW I LOVE YOUR BLOG"

CANADIAN IMMIGRANT: "Although I think your kind of a pickle for doing it ... great blog. Personally I kinda hope Jake Redlih's decides to start a blog after seeing yours."

SOGOODATDRINKING1: "I'm a regualr reader of your blog, even if you choose to discuss terrible reality tv shows"

MYFORMERNEIGHBOR: "Impressive blog. I have tremendous amounts of time on my hands and since i am to lazy to do anything besides golf i just wait to read something new of yours. Thanks for killing 5 minutes of my time."

CAMBRIDGE:"I was definitely expecting something different from your blog.. but I have to say.. nice work. I like the Jersey Shore shout out. P.S. I might be going on a Jersey Shore bar crawl... I will be sure to let you know how that one turns out."

It's these kind words that make me wake up in the morning wanting to make myself a better blogger.