I'm bored with Phusebox.
I'm out for good.

I think it's funny that the US lost it's first soccer game in the world cup 3-0.

Just wanted to get that out.

I walk down to the mailbox this morning and open it up and I have 4 envelopes inside. I'm excited because I don't get mail on a regular basis, let alone 4 letters at once.

2 of them were junk. The other 2 were a smack in the face from reality.
Comcast bill.
KUB bill.

No matter what happens in my life now, I'll always have bills to pay.
That kinda sucks.

But on a bright note, I've decided to stay at the O'Charleys in Alcoa due to alot of reasons but mainly because they treat me better than the other one so..yeah.

I've gotta pay rent in 2 weeks and I just might have enough to pay all of it by myself which is freaking awesome for me.

Life is good.

Remarks?

Here's my grades from this semester...

Psychology -- B
Calculus -- B
English -- A
Astronomy -- B
Journalism -- B

So now my GPA for freshman year is 3.2.

Sweetness.

See? I am a smart kid. Kind of.

Here's some pictures from Lyndi's prom a few weeks ago...


Me and Lyndi at prom


Mom, me, Lyndi, Dad


My favorite picture of us..I love her so much...


Who's that handsome devil? :-) Isn't she beautiful?


Me and Lyndi being us ;-)


I'm priceless...


Lyndi and I at the Opryland Hotel on our anniversary

That's all for now. Remarks?

cantrell.out

Call me insensitive if you want but...

How does sleeping in a parking lot solve anything? Bums do it all the time and they're only looked down on so..what's the point?

Maybe there's a better way to fight another "war" we have no place in.

I'm just sayin'...

Give it another week. They're comin' back.

6 months is far too long. Opinions? Let's hear 'em.

So I've been working with and getting used to the Mac and I've found something completely awesome: iChat one-way video chat. Tested it out last night and I was able to chat with Kelly so that she could see and hear me and I could hear her (she doesn't have a camera). Real time. No delays. Awesome picture.

Oh yeah.

Also I called the apartment complex where I'll be living this fall and I'm on the 3rd floor of the building which is about 3 blocks back from campus. I'm taking 6 credit hours this summer at Pellissippi along with getting another job to pay for the apartment and hopefully take Lyndi somewhere nice before school starts up again this fall. She deserves it :-)

I'm addicted to Myspace now. It's the new Xanga..haha. Funny I suppose. So the semester is coming to a close and it's time for a glance at the good ol' GPA.

Fall 2005: 3.09
Spring 2006: 3.09

Yeah. I'm content.

I miss my Mustang. One day I'll find another one. You just wait...

cantrell.out

Life pretty much sucks right now.

Thats all I have to say about anything.

Lyndi's birthday was yesterday and our one-year anniversary is tomorrow! I love her so much!

So Florida won the NCAA Title last night.
"I'm not even gonna say it but..you know I'm upset."

I won both of the pools I entered brackets in. Overall on Facebook I came in 99th so..yeah! Haha! While my pick to win the Championship was a longshot (Tennessee, obviously) I still managed to have 2 teams in the Final Four (LSU and Florida) and I even called the LSU-Duke upset. Come on. How could you not love watching JJ reddick cry?

Bruce Pearl came in 3rd for National Coach of the Year but he did manage to gain SEC Coach of the Year, so I guess that's good enough for us here.

I'm throughly enjoying the MacBook. I sat in Astronomy today and made a webpage with iWeb. I took my notes, too. Sort of.

cantrell.out

Well, it's become official.

I've converted from a PC to Mac.

I'm sitting here typing on my new MacBook Pro (which is un-freakin-believeable) and I've been in an awesome mood pretty much since the time I opened the box.

That's all for now. 1 more month to go...

So I love my new job.

I found out that all of the paperwork for the apartment went through and I'll be moving in sometime around May 1.

Lyndi came up to Knoxville on Thursday and stayed with me until today so that made my spring break better than it would have been. My "break" was two days..the only 2 I didn't have to work. Oh well. Money is my lifeline now.

Kind of sucks that my parents won't be taking care of me anymore in the sense that if I'm hungry I can ask for some cash to go to Sonic or out to eat on the weekends.

Oh well. It's always better living on your own than living a life with so many restrictions and rules.

I don't care that we almost lost.
I don't care that it was a close game.
It doesn't matter we only won by 2.
All that does matter is...

CHRIS LOFTON

#2 Tennessee 63
#15 Winthrop 61

We may not play like a #2 seed and we might not be as good as other teams in the tournament but we came back from nothing to get where we are. This team is everything this school could ask for. We like them so much that I haven't heard much about Pat Summitt and the women. Didn't they win another National Championship?

I found a tape I had from BigStuf 2002, the first year Belle Aire went.

All I can say is..

Wow.

We were all 15! Haha..

Quote of the Day:
"How the hell did Tennessee get a #2 seed?"
-Dane Bradshaw, Forward

Last year my bracket had North Carolina and Illinois in the championship game. I was called stupid for putting a 'bad' NC team against an 'awesome' Illinois team.

Carolina won. That's right.

Granted, my bracked was partially screwed by Bucknell beating Kansas way early but that didn't matter in the end.

Just finished up filling out the brackets and let me tell you..I'm going to be called crazy again. So far I've got two laid out and in my fantsay bracket I've got Tennessee winning it all over Memphis by 2. In my reality bracket I've got North Carolina over Memphis by 6.

Here's my take on things:
- Duke will lose to LSU in the Sweet 16.
- UAB will beat a weak Kentucky team. Patrick Sparks should have stayed at Western Kentucky.
- Tennessee should win out beating North Carolina and UConn.
- Florida will, unfortunately, make it to the Final Four but lose an embarrassing game to North Carolina.
- Rodney Carney and Memphis ought to be considered the most feared team in the tournament.
- Northern Iowa will make it to the Sweet 16 by beating Georgetown and Ohio State, #7 and #2 seeds respectively.
- Gonzaga and Adam Morrison have a shot at beating Memphis to make it to the Final Four but they'll fall just short. Blame it on the conference.
- The Missouri Valley got 4 teams in. Good for them. The Big East came out on top with 8 teams. Talking SEC: 6 teams -- Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, and LSU.
- Tennessee obtained a #2 seed in the Washington Region. Whoever pushed that through deserves a keg from the student body and a free pizza from Bruce Pearl.

By the way...
Bruce Pearl and Chris Lofton did not recieve any SEC honors as far as coach or player of the year. Lofton was a 1st team choice and Pearl is hated by everyone outside of Tennessee.

Personally, Pearl should be COTY on everyone's ballot because aside from Kentucky, who EVER talked about the SEC?

That's my take on things. Crazy? Possibly. Arrogant? Slightly.

 Excited?

Definately.

Granted we lost 3 of our last 5 games of the season..or something like that..we're still positive here.

21-6 overall, 12-4 in the SEC.
I don't know about anyone else but I'll take those numbers and being ranked in the Top 15 any day.

We've got a first round bye in the SEC Tournament so our first game is Friday against either South Carolina or Mississippi State.

Here's some breaking news..the Lady Vols won the SEC Championship. Like that's never happened before...

Aside from basketball..
I got a job. I'm a host at O'Charleys. After a while I'll be able to be a server but for now..this is awesome.

I think I'm close to finding an apartment, too. Gotta find somewhere soon, though.

I'm pullin hard this year during the Tournament. I've got alot of bold predictions and I'll probably post those after Selection Sunday. I'll say this now though...

JJ Reddick..you suck. Tyler Hansborough is the next big thing.
Chris Lofton will light it up next year and be a First-Team All American and possibly Player of the Year.
Roy Williams is so much better than Coach K.
Jakim Noah (or whatever his name is) from Florida plays like a girl..and CJ Watson proved he couldn't take a shot.
Bruce Pearl should be the Coach of the Year. Find a better story than him and we'll talk.
Adam Morrison will be player of the year over Reddick. Why? Because Morrison is likeable and no one outside of the Duke campus likes Reddick.

As far as the Sweet 16 goes? We've got a week to argue.

#10 Tennessee  76
#9 Florida  72

SEC EAST CHAMPS!

Remaining Schedule:
vs Arkansas, Saturday February 25
vs Kentucky, Wednesday, March 1
@ Vanderbilt, Saturday, March 4

The Kentucky game is an absolute sellout. What does that mean? 25,000+ people. This game could quite possibly end up being the largest crowd in Thompson-Boling Arena history.

Tennessee Basketball.
20-4, 11-2 SEC.
SEC East Champs.
#1 seed in the SEC Tournament.

All this from the team picked to finish last in the SEC.
Ha. GO VOLS.

Who would've figured!?

I had an interesting night tonight.

First off, I went to eat at Famous Dave's BBQ. Absolutely delicious...

After that I just decided to drive around seeing as how I knew nothing really of the area outside of campus and Kingston Pike. I got onto Chapman Highway (going southeast out of Knoxville) and stayed on that road until I started seeing signs for Dollywood and Gatlinburg. I made it all the way to Sevier Co. which means I was about 30 minutes from Gatlinburg.

I find it funny but I guess that's just me.

Tomorrow, er, today I think I'm going apartment hunting.

By the way, I hate the Alabama basketball team and their fans. Yes, you can make fun of me seeing as how I used to be an Alabama fan but I really don't care. I hate them with a passion.

I feel like typing. I don't know why but sometime's I get in these moods where I just wanna type until I run out of things to type about.

I honestly don't think anyone has any idea about how excited I am and how much of an honor it is to get to be one of the hosts on Hot Topix. This is the beginning of my dream. I keep thinking if I'll ever make it and I tell myself that it's just a dream and it will never happen because I'm not good enough to ever be on Sportscenter. Lyndi tells me I am. She knows I can be great. I thought that until I was sitting in front of that camera with people calling into the show. Then I realized I could do it. It's what I was meant to do. I may not be the most lively, the funniest, or even the best at doing that but I love what I do.

I miss high school. I DON'T miss all the drama and stupid things that kids worry and fight over. What I miss about high school is how it was an easier time and it just felt good being at home all the time and just having fun with little responsibility. Now...

Well, college is the threshold of the real world. I have so much responsibility now and it's kind of hard knowing that there's no more family vacations and no more sitting around just doing nothing. There's always something that needs to get done and while I love this lifestyle sometimes I wish that I was a senior again.

On to something extremely important right now: basketball. #11 in the AP poll. #14 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. 17-3 overall, 8-1 in the SEC. Won at then #5 Texas and at home against then undefeated and #2 Florida. Beat Kentucky AT Rupp Arena. I'm just sayin that it's been an awesome year. You know what we were predicted at? 14-17 overall, 7-9 in the SEC. We came into this season ranked 85th in the country. We're now ranked 11th out of 365. 20,000 people come to watch every home game. The students love the team. Bruce Pearl is unimaginable. The man can flat out coach. He knows how to work a crowd. He could care less what the alumni think and the most important opinions are that of the biggest fans: the students.

I've had the opportunity to meet him, shake his hand 3 or 4 times, and listen to him talk about what he wanted to accomplish and what he has accomplished. In 13 years he has never had a losing record. We close out our home schedule with Kentucky. I couldn't see a more fitting team to play in the last game in Knoxville this year.

Just for perspective, us beating Kentucky was like Oakland beating Siegel. Yeah, it's THAT important.

I went to the first game of the season. I told Bruce Pearl we would cheer for him and the team win or lose. He feeds off of us. We feed off of him. The players are more respected on campus than the football players. This is the team we've been dying to have play here. They're undersized than almost everyone they play. They're less talented than the higher ranked teams. They play with grit, love for the game, and heart. That's why we're 17-3. We support them in anything.

Don't think I'm just on because we're winning. We could be 3-17 right now and I would STILL go to the games and cheer until I made a parent leave with their child. I have a passion for sports. I have a passion for my team no matter what school it is. I've been out of middle school for 5 years now but when I hear something good about Central it makes me happy. I keep up with Blackman and how they're doing in all their sports and pull for them whenever they play. I've not been a die-hard Tennessee fan for long andyou can even call me stupid or whatever you can think of. I love this place, I love this town, and I love this team. I cheered for our crappy football team even though they lost to Vandy. I cheered until I couldn't breathe..literally. I had to stop, grab my sides, and take a minute to regain oxygen.

There's nothing like beating an undefeated team at home and rushing the court. There's nothing like being part of a riot after coming back from 21-0 at halftime of a football game. You just can't beat the feeling when something like that happens. Ask anyone at Oakland and Siegel when they play in basketball. Ask whoever will beat Riverdale in football. Ask me when Tennessee is playing any sport.

I guess why I'm so excited is because of my senior year in high school. Me and Jason went to every single basketball game. The season was coming to a close and we ended up only winning 6 games. At one game we were literally the only two fans there. We out-yelled the other kids by a longshot. The team told us how much they appreciated it. The cheerleaders had someone to actually yell to. I wanted so bad to have more people there to enjoy the game like I did. I had to go 3 hours and another time zone to find it but I found it nonetheless.

Good ol' Rocky Top..

Here we go again.

cantrell.out

--Sings-- Happy Birthday to me...

Seeing how it's 12:13 am here, it's officially my birthday.

As of 9:38 tonight I'll be 19 but what's the fun of having a birthday if the whole day isn't about you turning whatever age you are?

What do I get to do on my birthday? I have a psychology test first thing in the morning. Oh so much fun right there. On top of that, I have to work at TVC tomorrow night and seeing as how I've been extra sick this weekend, my first night on TV will have to wait for another week or two which kind of upsets me but there's nothing I can do about it.

I came home this past weekend to spend my "birthday" with my family and with Lyndi. I asked for just one thing and I got exactly what I asked for...

Anchorman on DVD! Ha..Thank you so much Lyndi! I love you!

Mom and Dad gave me money to put down for a deposit on an apartment in May and Brett gave me Wedding Crashers on DVD.

Saturday I went to eat at Toot's with the family and hung out with them watching the UT vs Ole Miss basketball game.

Saturday night I went over to Lyndi's and we ate pizza and watched Wedding Crashers and I just stayed over there for a while until she got tired and wanted to go to bed. Saturday, while not my real birthday, was awesome and close enough to having a real birthday. It was great.

Sunday morning I woke up to being sick, which sucked, but my mom fixed me chicken and creamed potatoes so I was feeling better in a matter of minutes. That is, until I couldn't eat anymore.

Ate some cake and ice cream, went and told Thumper bye, and made my way back up here.

So as for what I'm doing on my actual birthday? After my classes end at 1:10, I'm going to come back here, nap for a while, go somewhere to eat alone for my birthday dinner, go to work at TVC, then treat myself to ice cream or some more food. It's not the ideal birthday but under what I have to work with, it's what I want to do. Outback sounds good...do they take Bonus Bucks? :-)

I'm tired, sick, and have to study. Happy Birthday to me and to Graham Wells. I haven't seen you in a while man but how could I forget my birthday brother?

Enjoy #13 Tennessee at Kentucky Tuesday night on ESPN.

I co-hosted Hot Topix tonight on LIVE TV. It was awesome. If you go to UT it's on Channels 12 and 62 at 8:00 Monday nights. Watch it, call in, and enjoy. We talk about whatever we want, make fun of whoever we want, and just..well..yeah..it's a random show.

VICTORY IS MINE!!

cantrell.out

I don't know how to say this but...

I get to host a show every Monday night!

It hasn't actually sunk in yet but I've been on the biggest emotional high since about 30 minutes ago.

They're letting me host a freakin' TV show. Did I mention it's LIVE?

Call me childish or whatever but this is BIG for me.

And so it begins...

...the long and winding road to ESPN. I'm off and running. Wish me luck!

Well, this week so far has been quite upbeat as far as things at school go. The university was fined $5,000 by the SEC because we rushed the court. Bruce Pearl said he wasn't upset about it. We're not upset about it. I don't think the university or the athletic department cared too much either because of the attendancve of the game and how much more we love the basketball team than the football team. Instead of talking about spring training and conditioning for football we're talking about the NCAA Tournament for our MEN'S team.

I'll quit boring you with that to talk about something much more exciting and important: my birthday.

It's 13 days until I'm 19. It's not one of those important birthday but I see it as one step closer to 21!

That being said, there's not much more to say I suppose.

I'll go into training at the TV station next week..wish me luck!

Super Bowl XL: Steelers vs Seahawks
Bet's are on for the taking. I've got one. Any other takers? SEAHAWKS! Shaun Alexander all the way!

By the way..
#19/#20 in the AP/Coaches Poll's. Go Vols.

Tennessee 80
#2 Florida 76

Oh my GOD.

Tonight was the biggest rush of adrenaline I think I've ever had...

WE FREAKIN' BEAT FLORIDA! BRUCE PEARL IS AN ABSOLUTE BEAST!!

After a week of being in class, it's safe to say I like this semester more than I do last semester. I know what I'm doing, I don't look as much like a freshman, and my classes are suited more towards my liking.

Journalism/Electronic Media 275 - absolutely love the class. Can't wait to start work in the TV station (more about that at the bottom)

Psychology - Eh, it's interesting and it makes you think. I understood the first chapter and that's a good sign.

Astronomy - Unbelieveably boring and it lasts for 2 hours. Better than geology though.

Math - Math is math. Nothing more, nothing less.

English - Better than 101, still kind of bored with it though.

For JEM we have to go work at the TV station or radio station 2 hours a week until the end of the semester. I've been waiting for this ever since August. We were given the opportunity to be anchors on the live TV newscast so in pursuit of my dream (ESPN, Sportscenter, giggity)...I auditioned. I don't know how it all came out yet but I will tell you this: 30 girls, 4 guys, and out of the freshmen I talked to I was the only one with on camera experience and to top all of that off there were more juniors and seniors than freshman (possibly 6 or 7 freshmen auditioned).

I know I'm only a freshman but still..I want this more than anything right now. I've still got time to learn and time to be on TV but just to know that I'm good enough to compete with someone a few years older and who has more experience is what I want right now. 

I'm nervous.

That's all for now.
Birthday in a few weeks! Be ready! Ha..right..

Time to get back in the full swing of things. I had my first two classes today and if I can get done what I need to get done, this should be easy for me.

I struggled a little last semester because towards the end I got lazy but now that I know what I have to do and what I absolutely cannot do (slack off) this semester will be easier.

Looking for apartments as well. Maybe I can find a nice, cheap, one bedroom place somewhere around here. If not..then I don't know.

Closing thoughts...
Basketball game tonight vs. Georgia.
I like bacon.
I love you Lyndi Rose :)

cantrell.out 

God Bless Texas.

Screw you USC, screw you.
Vince Young should have won the Heisman for being a freakishly awesome football player. I mean come on..467 total yards of offense to Reggie's 150? Hah.. 

This is for Reggie Bush:

Watching you win the Heisman Trophy - saddening
Watching you win 2 straight National Championships - upsetting
Watchiing you rush for 82 yards, not be in to score the winning touchdown, and seeing you hanging your head after you lost to Texas - priceless.

Matt Lineart said after the game that USC was still the better team, Texas just made more plays. That could very well be true but look where you play and look where Texas plays. Pac-10 vs Big 12. USC in the Pac-10 is like Tennessee, Florida, or Georgia playing in the Sun Belt.

The better team might or might not have been on the losing end of the game the other night but it all comes down to who wants it more. And that's exactly what happened..

Texas played with nothing to lose.
USC played not to lose.

The season is finally over and I'll post some more thoughts and reflections later one. Right now it's another game for the ages..ok..it's an exciting game. Oakland / Siegel anyone? Eh, why not.