Why I Miss Going To School...

This September will be the first time that I will not be starting a new school year since I was a young child. I remember when I was younger how much I hated going to school, but as I grew older and went through high school and university, I began to appreciate (and eventually enjoy) going to school and actually learning about something every day. As you may or may not know, this past June, I graduated from university with my Bachelor's degree, and now work full time at a job in my general field of study. Today, I see people posting Facebook statuses, tweets, and just generally talking about going back to school, and it aggravated me. It aggravated me because I know I won't be going back, where I had much more freedom than what I'm doing now.

I hate growing up. I miss school.

Right now, with my job, I'm constantly busy, which means I don't have much time for anything. Some people think that me being busy is a blessing, but it's turning out to be a curse. I get up at 7 in the morning, sit in a cubicle and stare at a computer for 8 hours, and then come back home in the late afternoon. When I come back, I'm usually too tired to do anything. How the hell can I be tired when I sit down at work most of the time? Anyways, at school, I had a lot more free time at my disposal. I was able to have the time to go to class, do homework, work on projects, and study for exams, but I also had the time to socialize. Right now, I don't have much time to socialize with friends, or go out and meet new people.

To build on that last sentence, the only way I get to interact with friends is either by social media or calling/texting. I don't see friends anymore, because I don't have the time for it. It is something I truly miss, and it is something I desperately want back. The only people I see every day are my co-workers, and I don't really see them as friends. They are people I work with, nothing more.

Socializing is just one aspect of what made me happy while I was at school. Another aspect was how liberally I spent my money while I was at school. I would always spend on food, drink, and anything else that I either needed, or enabled me to have a good time or feel happy. Now, even though I am getting regular paychecks, I find myself being much more conservative with my money, and spending only to help my future (though this is a very good thing). You know what I did this week? I opened up an RRSP. Fun, huh? I cared less about money when I was in school, and it was another aspect of my school life that made me happy.

Nowadays, not very many things make me happy. Sure, I get to work in Downtown Toronto and walk around the city on my lunch break, which is mostly enjoyable, but it's not very fulfilling. The train ride to Union Station is reminiscent of my high school days when I would have to take a packed bus to and from school every day. The walk from Union Station to my building is like a death march with hundreds of other suits walking with you with the same drab expression, with the homeless sticking out their hand for change and other people trying to give you flyers you don't need. The elevator to my floor is usually cramped with people and full of the kind of conversation that middle-aged people talk about, such as why their spouses weren't in the mood yet again last night.

I guess what I am trying to say is that my day-to-day life right now is monotonous and predictable, when I compare it to when I went to university. I feel absolutely soulless. The only two ways where I can truly express what is in my soul is through Twitter, and this very blog you are reading. When I was in university, I was able to socialize, and work towards an attainable goal, which was to get my degree. When I was in university, I felt like I still had my soul.

I knew at some point, I would have to take the leap, and finally grow up from school, and enter the working world. I'll admit, I was a bit unprepared, and it surprised me in some ways. For everyone that is about to finish college or university soon (and to those who have just started), enjoy the time you have right now, and cherish it. When you finish school and enter the working world, your entire life will change. I hope it changes for the better for you, and not like how my life ended up. I miss school so much, but these words can't even begin to quantify how much I truly do.

Well, time for me to grow up some more...

10,000 Tweet Milestone!

Yeah, so I finally hit my 10,000th tweet.

I may as well milk this as much as I can, because you only hit 10,000 tweets once.

I never thought I could be truly active on a social network for a long time, but Twitter gave me the opportunity to truly speak my mind on any sort of issue that I wanted to talk about. For the past two and a half years, Twitter has always been my "go-to" social network, and it has been the social network that I have enjoyed the most. I remember the reason why I started to use Twitter in the first place, and the main reason was because of my complete annoyance with Facebook, which I am not very active on anymore. I found that the things I saw on Twitter were much more positive than the negativity and phoniness I regularly saw on Facebook, so naturally, I gravitated towards Twitter, and I haven't looked back since.

I would say that about half of my total tweets were about footy/soccer. Whether it was about Toronto FC, Manchester United, or anything else that was in the world of footy, it's pretty obvious that by reading my tweets, a reader can tell that I am footy mad. The other half of my total tweets are about, well, everything else. Usually, it was about the things that go on in my life, whether it was about school or something else. I always tried to strike a balance between the readers that follow me for my footy tweets and the readers that follow me for the other things going on in my life.

I remember when I first started up on Twitter in the beginning of 2011, and looking back on it now, my early tweets were pretty shit, in the grammatical sense, and also that my tweets were very boring. Some of my tweets, when looking back, were also a bit cringe-worthy. I only talked to about two people since the start of my account, one of them I still talk to regularly to this day, and the other I don't really talk to now (let's just say, she got replaced). In the beginning months of my Twitter account, I would talk about anything and everything that came up in my mind, from dirty song lyrics to the attractive woman that passed me on the street that I really wanted to have sex with. Nothing was off limits. Hell, I even talked about what I truly wanted when it came to my love life.

The follower count started to rise, and I started to have more valued conversations with a number of Twitter users. Occasionally I would get the angry disagreement or hater trying to make me feel bad, but overall, the conversations I had on Twitter were overwhelmingly positive. From the Twitter account, it was also the basis for the creation of my blog, which serves as my extended thoughts that I couldn't fit into my Twitter account. Also, this may be a bold statement coming from me, but I would like to think that I pioneered the use of Twitter among my university friends. As soon as I started to use Twitter, one by one, my university friends followed suit, so go ahead and call me a trendsetter.

The months and years passed, I interacted with more people, my follower count kept rising, and I continued to tell my stories and talk about my experiences. And it all led me to today where after two and a half years, I finally reached that milestone of 10,000 tweets. I know a lot of people that use Twitter reach that milestone in almost no time at all, but I would like to have the vast majority of my tweets have some sort of quality and substance, and I also don't really like to bombard the timelines of my followers with constant tweets (except when a footy match is on).

As much as I truly love Twitter, I feel like these days, my tweets haven't been up to the standard that I want it to be. I remember back in 2011 and a good chunk of 2012 when I truly had free reign over what I wanted to tweet, but ever since, let's say, September 2012, I felt like my tweets were getting to be a bit boring, and I felt like I lost that free reign. I couldn't really tweet anything explicit anymore, except for a few swears, and my early Twitter followers know how much I love tweeting explicitly. Maybe I'm a bit more mature now, or maybe I'm not trying to offend and/or disgust all my followers. Actually, I'm afraid that one day I may write a careless tweet that exposes certain feelings about certain people. Nonetheless, I'm going to try to bring my Twitter account to its former glory. I'm going to try to be as witty, funny, and explicit (within reason) as I possibly can.

I just want to say that I value each and every one of my Twitter followers, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the conversations I've had with you all over the months and years. Some of these conversations actually helped me through some tough times, and for that I am grateful.

Well, here's to 10,000 more...cheers!

The State of Toronto FC: TFC Win At DC, Terry Dunfield, And a Potential Friendly?

(Side Note: I know some of these events happened a little while ago, but I would rather cover all the pressing issues in one major blog post than write a separate small post for each event in the Toronto FC season)

Time I do another one of these things, but first, I just want to say some quick thoughts on TFC's win over DC United last Saturday. I am very happy that they finally broke their long win-less streak and came out as 2-1 winners. TFC's overall performance that night was decent, but when you are facing Major League Soccer's worst team this season, a decent performance is all you need. Let's hope that TFC builds on this win when they go to Houston to face the Houston Dynamo this Saturday.

About a week ago, Toronto FC midfielder Terry Dunfield was waived by TFC, and the opinions on his TFC playing career were divided. He wasn't as polarizing as Paul Mariner or Dwayne De Rosario, but his play has certainly led to much discussion among TFC supporters. Many TFC supporters had favorable opinions on him while many others were not so kind on his time at TFC. After much deliberation in my head and with others on whether Dunfield was a good or bad player for TFC, I have come to the conclusion that his negative qualities slightly outweighed his positive qualities. I'll talk about the positives first...

From what I understand, the quality that most TFC supporters will remember about Terry Dunfield is that he gives his all in every match that he plays. What he lacks in talent and skill, he makes up for it by working harder than any other man on the pitch. Relating to this, he is always applying pressure on the opposing player who has the ball or is about to get the ball, and more often than not, it has worked in Toronto FC's favor by the opponent giving away the ball. Finally, he has definitely showed some leadership qualities, whether through giving instructions to his fellow teammates on the pitch, or inspiring the younger Toronto FC 1st team and academy players.

Now, the negatives. His positive qualities almost always lead to his negative qualities. While his pressure on opposing players was good, he was constantly out of position in the midfield, which was directly responsible for some of the goals scored by TFC's various opponents. When Dunfield charges in, the opponent can pass into the space behind him to another player, which means that the defenders will come out of their position to challenge the ball, and it just becomes a domino effect of mistakes that leads to a goal. Dunfield is also not a very good tackler at all, and regularly receives warnings from the referee, or receives a yellow card. Finally, he is a player that generally lacks skill and technical ability in the middle of the pitch, especially when compared to Matias Laba or Jonathan Osorio. With the emergence of these two players to be mainstays in the Toronto FC midfield, as well as Dunfield being on the wrong side of 30 when it comes to his age, it doesn't make much sense to keep him on the roster. It was ultimately a good move to waive Terry Dunfield, even if Toronto FC doesn't find anyone to replace him.

Finally, there are reports coming out that Toronto FC is in negotiations to bring a "big name" opponent to Toronto for a summer friendly. The opponent is widely expected to be the popular Uruguayan club Penarol. Now, if it were up to me, I would never schedule friendlies during the season for TFC, as it produces unnecessary strain on the players by preparing for a match that is basically meaningless when they should be preparing for regular season matches. On the other hand, friendlies with big-name teams can be an extra source of revenue for Toronto FC, and can give them a bit of international exposure. Mid-season friendlies can also give reserve and young players some valuable experience. While I was reading this article, I noticed a certain quote by Paul Beirne - Toronto FC VP of Business Operations, which said:

“I had to look up who Peñarol were,”

I am going to try to give him the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe he genuinely didn't know who Penarol were, and that's fine. I don't believe it was the wisest thing to say that in front of the interviewer and then to let him quote you on saying that on the article. That idiotic comment was very arrogant and disrespectful to Penarol. A part of me hopes that Penarol pulls out of that potential friendly because of that dumb comment, but I doubt that will happen. Sadly, this wasn't the first time that Paul Beirne has made a questionable comment to damage the reputation (or lack there of) of Toronto FC on the business side. I honestly believe he should be fired, or at the very least, given a talking to by Kevin Payne on how to frame your words.

That's all I got for now...

What I REALLY Thought About My Graduation Ceremony

So, yesterday, I finally graduated from Brock University and attained my undergraduate degree. Look, I am very happy that I finally attained a Bachelor's Degree, and the 4 years of hard work finally paid off, but I really have to say something about the actual graduation ceremony that took place yesterday morning. It had to be one of the most boring ceremonies I ever took part in. Time for me to break it down.

The stuff before the graduation ceremony was pretty standard. I walk into the university, I go collect my gown, I stand in a line, and we all walk into the gym where the ceremony is taking place. The seats are all really close together so it was a little bit of a tight squeeze to sit in between two lovely ladies (not that I'm complaining). Once we were all sat down, then came the procession of the faculty and the chancellors of the university where they were wearing these odd-looking robes and hats, like something that was from the medieval times. I know it is tradition, but it just looked a bit ridiculous and it reminded me of how court cases  were carried out in England in the 1400s. I was humming the theme of "The People's Court" at the time.

Once all that ended, the ceremony started with the addresses of the chancellor, vice-chancellor, and various members of the faculty. You know how it is, they start telling their life stories, and offer some pseudo-inspirational bullshit such as "you are the continued life-blood of Brock University" and "you are a shining beacon to the world" (Note: I can't remember what was actually said, as I was probably half-asleep). The addresses, though were meant well, were very mind-numbing and would have put the most energetic child to sleep.

Then finally came the presenting of the degrees to the various graduates, in which they were presented two at a time. Any awards that the new graduates had were also announced. I did feel a bit sorry for the graduates who were partnered up with other graduates who basically had fan sections cheer their hearts out when their name was called, and the other graduate who barely got any applause when their name was called. I thought that the presenting of the degrees was finally a good way to move around after sitting through the insanely boring graduation addresses. When my name was finally announced, all I kept thinking to myself was "don't trip, don't trip", and thankfully, I didn't! Everything went very well.

After that, the chancellor said some parting words, the faculty and graduates proceeded out of the gym, and the ceremony was over. If I were to sum up this graduation ceremony in short, this is what I will say. The graduation ceremony was a wonderful occasion, but going to it felt like a chore. If my parents didn't have a say, I never would have went. I essentially went only because of them.

Side note: I would like to thank everyone who congratulated me on this accomplishment, whether in-person, on my mobile, or through the various social networks. It was a bit rough at times, but it was all worth it for a piece of paper that said I completed something.

The State of Toronto FC: Hey Look! They Conceded Late Again!

Now that I am home from university, I am finally able to make the pilgrimage to BMO Field to watch Toronto FC. I went to the May 18 match against the Columbus Crew, and just yesterday, I went to the match against the Philadelphia Union. Here are my thoughts on that match itself:

Positives

Tactically, Toronto FC actually played quite well. Instead of just booting the ball up the pitch like they always do, they kept the ball on the ground and made simple passes to create openings in the Union defense.  Why don't they play like this all the time? It was encouraging to see and I hope Ryan Nelsen continues to use that style in future matches. TFC also held it down well when they were down to 10 men. They cleaned up well in their own 18-yard box and withstood the Union pressure for most of the match.

Jonathan Osorio continues to be a bright spot in the TFC squad with his energy and creativity in the midfield (not to mention his awesome header). When I saw the starting 11 before the match, I questioned whether be would be able to bring some intensity throughout the entire match, but his performance put my doubts to rest. He deserves a starting spot in Toronto FC in the matches to come. I was also happy to see Danny Koevermans subbed into the match after his year out with a torn ACL. It got a standing ovation from the crowd at BMO Field, and even though he didn't score, I hope he reclaims the goal-scoring form he once had.

Negatives

They conceded late, again.

They were doing so well to keep the match 1-0 while down to 10 men, but once again, TFC let in a disheartening goal near the end of the match to lose two points. They couldn't hold on for another four minutes. TFC conceding late goals is nothing new, so there isn't much I can really add when everyone else has already stated their opinion on it. Maybe instead of trying to get new defenders on loan, Kevin Payne and Ryan Nelsen should look at the mental fortitude of the team. Just a suggestion.

There was also moments of madness and stupidity from Doneil Henry, with his altercation with the Union keeper to get his first yellow, and his dangerous tackle to get his second yellow near halftime. He has been scrutinized a bit this season, and for good reason. Even though he had some minor spells of good form, he does make some dumb decisions which have negative implications for the team. I know he is young, but he needs to focus better, and make better decisions in the heart of the defense.

Even though I was happy to see Danny Koevermans play again, I do question the substitution made by Ryan Nelsen. If you are trying to keep the win, you need to get another defender out there, not a striker, especially with TFC constantly conceding late goals. I strongly suspect that sub was merely to please the crowd, and not to win the match.

Other Thoughts

On both of my recent trips to BMO, when I looked over to the south end before the match, I saw that Toronto FC were using flares on poles to try to increase the atmosphere in the stadium. It looks incredibly tacky, and I think the TFC FO needs to stop this. If TFC really wants to enhance the atmosphere using flares, then leave the flares to the supporters, though this has some dangerous consequences (I may make a "flares" blog post in the future).

I am happy that I was able to make it out to BMO Field on two separate occasions, because it temporarily improved my general mood. When I left university, it felt like a part of me was lost, in the sense that I won't be able to enjoy going to class (I do enjoy it, lol) or see some of my friends. Going to BMO Field also made me forget about certain situations where I will not have the chance to gain anything from it. That void was filled temporarily by going to BMO, even though the results weren't what I had hoped for. I didn't feel very happy when I left university, and BMO Field was that escape that I truly needed. When Osorio scored that goal yesterday, it was the happiest I ever felt in weeks. Even though Toronto FC isn't a very good team, and I don't say very nice things about MLSE, watching TFC live is when I feel the happiest, and I am dead serious when I say that.