Wiz Khalifa 4.8.11

So I (and most of campus) had been hearing this rumor for a while. Now it is official. Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa on April 8th. SCOPE proved the haters wrong. Now we just need a rock band.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Settling In (Like a Pro)

So this is my TNH column for Tuesday. I'm posting it early and you'll see why...

Before I get started I would like to try something a little bit different. For the past week SCOPE has been hyping up their Spring Climax show that is supposed to be announced today (Tuesday). It might have already happened, but if it hasn’t check your facebook page now. Did you check it? Did you really check it? Seriously, did you? Since I’m writing this Sunday night I have prepared a couple broad reactions for students to use like an ad-lib game when the show is finally announced. (Note this was written before SCOPE announced the date or that it was hip-hop.)

Oh my God! Did you here that SCOPE actually got (hip-hop artist) for Climax. They are so (adjective). It is going to be (personal reaction). Or: Oh man, I’m so (synonym for disappointed) that SCOPE got (rock band). How am I supposed to (favorite dance move) with some random (guy/girl) that I’ll (actually talk to/Like A Little) because (I’m confident/need to flirt online because I am unable to do so in person)? Or: (Favorite curse word) SCOPE got (favorite musician) I’m going use (favorite narcotic) right before. Heck, I’ll use (favorite narcotic) while in line to get tickets. Or: SCOPE got (popular “Indie” band). Why are they (trying to ruin my college experience/so awesome)? Or: SCOPE got (musician). I’m not really a big fan but I’ll be so (slang for drunk) it should be (adjective). And lastly: Holy crap! I can’t believe SCOPE got (Wiz Khalifa/Kid Cudi). The New Hampshirite totally called that over a month before anyone else did! (Blog only: cough 99.99999% sure it'll be Wiz cough. Also, his song "Say Yeah" has the lyrics "like a pro" in the chorus... just saying...)

Anyways, I’m completely positive that at least one of those will be applicable no matter what performer SCOPE actually gets and no matter how you personally feel about it. In the end the performer will be a popular act (my money is still on a hip-hop artist) (*It is confirmed) who will sellout the Whittemore Center and some students will be extremely happy and others will be equally disappointed.

Now that I got that out of the way we can move on. So the second semester of the year is a week old and classes are now actually meaningful, well some are at least. I have been on campus for over week and several things have occurred to me. No matter what classes I take, or how early I go to the different bookstores I will still have to order a book that neither of the stores has. It happens every semester and I am convinced that it will always be the very first book I have to read and even more likely it will be the only book I will actually open the entire semester. On top of that, I will always be outraged over the cost of textbooks, which severely cuts into my leisure funds. While on the subject of textbooks, I have also noticed a strong correlation between the price of a book, and the amount of time you actually use it. The higher the book costs, the less likely you will ever have to use it. That is a non-researched fact that I made up to show my disapproval for the high costs of books.

Another thing I noticed this past week is that stuff actually happens on campus before 10 AM. I have never had an 8 AM class, or a class before 10 AM for that matter, until this semester. I always assumed that 8 AM classes were a myth created by my friends who wake up early to guilt trip me. But alas, they are real and are as horrible as they sound.

During syllabus week my roommates and I “collected” around 275 “soda” tabs that will be sent though Project Sunshine to help pay for dialysis. Our apartment’s motto is “Drink a beer, save a life.” In all honesty, at least 25 or 30 of those tabs were actually from soda cans. I mean you need something to mix cheap whiskey with, right? Collecting and donating the tabs is a great way to give a little while enjoying the college experience. Plus it provides a little excuse for drinking on a Tuesday night.

Lastly, I would like to end this column with a good old fashion “Go ‘Cats, Beat Maine!” We all know this is the hockey team’s biggest weekend of the regular season so if you were lucky enough to get tickets for the games this weekend be sure to be loud and support the team.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Music Sunday

So I have never really posted on weekends before, so I've decided that I will now post a song every Saturday and Sunday just to add some content. Some of the music will be really popular and current stuff and some with probably be artists you've never heard of before with some older classics mixed it. Really, just whatever I'm feeling at the time. Whenever we have people over I'm told I play good music you don't usually hear at college parties mixed in with more "traditional" college music. I take great pride in my DJing so I hope you hear some stuff you like and other that you've never heard.

I got to start this off with the song that tops my Itune's play count. I know I've posted this before, but it really never gets old. If you're ever at a party where this plays right at midnight, then you just my be in my apartment. "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show.

Beer Run

With the hockey game in a few hours, it's about that time...

One of my roommates was in class the other day and when his professor wrote a large "B" on the board my roommate instantly started singing "B double E double R-UN..." to himself... I play this song a lot... Happy Saturday and Go 'Cats, lets get us a 4 point weekend!

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Greater Than Sports

For the third day in a row I'm blogging based off an email. I got to say I'm loving the reader tips, keep 'em coming! If you haven't heard yet, UNH hockey player Mike Borisenok runs a t-shirt business and he designed shirts for next weekend's White out the Whit game against Maine. The shirts are pretty awesome and it is a great way to support a fellow UNHer and the hockey team for the game. They made a facebook page for the shirts, but you should also check out the Great Than Sports website. The White out the Whit shirts are selling for $15 and they can be delivered or picked up. Check out the website or email Katrina at kbe6@unh.edu to order a shirt.

Lastly, 

Puck Maine and Puck whoever made Mike change the original design. 

Another UNH Remix

So for the second day in a row I got an email music submission. This time it is a remix of "Black and Yellow" conveniently named "White and Blue." I think it is funny timing because SCOPE is announcing their Spring Climax concert next week. Dating back to December I've heard rumors of SCOPE trying to get either Kid Cudi or Wiz Khalifa for climax, but I'm not saying either of those are going to happen. I'm a big fan of Cudi and I don't mind Wiz, so if it is hip-hop I'd be happy with either of those options.

Anyways, these types of remixes have come out of the woodwork at UNH for years now and as UNH's student blogger I feel it's my duty to share them whether I'm a big fan of them or not. As for this one, I've never liked auto-tuning and this song has been remixed hundreds of times already so their isn't much on the creative side. However, it does have several nice references, such as UNH shutting down hockey player Mike Borisenok's original t-shirt design of "Puck Maine" for the White out the Whit game. I don't see this getting the attention that "Party at UNH" got and I think "In da Mub," which came out before my time at UNH, is still the top dog in the UNH remix category. The Ke$ha's Tik Tok remix is still the lowest on my scale.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

"Charazmatic & Kid King-Criminals" Yay or Nay?

Reader Email - Hot new Hip Hop Act From UNH - check out Charazmatic and Kid King, the hot new hip hop act from UNH, combining acoustic guitar with a chill beat and great rhyming. They have been compared to Shwayze and Everlast. Check their debut video, and be the first one to put em on the map!!

There are some parts I really like about this, but I'm not exactly 100% sold on it yet. UNH, what's your opinion? I see some potential. Leave your thoughts in the comments! Also, SCOPE just announced Spring Climax will be in the Whit this year.

Drinking Time: A Marathon or a Sprint?

Last semester I shared a story about a roommate "Stan" being chased across A-Lot by a crazed redneck with a crossbow. Or at least he thought so in his drunken stage. Just a few days into the semester and the ante has already been upped. This time it was a friend from down the hall accusing that the zombie sounds the sounds she heard from my roommate's computer game are actually from a monster hiding under his desk. She went as far as dragging all of his stuff in front of the desk to "block it off and trap the monster."

Now, I have been intoxicated to the highest levels, but I don't ever recall imagining things like that. Is it a part of someone's personal psychology or somehow tapping into their subconscious in a drunken state that causes these minor "hallucinations" to appear, or have I simply never been that drunk? Alcohol does funny things to people and it does affect different people in different ways. Maybe I've just gradually increased my tolerance over the past few years to a level where it never affected me in that way. I kind of hope that is not the case because it would be A) depressing and B) cost way too much money. Being a heavyweight probably gets expensive. I'm not claiming to be heavyweight, but I can confidently say I'm not a lightweight.

Then again, I'd rather be at a comfortable drunk for a long time then getting blitzed, blacking out and having a killer hangover for the next day. I see a night of drinking as a marathon, not a sprint. What do other people think, am I on my own here? Have other people ever experienced strangely realistic fears or are my friends simply permanently whacked out of their mind? (Maybe a poor word choice, I might have to pay for that one later.) Some people treat drinking as a sprint and there have been nights in the past (weekend) where I have definitely sprinted, but there is nothing better than a long marathon into the wee hours of the morning with good music and good friends. And as always, a camera is always necessary.

Milk does a body good.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

We're Back!

The "Spring" semester has started and Dirty Durham is once again crawling with students. It's good to be back. I started the semester off well with two of the drunkest nights of my life celebrating a new roommate and another's 21st birthday. There are currently 6 empty 30s in our recycling, along with a bottle of Jager, and about 30 various bottles of Smuttynose. Then of course the are the two handles of whisky still in the freezer. We've made some pretty good progress.  Apart from apparently not having a meal plan (I switched mine to the 150 swipe/$365 dining dollars option, but there aren't any swipes on the card. Weird, because I got all the dining dollars) things have gone very smooth.

In other news SCOPE is announcing a new show in a week. I'm dying to see what direction they will go. I've heard a few rumors, but I really don't think the person had any real evidence.

It might be a few days for things to pick up on the blog. The best blogs are when things happen around campus, so go out and make some news. Send all your tips, pictures and questions to unhblog@yahoo.com... I have a few new ideas in store for the semester and we might have a new writer starting in February for the rest of the year. More on that when we go over the final details.

Also, if you're into the hockey team check out this video on the STD line. I plan on writing more about the team for the rest of the season so hopefully they'll keep winning.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Enjoy Yourself

Thoughts on the Current State of UNH Hockey

We're back! It's officially dorm-reopening day for the "spring" semester here at UNH. I've been on campus since Thursday night settling back into the old college lifestyle. (Reason #928 I love college: shower beers.) Apart from catching up with a few friends I haven't been up to much other then attending the two hockey games Friday and Saturday night. I just want to share some of my reactions of the current status of the team.

First, Referee Chris Federico has made his case to over take Scott Hanson as the worst ref in Hockey East. Last night his phantom hooking call on Phil DeSimone led to a BU power play goal and he also managed to physically get in the way of players and disrupt play several times (including once a UNH power play that cost the Wildcats about 15 seconds of power play time to avoid an offsides call).

Anyways, time for some number crunching analysis...

The hash tag "#TNHpicks" on Twitter was started a few weeks ago by The New Hampshire student paper Twitter account. Every game day TNH encourages followers to tweet their score prediction for that day's hockey game. This began on December 10th when UNH played at Maine. (A 4-3 OT victory that led me to hug and/or high-5 many people I do and do not know.) Anyways, UNH was ranked 3rd in the country and their record was 9-2-4 when #TNHpicks started, but the team is just 4-3 since then and now ranked  8th. I'm not blaming "#TNHpicks" for the team's recent slip, just pointing out a recent trend.

If you don't buy the #TNHpick theory, here is another "trend." At the time of the Holiday break the team was 10-2-4 and they are just 3-3 since with loses to St. Lawrence and Dartmouth. There is an idea around that the UNH hockey team is prone to late season collapses. Over the past three years (not counting this season, but including playoffs) UNH hockey has an overall record of 63-37-15. In games played before Christmas break they are 25-16-7 and in games after break they are 38-21-8. Over the past three seasons they actually have a better winning percentage after break, so it isn't a post-holiday break collapse.

The last 10 games (counting the playoffs) is the problem. UNH's record over the last 10 games of the last three seasons in 15-11-4. Not terrible, but they only won 15 out of the 30 games. In single elimination that doesn't work. 

In the past three years UNH is just 3-5 in the Hockey East playoffs, despite being the number one seed twice, and the 3rd seed once. In the National Tournament the team is 2-3 in the past three years. Including a 7-3 loss as a number one seed in the opening round to a 4 seed Notre Dame. The last two seasons the team won their first round game, only to lose in the second round. In those three seasons they have been knocked out by a #4 seed twice. Notre Dame three years ago and RIT last year. 

UNH is currently 13-5-4. Their pre-break record of 10-2-4 was better then any of the three previous seasons. This year's team is deep, they can score, defend and have a solid goalie, but they seem to have a hard time putting that all three together for three periods. This year's team has played to the competition level of their opponents. Losing games they should have won and allowing weaker teams to stick around late into games is not good for a team that seeks a deep playoff run. Despite their recent slip, I am still optimistic about this team. They have the potential to make a run this year, and these next two months or so could be quite the ride for UNH hockey fans.

This brings me to my final point. Last night the Whit was pretty full despite most of the student body not being on campus. With a few minutes left in a 2-1 game there was a massive exodus for the doors. Where is your faith for the team and respect for the players? The same thing happened the previous night against Providence and that was a tie game. Also,  large parts of the student section sat down during the game and that is down right unacceptable. It's one thing if the student section has 20 people because of break, but if that section is even 50% full, everyone there better stand up. Let me end with this: you would never see students at Maine sit down during a game or leave early during a tie or one-goal difference. That hurt for me to say, but it is true and necessary. UNH students and fans need to step it up.

Strap on your seat belts, pack that Whit and let the team know we believe in them.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Toronto Maple Leaf and North Dakota Fans Cheating in Hobey Baker Voting

That is right, Toronto Maple Leaf and North Dakota fans are cheating in the Hobey Baker fan vote. Some of you may have noticed that only a handful of players have received a percentage of votes on the fan voting ballot, yet over 46,000 votes have been cast. Seems a little fishy, no? That is because commenters on a Toronto Maple Leaf fan blog have found ways to boost votes for North Dakota Sioux and Maple Leaf prospect Matt Frattin, who holds 63% of the vote. While Frattin is a great player it is weird to see that many Hockey East players like UNH's Paul Thompson, BC's Cam Atkinson and Maine's Gustav Nyquist have received 0% of the vote. (Especially when I know for a fact that Thompson has received many votes thanks to this blog and readers. Keep voting ONCE a day like the rules clearly state!)

The Hobey Baker committee NEEDS to fix this problem, a large part of the Hobey Baker is sportsmanship on and off the ice. These fans are doing the exact opposite of that.

Individual Maple Leaf and North Dakota fans have literally casted hundreds of votes in a matter of minutes.  Look at these screen grabs: (click to enlarge)

Good thing fan voting only counts for a tiny percentage. Hopefully this all gets sorted out so all the deserving players get their fair share of the vote percent.

Stay classy, not UMassy  Maple Leaf and North Dakota fanny.

PS:

One Week

Classes for the spring semester begin in one week! I hope you all are as excited as I am to get back to Durham and start the new semester. With classes around the corner you are probably starting to think about buying your books (if you haven't yet). Text books can be very expensive and don't forget that you can order new and used books really cheap through the blog. Many students saved hundreds of dollars by using the blog bookstore last semester and I received great feedback from everyone. Be sure to check out the bookstore tab at the top of the page or on the side bar on the right. Thanks and see you in a week!

For your ease here is the search for the Campusbooks.com book store:

Textbook Prices by CampusBooks.com

Motel in Memphis

Old Crow Medicine Show says it all with this song:

Riverstone Recap

So last night I went out to Manchester to watch the annual Riverstone Cup between UNH and Dartmouth. In short, Dartmouth outplayed, hustled and skated UNH and got the 5-4 upset win. UNH looked slow, sloppy and with a few questionable calls lost the game. With just over a minute left in the 3rd period Dartmouth scored what would be the winning goal on what appeared to be a shot deflected in by a high stick. Apparently everyone saw it except the referees and the Verizon isn't equipped with proper replay review cameras and video. The goal was good and there was nothing that could be done about it. Of course all of UNH, their fans and especially Coach Umile were livid, probably the angriest I've ever seen him. Yelling at the refs after the play, during the following timeout and well after the game ended. In all honesty, whether the goal was good or not, UNH shouldn't have been in a situation against Dartmouth were a late goal could have cost them the game. UNH got out played by a lesser team and, I hate to say this because it is so cliche, but Dartmouth looked like they wanted it more...

Anyways, I was sitting in the last row of the lower bowl and had some pretty good seats, but for the second and third period I was invited to sit in a family friend's company suite. The New Hampshirite has connections... so what do I see when I move up there?

This:

(click photo to enlarge)

My phone has a lousy camera, but that is President Huddleston with his own personalized UNH jersey. (insert your own joke about him sitting by himself, this was during an intermission after a bunch of people got up.) I got to sit in a suite when he was down with everybody else. He was also "selected" for the trivia question and correctly answered that Paul Thompson has three career hat tricks. Thats right Huddleston, you tweet creepy pictures of Philip Seymour Hoffman and I post a picture of you. New Hampshirite 1 Huddleston 0.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Vote Paul Thompson for the Hobey Baker

It has been announced that all three members of UNH's STD line (Paul Thompson, Phil DeSimone and Mike Sislo) have qualified for the first round of the Hobey Baker Award voting. With all due respect to DeSimone and Sislo I have decided to put my full support behind New Hampshire's own Paul Thompson. Thompson, a senior out of Derry, leads the team in scoring and has emerged as one of the top players in the country. I've been saying it for years now: Paul Thompson scores goals. Period. Thompson has led UNH to a great start and has nicely filled the role left by Bobby Butler as the team's go to goal scorer. I put together a slideshow (purposely cheesy and cliche, of course) to help garner support for Thompson and his our quest for the Hobey Baker Award. Because just like a National Title, it will require a full team effort. This really might be my masterpiece:

I should probably make campaign videos... if only they weren't so negative...

Vote for Thompson HERE! YOU CAN VOTE EVERY 24 HOURS!

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Edit: I seriously watched that like 10 times before publishing and didn't catch "Thomson" at the end. Ah, oh well. Too late now.

Dorm Life

The other night I stumbled across a web series called "Dorm Life" on Hulu. It's home page had some mixed reviews, but I decided to give it a shot. I got to say some of the episodes had me laughing harder than anything I've seen in a while. It is filmed as a mockumentary like The Office, but focuses around a floor in a college dorm comprised mostly of freshmen. While the show seemed to have mixed reviews, each individual episode was rated much higher and it has even won several web series awards. The first season (which covers the students' first semester) is comprised of 20 episodes all about 5 minutes long. The second season (second semester) is 26 episodes all in the 10 minute range. While some episodes are much better than others the show is so true to what dorm life is like. From the annoying and "fake" friendly RA to every other type of college student. I guess in a way it shows how stereotypical college students can be, but in the end we're all going through this awkward stage of new experiences together. Here is the very first episode, I think if you've ever laughed or been able to relate to the content of this blog you're gonna love it.  (I mean there is an episode where floor members investigate secret underground tunnels beneath the science labs on campus. If you read this blog a lot you know I have similar theories about UNH). I feel like I've meet or befriended someone at UNH like every character from the show. "Dorm Life"  does get better as you watch and becomes very addicting. Plus you can basically watch a season in one sitting so it's a good time waster over break.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

How's Your Winter Break Going?

Papa New Hampshirite just knocking down trees. Always entertaining. We currently have a "brush" pile of 19 discarded Christmas trees (thanks to brother New Hampshirite and his new truck) and counting for a bonfire for the Patriots game this weekend. Enjoy tonight's storm, hopefully we get hammered... and a lot of snow.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

PS: Sorry for the bad quality, my phone's camera isn't exactly up to the Martin Scorsese level.

Winter Break Updates

My dad's currently on a plane to South Carolina, my mom is gone until four and I'm sitting on the couch, wearing sweatpants, drinking hot chocolate and watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Ah, it feels like one of those fake sick days from middle school when you have the house to yourself... Who am I kidding? I'd being doing this even if they were both around, in fact, I have been doing since I arrived home. Now to play with matches, do drugs and take swigs from bottles of liquor and refill them with water. Anyways...

The inaugural UNH Blog fantasy football league has wrapped up and it deserves a proper review. Although the league was not that great (my fault- when I went to adjust points and other league settings I forgot to click the "save" button... derh.) Anyways, I missed the playoffs by one spot due to a 1-5 start, and my team's 5-3 finish wasn't enough... The number 7 seed team "SCOPE SUCKS" (formerly "Williamson RA Fund" managed by a high school friend and UNH student)  upset the number 1 seed "Welker's Ligaments" (managed by the guy who runs The NH Sports Forum) in the championship round.  Team "Undestructables" (coached by one of my older brothers) finished third and Lady Meow came in last out of 16 teams. Other players included the past two TNH editors, Rusty, Corey, TK, and many dedicated readers. I will run the league next year, but it will be much better. I promise.

Other things I've thought of:

I HATE that the hockey team has so many home games over break. Classes start the Tuesday the 25th meaning underclassmen came move back Sunday the 23rd. The hockey team already had a game last weekend and also play at the Whit on the 7th, 21st and 22nd. Those of us in the Gables/apartments or close enough to campus are lucky to possibly catch those games. I'm hoping to make it to Friday's game, but at the very least I'll definitely be up for the 21 and 22 games.

For those of you who follow me on twitter you may have seen a tweet that mentioned an email I got from UNH director of Res Life Scott Chesney. He asked me not to post it... so I'll paraphrase it. (On both our contact and disclaimer tabs above it does say that we may use emails on the blog...) Basically he thought I was graduating next semester (nope, I get one more year!) and he wanted to meet me. Also, despite being harsh sometimes, I promote interesting thoughts and have been a valuable contribution to campus. (Shh, don't tell him I posted this!)

Have a nice rest of break and see you all in a few weeks! (Figuratively, not literally of course.)

Stay classy, not UMassy.