DOWN WITH PANTS!

I was just thinking that it's been way too long since I saw Calvin Johnson wandering around Olympia in a pair of airport earmuffs. So to get my CJ fix, I had to hear Beat Happening's "Pine Box Derby"...


I miss the good old weird Olympia days. Not that I was ever really a part of them, but still.

And how about a little bonus Halo Benders "Don't Touch My Bikini"...


Boiiiiingggg!!!

So I turned 32 years-old last week and I have to say that I had a great birthday week. But a couple of things also happened this week that really didn't make for such a happy birthday and have left me feeling old despite not really being old.

First off, my lower back has been really sore all week long. I think it's because I did a few new exercises on the Wii Fit that worked a few muscles that haven't been worked in a really long time. Whatever the cause, my back has been messed up, I walked around Seattle and Portland gingerly and I'm getting a little tired of smelling like Icy Hot all day. It felt a little bit better today but I've got a doctor's appointment on Thursday just in case it's not getting any better by then.

Secondly, I got cut from my soccer team. Yep, you read that right. I got cut from my 30-and-over, beginners division, rec-league soccer team. I got an email on Sunday from the captain saying that they had too many people on the team and that there wouldn't be a spot for me for the upcoming season. He said the players that he's keeping are all guys that are his neighbors or have connections to other guys on the team. And while that sounds good, I know it's not totally true. He was just being nice. I got let go because I'm not very good. If I were good, I'd still be on the team no matter my relationship with the guys, I'm sure.

In the past, something like this would make me stop playing. I've never been one to buckle down and rally when facing adversity. When I got cut from my baseball team in 7th grade (the only year they ever made cuts) I stopped playing baseball - I never played organized baseball again. When I turned 16 and I failed my driving test (guy said I made a California stop, which was bullshit since I had to wait for a ton of cars) I didn't even drive for another four or five months. When I got let go from the Richmond Roosters I stopped working in baseball.

But I really liked playing soccer despite not being very good. I was getting better every game and I want to continue to play especially since it feels like a sport that I could play for years and years to come. Plus, I'm a little pissed off. I think I'd like to play in the same league and try to make them pay for cutting me. So I have a couple feelers out and hopefully I'll land a team before the season starts next week.

Anyway, I guess I'm having a big ole pity party. 32 really isn't old by any means. I just felt really old all week. A bad back and getting the boot off a soccer team on my birthday sure doesn't make me feel young.

All I wanted this weekend was for the Huskies and Zags to move on to the Sweet 16 and to get a picture with Western Kentucky's mascot Big Red...


Well, two out of three ain't bad.

By the way, ticket to the NCAA Tournament is the best birthday present ever. Thanks honey!

Like I mentioned the other day, I have the March Madness. I have a serious, serious case of it, in fact, and today didn't help.

For my birthday (which is coming up on Wednesday by the way) Death? bought me a ticket to the NCAA basketball tournament in Portland. It seemed like there was probably a pretty good chance that my Washington Huskies would end up playing in Portland, but even if they didn't I was excited to go anyway. College basketball is my favorite sport and this is my Christmas, it's easily my favorite time of the year, so experiencing the tournament firsthand...for the first time...how could I pass that up even if my team might not be playing in Portland.

But oh, the basketball gods smiled on your boy Brandon tonight. Not only are the Huskies playing in Portland as a #4 seed against #13 Mississippi State (kind of a scary game though), they also put my other favorite team, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, in Portland as well (another #4 seed playing #13 Akron who beat my alma mater Bowling Green in the conference tourney).

So tickets that were selling for relatively low prices earlier this week when I got my ticket have already skyrocketed. The Rose Garden is going to be packed - Zags fans and Huskies fans travel really well, especially so close to home, and I am even more geeked about being a part of it. I can't wait to spend a few days in Portland and I'm praying for victories for my teams and hoping to get some upsets in the other games.

And if you want to join in with my madness, please join my DWP! Twitter Tourney Pool. All you have to do is click here. The password is downwithpants.

Sorry about the nearly week long absence, I am in the throes of a sickness. Yep, I've got the March Madness. And it won't end until maybe April.

In all the basketball excitement, I forgot to commemorate the one year anniversary of me being laid-off from my last job. I haven't worked in a year now, though staying at home with Addie is as much a full-time job as any other one that I've had. I can't say that I miss working. I miss being around people, especially my friends at my last job, and the fun parts of work. But the tedium and the frustrations that go along with it - I don't miss those at all.

I hesitate to say this out loud and put it into the Googlable ether, but I'm not totally sure how I'm ever going to be able to go back to a conventional job. Being my own master has been AMAZING. I think it's going to have to come down to me opening my own business or working in a super small, untraditional kind of environment.

Don't ask me how I plan to hook that up or how I expect that all to happen, I truly don't have any idea right now.

If you are a baby skunk or a baby griffin or the itsy bitsy spider and you are in twouble, I can't recommend Wonder Pets Rescue Inc. any more highly. Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming too, they're the Wonder Pets - give them a call and they'll help you.

From the time that the phone, the phone is winging to when they show up in the Flyboat to try to get you unstuck from a rock or a bush or whatever happens to be holding you back, the Wonder Pets will work together to fix the problem. When life gives you a sewious situation, you need what's going to work - teamwork. What's going to work? Teamwork!

And the price for their services can't be beat. All they ask for in return is a little bit of celery. Heck, if you don't have any celery, usually they bring some of their own and they might even share it with you.

Oh Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets. They always find a way to help a baby animal and save they day. You know they're not too big, and they're not too tough, but when they work together they've got the right stuff.

GO WONDER PETS!

One star off for the goofing around that they do en route to save the baby animal. It must be torturous to sit there and watch the Wonder Pets sing and laugh and have a good time while you've got waves lapping up all around you threatening to take you off into the ocean. They always get the job done, but couldn't they do it a little more efficiently?

Verdict: Four Pants Down! (equals four stars)

I know what I'm doing tomorrow...


Oh, what a way to start my sixth year of blogging.

Holy crap everybody! Lost in my self-pity about my less than stellar blogging lately, I almost totally forgot that today is the five year Blogiversary of Down With Pants! That's right, it all started on March 3rd, 2004 and it's all gone downhill from there.

I just went through five years of posts really quickly and here is one from each year that I found that I'm kind of proud of or illustrates what I'm all about...

2004 - A Dirty Shame - October 1st
2005 - DWP! Suggestion Box Day 1: Dwarves - August 15th
2006 - The Lost Blogs - Day 1 - April 10th
2007 - My Saturday Morning TV is Skankier Than Yours - June 11th
2008 - The Boomer - January 11th

I plan on doing a contest this week - I really should reward all of you that have stuck with me through good times and bad - so stay tuned. I'll figure it out tomorrow.

But until then, thank you so much for reading Down With Pants! Going through all those posts really brings home how much blogging has meant to me over the last five years. It's really been the best hobby a boy could ask for and though I haven't met many of you face-to-face yet, I do feel a part of a community and like I've made some great friends doing this. Cheers to you and thanks again!

On Saturday I caught the last few minutes of the Arizona State/Washington State basketball game. They finished regulation tied 43-43 and went to overtime. Wazzu was down 49-48 when senior Taylor Rochestie, playing the last home game of his career, hit a game winning three pointer with 2.3 seconds to play. When he hit the shot, I - a hardcore Washington Huskies fan - screamed at the top of my lungs and clapped my hands. It was a great shot and the celebration that followed was awesome to watch.

Minutes later, I texted my Cougar friend to see if he had watched it or had it on DVR...

DWP! - "Did you watch your Cougs?"

J-McG - "Man oh man. What a great game. It honestly brought tears to my eyes. Next week should be a good one for sure" (WSU plays the Huskies on Saturday)

DWP! - "I screamed when he hit that bucket, and when he celebrated with his moms, that got me too."

J-McG - "I knew you had a soft spot for the Cougs"

It's true, I do have a soft spot for the Cougs. Hell, I almost went to school there, in fact I was accepted twice but things just didn't work out. I root for them whenever they aren't playing the Huskies...or whenever they aren't playing someone else I root for.

Here's kind of how my rooting for the Cougs breaks down. I will root for the Cougars if they aren't playing one of these teams (in order of how I would root for them if they played each other)...

So yeah, as you can see, I really have a soft spot for those Cougs.

We just got home from seeing Super Diamond, a Neil Diamond tribute band. The show was great except for one unfortunate part...


It kind of got ugly, but we all cooled out and it turned out OK.

By the way, concerts anymore to me feel like the end of a soccer game. You're up 1-0 , you're out of breath, your legs are tired and you know that it must be getting close to the end and at that point all you want is for the game to end and you can all go home happy. But of course the game seems to go on FOREVER and FOREVER and all you can do is push on through and keep praying that you'll hear that whistle and they'll finally play "Sweet Caroline".