Vince's Journey

Only 2 training rides left before the big ride to Montauk. Today we rode 100 miles and I'm not going to lie, it was a tough ride. The heat, humidity and 8 New Castle Brown Ales I drank last night made this morning's ride somewhat of a challenge but I pulled into our drive at 3:05 this afternoon just as my odometer turned over to 100 miles. Total time was about 7 hours and 50 minutes while actual time in the saddle was closer to 6 and a half hours - needless to say we took quite a few breaks today. The good news is I kept myself pretty well hydrated and never experienced any cramping. The bad news is I'm sick of Gatorade and if it's this hot and humid on June 19 it may be very difficult to do the 145 mile ride. We'll see what the weather is going to be like as that date approaches.

I'd like to thank Jim Connell for lining me up with 2 tickets to the David Letterman show on June 17. Jim works at Channel 12 and he was kind enough to get the tickets through his work. I applied for tickets via the CBS web site but I haven't heard anything from that route yet. I hope I'm able to get 4 more tix so some of the other folks traveling to New York with us can also attend. If you have any connections, please let me know!

Back to my post from Monday, I'm was happy to see that Erin Andrews did not get the viewer vote on Dancing With the Stars - Nichole was clearly the best dancer (even if she did seem to possess an unfair advantage) and it would have been a joke if she was not voted the champ. As for American Idol, Lee's win was a surprise but I guess he was just a bit more mainstream than Crystal and in the final analysis, I think that's why she didn't win. I do think she's poised to have a nice career, she is obviously very talented and it will be itneresting to hear the original songs that Idol would not allow her to perform on the show. And with Simon signing off, I think Idol has jumped the shark and its demise will most likely occur over the next several years.

Finally, a new top ten...the 10 greatest games I have ever witnessed in person. As you might expect, there are quite a few Ohio State games on this list...

10. 1988/Ohio State 36 LSU 33. The Buckeyes overcame a 12 point deficit with under 3 minutes to play to beat the Tigers in Columbus. My dad wanted to beat the traffic so he left the game with 3 minutes to play and didn't realize Ohio State had won until he read the Sunday morning paper.

9. 1977/Oklahoma 29 Ohio State 28. One of two games on the list where Ohio State losses. The Sooners kicker hits a 41 yard FG in the closing seconds to win the game - the kick would have been good from 60 yards. Awesome game.

8. 2005/Texas 25 Ohio State 22. The other loss. Vince Young leads a late TD drive to nip the Bucks in Columbus. Texas would go on to win the National Championship.

7. 1979/Ohio State 18 Michigan 15. Late blocked punt and TD return gives OSU a win in Ann Arbor, an undefeated regular season and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

6. 1986/Ohio State 23 Iowa 12. Buckeyes down the #1 ranked Hawkeyes in a down pour at Ohio Stadium.

5. 2002/Ohio State 14 Michigan 9. Game wasn't decided until an interception in the end zone on the final play of the game. Ohio State clinches an undefeated season and a trip to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl to play Miami for the National Championship.

4. 2007/Ohio State beats Xavier in OT at Rupp Arena. The Bucks were all but dead but Mike Conley JR. led a 9 point comeback in the final 2:50 of regulation play and won going away in OT. Given my admiration for both teams, this was probably the most difficult game I've ever witnessed. In the end I wanted Ohio State to win but I felt horrible that Xavier lost after playing so well.

3. 1990/Cincinnati 2 Pittsburgh 1. The Reds beat the Pirates in game six of the NLCS on a combined 1 hitter and a home run robbing play by Glenn Braggs in the 9th inning. The Reds clinched a berth in the world series and swept the favored A's to their last World Series championship.

2. 1997/ Ohio State 20 Arizona State 17. Joe Germaine's 6 yard TD pass to David Boston with 19 seconds left to play gave the Buckeyes a hard earned win in the 1997 Rose Bowl over the ASU Sun Devils. Their is no greater venue to watch a football game than Pasadena's Rose Bowl.

1. 2003/ Ohio State 31 Miami (Fla) 24. It took 2 overtimes to settle this one and I doubt I'll ever see a better game as Ohio State clinched their first National Championship in almost 40 years by beating the heavily favored 'Canes in the BCS Championship game at Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium.. Craig Krenzel solidified his status in Ohio State lore as he delivered one of the guttiest performances by a Buckeye QB in OSU football history.

That'll do it for now. Everyone have a safe Memorial Day weekend!

As I was sitting there watching Dancing With the Stars tonight and trying to figure out how Erin Andrews could actually have the same score as Nichole and worse yet, more points than Evan I realized that the fix is basically on. They announce Erin as an ESPN reporter but we all know that ESPN and ABC are both owned by Disney so judges votes for Erin are basically votes for the home company. Nichole and Evan are so much more talented than Erin but neither one is getting their paychecks signed by Mickey Mouse so I guess its up to America to show Len, Bruno And CARRIE ANN INABA who the real champs should be...anyone but Erin. I'm a little surprised that Len and Bruno would compromise their integrity to ramrod Erin through as champion but it's about what I expect from someone whose previous Hollywood credits include playing FukYu in the third installment of the Austin Powers series. C'mom, America, lets light up the phones for Nichole and Evan.

This weekend I only rode 60 miles but I'm looking forward to riding 100 miles this coming Saturday. I cut the ride short last weekend to attend the wedding of Monet and Ryan - Ryan is the son of Dick Saterlee, one of the guys I watch every, single Ohio State football game with. It was a beautiful wedding and I wish Monet and Ryan many, many years of happiness together.


I'm still holding steady at about $5,500 raised for the bike ride to Montauk. If you'd like to join in the fun and help defeat blood related cancers, shoot me an e-mail and I'll tell youi how you can make a contribution.

Finally, here are my top supporting movie roles of all time. Keep in mind, these are my top 10 roles, just because you don't agree with them doesn't mean I'm wrong, after all - IT'S MY LIST!!!

Here we go....

10. Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High

9. Charles Grodin as Tony Abbott in Heaven Can Wait

8. Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamaar in Blazing Saddles

7. Haing S. Ngor as Dith Pran in The Killing Fields

6. Mary Badham as Jean Louise Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

5. Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction

4. Christopher Walken as Nick in The Deer Hunter

3. Madeline Kahn as Lily Von Schtupp in Blazing Saddles

2. Robert DeNiro as Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II

1. Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas

As soon as I'm able to watch District 9, I will rate the 10 films nominated for the best picture of 2009. I can tell you that right now, A Serious Man has all but sewn up the bottom spot on my list and I doubt District 9 will be able to unseat the movie at the top of my list - I won't give it away totally but the film does have the word UP in the title. Until next time, peace and blessings to all.

Hopefully, we've seen the last of Russell on 'Survivor'. While the guy thinks he played the perfect game twice what he doesn't seem to realize is you have to attempt to endear yourself to the people who will ultimately vote on who will win the $1,000,000. Russell lied, badmouthed, bullied and flat out pissed off everyone in his path and then couldn't understand why no one voted for him. Watching this guy on back to back seasons is all I can handle of him and hopefully he'll go back to Texas and his oil company and never be heard from again.

On American Idol, it's down to Crystal and Lee. I thought Siobhan might make it to the final two but have to admit Lee has been improving week after week. He definitely deserves to be in the final and while I've been saying Crystal is the one to beat since this season began, Lee definitely has a chance, in fact, he may be more marketable than Crystal and appeal to a much broader audience.

This weekend we'll be riding 60 miles in preparation for the 145 mile trek on June 19. Next week we'll do 100 miles and we'll wind up our heavy training with a 120 mile ride on June 5. Things are going well and hopefully I'll be able to avoid any injuries as we lead up to the Ride to Montauk.

Finally, here are my top ten movie characters as I promised in my last post. Really no surprises probably since most are from some of my favorite all-time movies. My next list we'll be my top ten favorite suporting characters. Here's the list

10. Forrest Gump from Forrest Gump
9. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind
8. Jefferson Smith from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
7. Travis Bickel from Taxi Driver
6. Raymond Babbitt from Rainman
5. Terry Malone from On The Waterfront
4. Sonny Wortzig from Dog Day Afternoon
3. Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird
2. George Bailey from It's a Wonderful Life
1. Michael Corleone from The Godfather trilogy

Let me know some of your favorite characters if you get a chance!

Great day of riding today. Marshall, Garth and I rode 90 miles and while I have to admit I got pretty tired I'll also say it went better than I expected. The weather was perfect and we rode a good portion of the ride with other members of our Team in Training group - I'd say we probably rode 65 of the 90 miles with them. So, we're close to the 100 mile mark; I still plan to do the 145 mile route up in Montauk but it's good to know the other guys are getting in the miles and should have no problem doing the 100 mile course when we get to New York.

All the kids are home, now. Judd is working, Aaron is out looking for a job and Abbey is upstairs sleeping as she participated in the Relay for Life last night and didn't get much sleep. If anybody can use a strong, 19 year old (soon to be 20) for some hard physical labor, let us know - Aaron could be your man.

Here's a little list to think about - the top 10 movie characters of all-time. I'll post mine over the next week. I'm sure most will coincide with my list of top movies but there will also be a surprise or two. I'll keep it short today. I'll also try to get a post up tomorrow as well. BTW, Survivor ends tomorrow - Sandra will win and Russell will be shut out again - that's what happens when you lie and piss off everyone you align your self with. I look for the order to be Sandra, Parvati, Russell, Jerri and Colby - hasn't Colby been a waste this season? Weak in challenges and not a threat whatsoever. While we're on the subject of reality show; Nichole will win Dancing with the Stars and Crystal will be your American Idol. OK, now I'll sign off!

To all you mother's out there, Happy Mother's Day! With the boys away, it was a somewhat different kind of Mother's Day than we're used to having. We did go down to Julie's mom's but the crowd was somewhat small and we didn't have the customary grill out that we used to have from year to year. This year it was LaRosa's pizza and deserts. I was happy that the boys did call and it will be nice to have them both home in just a couple of days; on Tuesday Judd will be coming home from his trip to Florida and I'll be heading over to St. Louis to pick up Aaron. So it's time to stock up on groceries and get ready for our water bill (and dirty laundry baskets) to double in size.

Our baking group did close to 80 miles yesterday. My legs felt good but my shoulders and rear end got very sore by the end of the ride. We are only 6 weeks away from our the 'Ride to Montauk' and Coach Vivian says we will build to 125 miles before we go. I'm going to try to put in at least 200 miles per week over the next 6 weeks and hopefully by the time June 19 rolls around my butt will be ready to go (literally and figurtively) the whole 145 miles.

I was really proud of Abbey and Laurin running the half marathon last week. They finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes and the weather was absolutely brutal. It poured down rain for the first hour and then Abbey's socks got so wet her feet were blistered from mile 5 on. They toughed it out and were both smiling when they crossed the finish line. I was able to see them when they went by my 'scream station' at mile 10 and Julie, Jeanne and Steve followed them around the course. Hopefully they'll make this an annual tradition and who knows, maybe someday they'll do the entire 26.2 mile course.

I'll keep it short tonight. I'm not doing a very good job of blogging lately but I've got some good topic ideas bouncing around in my head so hopefully there will be more activity in the upcoming weeks. The problem is I get these ideas and then forget to write them down. Wishing everyone the best.

Vince

Treatment #4 went very smoothly and now I'm in a holding pattern until I have new CT scans on June 2nd. I'll then have a follow-up appointment with Dr. leming to go over the results and decide how to move forward. So the next month will be a bit tense. you have to give the Rituxan some time to do it's work and I'm optimistic that it will. Based on research, studies and clinical trials a 4 week course of Rituxan is the standard way to treat follicular lymphoma uprisings and in many cases the results are almost immediate with the first infusion. Now that I've had 4 infusions I doubt the lymphoma had a chance! So I'll let you know when I know something new. I feel fine (if you ignore the cold or allergies I'm dealing with now). I've never really been effected by allergies but nose has been constantly runny for about 3 weeks and the nurse at the doctors office said this has been a bad spring for allergies so who knows. I don't have a fever or anything so I guess it's something that just needs to run its course.

Judd finidhed up his junior year at UD and I went and picked him up last night. We immediately got stuck in a traffic jam on I-75 and it took about 90 minutes to get home - it typically takes 45 minutes. He's going to Florida on Tuesday for a week of sun and then he'll start a summer internship at Cincom, which is where Julie works. They should have a wonderful summer carpooling to work together!

Tomorrow, Abbey and her cousin Lauren will be running in the Flying Pig Marathon - they will be running the half marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. I'm really proud of them - I think Lauren has probably trained a little better than Abbey but they ran 12 miles a couple weeks ago in the final tune-up so they should be ready to go. Together they raised over $1700 for the LLS which is very impressive and tomorrow at this time they'll be able to say they've run 13.1 miles to help fight blood cancers; great job Lauren and Abbs!!!

Aaron is heading into finals week at SLU. Here's hoping he finishes the semester on a solid note. He's had an interesting first year away from home and it would be great for him to finish on a strong note. He's also in need of a summer job that can provide him with plenty of hours so if you have any ideas or leads, please let us know.

Of course, I continue my training for the Ride to Montauk in June. Our ride was canceled this morning due to the heavy rain so I'm hoping it clears out by tomorrow afternoon so I can get in a long ride after going down to cheer on the 1/2 marathon girls. The schedule called for us to ride 72 miles this weekend and that's not something you can fit in in a couple hour;' I'm guessing we'll need about 5 hours to get close to 72.

We've also had a few additional medical issues pop up within the family. Julie's mom has a viral infection that's knocked her down pretty good and our nephew, Connor, had a flare up of a situation that first appeared last summer. He has Krohn's disease and one of the side effects of this is he's had a couple issues with blood clotting around his brain - obviously very serious stuff. He's in the hospital now and they appear to have the situation under control but it is tough for him to go through this. Here's hoping that they get his situation under control in the very near future.

I'll end for now. Hope all is well with everyone - I will keep you posted on all the latest news from the Hopkins family!