UCLA 66, FLORIDA 76

As you all should know, I am a huge Bruins fan. I had them winning in my bracket on facebook. Yeah, I know, my bracket's pretty bad. My girlfriend, though, got 7 out of the 8 elite 8 and all four of the Final Four right. Impressive right? She should be an ESPN analysist.

Anyway, the Bruins started out playing very well with solid defense, forcing 10 turnovers in the first half while they only gave up one. That's what kept them in the game. When Arron Afflalo got his third foul with 10 minutes left in the first half, I knew the Bruins were in for it. Darren Collison wasn't producing on offense, Lorenzo Mata is the ugliest person I've ever seen, and I think Luc Richard Mbah a Moute forgot what time the game started.
The Gators at least got to practice their tip jams all throughout the second half. Their size was too much for the Bruins. Horford misses a 7 foot jumper and Noah or Richard are there to finish. It was an altogether embarassing second half.

UCLA doesn't have a single senior on the team. They'll all be back again next year, ready to take on the gators. After Afflalo's performance tonight I think he'll be reconsidering entering the draft, so he should be back next year. Who knows. What I do know is that UCLA needs a big man, someone that they can get the ball into down low and have him go to work. They are overloaded with guards.

Okay. I'm over the game. Tomorrow I'll write about my long night last night. It was a lot of fun. Tune in tomorrow ans see. Later
eric durso

TMC Basketball 07-08

A lot of people are always asking me about what the basketball team's going to look like next year. We're losing Isaiah Kottke, our only senior, and Lucian Pesoli who has left to play professionally wherever he can. Along with them, we are losing guard Aaron Dickson.
All three of these players were starters on our team last year, and we'll miss them all in different ways. Despite these losses, I think we have a good chance to be a better basketball team this coming year than we were last year, judging by the recruits Coach Martin and Assistant Coach Chris Connolly have been bringing in. We've already signed big man Everett Bryson who will be a big plus. We have another small guard we're looking at who's supposed to be a very, very good point. I've played with him a few times and though he's small, he's lightning quick and has got a nice stroke. We'll have to see how he can run an offense. We also have two more big men that we're looking at that could be huge assets if they choose to sign. With Ryan Zamroz and I returning as the nucleus, we should have a great starting five with a solid bench.

My Summer Reading List

I wondered if I'd ever run out of things to write about, and it seems that I may have done so. I'm sitting here trying to write a blog but I have no idea what I want to write about. There is no pressing social issue that is on my mind, nothing that's been bugging me lately. It's really just been school, working out for basketball, and friends. Not much else. So, because I have nothing else to say, I am going to make a list of the books I am going to try to read this summer:

1) Next, Michael Crichton. Daniel Beaty got me this book for Christmas, we've always liked Crichton's books. We'll see how this one goes.

2) Penrod and Sam, Booth Tarkington. I have no idea what this book is about or if it's even supposed to be good, but my advisor, Jack Simons suggested it once and my mom bought it for me for Christmas and I want to read it.

3) A Feast For Crows, George R. R. Martin. I started reading this over Christmas break but it's pretty slow, unlike the three other books in the series before this one. It seems Martin has stretched his story out way too thin and now he has too many characters and nowhere to go. We'll see what happens with this one.

4) The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis. I've read a couple Narnia books every summer since my freshman year in college and I'm finally on to the last one. I like them a lot, and am quite ashamed to admit I've never read them before.

5) The Seeing Eye, C.S. Lewis. I had never heard of this book when I saw it while I was in Borders a couple weeks ago. I LOVE C.S. Lewis, not only for his brilliance but for his writing style, his eloquence, and creativity. The back of the book reads: "C.S. Lewis presents and eloquent and colorful defense of Christianity for both devotees and critics...in a collection of essays composed over the last 20 years of his life." Sounds good to me!

6) Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles. Geoff Emerick. It's an autobiography of one of the sound engineers who was at all the Beatles' recordings. He got to know them very well as people, not just as rock stars. I think this will be an interesting read, considering my obsession with the Beatles.

7) Total Money Makeover: A proven plan for financial fitness. Dave Ramsey. I hear this book is great for people who need to learn how manage their money. For the little amount of money that I have, I need to manage it well.

Anyway, that's the short list. As for now, I'll be reading schoolbooks and crap like that. I can't wait till summer. Alright. Off to dinner.

ERIC DURSO

Life-not apathy

Every year our school does something called Spurgeon Fest which is a week where three different students from our school get to speak in chapel. It's called Spurgeon Fest because Charles Spurgeon, who was saved at age 15 and preached his first sermon one year later as a 16 year old. The whole purpose is to give an opportunity to godly young men who are aspiring preachers.
Anyway, it got me thinking about what I would talk about if I were asked to speak (this thought distracted me from Patrick Stickney's message for a little bit-- sorry Patrick). At first I wasn't sure if I would want to pick a passage and try to exposit it and I wasn't sure if I would want to do a topical sermon. I started trying to think about things that would apply to our school, our culture, and I came up with something that I think needs to be addressed because it is a growing epidemic in our society today. This problem is a cesspool from which all vices emerge; it is a hidden pandemic that permeates our minds without our consent-- striking us at all times, never letting us alone. What is this virus I am talking about? It's called apathy.
It's defined as the "absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement."
It's sad to see that people don't care about their world, their society-- they don't care about other people, they don't care about themselves! Instead, our culture immerses itself into whatever pleasures it desires-- it's so easy, anything that you want to do can be done without leaving your house. Instead of working toward something with future benefits, we live for the now. We will watch a TV show instead of read a good book. We will escape from the world with our ear phones instead of enjoying the smell of spring and the sound of the wind. We don't have to actually interact with people anymore because there is instant message, Myspace, and Facebook--and BLOGGING! If I could have one wish it would be that our culture would turn away from apathy and live with passion. At this point, I really don't care what for! Live with passion--do everything you can do foster it, because without passion, everything is nothing. Enjoy real things. Myspace, Facebook, and instant messanger aren't real-- they're subsitutes for the real things. Talk to people, listen to nature, learn about the real world (not the world of youtube or TV) through books. Know what's going on in our country. Know why you like President Bush when everyone else hates him! Live curiously. This is why:
When we acknowledge the real things in life, we are interacting directly with God's creation. Whether I know it or not, but when I see a beautiful sunset and remark how great it is, I am attributing worth to God's creation, thus, glorifying God. When show people that I care about them by interacting with them, I am glorifying God. When I take time to read a book, I am exercising my mind--showing that I care about my mind--glorifying God. If I am learning about my world, it shows I care about my world--God wants us to care about the world he's given over to us to have dominion over. When we love life, we are loving God's greatest gift. Here's my challenge to you: the next time you admire something, stop and remember who created it. Open up to a world of life

Laker's Game Tonight!

Tonight I'm taking Ashley to a Laker's game. It's probably one of the most expensive dates I've ever taken her on, but we've decided that we are going to go to at least one Laker game every year. Last year I found two tickets for ten bucks apiece. We were at the highest level about two feet away from the huge band that plays the "DEFENSE...DENFENSE..." chant. It got old, and then it became kinda funny, and then later it got old again. Now, it's kind of endearing, and we both hope we get the same seats we had last year so we can sit next to our band friends. It'll be fun, I know it. Hopefully Kobe will drop 50 on those Grizzlies.

Last year we took a picture of ourselves with the basketball court in the background and we plan on taking another one with the same poses with the court behind us. It might become a tradition of ours. It looks like we're miles above the court. We pretty much are.

We Are Immortal Souls

So it's official, I am an Uncle. Sorry for the long wait, all you readers of mine, but I had a pretty busy weekend becoming an uncle and all. Tae David Simmons was born 6:19pm on March 23 in Simi Valley hospital across the street from our church. He's small little sucker; came out weighing 8lbs and 10 ounces, I think. He's quiet and doesn't cry much, but he does have the Durso fingers and toes. Oh boy they're long. I think he'll be palming a basketball by the 4th grade (I could palm one in the fifth grade).
But the whole thing about becoming an uncle is finally hitting me. It's just weird to think that he will never know of the last 21 years of my life. There are so many things that I have gone through, so many experiences that he will never know about simply because he wasn't around. And now there his brand new life is crossing paths with mine. He's entering my life on my 21st year, but I get to see him grow up from day one. I've never done that before-- not even with myself. This little human being-- who has my long fingers and long toes-- will grow up and watch me to see how I live my life; how I conduct myself. The creature conceived in my sister's stomach is now an immortal soul whose eternal destination could possibly be determined by the way we (his "elders") interact around him.
And this thought about Tae brings me a step further in my thinking. Isn't every person that we interact with an immortal? We aren't living among people who, when death comes, cease to exist. We are on a daily basis interacting with immortal human beings, all of which can be influenced toward a better eternal home or a worse one. To think that every action carries such weight is pressure. How are we acting to the people around us? Are our actions encouraging? Do they discourage people? How are you affecting these immortals you are crossing paths with?

Road to South - Part 3

So tomorrow I am officially an uncle. From now on, you will address me as Uncle Eric. And if you call me that, I will know that you are reading my blog. And that means you are part of my readership. After today's post, I am going to go back to my original blogging habits. I am periodically going to to a 3 part story like I've done the last three days, but for the next few weeks it's gonna be back to the natural blog. But, as for now, enjoy the last part of my epic adventure south.

When we reached the border we weren’t sure if we should enter Mexico. We didn’t have much food—our loaves were getting smaller and smaller. The ham that we bought smelled rotten when we opened it, so we didn’t go there anymore. Despite these harsh conditions, we decided to do the noble thing and keep on going south. We all noticed how no one cared who was going into Mexico. We didn’t have to stop at all. Justin, our driver, suddenly began to drive the speed limit. He had an acute paranoia of the cops in Mexico, and he was convince that if he broke the law his car would get impounded and we’d have to bribe their government to get our car back. “The American government should convince everyone that they’re corrupt,” he said, “that way everyone would obey the laws.”
We drove along the coastline. The beaches were beautiful and clean; not a single person could be found on them. We went straight through Tijuana and then through Rosarito. To give you an idea as to how hungry we were, that Subway sandwich that I mentioned in the beginning, remember? Justin ate it. I think at that point it was three days old.
We finally hit Ensenada and decided it was the right place to stop for the night. We parked his car by the beach and when out and watched the sun set. It was probably one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen. Straight above us was the sky blue of the night but as you went down closer to the ocean it gradually became more orange until it culminated in a big glorious yellow ball. The ocean was purple and shadowy and eternal. We enjoyed it for the time it lasted. It was so much more significant because we found it.
After the sun had gone down we went back into the city to walk around. It seemed like on every street corner was a gentleman’s club with promoters outside ready to give you a discount. One time we were walking by one and a promoter came up and was yelling “CHICKS, CHICKS! Here, I give you a discount.” To this Justin said, “No, we’re Christians.” The man paused and laughed, and then said, “We’re having a Bible study in there!”
Eventually we found a nice authentic Mexican restaurant. In the windows there were chickens spinning on a spit. Inside there was a three man ensemble that came around and played music for people. Me, Justin and Steven ordered Dos Equis beers (we were afraid to drink the water), while Dave ordered a coke. I had one or two sips of my beer and remembered how much I hate beer. I traded with Dave so I could have his coke. He finished my beer and I finished his coke. I was afraid that the ice would melt and that I could get sick from it.
After we ate we looked for the cheapest hotel we could find. We tinkered with the idea of sleeping in Justin’s car, but first of all, that would be impossible because we were all too big, and second of all, it’d be too dangerous. We ended up paying for a hotel.
The next morning we decided that we couldn’t go any farther south. So, having conquered everything between The Master's College and Ensenada, we decided to go back home.
Leaving Mexico proved to be another difficult task. Steven was filming our triumphant reentry into the states when we were crossing the international line. The guy in the post stopped us and started yelling at us: “Were you taking pictures? Were you taking pictures?” For some reason, Steven denied it so we had to get pulled over and searched. He took our video camera and looked back at what we had recorded while they opened our trunk and went through all our stuff. It was funny and nerve-racking at the same time.
We finally became free and drove back to The Master's College. It was long and tedious, filled with many stupid jokes and more uncomfortable positions, but we made it. Once we were there, we all went our separate ways. There were still three more days of Spring Break left.

This is a picture of all the relics we accrued on our trip to south and back.