So Long Good Friend

Gettin' in it was Nick's passion in life
and he got in it as often as possible.

Athletes come in all shapes and sizes.

One of the most diversely-skilled and naturally-gifted people that I have ever known was a fellow Grand Teton National Park Trail Crew member named Nick Gillespie. The guy was a natural in every sense of the word. He was the Leatherman multi-tool of human beings, tackling elite-level challenges he continuously set forth before himself. He was one person that I found to be truly living for the moment and never took life for granted.

Nick's name is synonymous
with the mountains in my mind.

I had the pleasure of being neighbors with Nick in the Highlands cabins area of the park. We quickly became friends. He had a way of making lots of friends. It was another one of his fine-tuned skills. I for one instantly trusted him and found him to be a world class adventuring partner. Every time he was doing something it was something extremely cool. And he was often just glad to share the moment with you.

We definitely lost a great one when Nick passed on during a ski trip on January 27th in a place he would not have traded for anything.

So long good friend!
We shall miss you.

My condolences go out to his family and friends, and my thoughts and prayers are with our entire extended Jackson Hole family. You all are a blessing in my life and I will honor Nick every time I carve my skis through the snow, lay may hands on some rock, or cast a line in the water. No fireside meal or back-country drink will go without a thanks to the universe for bringing him into my life.


See you all soon. Be safe and take care of each other.

Cheers and Love to All!

Scot

FBS Updates

Recruiting News:

ESPN.com, Scout.com, and Rivals.com have been putting a lot of resources into recruiting news pages these days with National Signing Day coming up on February 6th, just three days after the Super Bowl. Some big-time prospects have recently made verbal commitments, including such notable ones as:

• Wide Receiver Laquan Treadwell (Crete, IL) - Ole Miss - The rebels nabbed one of the best overall prospects with the size and speed to compete right away.
• Running Back Derrick Green (Richmond, VA) - Michigan - The Wolverines got what many believe is a guy that can come in and take over at running back this fall. 
• Outside Linebacker Jaylon Smith (Fort Wayne, IN) - Notre Dame - Might be the best defensive prospect in the country that could help Irish fans quickly get over this whole Te'o thing that we won't talk about here.
• Safety Leon McQuay (Seffner, FL) - USC - The Trojans got a kid that could be on the cover of a lot of magazines in the future, whether its for football or because of his dreams and goals of being a hip-hop recording artist.
• Defensive Back Priest Willis (Tempe, AZ) - UCLA - Built like a pro corner and could be a high draft choice in three years.
• Linebacker Alex Anzalone (Wyomissing, PA) - Florida - Another great building block to help construct another great defense in the near future.

New Big Ten Alignment: How hard could this be?

There has been some recent debate over the new Big Ten Divisional lineup with the addition of Rutgers and Maryland into the conference starting in 2014. The league is also changing the names of the divisions from the corny Legends and Leaders monikers to something a little more generic like East and West, which could then look something like this:

Big Ten East:

• Maryland
• Michigan
• Michigan State
• Ohio State
• Penn State
• Purdue
• Rutgers

Big Ten West:

• Indiana
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Northwestern
• Wisconsin

It's also apparent that the league will go to nine or ten conference games per team as opposed to the current eight. We may see teams playing longer schedules to feed the demand for the sport because there is no doubt that the Big Ten wants to expand its already massive market. Hey, we're all for it.

Imagine the college football season running from mid-August through the first week of December with the conference championship games being played by December 8th. Then bowl games and the newly installed "playoff" system that will dominate headlines for two weeks leading up to New Year's Day, with the final being played the following week. In the end, we are talking five months of college football being played. That's almost half the year!

Mark my words, pay for play will soon be an even bigger issue than it is now. That's the only way they will be able to contain this growing monster. And with the billions of dollars being generated I am one that believes it should be an issue.

Let them eat pizza!

A Super Bowl Indeed

Many football fans across the country have expressed their happiness with the fact that the Patriots will not be representing the AFC in the Super Bowl this year. Social media has been lit up with rejoice over a Brady and Belichik-less party. Some of it sounds a bit petty, but I have to admit, without hesitation, that I also feel the same way.

Believe me, I'm not a Brady-hater, as I do think of him as one of the all-time greats, but I sense that the novelty that was the Patriots in post 9-11 America has worn out its welcome in most NFL fans' living rooms. Instead, seeing the culmination of Ray Lewis' career come full circle with an appearance in the Super Bowl is much more appealing than any Belichik-Brady story line. Hell, I would not give up this 49ers - Ravens match-up even if Gisele had promised to streak the field at the two-minute warning. 

Then there's the Jon and Jim Harbaugh factor as well. I mean, who doesn't at least like these two guys if not love them? After seeing what these men have done with their respective teams over the last few years I have no doubt that they are indeed two of the best in the game. They both have control over their teams and are both well-respected in the locker room and administrative offices alike. The proof of such claims unfolded before our very eyes last weekend, with two quality games that saw the best two teams punch their tickets to the big show in New Orleans on February 3rd.

In all honesty, you could not have hand-picked a better match-up. The exciting 49er read-option, pistol offense, led by exciting 25-year old quarterback Colin Kaepernick, against the always tough Ravens defense led by you know who, as well as the unadmirable Joe Flacco out to prove himself as Baltimore's franchise QB against a stout San Francisco defense that would love to show the world how hard they can hit. Personally, I smell a real battle brewing that could be as entertaining as the first time I drank a Hopslam. 

It appears Vegas has the Niners as 4.5 point favorites. At this point take Baltimore and the points as that Ravens team is one underdog with a nasty bite!

The NFL: A Bad Lip Read

If you haven't see this video from the folks over at BLR yet you should check it out: