Hey guys and gals!

So one of the things I enjoy the most about being part of the Bloguin Network (having joined in December), is access to a database of over 100 great sites on anything you could ever want in sports. There are baseball blogs, hockey blogs, college sports, MMA, really anything. Some of my personal favorites include SECRivals.com (SEC Sports), BlatantHomerism.com (Oklahoma and the Big XII), and FavreDollarFootlongs, where Gene Zarnick writes with the sharp wit that I hope to bring to my writing as well. Hell, the name of his website alone is more clever than anything I've ever come up with.

Anyway, being part of the network has many perks, beyond just having lots of good reading material while on the toilet. One of those perks is the opportunity to occasionally work with other sites, and collaborate with some of the other great writers on the network, which is what I did this weekend...

Ahh, the Olympics.

The pageantry, the excitement, the patriotism. Not to mention the goofy accents, funny sounding names and bad haircuts.

But with the 2010 Winter Olympics set to kick off tonight, where's the enthusiasm? Apparently no where, as NBC is set to lose close to $200 million dollars by broadcasting them. So what's the company to do?

Well as always, I, Aaron Torres, have been thinking about this, and have come up with a few ideas that I think would help.

Some are pure genius, and others are quite goofy, (I'll be the first to admit it) but when you're about to loose $200 million, isn't every one of them is worth listening to? Besides, the point of this excersise isn't to re-invent the wheel, just get people talking about the Games and tuning in.

So here are my 10 Ways to Spice Up the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Enjoy!

Just like any job, being a writer has its good days and its bad.

Of course, the difference between you and I is that when you have a bad day, you might sneak away for a few 45 minute "cigarette breaks," or hit on the chubby new secretary with the lazy eye just to make yourself feel better. Unfortunately, I have no such luxuries.

Nope, when I'm having a bad day, I've still got to write something and publish it online for all of you to see and make fun of me for. And I can't blame you, I'd do the same. Just an occupational hazard I suppose.

But just because I'm not always a young Rick Reilly or Willy Shakespeare with the pen and paper, doesn't mean that I don't have opinions on the big game, or your favorite team. Sometimes though, I just can't fit all those ideas into one neat little column for your entertainment purposes.

So where do those thoughts go? How about into this column, into a gimmick I've stolen from several writers including ESPN's Bill Simmons, which are called the Ramblings.

Some of the Ramblings are well thought out, and will probably make you think like you never have before (Ok that might be a sliiiiiight exaggeration). Others aren't even complete sentences.

But much like the Island of Misfit Mascots (and Toys too), these thoughts still need a home.

And now they have one. Enjoy.

Ahh Super Bowl Sunday. The big day. When two teams do battle for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, an NFL champion is crowned and you have a few too many drinks, and end up hitting on your friend’s 15-year-old cousin (Sorry bro, the braces should have been a dead giveaway). Good times. Dare I say, great times.

Of course it’s all fun and games until it’s your turn to host. Then what? What about the food and drink? What about the prop bets and Super Bowl boxes? Where do you even start?

Well luckily for you, I’ve been to a few Super Bowl parties in my day. Good ones, bad ones, forgettable ones, you name it, I’ve seen it all. Well except for the Jets winning the Super Bowl. When that happens, then I’ll have seen it all.

Either way, I’m here to help. Here to give you the answers to all your questions, as well as a few you probably didn’t even think to ask.

I’m here to help you (yes you, you bozo) throw the “Ultimate Super Bowl Party.”

Enjoy

The text came at 10:03 p.m.

It was from my buddy Matt, and was right to the point: "Wait, Vince Young is a Pro Bowler???"

He sure is Matt. He sure is.

You may remember Young, the Pro Bowler, as a guy who didn't start any of his team's first six games of the season, or throw a pass in any their first four. Not because of a nagging injury, suspension or any kind of drug/PED/sex tape scandal. Nope, VY's team and coaches just thought that Kerry Collins- Kerry freakin' Collins- gave them a better chance to win football games than he did. It took six straight losses to prove otherwise.

And while Vince Young was playing in the Pro Bowl Sunday night, you know who wasn't? Just about everybody else.

The NFL's Offensive (Peyton Manning) and Defensive (Charles Woodson) MVP's didn't play. Neither did the game's most dynamic passer (Drew Brees), feel good story (Kurt Warner) and most polarizing player (the immortal Brett Favre). Tom Brady stayed at home with Giselle. So did Larry Fitzgerald with his volumizing shampoo. Same with Philip Rivers, Patrick Willis and Steven Jackson. Hell, Brian Cushing is a rookie, and even he didn't show up. Dwight Freeney, Reggie Wayne and Darren Sharper were in the building, but like roughly 70,000 paying customers, they were simply bored spectators.

Look at that list again. No Manning, Favre or Brees. No Brady, Rivers or Freeney. Now ask yourself this question: Is it time we stop this charade, and end the NFL's Pro Bowl?

When I was a kid, late night sporting events were always my favorite.

Since I had a set bedtime, and only basic cable in my room, I always looked forward to the World Series, NBA Finals and March Madness the most, as those were the games I could stay up for without anyone knowing. Looking back, I honestly don't know what I enjoyed more, the games themselves, or all the sneaking around that came with them. Remember this was before kids had iPods, cell phones and the internet. Watching a bad World Series game with the volume so low only the dog could hear it was the most exciting thing I had going when I was 10. Well except for Duck Hunt on the original Nintendo.

I still even remember the first game that I was allowed to stay up late and watch, the 1997 NCAA Championship Game between Arizona and Kentucky. Sure it was only because Connecticut was getting hit by a "Storm of the Century," type of blizzard that night. I didn't care.

To this day I remember everything about that game: The excitement of being up so late. The shine of the floor at the RCA Dome and of Rick Pitino's hair. Mike Bibby's tattoo's. My eyelids getting droopy as the game headed to overtime. And of course, the cheesy line Jim Nantz used after Miles Simon led Arizona to victory: Simon Says, Championship! I only wish I could remember my senior prom or college graduation that vividly.

Fast forward to 2010 and into my adulthood. Things are different now. I come and go as I please. I obviously don't have a bedtime. And if I want to stay up late for a game, I do it, just like any guy in his mid-20s would. Well except for the ones with girlfriends.

Which is why the Australian Open has been so fun for me these last few weeks. The coverage starts just as my day is winding down, and usually concludes right when I'm waking up.

I've passed out and woken up to the Australian Open for close to 14 days in a row now, and I'm loving it. Which makes sense.

When you think about it, tennis is the perfect sport to have on in the background as you're falling asleep: There's only crowd noise at the end of points, and even then it's rarely too loud. Announcers speak in hushed tones. The symmetry of the ball getting hit back and forth is eerily calming. And unlike football or basketball, you don't feel like you're missing much with your eyes closed. How many points in a tennis match are "must see"? Half a dozen?

When I actually have been awake, I've seen more tennis than I have in a long time. At the same time, I've learned a lot about the game and its players too.

As a matter of fact, here are 10 things I'll take away from the 2010 Australian Open, in no particular order:

This article has been a long time coming.

Not that you don't already know about the newspaper industry. Quite the contrary I'm sure. I won't be the first to tell you that newspapers are all but dead. Honestly, I'm probably not the 1000th person to tell you either.

But it still kind of bums me out.

Like you I'm sure, I grew up reading the newspaper every day as a kid. It's where my favorite teams and players came to life, a kind of "live journal," of my youth as a sports fan if you will. And loving sports the way I do, I always assumed that I'd spend my adult years in a newsroom, arguing with co-workers like Wilbon and Kornheiser. Only hopefully with a little more hair.

Like so many things in life though, the way you dream things up as a kid are rarely how they turn out to be as an adult. Don't get me wrong, I'm ok with it. I've found a nice place for myself here online, while many overqualified newspaper writers are be given pink slips every day nationwide. Believe me, I'm not bitter or angry that I never got to work at a newspaper, just thankful that I came along when I did, and not five years earlier or later.

But here's the most frustrating part about the situation with newspapers: Everyone's given up. The old guard running the industry believes that a younger audience no longer wants the news. And that's the farthest thing from the truth. The news as we know it has just changed.

During this past college football season, I started a weekly segment on this website called, "20 Thoughts From Another Saturday On My Couch." The write-up wasn't so much an analysis of what had happened over the weekend, as much as shop talk about the botched snaps, goofy haircuts and awful announcing that went on across college football, with a little serious pigskin chatter mixed in.

With college basketball season now in full swing, I've decided to bring back "20 Thoughts," with a roundball twist. Again if you're looking for detailed analytical breakdowns of the 1-3-1 zone or Kansas' half court offense, you'll be sorely disappointed. But if you want a rundown of the weekend's dumbest quotes and stupidest coaching mistakes with just a hint of occasional seriousness, well, enjoy.

Let's start with UConn's upset over previous No. 1 Texas...