By now, most of you probably know that on late Wednesday night, I made my first ever appearance on national TV, on the new ESPNU show UNITE, where I talked a bit about the second weekend of the college football season. It was a truly flattering and humbling experience; not only to appear on the show, but to be asked in the first place.

The show, which just launched last week, is hosted by former Florida State quarterback Danny Kannell (who I also had on my podcast yesterday), comedian Reese Watters and esteemed TV personality Marianela Pereyra and kind of has a “Sports Nation” meets college kind of feel to it. It’s ESPN’s first venture into late-night television and definitely has a more laid-back, less “analytical” vibe than most shows on the network.

Regardless, I was on Wednesday for a quick spot to discuss Week 2 of the college football season. The hosts and I chatted on Texas A&M-Florida, Georgia-Missouri and why Air Force could upset Michigan. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to do it again soon.

Also, I did want to make one additional, quick announcement and say that I cannot thank everyone enough for the support last evening. From the time I announced I’d be on the show, all the way through this morning, the amount of tweets, texts and phone calls congratulating me, and telling me “good job” have been simply overwhelming. I’ve never felt more loved, and my work has never felt more appreciated than it does right now. As humbled as I was by being on the show, I was twice as humbled by all the love you guys and gals showed me.

So thank you to all of you, and hopefully this is just the first of many opportunities like this with UNITE and ESPNU.

If you’ve been following closely, I’m guessing over the last few weeks many of you may have noticed a bit of a trend here at Aaron Torres Sports. The trend? Mainly that most my tweets, Instagram updates and commentary have had a decidedly West Coast feel to them. Just since the beginning of August I’ve tweeted pictures from Vegas, USC’s Heritage Hall (home of O.J. Simpson’s Heisman Trophy, of course!) and mentioned a “big life change” in a previous article, so you know something’s got to give, right?

Well, by now you’ve probably put two and two together and realize that I am now living out West. I’ll spare you the boring details and just promise two things: No, I am not on the run from the cops back East, and yes mom, I’m eating well. Truthfully, the move out here basically came down to the fact that I’m young, and I needed a change of scenery for a while. No different than a million other people my age.

At the same time it doesn’t hurt (especially in regards to what it means for this site) that the sports scene out here is, umm, simply epic. Given what I eventually want to do in life (be a national sports columnist, covering the biggest stories and games) there isn’t a better place in America to be right now than the Los Angeles.

Just in the last calendar year, think about all the things that have happened in and around the LA sports scene. In no particular order: Chris Paul got traded to the Clippers (and technically, the Lakers too); Albert Pujols signed with the Angels; the Dodgers were bought by Magic Johnson; the Dodgers also traded for Hanley Ramirez; Matt Barkley decided to come back to USC for his senior year, making the Trojans the preseason favorites to win the BCS National Championship; Jim Mora was hired by UCLA for football, at the very least making them more interesting than they’ve been in years; the top high school basketball recruit in the country, Shabazz Muhammad decided to come to UCLA too; the Kings won the Stanley Cup; Mike Trout has emerged as quite possibly the single greatest rookie in the history of Major League Baseball; oh and by the way, in my first full week here… Dwight Howard got traded to the Lakers!! Name me a city that has had that much action in the last year? You simply can’t and hopefully it kinda makes sense as to why I’ve shifted locations for a little while.

After just returning from Indianapolis on Monday, I will actually be off the grid for another week or so starting Tuesday as I travel to the West Coast. I don't have time to get into the details now, but will explain further in the coming days and weeks as to why I am out West.

And when I am back, well, watch out! We'll be just a few weeks to the start of college football season and I fully plan on pumping out more articles, podcasts and interviews than you know what to do with.

Wish me safe travels, and I'll see you soon!

Based on my incessant tweeting, Facebook picture-posting as well as the last article posted on this site, I’m guessing that by now, most of you know that I attended my first NASCAR race over the weekend. That’s right, while many of you may have been focused on London, my attention was 4,000 miles away in Indy and the Brickyard and while you were arguing over Phelps vs. Lochte, I was debating Dale Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. Granted, it wasn’t a trip I ever necessarily planned on taking, but one that I will be forever thankful I did. My first NASCAR race exceeded any expectations I could’ve ever had on the sport on the experience of being there.

First let’s get to the particulars, and let me answer the most basic question most everyone is probably wondering. That question? It’s something to the effect of “Hey Aaron, why were you- a kid from Connecticut who had never even been to Indiana before and couldn’t even spell NASCAR a few months ago (blame it on my state school education!)- in Indianapolis over the weekend? Did someone get you confused with Brad Daugherty and send the wrong press credential or something?”

Funny stuff. Only the answer is way more complicated.

To take it from the top, let me start by explaining this: Crown Royal is the title sponsor of the event, and for the sixth year in a row, their big initiative at the Brickyard was to honor what they term “hometown heroes,” in an event they called the “Your Name Here contest.” As I mentioned in Friday’s post, while we spend so much time glamorizing the athletes we cover and celebrities on TV, it is actually the police, firefighters, military personnel and others who make the true difference in our everyday lives. And while we might not think to honor them on a day-to-day basis, the good folks at Crown Royal went out of their way to make sure they got their due this weekend. We all have hometown heroes in our lives, and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that we can all be grateful to Crown Royal for doing that.

Although this website is called “Aaron Torres Sports,” by now most of you know that the title is a tiny bit misleading. Yes, I cover “sports,” at Aaron Torres Sports, but simply don’t have the time, energy or interest to cover them all. By now, if you’re a regular reader, you know what you’re going to get out of me and this site; essentially a whole lot of college football and college basketball, with a smattering of NBA, NFL, baseball and the occasional tennis article mixed in as well. On the other hand, if golf, soccer, gymnastics, badminton, lawn bowling or stick ball are more up your alley, well, then you’re going to have go to somewhere else for news and opinion.

And admittedly, when I did start this site, one sport that I always assumed I’d lump in with that latter group was NASCAR. I’m ashamed to admit this now, but as recently as six or seven months ago, I literally knew nothing about the sport; nothing about the intricacies of it; nothing about the relationship between driver and pit crew; and nothing about what happened on race day. I was a NASCAR novice. And frankly, I always expected to stay that way.

Thankfully though (and yes, I am thankful) that began to change this winter.

As you may remember, it was back in February that I had a chance to interview NASCAR superstar Joey Logano prior to the Daytona 500. It was a fun and lively 15 minutes, and I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity.

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I’ve got a confession to make: This article isn’t for you.

It isn’t about trying to reach the largest audience, get the most page views or impact the greatest number of people. It’s not about trying to be funny or quirky or unique. I don’t care if you laugh or cry or click straight through onto the next thing. If you do the latter, I won’t take it personally, I promise.

Nope, this article is for me, and it’s to remember Roger Federer. It’s to take a moment and a couple thousand words to step back and appreciate the most dominant athlete and greatest champion that I’ve ever seen. It’s about appreciating a moment I never thought I’d see again.

And above all, it’s about typing one sentence that I never thought I’d get to again: On this morning, Roger Federer is once again a Grand Slam champion. Man oh man is it sweet.

Now for those of you who don’t follow tennis or haven’t followed Roger’s career arc, I really cannot explain to you how special this day is for Fed fans. Understand, this isn’t like watching your favorite team take home a title, or even like attending a parade when the Stanley Cup or Super Bowl trophy comes back to your hometown. Sure those experiences are fun, but in the NHL and NFL (as well as the NBA and MLB), it’s just different. The coaches’ change and the players change and really, the only thing that stays the same is the name on the front of the uniform. Don’t get me wrong, I know how special it is when your favorite team wins the title. Few things feel better. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. Not at all.

Admit it: It’s summer, it’s hot out, you may or may not have been without power for the last five days… and you’re approximately eight hours from the start of a five-day holiday weekend. You don’t want to do anything that’ll make you actually make you think today, right?

Frankly, you shouldn’t have to. Which is why rather than writing a regular, well thought, fact-based column this morning, I figured it was time to break out another “50 Random Thoughts” instead. After all, why work hard, when you can read a bunch of jumbled sentences and half-baked thoughts right before a holiday weekend instead?

Therefore, here are another 50 Random Thoughts, this time on Dwight Howard, Justin Bieber, the July 4th weekend and more!

Last Monday I wrote a column called “The 10 Most Annoying Fans In Sports,” an article which received more positive feedback than just about anything I’ve done recently. After it was posted, Twitter and my text log blew up with friends, family and followers telling me not only how much they enjoyed the article, but also by sharing with me which fans annoyed them the most. The comments were nothing short of hysterical; some of the best ever posted on my website.

It’s also why I decided that it was time to do a Part II of the Most Annoying Fans list, with a catch: This time, virtually all of the submissions come from actual readers of the first article. After all, I can only be annoyed so much, but if that first article proved anything, it’s that there is plenty out there which annoys you folks as well.

So here it is, Part II of the Most Annoying Fans in Sports.

Years before I was born, my mom adopted a dog named Emily. She (my mom) was young, naïve and had no intentions of owning a pet, until one day her neighbor stopped by with the cruelest of ultimatums: he was moving, and couldn’t take a pet with him. If my mom didn’t take the dog, the neighbor would have no choice but to put it down. Given that my mom has a heart the size of Madagascar, the decision was a no-brainer. Within hours, she was a first-time pet owner.

Admittedly, I don’t remember all that much about Emily. By the time I was born her best days were behind her, and by the time I was a cognizant, functioning tiny human, she was down to her final months and days. When we did finally put her down, I remember being upset (any kid that age would be), but for my mom it was a cataclysmic event. When you’re that young, you just don’t realize the hold a good dog can have you.

Fast-forward a few years, and my sister and I got the urge to have a dog again. We begged and pleaded and pulled out the little kid heavy artillery of “We’ll feed him, and we’ll walk him and you’ll never even know he’s there.” That’s what little kids do, but my mom wasn’t convinced. Either that or she simply wasn’t ready for another dog.

We went to the pound a few times and came back empty-handed, before one day, we eventually met Oscar.

If I had to describe Oscar that day, the best I could come up with was that “He was half German Shepherd, half Australian Cattle Dog, and 100 percent personality.” All these years later I still can’t totally put my finger on it, but from the moment we walked in, something was distinctly different about him. He didn’t look different, he didn’t sound different, he didn’t move different, but he was different. All the other dogs in the pound were saying “Pick me!! Pick me!!” He was saying “You’re going to pick me, let’s go outside and I’ll show you what you’re getting.” To quote Les Miles Oscar definitely had “swag” and an hour later our family had a dog. I’ve heard many times that in life our pets choose us, we don’t choose them, and there may not be a better example of that anywhere than Oscar. He decided we were the family for him the second we walked in the door. We never stood a chance.

The idea for this column came on Saturday during the U.S. Open. It was about 7 p.m. EST, Tiger Woods was wearing a shade of green that could best be described as "blinding," and just as he was following through on his backswing on the third or fourth tee…

…some obnoxious guy screamed out at the top of his lungs “Get In the Hole!!!!!” You know, just like some obnoxious guy does on every hole, at every golf tournament played on tour all season.

And it was at that moment that I realized something: I really, really don’t like “Get In The Hole Guy.” At all. And apparently I’m not alone, since right after I tweeted about it, my timeline filled up, with folks either agreeing with me, and some actually wishing bodily harm against him. That may be a bit a much for me personally, but hey, to each their own, right?

Really though, it got me thinking: Is “Get In The Hole Guy” the most annoying fan in sports? If not, is anyone worse than him?

Well, after taking some time and jotting some notes, as well as soliciting advice on Twitter, I have come up with a list of the folks that I consider to be the 10 most annoying in sports. Your list may be a bit different, and if you think I missed someone, by all means, please feel free to share in the comments section below, or on Twitter @Aaron_Torres.

As a matter of fact, before we get to the list, here are a few submissions from Twitter that just barely missed the cut: