BCS Rant

I just want to get this out of my system quickly, so hopefully I'll forget about it and be at peace. This is mostly concerning TCU's football team this year, and Utah's team last year. Both teams went 12-0 in the season, had amazing teams and were yet not so privileged to play in the BCS title game. Ok, so the MWC may not be a BCS-conference. But, how many points did Alabama score against Utah last year? Oh yeah, 17. It was 31-17. Now TCU this year, goes undefeated and is ranked No. 4 at the end of the regular season (mind you, they would have been 3rd if the Big East didn't play for the title). And yet, they are snubbed.

Now, to another, I would say more annoying thing. Now TCU gets to play Boise St. in a BCS bowl game? First of all, they played each other last year, and TCU won. Second of all, what is the point of being in a BCS bowl if you can't play a "BCS caliber" team. Even if TCU trounces Boise St., critics will still continue to say how they weren't that good, I mean Boise St. is from the WAC, a lowly conference. And even if TCU did finish 2nd in the BCS after all the bowl games, it still wouldn't mean anything. These kinds of teams should have a shot at a national title. But will they get it? Not likely. Anyway, TCU should get a chance to play a BCS conference team, but instead will just show their brute strength and skills against a decent Boise St. team, and no one will ever know if they could have hung with Texas or Alabama, cause they never got the chance.

As a lost rant, as we all know, the BCS is broken. 5 undefeated teams! I know there are computers to figure these things out, but no one really knows how it works. Thus the need for a playoff, but I won't even start with that, because it will not happen unless the government gets involved, and who wants more government control? Not me...

Dallas, but so much more

So, this is a report on my recent trip to the Dallas/Arlington area. My friend Joe and I drove down to Dallas last friday evening, leaving at 7:15pm and getting to Dallas at around 12:45am, so not too long, but no too short either. Then we talked a bit with my cousin Erik and his wife Julie. Then it was time to sleep.

We got a somewhat early start on the day, by going to IHOP for breakfast at 9am. It was very good, I got the "Veteran Scramble", which was eggs, hashbrowns, and some other good stuff. It was very filling, I couldn't even eat my pancakes. It was nice to see Egan relatives, including my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob Egan, and my cousins Erik and Emily, each with their spouses and all their children. It was a large and fun group!

Next, we drove to the Dallas Temple to do baptisms. When we got there they told us to wait while the session before us got done and came out. They mentioned to us that they were the cheer squad for BYU, so that was pretty cool. The baptisms went well, we were mixed in with a Spanish Branch, but they did do ours in English. It was great, aside from the dressing rooms being tiny.

After that, we drove over to see the legendary Cotton Bowl. We took some fun pics of that and then drove to Dealey Plaza. Here, we took the 6th Floor Museum audio tour of the events surrounding the Kennedy Assasination. It was really eerie knowing it had all gone down there, they even had Xs on the street where the car had been when the shots were fired. It was all very interesting, and I'd highly suggest it to anyone interested. We of course also saw the grassy knoll. It was all very informative.

Now comes even more amazing adventures! From Dealey Plaza we drove to the Ballpark in Arlington, where the Texas Rangers play and finally arrived at the Dallas Cowboys new Stadium. To put it simply, this stadium is a monstrosity! It is enormous! It has an enormous retractable roof. But, there are two things that made it insanely amazing. One, the 50 plus yard wide HDTV hanging over the field, which is ginormous! In addition, this large, expansive building is air-conditioned! Can you believe it? I was in awe!

So, we watched an amazing BYU-Oklahoma game which ended as it should have. BYU beat the Sooners 14-13! It was a madhouse! We were screaming and cheering and I can't really describe it but it was awesome. I have posted pictures and one video on Facebook. It was great and I'm so happy I made the short drive to make it happen! Don't pass up opportunities people!

Missouri, a wonderful trip!

So, I had a great opportunity this weekend. Living in Wichita, KS, I am not too far from Missouri. In the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints, many things happened in the area around Kansas City. This past Saturday, as an institute activity we drove to Adam-ondi-Ahman, in western Missouri (north of Kansas City).

For those unfamiliar with this area, this is where Adam and Eve lived after they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Many glorious things have happened here. Besides just living there, Adam had a grand meeting with all his posterity before he passed away. There he blessed his children. Joseph Smith affirmed that there was an actual altar made by Adam (of stones) found at his time in Adam-ondi-Ahman. In addition, a Nephite altar was also found. Many other wonderful things happened there which I cannot discuss here. However, I would like to comment on the great meeting that will happen there. First of all, the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman is enormous! I can't even fathom how many people could meet there, but definitely millions. I heard the church owns 3,000 acres of the land. When Christ comes again on the earth, he will gather the faithful members of the world to this place and there a great meeting will occur. I won't go into details, but needless to say it will be amazing, I'll leave it at that but those wishing to expound, feel free.

In addition, after visiting this holy place, we drove south to Liberty, MO. This is where Liberty Jail can be found. Here it was that Joseph Smith was kept in prison (with 4 others) for over 4 months. While conditions were horrible, and he was held without guilt of any crime, it turned out to be a place of great revelation. Our guide there, Sister Brooks (a sister missionary), explained that as members of the church we like to think of Liberty Jail as a place of great revelation, not as a place of suffering, even though great suffering occured there. If you weren't sure, Doctrine and Covenants sections 121-123 were all received while he was incarcerated in Liberty Jail.

These were both great, positive places to be. I suggest that you go if you get the chance, you won't regret it! I am grateful to be here in Kansas, close to many church historical sites. I'm planning a trip to Nauvoo to see the temple there, visit many sites there and visit the temple lots in western Missouri. What a great time to be alive and to have a knowledge of all these wonderful places!

Wichita, here I am

Ah yes, I'm sure you've all been anxiously awaiting my first post from Wichita. Well, here it is! I am enjoying my time immensely here. While the weather is very different from Utah or Washington, people are still nice and I'm extremely grateful to have a job. To explain the weather, it is usually around 50% humidity, with high temperatures in the mid-90's. This isn't so bad, but it was definitely draining when I got here, and is pretty rough if you're not inside air conditioning all day (call me a weakling if you will, but it's hot!). The most exciting weather though has been the thunderstorms. They often bring a lot of rain down, even strong enough to get inside our windows (I'm sure the windows are just faulty). With the rain though, of course, comes greatly added humidity.

Next, my job has been exciting, at least more so recently. I am working on the Airbus A350, which is basically Airbus' answer to Boeing's 787, with a mostly composite fuselage. Our team is working on the frames section of the middle part of the fuselage. I haven't done to much design work, but I am learning the 3D modeling program better and hope to start making useful contributions. I took a class this past week (all week) on wireframe and surface modeling. It was fun, but I'm glad to get back to the office. I work in a cube, well, I technically share a cube with two other people, but it's still great.

How about I'll talk about food last. I have been eating out a lot, mainly because I am just lazy. Anyway, I am trying to hit a bunch of BBQ places. I've hit three so far which have all been very good. Last night I went to Texas Roadhouse, which they say is the best steak in town. It was pretty delicious, and their ribs weren't bad either. In addition, they had amazing rolls that were super fluffy, with honey butter with cinammon (that's what we thought at least). It was delicious, and I was filled to the brim. I guess that's all for now, oh, and I also joined the YMCA, which I try to get to twice a week at least to go swimming.

It's fun times here in Wichita!

Experience 2

Last night I went to see "Up" with my nieces, nephews, mom and sister. If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil it but I highly suggest you see it. As I was talking with my mom afterwards about it, it helped me realize that there is more to experiences than just enjoying the experience alone. We also need to enjoy the journey on our way to the actual "event", if there is one. Let us not let our lives just past before us, but live them and enjoy them as they go, because before you know it they'll be over. Live it up!

Experience

Well, one last blog from my home of 4.5 years, Provo, UT. It has been a fun stay and I will be sad to be going, but excited to be moving to a new adventure in Wichita, KS! Anyway, now to what I am actually writing this blog about. In the past two weeks or so, I have gone camping 3 times. This seems like a lot, but it's really just making up for lost time. I sometimes think of all the opportunities I have had to go camping, but didn't take advantage, so I tried to make up for them. The hiking and adventures were fun too. I was privileged to wander around Goblin Valley, hike to a glacier and explore some cool caves at Great Basin National Park and finally reached the summit of Spanish Fork Peak. I also had the great opportunity to attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House, which was amazing! These were all great experiences, which I am glad I was able to do.

The reason I bring this up is that a few months back I finally realized one of the things that makes life great. This would be experiences, if it wasn't already obvious. I guess I really began to think of this when my brother-in-law mentioned how he was willing to pay lots of money to see U2. Then I started to make more decisions to have fun experiences, which are unforgettable and can't be replaced. Plus, you will always have those memories and don't forget to take pictures, so you will be better able to remember them!

So, now I am working on having great and fun experiences in my life. I drove to Boise in April with friends just to see Death Cab for Cutie, then drove back the next day. I am driving to Dallas (from Wichita) in the fall to see BYU play Oklahoma. It really amazes me that I didn't realize or at least recognize it earlier in life, but all life is is experiences. We must also remember to be the ones acting and creating, not being acted upon. I guess the key is to remember and cherish the good ones, and learn from the not so good ones. Life is a great experience and we won't get to repeat it, so when great opportunities present themselves to you, don't think twice, but take advantage! Life is meant to be lived!

Commitment?

I'm tired of never saying anything I feel, so here it goes! I don't want to make an example of everyone, or be rude, but I just wanted to share some feelings I thought were very interesting. First of all, commitment is a super important part of our lives as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. The commitment on most college student's minds is the eventual commitment to marriage, an everlasting commitment! But, how about all the other choices we have to make in this life? Well, I'm tired of hearing about men always being called "non-committal" and "unwilling to commit". I just want to state that women are plenty "unwilling to commit" too, so don't put all the blame on the men! Yes, say what you will, get mad all you want, but this is just how it is, men AND women are often unwilling to commit. As an example, I sometimes like to get people together to do fun things, at least what I think is fun. But, apparently people don't feel a need to "commit" to doing something simple. Ok, you may not want to go do something like a movie, but would it hurt to say "No, not really interested"? What I'm trying to say is I would take a commitment of "No", as opposed to indifference or "maybe", "if I feel like it", "Who else is going?". I think we as members also have a problem telling people no. All of us have to come to the realization that things are not always going to be "yes". Yes is fine, and no is fine. Maybes give people a sense of "false hope", which reminds me of the Jack Johnson song, where he states "It seems to me that maybe, pretty much always means no". I think that statement is true far too often. How about we get rid of maybes? Yes, I am far too guilty than is good for me, and I'm going to start being more committal myself, so I can stop being such a hypocrite. I'm committing now to make a change! Is anyone with me? Well, this could be the start to a commitment. How about a maybe?

Take Two

So, I have been pressured into writing more on my blog, so here it is. I know many women may hate me for this, but I think most guys will agree with me on this matter. And I mean no disrespect to women, but this is one of my pet peeves and I think women should hear about this. Something super unattractive to men (well for sure to me, at least) is when women downgrade or speak publicly about their inadequacies, what they think are shortcomings or just speak negatively about themselves. Granted, I think we all do this at some points in our lives, men and women, but no one ever wants to hear about it! Perhaps the biggest one is when women say "I'm so fat" or "I'm so ugly"! YOU AREN'T!!!, but you saying those things makes me unhappy. It really bothers me, you women, at least all those who may read this, and others too, are wonderful! You are not fat and you are not ugly! I suppose then I should take what short blog I have left (I keep 'em short) to explain what you are. You are great, you are cute, your body is fine and you shouldn't be so negative towards your image, especially when there are other people around. I hope I have not offended anyone, but please don't be so negative about your image, at least not around me.

A New Beginning

Hello world, yes, I Scott Egan have decided to start another blog, so that I can be like everyone else. And to first populate this blog I will explain what my exploits will be this summer. As some of you know, I have been working on getting myself a full-time job for when I graduate (this April, hooray!!!). Well, as of last week, I officially accepted a job offer with Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, KS! I will likely be starting about mid-summer (if I'm lucky), and will thus get time to relax and enjoy freedom for a couple of months. I will be graduating in Mechanical Engineering, and my job title will be "Structural Design Engineer". As for Spirit AeroSystems, as the name sounds, they are an aerospace companies who works on many components of different Boeing aircraft, also with Cessna and even with Sikorsky Helicopters. I'm not sure exactly where I'll be working, but I believe it might be with the helicopters. It truly will be a "new beginning". As Pres. Monson mentioned last week, I hope I too can achieve "great expectations", as I've always hoped to!