However, that is no excuse for not working out. So, with me being a little more lax on the number of calories I took in, drinking a few beers, and burning a lot less calories – I ended up only losing 1 pound this week. I now weigh in at 204lbs.

I’m not completely upset. A loss is a loss. But I really didn’t want to have “a bad week” on this round of the diet but here it is. I hope this is my worst week as I want to make up for this past week during this next one. My goal remains 3lbs. per week and, on average, I’m still above that at just above 4+lbs. per week so far. But that could quickly fade away.

So, no more resting. I’m planning to have my best week of exercise yet and plan on being down 3lbs. next week. Maybe I’ll even get to 200? We’ll see.

Don’t forget to check in with everyone else on The Diet!

Driscoll Middle School came up with an amazing trick play. It managed to score them a touchdown.

/via Laughing Squid.

Recently Drew wrote up the backstory to how this all happened and it is a fantastic read.

I did well with beginning my exercise routine again though. I ran on Tuesday, Friday, and played football on Sunday. I ran two 5Ks, or 6.2 miles, and had “ok” times for both runs. I have no idea how much exercise I got playing football but I’d be willing to guess it was a much better workout than simply jogging. It was a lot more fun too.

My current weight is, as my goal was, 205 pounds for a loss of two pounds this week. Next week I’d like to be 203 or below. My goal, per week, will continue to be 2 pounds or more (but not much more).

My goals for this week, besides being under 203 pounds, are that I eat much better, drink only 1 night, jog at least 10 miles total for the week, and doing one other active thing this week.

This video comes from Viddler member FootEmotion.com a fantastic site for those passionate about football (not the American-version). I see these videos pop up from time-to-time on my radar and I always want to share them. The leg grabs are of particular awesomeness.

There are a ton more too.

PITTSBURGH, PA – November 2007

World Champions once again. The above is a reprise of a photo I took in November 2007 while at the worst Monday Night Football game ever – against the Miami Dolphins. It was taken from just about the furthest seat you could possibly purchase at the stadium, was one of the very few photos I managed to take during the game. I suppose it was because my fingers were frozen into my pockets.

The game ended up going to the Steelers with a score of 3 to 0. Game delaying torrential downpours that made the field into soup, lightning that shook Heinz Field, and frigid temperatures that caused many-a-cold were all factors in why the game was so horrible.

Congratulations to the entire Pittsburgh Steelers organization for a great year.

I am neither a Cowboys nor Bills fan, but I still went to a Monday Night Football game there. Must have been for booze.

Date taken: November 26, 2007 | Big Ben directing traffic. They needed, and got, a first down.

Gary Vaynerchuk in London
Photo credit: The hard working Tara Hunt

For those that do not know Gary, Wine Library TV, or Cork’d – let me take a second to catch you up to speed. Gary Vaynerchuk is the Director of Operations for Wine Library and began his career in wine at the ripe age of 17 (someone call the cops). He’s visited every major wine region on the planet, has probably tasted more wine this week than most people do in their adult lives, and is single handedly trying to “change the wine world” (or, trying to bring the community into every aspect of wine instead of it being an elitist club as it has been for so long).

Gary’s main mode of attack has been Wine Library TV, his daily video blog, where he tastes wine and rates it “live”. Even though he has personal relationships with most if not all of the vineyards that have their wine in his store, Gary does not hold back with his criticisms nor his accolades. His honesty, charisma, and passion for wine has made his video blog one of the top video blogs on the Internet and certainly the number one vlog for wine!

Cork’d, the brain-child of Dan Benjamin and Dan Cederholm, is a social network centered on keeping a wine journal and creating a list of wines you’d like to try based on what you’re friends have had. Cork’d is well built, beautifully designed, and bustling with active fans of wine.

For all of the above reasons – the merging of Gary Vaynerchuk’s empire with Cork’d is synergy++.

So now that you’re all caught up to speed, I thought I’d ask Gary a few questions about his acquisition of Cork’d and what it will mean for his current WLTV audience (of which I’ve been a member of since the very beginning).

When did you first discover Cork’d and when did you get interested it in as a property for Wine Library?

Gary: “Last May and last May! LOL. I knew this was it, I have been dreaming of launching a name I own, ratingwines.com, for 6 years (look it up) and when i saw Cork’d my dreams were dashed ”

I thought it was interesting that Gary knew he wanted to do something like Cork’d from the very beginning. This alone shows his dedication to his mantra or “changing the wine world”. Obviously the entire industry has been geared more towards paying attention to only a select few for wine ratings. Now, using Cork’d, one can see the consensus of the entire community rather than just one person using one rating system.

To show a little history here, Dan Benjamin shows that Wine Library was the longest running sponsor for Cork’d, which shows that Gary was always in the prime position to tap into this community and that Gary was always trying to help Cork’d become the best it possibly can be:

“One of our longest running advertisers was Wine Library TV, Gary Vaynerchuk’s excellent wine videocast. Each month, Gary would call us and buy out the top-spot in the Cork’d sidebar. Behind the scenes, he was always talking about partnering with us, coming up with ways we could enhance Cork’d, tie us in to his huge database of wines and wine labels – he really wanted to see Cork’d succeed.” — [source]

It is this dedication to helping something that he didn’t even own at the time that shows that Cork’d is in great hands going forward.

The synergy between Wine Library, Wine Library TV, your wine label service, and Cork’d are obvious! How long before we start to see all of these services mashed together, and what do you think the first thing to be integrated will be?

I’m a Vayniac – at Seneca Lake, NY
Get your shirt!

Gary: “Very soon! Give us 30-45 days to start wowing you!”

I’ve already seen and spoke to the WLTV crew about a few of the things they are working on. Obviously, being Viddler‘s Community Evangelist, I was interested to know how each episode of Wine Library TV (down to tasting each wine) would fit into this deal. Look for some pretty cool tie ins between Wine Library TV, Cork’d, and Viddler’s “linking to any moment” technology. However, as a “Vayniac”, I’m even more excited about having access to Gary’s tastings across this entire network of sites.

What part of this entire deal has you the most excited? I know for me its being able to watch the video of you tasting a wine that I may have had right from the Cork’d site. What about you?

Gary: “The fact that people can share and enjoy each other. Cork’d has given the infrastructure needed to create the wine community I dream of. I can’t wait to see wines have 100 reviews on them each, that will be fun!”

This also supports his mantra. At the end of each show, Gary emphasizes “You, with a little bit of me, we’re changing the wine world. Aren’t we?” Well now more than ever Gary is trying to put that power into the hands of the community rather than himself. Sure he’s the ring leader (and a very good one at that) but now all of us have the ability to say what we think about the wine’s we’re tasting and actually have it matter instead of falling on deaf ears.

You’ve got a ton of loyal Vayniacs that use the WineLibrary TV forums right now. Are all of us Vayniacs going to have to sign up to Cork’d and manage both accounts, or will you try to tie those two systems together somehow?

Gary: “I think the Vayniacs and everyone else will see the use. We will have a function that allows people to post a review on Cork’d and allow that review to go right to the WL Forum’s tasting notes, making it a whole 360 experience. My hope is people will see the huge value in using Cork’d though since it will also cellar your wines, keep a wish list, ect.”

The Cork’d blog (currently going through some DNS issues) has been silent for awhile, and never really took off. Do you see this as having more potential than just a random post every now and then? Do you have any plans for the Cork’d blog? I know you have a wine related blog already – can they be tied together somehow or will they remain separate?

Gary: “Not sure on this front but I think this is Cork’d's voice and it needs to be talkative. We mostly want to share thoughts and interact, I’m sure we will explore all possibilities.”

I’m a big proponent of blogging so I hope to see some of Cork’d's future plans, updates, and community efforts verbalized through their blog and on WLTV.

What will the JETS record be this year now that you’ve gone to the draft?

Gary: “16-0 with an easy win over the EAGLES;) honestly the 1st 2 games are brutal but a 10-6 is possible for sure!”

I’m pretty sure that jab is directed at Chris but I’ll let him respond.

Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions Gary. Personally I look forward to the developments that are sure to come in the near future to tie all of these great things together and really help us change the wine world one day at a time.

Additional coverage

There has been a pretty good amount of coverage since this acquisition was announced. Dan Cederholm and Dan Benjamin both wrote some really great background on the entire deal. Read Cederholm’s post and Benjamin’s post on their personal blogs. CenterNetworks was the first to get wind of this deal, but without having all the specifics they covered only the redesign of Wine Library TV’s main site. I’m thinking that someone over there is definitely doing their job. Mashable covered the actual deal but failed to get into many specifics and even got a few of their facts wrong. I think it is interesting to see, when you have inside knowledge of a “deal”, just how accurate some of these stories are (or are not). All in all I think the best coverage comes from those that keep their ear to the ground, are willing to ask for information before they post it, and strive to get every fact straight before they are willing to publish.

Update: Here is a photo of Gary wearing a Viddler shirt on Digg Nation.

[slug]interview-gary-vaynerchuk[/slug]

What makes this gift all the sweeter is that I didn’t have to drive either! We opted to take a bus trip down where they provide food and drink, a movie on the ride to and from, and the tickets – all in one package. I am not a big fan of driving let alone driving in Philadelphia during an Eagles game.

Pre-game at Lincoln Financial Field

We had great seats. We got an email one-day prior to the game asking if we’d like to upgrade our seats for only 10-additional dollars. After consulting the seating chart we both decided it seemed like it was worth it, and boy was it ever worth it. Our seats rivaled those closest to the field – yet we both feel we had a better view.

Panoramic view of the field from our seats

Even though the Packers did not win, we still had a great time and were treated fairly well by both fans and staff. We’re looking forward to doing it again sometime.

[tags]football, anniversary, gifts, eliza devroe, colin devroe, philadelphia, eagles, packers, monday night football, lincoln financial field, photos, panorama, nfl[/tags]

Tuesday of last week, weigh in day, Eliza and I drove to New Jersey to visit with some family. We at mall food-court food, and Friendly’s Ice Cream. Then on the way back from New Jersey, out of sheer desperation, we ate McDonald’s. This was the night I became ill from eating fast food for the first time in many weeks.

Wednesday rolled around, and we decided to drive to Allentown to visit her Mother who is doing training down there. We at at a Perkins, and I got a huge breakfast and a cookie! Also, remember that I usually play basketball on Wednesdays – so I missed that and ate instead.

Thursday was semi-normal, but still no basketball. By the way, some of these days Eliza and I did go walking/jogging – training for my goal of running a mile. But I don’t burn near as many calories doing that as I do playing basketball.

Friday I did get to shoot some hoops, then we came home and played Pictionary.

Saturday we ate breakfast at a diner, then I ended up running my mile with Chris and James. After that, we played some football (1 on 1 with full time QB). Then, we went to a fair and ate fair food. We had a bloomin’ onion (oh my god I love these things), a sausage and pepper hoagie, ice cream, and some funnel cake.

Sunday was our seventh wedding anniversary. Naturally Eliza and I wanted to have a nice dinner out somewhere, and we chose to eat Japanese at a Hibachi. We ate and drank until we thought we couldn’t anymore, then went and had dessert at Krispy Kreme Donuts! Hey, when the sign says “fresh hot donuts right now”, we go.

So now you are getting the picture why I am not upset, at all, that I managed to maintain my weight this week. This week was definitely not our normal, everyday, routine that we’ve been successful with. However, now we’re back on track, our lives are slowing down a little, and we’re ready to start our routines again.

Next week, I’ll hit my original goal.

[tags]diet, the-diet, weigh in, pictionary, basketball, running, walking, jogging, exercise, fair, food, anniversary, new jersey, allentown, football[/tags]

Update: Many of you are coming here because you are watching a football game right now and you too think that the NFL Overtime rules suck. Welcome to my site – I share your pain.

The Steelers lost in overtime today. Chris mentioned that the NFL’s overtime rules suck, and I agree – when the team you are rooting for loses. Such was the case today.

First to score wins. And with Maddox on your team the only thing you’ll be first to do is lose. Tommy, seriously, brother – go to the nearest grocery store and ask for application. Today’s loss was not 100% on your shoulders, but still, you need to just quit.

Ok, I won’t harp on Maddox anymore this year. I’m through wasting anytime giving myself heartburn over such a no-talent ass clown such as Maddox.