I realize that as of late, this site has been lacking posting activity much like Britney Spears has been lacking in “psycho moments” and as much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news: It’s going to be that way for another week thanks to the fact I’m up to my neck in upcoming finals, starting with 3 this week and one more on Cinco De Mayo…Yeah, it’s as bad as it sounds. In fact, I’ve already let my feelings about this 5th circle of hell-wannabe be known a while back
Following finals and the ensuing tequila-showered shitshow that’s 99.999999% likely to succeed it, keep an eye out for the triumphant return of what has perhaps become an HHV staple during the Big Ten football season, making its first 2008 appearance. That should be followed by lots more of the typical “irrelevant but important in the selfish world of blogging” stuff that usually pops up on here on a regular basis.
In the meantime, let us reminisce about the innocence of the 90’s, when the worst thing Presidents did was get “brain salad surgery” from interns, when sports weren’t so corporatized, when they actually played the “M” in MTV, and when Billy Corgan actually sported hair…
Just finished my last final of my first semester of law school, and goddamn is it a relief! Time for me to get crunk before I head back to the Valley for the next three and a half weeks for winter break.
Things I’m looking forward to regarding break:
Seeing everyone I know who’s still at PSU and high school buddies who will be home around Xmas/New Year’s
Re-discovering the joyous wonders of the XBox360
Finally getting a chance to see the Fighting DeChellises in person as they face cupcakes such as Princeton, Denver, Colgate, and Crest (err, Lehigh).
Maybe I should’ve put a disclaimer in my prior post but no matter, I’m going to be super-busy these next couple weeks. It’s a neat little concept called “Law School Finals Week.” It’s not your typical run-of-the-mill undergrad finals week where you review your notes and whatnot and hope for the best, in law school you gotta do something called “outlining.” Basically, it involves going through your myriad of notes you’ve taken all semester long and condensing them into a semi-readable/study-able format so you can try and memorize them, because you’re going to have to regurgitate a lot of shit on your exams, particularly in the long essay portions. Oh, and did I mention: The exams are fucking 4 hours long. That’s right, FOUR HOURS, and I have to do this three times in the next couple weeks, the mental equivalent of running three marathons in such a time span.
On top of all the studying, I also have to deal with the numerous classmates who look like they’re about to go Jack Nicholson in “The Shining” on somebody and try not to fall into such a trap myself. Yeah, this shit is really, really, important but it’s not a matter of life and death (or “REDRUM” if you want to keep the whole “Shining” theme going).
A fitting description of your Average Joe law student during finals week
So, bottom line: I’ll be taking a mini-hiatus of sorts. Yeah, I may likely end up putting in a short post here and there, but nothing too involved. Fear not though, now that we’re approaching college bowl season and Christmas TV Special season, I’ve got a few blog posts already in mind.
In other unimportant news: PSU b-ball ended its 3-game losing skid by beating Virginia Tech 66-61 at the Jordan Center to cap off the Big Ten/ACC Challenge which ended in the ACC kicking the Big Ten’s collective asses yet again, 8 games to 3. Since its inception in 1999, the Big Ten has never won this challenge, EVER. Nine seasons, nine victories for the ACC…Gee, I can’t think of any other series this one-sided
Back to the game though, here’s a few observations of mine:
Student section turnout was downright AWESOME for a Wednesday night game, I don’t think I saw an empty seat. I’m glad the administration at PSU finally did something right and decided to change the camera wiring so that ESPN cameras now face the student section as opposed to being behind it and showing a bunch of empty seats normally occupied by the old folks. Also glad to see everyone in the student section wearing white, the way it should always be.
Virginia Tech was long, athletic, and could rebound…that’s it. They didn’t have any real consistent jump shooters that stuck out to me. Not to mention their one player, Deron Washington, flopped three different times to get a charging call in his favor. Too bad he’s not a soccer player, he’d be a key asset for someone during the 2010 World Cup.
Deron Washington learns from the best when it comes to flopping
Mike Walker will put up shots that have me practically screaming “WTF” but nonetheless, manage to go in. That’s the beauty of a “Walker shot.” He really stepped up tonight, scoring 17 points on 3-for-6 shooting from downtown, including one from the Medlar Field parking lot.
Once again, we raced out to a nice double-digit lead in the first half, leading by as many as 13, before Ed DeChellis decided to take his foot off the accelerator and had us running some type of half-court offense that resembled a pickup game between my law school buddies and I at the local JCC. No surprise in that case, when Va Tech made it a game once again and kept us on our heels the entire second half, cutting our lead down to as little as a single point but never quite being able to get over the hump.
Talor Battle is slowly but surely, becoming a real gamer for us at the point: Two plays by him that stuck out in my mind were his stripping the ball from Va Tech’s point guard when he was caught napping and taking it in for an easy layup, and hitting a foul-line jumper late in the game when we were barely clinging to a one-point lead with about a minute to play in the game. It’s gonna be fun watching this kid for the next few years…
Rebounding was awful in the beginning, I lost track of just how many offensive rebounds Va Tech gathered in the first half. We did get our act together though in the second half, so props to our big men there.
I really enjoyed seeing us push the ball on offense and create a lot of fast break opportunities. However, we really, really, REALLY need to relax regarding hoisting up 3-point shots in transition. I don’t mind if Walker or Morrissey launches a trey from time to time on the fast break but for crying out loud, there were several times where we could’ve tried to feed the ball to someone for an easy layup and instead chose to launch a quick three. I don’t care if the shots went in or not, it’s a bad habit to get into, in my opinion.
We still have a lot of work to do if we’re going to be a surprise team in the Big Ten. St. Joe’s and Seton Hall are our next two opponents, and I’ll be very surprised at this point if we beat either one of those teams, they will be able to make us pay for our inconsistency unlike Va Tech.
Welcome fellow Penn St. Fans/Sports Fans/Someone who did a Google search for “happy hour” and clicked “I’m Feeling Lucky!”(Okay, that last part was made up but seriously, wouldn’t you feel special if your page was the one that popped up when someone did a Google search and clicked the “I’m Feeling Lucky” tab?)
After weeks of careful deliberation, I have decided to make an attempt at this whole blogging business. While the name of this is blog is Penn State-themed and will feature plenty of PSU football/hoops coverage, expect anything related to sports in general, pop culture, and the news.
As for why I choose this particular name for the blog: I wanted to go with a PSU-themed name that didn’t play on the words “Nittany” or “Lion” because there are wayyyyy too many blogs that already do that. Basically, I came up with this title when I realized :
A. I am a native of State College, PA (or “Happy Valley” as it is so appropriately nicknamed)
B. Anyone who has been to State College on a random weekend knows first-hand about the hardcore partying culture associated with this University (which the administration tries so hard to shy away from).
Hence, with my powers combined…I summoned “Happy Hour Valley.”
I will try to update this blog as much as a first year law student possibly can. Right now I just went through orientation week so the real fun begins next week. In the meantime, I’m off to the local establishment to let loose after a long week with some fellow 1L’s.
Whenever I get around to it I will spruce this little place up, install the carpeting, bring in the furniture, and paint the roses red…
Posted by Happy Hour Valley 
Happy Hour Valley 