An Update on My Life & Times - March 2014 Edition

I mentioned in a recent entry (this one, about my trip to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for an evening of professional wrestling action with Premiere Wrestling Xperience) about how I'd set a goal for myself this year to publish at least three blog entries a month. It was a do-able quota in my mind, seeing as how it wouldn't require me to be burdened with an arbitrary obligation to churn something out every week but it would also serve as a reminder to use this tool to document the major points of interest from my life (or at least those that I perceive to be as much). That's what an online presence is about for me nowadays, the usage of sites like Blogger, Facebook, etc. towards the purpose of creating a personal repository of memories and experiences. Call it a museum or whatever else you please, I think services like this are a dandy mechanism for recording the brief length of time we're given from the moment we first open our eyes to when they're closed forever that is our lives.

There's no ego in this statement whatsoever but who's to say that (hopefully) years from now (knock-on-wood) after I've long been buried that someone won't find entertainment, solace, or knowledge in my contributions? I'd hope that I've done a worthy job of leaving a lasting impression thus far and to continue doing as much.

Life In General

Things are going pretty well right now, although we're at what comes off as a dull point in the year as far as personal events are concerned. The Holiday Season is behind us, Spring and Summer are still on the horizon, and we're sitting here in the middle. It's not such a bad thing seeing as how it allows for a moment of respite before activities ramp up again once the weather improves.

One thing I can always count on this time of year is a dose of change-of-season crud, which is attributable to my lifelong battle with seasonal allergies. I took injections to treat them throughout my childhood but I get by these days with over-the-counter medication. I'm good for 2 or 3 sinus infections a year and right on schedule I came down with one last week, immediately after we had our first warm day in gosh knows when. I took advantage of the weather that day to start on a woodworking project for which I've had the materials for several months but haven't had the free time, opportunity, or gumption to finish. (I still haven't finished it, to be honest; getting a late start and a few equipment issues set me back, however I'm probably 75% of the way done.) I don't know if I got lambasted with the first dusting of pollen of 2014 or what, but the past week has been filled with sinus pressure, headaches, coughing, and apparently snoring more violent than my usual nightly output.

I don't know that it's ever been proven that people may have a genetic predisposition to snore but if it hasn't I think my family might add some credence to the idea. My Grandpa was a prolific snorer; I can remember seeing him many times napping in his recliner, still wearing his glasses, his mouth agape and the sound of the roaring snore that came from it. Likewise, my Mom is known to saw logs while she sleeps and I do as well.

My wife has dealt with my snoring to this point but apparently while I was sick it was so bad that she couldn't sleep in the same room as me. (She makes her share of noises at night but not always snoring; my wife's known to talk in her sleep, as in she'll carry on full conversations with whoever while she's unconscious. It's woken me up quite a few times as I can't always tell if she's trying to legitimately get my attention.) Similarly, there were nights in that stretch where she'd wake me up and I would go sleep in our guest bedroom. All I can say is I guess it's good that we have that room, otherwise one or the other of us would've wound up on the couch or in the bathtub (yes, believe it or not I've slept in a bathtub before). As a result it's been a frustrating week as neither of us have gotten what we should be getting in terms of rest. I'm finally coming around from the infection, though, so with any luck we'll be back to where we were before in relatively short order.

The Adoption Process - Where Do We Stand?

Plenty of friends and co-workers ask me for updates on a regular basis about how things are going with our adoption proceedings, and I appreciate their concerned interest in these matters. The answer to those questions here lately has been to say that we're playing the waiting game.

Jill & I had our home study conducted a few weeks back. It was handled by an investigator contracted through the Department of Social Services who came to our home; it was an invasive conversation but on a cordial level, which was exactly what I expected it would be. The kind of questions you get asked during the interview deal with everything from your childhood to your personal career goals, but the interviewer isn't just listening to your responses - they're watching your reactions and body language at the same time. It's a very interesting process, if you're into psychoanalysis at all. (Trust me when I say it's more fun to be the one doing the analysis than the one being analyzed.) The session lasted in the area of 3 hours and by the end of it my wife & I were both relieved to be done with what was the last piece of the paperwork/pre-approval end of becoming adoptive parents.

The investigator went outside of protocol in telling us that she was going to approve us to adopt up to 3 children. Normally when this interview is done you have to wait to receive an official letter back from DSS before you'll know whether or not your home study went well. I gather that that can take quite some time in certain instances seeing as how the investigator has (believe it or not) several months from the point of time they've made contact to when their report must be turned in.

Our investigator said that she usually submits reports no later than 10 days after the interview. I don't know if she was blowing smoke up our rear ends or not but we've not received any notification of our home study having been accepted and our caseworker has been on vacation here lately, meaning our requests for status updates haven't gotten a response.

All that said, we are where we are. "Hurry up and wait" couldn't be a more appropriate sentiment at this point. We're confident, regardless, because we knew going in that this is a process that can take some time. Now we have to be patient - we've done all we can to prove that we want this to happen, it's up to other people to allow it to happen.

My First Gamecock Baseball Games of the 2014 Season

I have the good fortune of knowing and working with a family who has access to tickets for University of South Carolina Gamecock baseball games, and they're generous enough to offer them to me on occasion. My wife & I went to quite a few games last season and we hope to make it to a few this year as well. I have a lead on my wife at this point in time seeing as how I took in a double-header last weekend while she did her duty to the ladies of Girl Scout Troop 471 by assisting them in selling cookies at a booth set up in front of one of our local grocery stores.

For this pair of games, the Yardcocks (as we affectionately call our baseball team) took on the Bears of Brown University. Brown is an Ivy League school out of Providence, Rhode Island. They're not an untalented team but they're not exactly up to the level of play USC encounters from some of our in-state and regional schools, and certainly not what we have to contend with in the South Eastern Conference or other Division 1 schools from around the country. That's my nice way of leading into saying that the Gamecocks defeated Brown handily in the two games I saw as well as the third game of the series which was held the following day, but what's more is the fact that Carolina didn't allow a single run to score during the trilogy. For that matter, USC has held its opponent to zero runs in 9 of the 16 games they've played thus far, and the Gamecocks are a perfect 16-0 on the 2014 season as of this writing.

What else can you say to that other than HOW 'BOUT THOSE GAMECOCKS?

Impressions on the Opening of Columbia's Destination XL

For as long as I can remember, I've been getting my clothing from a chain called Casual Male that specializes in big & tall styles for men. What can I say, I've always been big and tall? It's been a long time since I've had the luxury of being able to walk into a Walmart or any other store and grab something off a rack, unfortunately.

Casual Male has gone through a number of permutations over the years as it was originally called Casual Male Big & Tall. Later on it transitioned to being known as Casual Male XL as the company seemed to want to modernize its image; suddenly there was Shoes XL and Living XL, two offshoots that existed mostly as catalog operations that were specialized in what they offered (footwear & gadgetry, respectively). At some point all the various XLs were collected under one banner, that being Destination XL, and over a period of time the Casual Male XL stores were converted to Destination XL.

This conversion has been good in that the variety of clothing styles and labels offered has grown substantially, but it's had more than a few drawbacks as well. It's been bad in that the number of stores in this region has dwindled to merely a handful. To my knowledge, there are only two XL stores in the entire state of South Carolina, those being in Columbia and Charleston (there may be one in the upstate but if there is I've never shopped there). To make matters worse, when the local Casual Male XL became Destination XL it seemed as though all the existing staff were let go. The new folks who've been installed are decidedly more "uppity" in their presence and tactics, which is a far cry from how laid back the previous staff had been. The icing on the cake is that they now have personal stylists.

I mentioned the additions to the stock in terms of more styles and well-known labels, but what I didn't mention were the price points of these wares. The XL stores have never been cheap, however the kind of prices they're charging now are mildly insane - $50 for a shirt, $80 for a pair of pants, and what have you. Suffice to say that there's more than one reason why I don't go shopping for clothes all that frequently.

It's not that I'm resistant to change, rather it's that the DXL store hasn't grown on me yet. I'm very unaccustomed to walking into a store that looks flashy and modern like an Abercrombie or Aeropostale. I'm used to my store being dark and uninviting, the staff being the same people I've shopped with for 10 years, and the experience being comfortable instead of pushy. Most of all, I don't think I have it in me to admit that I've ever been associated with a personal stylist. That's one of those things where you have to turn in your man-card immediately and forfeit the right to all your beer & chicken wings.

I'm going to keep shopping there, though, mainly because I don't have a choice. It's either go there or use catalogs and I dislike catalogs seeing as how I prefer to try on clothes before I buy them.

Upcoming Events 

Free promotion for the following - you're welcome!

On March 30, WrestleForce returns to The Hangar in Cayce, SC for UNLEASHED. I attended their February event and was pleased with it overall. The big draw this month is that this will more than likely be Steven "The Fever" Walters final appearance in WF for the foreseeable future as he has gone and gotten himself a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. (Great to hear of a local talent getting to live out their dream!) Seeing as how he and his tag team partner in The Love/Hate Machine "The Southern Savior" John Skyler are the current WF tag team champions, I would expect something to go down leading to them losing the titles but who knows.

If you're not in the know when it comes to independent professional wrestling, you probably have no idea what Omega Championship Wrestling is OR what it was. Omega is actually an acronym for "Organization for Modern Extreme Grappling Arts", and it's the company that was founded by Matt & Jeff Hardy way back when they were both still in their teens. Omega was the genesis of their careers as well as those of talent like Shane "Hurricane" Helms, Shannon Moore, Christian York, Caprice Coleman, Joey Matthews, and others. I don't know that Omega ever truly died but it has certainly made a comeback as Shane Helms has resurrected the company and begun holding events regularly. CHAOS IN CAMERON will be happening on April 26 and I'll be there - the allure of seeing the Hardy Boyz take on the Briscoe Brothers (best known for their work in Ring of Honor) in what may be a once in forever match is too much for me to pass up.

Autograph Signing with Legendary Gamecock QB Connor Shaw

It should come as no secret to anyone that I'm a huge fan of the University of South Carolina Gamecock athletics program given that my blog is saturated with a garnet & black color scheme and that in my avatar I'm wearing my trusty Columbia booney hat that's emblazoned with the "block C" as it's known in these parts. (Funny thing about that hat - my wife hates it. I forget where we were at the time but within the past 6 months she said to me something to the effect of "You weren't wearing that stupid hat, otherwise I'd have had an easier time finding you...") I follow the football team closely as our squad is just about as good as we ever have been right now. Considering not that long ago there was a year where we didn't win a single game, where we are now is phenomenal! We're coming off of an 11-2 year where we were undefeated at home, laid waste to our in-state rivals at Clemson University (yet again, for the fifth straight year), and turned in an impressive performance at the Capital One Bowl, all of which lead to our being ranked as the #4 team in the entire nation at the end of the season (we were also declared the "champions of the bowl season", but that title came from an admittedly biased and unofficial source, the ol' Head Ball Coach himself Steve Spurrier).

A player who's been a huge part of our recent success is quarterback Connor Shaw, who was voted the most valuable player of the game after his performance at the Capital One Bowl where he threw 3 touchdowns, rushed for one, and even caught a scoring pass (which was thrown by Bruce Ellington, another guy who's value as a versatile athlete cannot be understated). I wouldn't consider myself an autograph hunter by any stretch of the imagination, but the opportunity to meet Shaw was too good to pass up. So it was that a plan was hatched when I found out he'd be making an appearance at a store specializing in sports memorabilia in Charleston, SC - ROAD TRIP!

The event was being held at The Fan Zone; I knew of the existence of this shop because my wife & I had been by it quite a few times in the past when we'd visited the Tanger Outlets in Charleston. If you've never been to a Tanger complex, they're all more or less the same - they look like a shopping mall, but they're in a mostly "open air" configuration meaning you're outside as you traverse from one store to another although there are sections that are covered. In investigating the details further I noticed that on The Fan Zone's Facebook page the map there pointed to a location that was near the mall but not inside of it. What's more, I remembered from having been there previously that their spot in the outlet mall was under one of the covered sections but the cover photo on their Facebook page looked as if it was getting hit by full sun.

I tried calling The Fan Zone in the days prior to the signing but I never got an answer, just a busy signal. I assumed they were either swamped with customers and questions or that they'd taken the phones offline because they were being swamped by customers and questions. Confusion set in, but I already had it in mind that I was going to go regardless of where the event wound up being.

My wife & I had been able to attend a signing with former Gamecock/current San Francisco 49er running back Marcus Lattimore last year at the Bower Parkway location of Garnet & Black Traditions in Columbia, SC. At that event we'd gotten several items signed, including two footballs - one for me and one that we'd held onto as a Christmas gift for my Uncle who's also a huge Gamecock fan as well as an alumnus of the University of South Carolina. I mention these balls because it has seemed to be the case at every signing I've ever been to that in order to participate you had to purchase an item from the store hosting the event. To my surprise, that wasn't true for Shaw's appearance at The Fan Zone. The event announcement was crystal clear in stating that patrons could buy an item from the store or that for $15 they could bring an item from home to be signed.

Come meet a Gamecock legend and you don't have to drop an arm and a leg on the experience? The only way it could've been more ideal is if there had been complimentary punch and pie!

I've mentioned my wife several times during this entry. Truth is, when one of us does something the other is typically there. That's just how we roll. Be that as it may, she's not a Gamecock fan - truth of the matter is that she's a Clemson fan. I know not everyone in the United States is up on the rivalry that exists between Carolina and Clemson but it's a big deal here in South Carolina, just as big I'd say as other college rivalries like Michigan and Ohio State, Oklahoma and Texas, or Auburn and Alabama. Be that as it may she typically will join me whenever I'm doing something Gamecock-related, be it out of love or the possibility that she's some kind of spy working for the enemy (that being Clemson). She wouldn't be with me this go-round, though. The co-pilot chair for this trek was reserved for my Uncle who, ironically enough, had earlier in the week prior to my learning of Shaw's appearance talked to me about how awesome it would be to get another signature on the ball we'd given him with Lattimore's autograph.

All I can say to that is that things tend to just work out they way they're supposed to.

We set out on the morning of Saturday, January 11, 2014 just after 8:30 AM. The signing was scheduled to run from noon until 3 PM; Charleston is a little over an hour away from where we live in Saint Matthews, SC but we wanted to leave early enough so that we'd have time to adjust as needed should anything out of the ordinary arise. The probability of that seemed to be somewhat high seeing as how I still wasn't exactly certain on where we were going. Be that as it may, I plugged the address for The Fan Zone into the GPS app on my phone and we set off.

The weather in our part of the world has been particularly peculiar here lately as within the course of the past week we've gone from temperatures in the teens at night to days in the mid-seventies. This past Saturday added to that mix of oddities as it was again in the mid-seventies but with lots of clouds, high humidity, and stiff winds as a storm system was making its way across the southeast. We held onto hope that the weather forecasters hadn't lied to us in predicting that the bulk of the rain wouldn't arrive until after the signing, but I came prepared for the worst with a hat and a rain coat.

Traffic was minimal and the ride to Charleston went quickly.  Good conversation has a way of passing the time more quickly, and my Uncle & I have never had difficulty in finding plenty to flap our gums over when we're around one another.

I knew more or less where we were going but I followed my GPS app all the way to where it believed we were to be going. I say that like it's to blame for something - truth be told, I hate it when people blame technology for their own misfortunes. It's not the computer's fault; it can only do what it's been designed and instructed to do after all. Regardless, where it took us was the Tanger Outlets. I wasn't convinced that was where we needed to be but we got out to investigate by locating one of the mall directories. The only reference to The Fan Zone on the directory was to a kiosk, not an actual store. There was a woman there in Gamecock regalia who looked just as puzzled as us, and it was at that point I figured I would try one more time to get someone from the store on the phone. Low and behold, I got an answer - sure enough, we were in the wrong spot but we weren't too far from where we needed to be. (Side Note: The guy I talked to on the phone used a Starbucks as a point of reference. Hipster directions, as it were?) The Fan Zone wound up being just around the corner from the Tanger Outlets, in a strip mall not too far from the North Charleston Coliseum.

By the time we got to where we were supposed to be (which was around 10:30 AM) the line of fans queued up outside the store was visible from almost a block away. As we pulled into the parking lot I suggested that my Uncle go ahead and get out so he could secure us a spot in line while I parked the truck. I prepared myself to have to spend an eternity trying to find a parking space as the lot looked to be nearly full. To my amazement, I found a space near the storefronts less than 200 feet away from The Fan Zone. I'm never that lucky when it comes to parking, ever, as in I could go to Walmart 100 days in a row and not get a parking space that convenient. I don't think many other folks who got there after us were as lucky, unfortunately, as the lot appeared to be packed. I have no idea where they all went but they were parking somewhere in the area and hoofing it back. I'm sure it was a point of frustration but the truth of the matter is that not many retail locations are intended to handle that level of traffic; the outlets would've been much more suited to that sort of volume than the strip mall we were at.

It's kind of fun to be in a line like that one, I find. You're amongst a bunch of like-minded people, after all, making it easy to strike up a conversation. We spent a good amount of time chatting with the guys who run a Facebook fan page called Gamecock Born & Bred, which happens to be a huge community with over 74,000 followers. They had some great posters and t-shirts that they'd made themselves - they made for great company while we waited patiently for our chance to meet Connor Shaw, so if you're a Gamecock fan who's on Facebook be sure to give them a "like".

For the purpose of the signing, The Fan Zone had its floor displays set up in such a way that fans were put through a U-shaped path that lead through one door, deep into the store, then back out another door. Vista Art (a company based in Columbia, SC that specializes in custom framing and printing) had a makeshift booth set up along the route to sell prints of Williams Brice Stadium and other framed & unframed memorabilia. Their wares are beautiful and we did see people buying some of the prints they had on hand, but I'll be damned if I'm paying what they were asking for a picture of a stadium. Connor was set up near the exit and he was surrounded by staff from The Fan Zone and people that I assume were his handlers and management.

I'd like to get to a point in my life where I'm so appreciated and valued that I need a handler, just so when people ask "Who's this?" I can say "He's my handler...He handles me." thereby making everyone involved feel THAT level of awkward.

Speaking of awkward, events like this can be weird from the perspective of what goes on within a sudden and forced interaction between two people, one of whom is typically a celebrity and the other who may or may not be mentally stable. I think a lot of fans come to signings and they think the person they're meeting is going to turn out to be their buddy. They're more than likely going to be friendly, sure, but as a fan you have to understand that unless you're very fortunate you're only going to have a few seconds with whoever it is you're meeting. This was very true for Shaw's appearance last weekend as I barely had an opportunity to shake the guy's hand before it was time for me to move on. I'm not bitter about that because I understand the circumstances; be that as it may, it would've been nice to at least get a chance to say thanks for all he's done in the name of Gamecock football.

That said, I feel as though The Fan Zone showed that they aren't quite as adept at hosting an event like this as somewhere like Garnet & Black Traditions. Not that The Fan Zone's staff were pushy or rude, but they weren't exactly cordial in their attitudes or incredibly willing to assist patrons with things like taking photos. Part of this, in my opinion, stems from the fact that they had no cap on the number of people who could get into the signing. This isn't usually an issue for Garnet & Black because they sell a limited number of tickets for a given event which limits the amount of traffic they have to process, thereby making the whole thing more manageable. The Fan Zone, on the other hand, apparently wanted to get as many souls through the door as possible and that's exactly what they did. Don't get me wrong - it was a great opportunity to meet a Gamecock legend and I'd do it again, these just weren't the most ideal arrangements.

I don't remember precisely what time we were finished at the signing but I want to say we were out of there before 12:45 PM, meaning we were in line for a little over 2 hours. Not a bad day's work, which was why we decided to cap off our trip to the Low Country by having lunch at Big Billy's Burger Joint. We'd planned on getting something to eat but we'd not figured out where we would be going until we spotted Big Billy's which just so happened to be in the same strip mall as The Fan Zone. Neither of us had ever been there before - seeing as how neither myself or my Uncle can turn down a good burger, we figured why not give it a try. We're both certainly glad that we did!

For starters, Big Billy's has kind of a beachy, surfer gimmick going on in terms of its presentation. Not to a point of it being goofy, just enough to clue patrons into the fact that the cuisine is inspired by tropical flare. The menu featured an assortment of offerings, everything from wings to seafood, salads to milkshakes, and of course an eclectic variety of burgers. For our meal we started off with the Big Billy's loaded nachos, a huge platter of tortilla chips served with black bean chili, grated cheese, jalapenos, sour cream, lettuce, and fresh pico de gallo. My Uncle chose the "smash" burger which is topped with chili, cheese, slaw, and mustard - somewhat of a throwback to the way hamburgers have been prepared traditionally here in the South for quite some time. I picked the bacon, black & bleu burger for my main course and it did not disappoint! The burger was piled high with strips of bacon and blue cheese, and it was generously dusted with blackening seasoning. I had fries as a side and they were the perfect vehicle for Big Billy's 5-spice ketchup. I make no bones about admitting that ketchup is one of my most favorite things in the whole world, and this 5-spice concoction was an awesome treat for me.

Big Billy's also had an impressive selection of regional beers on hand. Had I not been the driver for this particular trip I'd have permitted myself to try one of them. As it was, all I could do was sit and be thirsty - figuratively speaking, of course. Our waitress (Tamara, I believe her name was) never let our glasses of tea run dry and that, dear reader, is the mark of a professional member of the service industry (or at least it is in my mind). I'm certain that I'll be back to Big Billy's at some point in the future and hopefully in the company of a designated driver.

This was a fantastic experience overall. I can't tell you how much I appreciate a good road trip and one that you can spend with good company while enjoying similar interests makes it all the more memorable.

Of course a nice memento of the occasion never hurts...

Stephen Garcia and his Idiot Switch

The big news to come out of the University of South Carolina's football program this week is the indefinite suspension (his fifth suspension overall) of senior quarterback Stephen Garcia from team activities for allegedly having shown up to an event organized by the South Eastern Conference smelling of alcohol and acting boisterously. ("Boisterously", in this context, has not been defined - for the punishment he's facing, I'm hoping he at least had the decency to strip down to his skivvies in front of a group of dignitaries and do his best Ric Flair impression.) This was after Garcia had been suspended just weeks earlier for having engaged in what we'll call "extracurricular activities" with a number of young ladies and a significant amount of liquid courage in his hotel room while the team was in Atlanta, GA last year for the SEC championship game. ("Pffft - amateur...", Charlie Sheen was heard to have commented.) After having served that suspension, Garcia spoke to the media and assured us all that it was the end of his wild ways - he even went so far as to guarantee that "nothing bad" would happen again.

To say that Garcia has a reputation of questionable judgement and behavior at Carolina would be an understatement - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that it may be his legacy at the school even with his statistics as a quarterback being what they are.  It seems almost as if Stephen (who was a sought after prospect coming out of high school) has been at USC for a decade, seeing as how he started school early in hopes of getting a leg-up on competing at a collegiate level.  He was arrested twice in 2007; first for public intoxication and failure to stop for a police officer, then again less than a month later for malicious damage to property after he keyed a professor's car.  He was suspended again in 2008 for an alcohol-related charge and hadn't been in hot water with the authorities or school officials since that time - up until earlier this week, that is.

Spurrier facepalm - we feel your pain, Steve...

I'm a believer in second chances.  I've screwed up plenty of times and fortunately there are no police records to account for any of those instances.  But Stephen is beyond a second chance.  For that matter, he's beyond a third and fourth chance as well.  He's a 23 year old man with a child and yet he still conducts himself as if he doesn't have any legitimate responsibilities, either to his family, school, or teammates.  You'd think he'd have learned to act like he had a touch of common sense by now but I'm guessing that would be asking too much of him.

If this entry comes off as sounding like it was written by a scorned fan, then you're very astute in your observation.  I feel particularly disappointed by Garcia because he has so much potential yet he's let us as members of the Gamecock faithful down on a multitude of occasions, not only off the field but on.  His tendencies of throwing passes directly into coverage, attempting to run his way out of pass rushes only to wind up with negative yardage plays, and being something of a butter-fingers when it comes to holding onto the ball while rushing are all well documented.  I mentioned his stats earlier in this post; Garcia is 17-13 all time as a starting quarterback at Carolina and this past year he threw 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.  His passer rating is respectable, but I would contend that it is what it is more so because of the receivers he's had to work with than his aptitude as a quarterback.  Take away Alshon Jeffrey and his passer rating drops by at least 50 points.

All these things have lead me to believe that Stephen has what I call an idiot switch buried somewhere within his brain.  Truth be told, we may all have an idiot switch as I think most people are capable of doing imperceptibly stupid things from time to time.  Like when Kyle Parker decided to give up close to $1,000,000 from the Colorado Rockies in order to play one more season of football for Clemson University. (Oh, please - like I'm going to write an entire blog post about something relating to Gamecock football without taking a shot at Clemson...) His idiot switch got flipped but he's since come to his senses, and most people who do get their idiot switch flipped find their way out of the predicament.  Unlike most of us, however, Garcia's behavior has lead me to believe that his idiot switch is permanently stuck in the "ON" position.

Durrrrr, it don't turn off...

Garcia's prospects of playing in the NFL weren't that great but his character issues will more than likely take him out of any serious consideration for anything other than a back-up position.  He'll probably be OK in life ultimately, though.  He's a sociology major, so with that, his criminal record, and his proclivity for drunkenness he could be a congressman or senator, no sweat.