PrivateTim

I don't think Will realizes how luck he is and what a bubble he lives in. He's had glimpses of the realities of life in his short time on Oahu and with the glimpses into Ryan's and Jeff's lives and even his time at the mission, but I think he needs more mission time to remind himself a lot of kids don't have the kind of options he does. I do agree with the worries on becoming jaded and cynical. I've seen that a lot in the world of privilege AND the gay world and Will has a foot in each.

Scotland "cool" in December? No hun it is effin' COLD!. A cold that goes right through you with a bitterness in the wind as it come off the North Sea. I am thinking I'd find a competition in Cancun in Dec.

Yes, I did mean "not" and I fixed it Just as I think it is bad for 14 year olds to fall in love, I also think it equally bad for 14 year olds to have sex with anything that moves. I think it cheapens sex to a mere physical act rather than something special. I am not endorsing monasticism, but I've seen too many of my friends jaded by, in succession, AOL chat rooms, planetOut, gay.com, Adam4Adam, grinder, Cam4 and the like. it is pathetic to be out to dinner with a single friend who has his grinder on and can't carry on a conversation with you because he is juggling 5 people on grinder trying to decide which one(s) he wants later. No one is talking about Will being settled. If you remember I was the one saying (and still saying) that Gathan and whats her name are too young to be serious. I'm just saying a filter and understanding that sex is alone is pretty vacuous.

Actually I do get where JJ is coming from. Skating is his thing and he wants the buzz around the arena to be about him and his skill not questions like, "is it true your brother has a huge dick" and then hearing the whispers of, "I hear he fucked a guy on the airplane". It would have to really dig at JJ's ego and ultimately, self esteem. I was pretty tough on Will through the whole drama with Brad and Robbie, but I get where he is coming from with his mother. She seems to try and exert control over him for no reason other than to try and exert control. It would be nice to see Will exert some self control and not have sex with everyone, just because he can.

Kind of a fluffy chapter, not too much drama, lots of effin' effin' Can't wait for the other shoe to drop. I've been wracking my brain to remember any drama around these dates

I was a little disappointed in Spain that they kept trying to score after it became apparent Italy had no heart left. They should have subbed and worked on the runs and set-ups to score without actually shooting.

The point is EVERYONE knew Anderson was gay. It wasn't like Ricky Martin or Sean Hayes. It is like Will Smith announcing he is black. Anderson being gay was a known fact, but no one talked about it because it wasn't relevant since he wasn't hiding it.

All the people who got/get sucked in the drug are not bad people, in fact most probably are not. Most were just regular middle class kids who thought they were in control when it came to the drugs. They thought they could stop anytime. They were wrong. Almost everyone in my age set and under that I know is HIV+ got so while under the influence and unintentionally. Centex, not sure where you are in TX, but in LA, SF and probably SD it is impossible to avoid the "drug scene". It is in every gay club and bar out there. Chick-Fil-A is probably the only safe spot around. I am not sure if Pat's problems started after the accusations or before, but if after, it would not have been an unusual reaction to stress and poor self image.

Oh please, this is the non story of the year, who didn't know Anderson Cooper was gay? How could you not know? It has never been a secret.

Awesome, awesome chapter. You hit some of the absolutely worst traits of the gay community, the using of meth, the using of boys, the reemergence of HIV through idiotic behavior. One of your better chapters I think.

See.... we could have stopped the discussion three pages ago. The only hiccup was that Itlee beat Germany in the semis.

The odds and history favor Spain, but Italy has been on fire. I do think the short rest will affect Italy more than Spain though. So if I had to pick..... I'd say Spain.

One can only hope!

It isn't removing ANY of the politicking out of the process, it only raises the stakes in it. As long as who that final four is is determined by subjective rankings the process will be skewed. Football isn't basketball, you can't play three games (Tues, Thurs, Sat) in a week. The college football season is already way too long. The bowl system has been great for college football, for the players, the alumni of the schools and the schools themselves. A bowl game is a reward trip. You get to fly out to a generally nice place for a week or more, you are showered with gifts and get to visit places like Disneyland and visit kids in hospitals and have all kinds of special events. A straight playoff system like the FCS has destroys all that. It is also bad for the alumni of these schools who follow the programs. In the bowl scenario fans know weeks in advance where they are going and they get to plan a fun week vacation in the bowl area and see other sights as well. It is a fun outing and especially fun for families. In a playoff you never know week to week where a game is going to be and most of these alumni fans won't be able to travel in consecutive weeks and not knowing when and where your team might play makes it more expensive for travel. There are not going to be a lot more players getting a better chance to play. This won't help a Boise State or those kids of teams at all. As long as the polls are part of the formula, and with 4 teams they will be, the small market or even west coast teams will get short shrift. Of the four teams in the "finals" only league champions should be eligible. Alabama should never have been in the national championship game last year, they didn't even win their division, let alone their league. They were actually at an advantage not having won their division as they didn't need to play an extra game against a quality opponent. But if you don't win your league, you shouldn't move on. Bama had their shot at LSU and lost, they didn't deserve another shot. College football needs a lot of reforms. They need to split Division 1 again and only keep about 6 conferences at the highest level and create another FCS division. Then they need to cut scholarships. No college needs more than 44 scholarships, 85 scholarships is ridiculous in a sport played by 11 people at a time. A limit of 44 scholarships would actually reopen the game of college football and return parity. It would also encourage schools that don't have football currently to go back to having teams, teams like Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, UCSB, etc. The tail is wagging the dog in college football, but the billion dollar pay off is too attractive to college presidents always looking for more revenue.

There is waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much soccer, it is more overexposed than Beckham.... Euro Cup, Champions Cup, Copa Eurpoa, Europa League, when does it ever end?

Everything is fun about the Olympics from the equestrian, to team handball, water polo, wrestling, basketball, tennis, badminton, kayaking, open water swimming (RIP Crip), fencing, weightlifting, shooting, etc. All of it. Athletes who train and sacrifice in obscurity for the chance to compete on the world stage once every four years. In some sports, one shot is all you have, you are either too young or too old to make it more than once.

Germany looked like they were phoning it in. They didn't look engaged at all and the kind of defense they were playing (which means none at all) a competent 18U could have beaten them. Don't get me wrong, Italy played brilliantly and had they had anyone but Gianluigi Buffon in goal, it might have been a different game. Then again, if Germany hadn't had Manuel Neuer in goal, it could have been 4-0 at halftime. You can't fault him for Germany's porous and lackadaisical defense. The defenders were beaten and beaten badly time and again. The final is a very tough call for me on who to root for. My beloved Jamón ibérico vs an equally beloved Parma prosciutto.

Your views are way too black and white. H-W cares about it kids. It isn't some 1960's caricature of an elite prep school, it is a model 2000's elite prep school where there is a blending of high expectations and discipline with compassion and genuinely liking their kids and treating each one as an individual. They don't have to be a school with crazy black and white rules like a public school has where they'll suspend a kid who has a deli plastic knife to slice their cheese at lunch. You also grossly underestimate the importance of personal relationships in this world. The headmaster doesn't just admire JP, he knows JP and JP knows him. His son knows JP and who knows Peter may have been a guest at Escorial for a meal or two. Yes the money and power of Stef and Brad and Robbie would be a factor too, because even the sky high tuition rates at H-W don't begin to cover all the expenses of the school. But if Will were a bad kid or perceived as a detriment to the school, he'd get the boot. But that wasn't the case here. Will is a good student who hasn't caused the school any real problem and comes from a good family that the headmaster has personal knowledge of. All those factors make Mark's scenario beyond plausible, his are the likely outcomes given the totality of the situation.

The BCS is going to a four team playoff format and I think it will create more problems than it solves.

Well I haven't helped yet because I am still looking for the situation that you are looking to use volleyball in, but PM me with the info you need and I can give you what ever you need. PS, volleyball never has more that 6 players on a side. 2 man and sometimes 4 man are what you see on the beach usually.

Divers are too fat to be interesting.

Are you talking indoors six man or beach two-man? What is the setting? What kind of terms do you need to know? Do you want technical or slang?

Cool chapter as usual. I see future problems with Will and his mom and a reemergence of problems with Tiffany since I don't think they've really resolved their issues yet. I was a little surprised that Will just happened to have a condom and lube in his pocket on a flight to Oslo, but okay... maybe not. Cool that he and Shane connected, Shane seems like a good guy, I hope we get to see more of him down the road.

"Heartbreak again for England" yelled the announcer. Really? Was any England fan expecting something different? I don't know they didn't just send the whole Chelsea team and be done with it.