Honesty is the best policy.

My experience has shown that karma comes back to bite those who consistently go against the above statement.

Just sayin’.

Ya dig?

I saw this link come down yesterday and was pretty happy to see it…

Twitter’s guide for journalists and newsrooms!!!!!

http://media.twitter.com/newsrooms/

Enjoy.

I was once told that a sign of an amazing friendship is when the friends don’t have to speak to each other and everything’s just fine.

That’s how it is with my bobblehead and I.

In fact, we never speak to each other. He stands guard over my TV. I pat him on the head once in awhile.

He’s a sports fan. I’m a sports fan. He digs attractive female bobbleheads. I dig attractive females.

He’s hooked on Twitter @HChenBobblehead. I’m hooked on Twitter too @ho_chen!!!

See? We share a lot in common!

We also have the exact same outfit!!!

Courtesy Andrew Weber Photography

Not gonna lie, I was cheering for the Bruins of Boston, USA over my home country and the Vancouver Canucks.

EVERY single friend I have finds this weird.

Here’s the deal. The Calgary Flames are my all-time favorite team. Calgary’s arch-enemy was Edmonton. It’s called the Battle of Alberta. Back in 1987-’88 and again in 1989-’90, the Oilers faced the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Guess what? I rooted for the Bruins back then during a very influential time of my childhood. At that time, I collected the backs of hockey stickers to send in for souvenirs. The two free souvenirs I earned… I ordered FIRST a Boston Bruins puck, and THEN a Calgary Flames mini hockey stick.

Yup, I ordered that Bruins puck first. I don’t even have a Flames puck, but yet, I still have that Bruins puck on a shelf back home in Houston.

Ah yes, thinking back to those Bruins teams… the names Reggie Lemelin, Andy Moog, Ray Bourque, Glen Wesley, Ken Linesman, Bob Joyce, Craig Janney, Bob Sweeney, Don Sweeney quickly come to mind. Plenty of others too, but those are the immediate ones that hit me.

I soooooooooo wanted the Bruins to beat the Oilers teams back then.

Of course, those Oilers teams were among the best ever, even after Gretzky was traded in 1988. Grant Fuhr – the main man in goal in 1988, Bill Ranford – the main man in goal in 1990. All those amazing defensemen. Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Esa Tikannen, those teams were legendary. I hated them.

And they beat the Bruins in both Stanley Cup Finals.

So when this season happened, those memories were rekindled.

Go Bruins.

FYI I did root for the Canucks against the Rangers in 1994 because that Rangers team had a TON of Edmonton connections.

Everybody knows the Pendleton family has achieved amazing athletic success in the past decade. 3 different girls in the family have combined to win 7 of the past 8 state discus championships. The most recent one, Carly, won it on Friday.

http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/sports/high_school/wupw-Carly-the-3rd-Pendleton-to-win-state-06032011hc

Having such a successful family means that a guy like me gets to be around their entire family a LOT. Thank goodness they haven’t gotten sick of me yet!

So let me tell you – that family is AWESOME. And I’m talking on a personal level.

See, after Carly won her state title, she invited me to join the family for her graduation party. Over the years, I’ve especially gotten to know the father quite well. Mike has always been really engaging and easy to talk to. Love the guy.

So it was a pleasure and an honor to be invited to a family function. I absolutely HAD to go, especially since it was a day off for me.

I guess this is one of the perks of my job. I get to know a lot of different people from different walks of life. Shoot, I learned at that graduation party about how GPS systems have helped farming! (for those who don’t know, I’m totally a big-city boy)

So, um, yeah. It was extremely amazingly fun to get to know the Pendletons and different family members and hear old stories of Mike the way he was back in the day and how he met his equally awesome wife Laura. I heard very funny stories about the Pendleton girls and generally yucked it up like crazy.

It was awesome.

The Pendletons are awesome.

And that’s basically all I wanted to get across.

When I first heard that Jim Tressel had resigned from Ohio State, the only thing I could say that I was surprised about was that it came now.

I thought this would be something saved until after the season. I mean, give a year for Urban Meyer to rest up, don’t disturb this season too much, and eventually, the usual Tressel winning/money-making would make people forget about this offseason, right?

Apparently, I was wrong.

Here’s the thing though – I have a feeling that if more and more transgressions hadn’t been uncovered, my original theories might’ve stayed correct. Who knows? Maybe Tressel would’ve been kept. He won, made loads of money for the school, kept the boosters happy, and carried himself in a way that was impeccable.

As a reporter from outside of Columbus, my opportunities to interview Tressel naturally didn’t come as often as those within Columbus. But whenever I’d ask a question, I always remembered that Tressel answered me in a way that made me feel like I had been there just as much as the Columbus media. It had a profound effect on me, the way he treated people.

In the end, Tressel’s impeccable personality may have had a major hand in his downfall. The guy proved he was loyal to the end for his players, to the point where he protected them against the very institution that provided his paychecks.

Now, Buckeye nation awaits the fallout. First, from the NCAA Committee on Infractions, where they hope the school doesn’t suffer too much from the school’s inability to act swiftly to punish itself when the first revelations came out.

Second, there’s the whole recruiting thing. It was reported this past Sunday that there were no Buckeye commitments from early December to late April. Meanwhile, it’s easy to see that Brady Hoke is making some serious recruiting noise at Michigan.

To say the Buckeyes can get by strictly on tradition, in my mind, would be pretty naive. Yes, Ohio State is bigger than “the Vest” or “the Senator.” But any recruit wants to know what system they’ll be fitting in, which coaches they’ll be playing for. Luke Fickell maintains some continuity now, but will he be around after the year’s done? No matter how he does this year, it’s hard to believe Buckeye boosters (and they have plenty of clout) would prefer Fickell over names like Urban Meyer or Bo Pelini.

Imagine if you’re deciding whether to take a new job. If you knew the place was about to be sold, you might not fit into new ownership’s plans. That’s not a good situation to be in. Same with these players. They have a limited window to make the most of their college careers. Playing for different coaches in between is NOT the easiest way to go.

Plus, as a recruit, would you really want to go to a school that might have some form of postseason ban coming? Possible national TV limitations? Exposure is key in the world of branding. These recruits want to be branded for the NFL. Ohio State was a great brand to take to the NFL. Now, they’ll be relying on tradition like never before.

Local undecided recruits Chris Wormley (Whitmer DE) and Allen Gant (Southview DB) had both Ohio State and Michigan on their wish lists. Wormley grew up loving Michigan. Gant’s part of a Michigan legacy: his dad played FS for the Wolverines and he’s related to Charles Woodson. That said, Wormley has thus far seemingly placed the Bucks and Wolverines on relatively even terms. Gant has said to me that he’s been keeping an eye on the Ohio State situation.

There are undoubtedly other recruits on the Ohio State/Michigan radars who are doing the same.

Jim Tressel’s resignation is the biggest sports headline that dropped today, but that’s only one shoe. The other shoe will follow.

Just you wait.

So as I was surfing the net, checking up on my sports articles, I came across this via my Twitter feed…

http://www.channelapa.com/2011/05/asians-seek-surgery-to-look-western.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+channelapa+%28channelAPA.com+-+Broadcasting+Asian+America+%26+Asian+American+Entertainment%29

Basically, some Asians are going for the more Western look because they find that to be more appealing.

Sigh…

To say this disturbs me is an understatement. It’s not the fact that I’m Asian or that I’m proud of that fact. I consider everybody, regardless of race, to be beautiful in their own unique way.

I feel that those who strive to be more like another race show shame in their own. They’re basically saying that they feel like they are inferior.

Trying to look from another perspective, I guess you could say, “Well, whatever makes them happy,” right?

Sure thing, but it’s still disturbing to me. It screams low self-esteem. Just something about my personality – I’m disturbed when I’m around low self-esteem. Therefore, this is disturbing to me.

Be proud of who you are, people!!! The culture that makes you, that defines you… it gives you depth! Looks are only the mere exterior and represent the opposite of depth – people who judge solely based on looks are shallow!!!

In case you’re wondering, I will NOT be undergoing facial surgery to look more like another person. I am PROUD of the person that I have been shaped to be by my parents and I am PROUD of everything that makes me what I am.

In other words, to take after a participant on America’s Best Dance Crew…

I aM mE.

I haven’t golfed in eight years. I’ve driven a few golf balls here and there since then, but nothing consistently. I’ve played some miniature golf for charity every year I’ve been in Toledo (and I’m quite decent at it), but that doesn’t qualify me for the Inverness Club, home to this year’s U.S. Senior Open.

That’s right, the Ho Chen was up against one of the toughest golf courses in the state as his re-introduction back to playing some actual holes of golf in a best ball format.

I fully expected to do horribly.

So, without further adieu, here are my thoughts after going through a round of 18 at Inverness!!!

-I didn’t kill or hit anybody with a golf ball!!!
-I didn’t break any windows or dent any cars with any golf balls!!!
-I lost 3 balls on the front nine to water.
-I improved and only lost 2 balls on the back nine to water.
-I never had to shout “FORE!!!” (although “FOUR”-letter words starting with the same letter may or may not have been uttered a few times)
-I actually surprised myself with my driving ability, however inconsistent I might have been.
-That said, my aim is downright horrible on my drives and approaches, but I adjusted.
-My putting game’s not all that bad!!!! (miniature golf, represent!!!)
-Joe Rychnovsky has earned a new nickname based on his driving ability – he is HAMMERIN’ Joe Rychnovsky!!! The man has serious golf game!!!!!
-Thank you to Janet Rychnovsky with hooking me up with a set of clubs and for Joe for hooking me up with a pair of golf shoes! Also, thanks for the TREMENDOUS patience shown by Zack the Inverness caddie!!!

And finally, it was just a tremendous day at the golf course even with the weather conditions being rainy and cold ALL DAY. Someday, I can see myself taking a few lessons and getting into this!!!!

She’s my #1 protector.

I knew this at an early age. On my first day of kindergarten, walking into this weird world where my older sister went to this thing called school, I remember being overwhelmed. Where did my instincts lead me to go? Hiding behind my mom, of course.

Of course, this was back in the day when the Ho Chen was super duper shy. Boy, has that changed…

But anyway, there was a reason I hid behind my mom. She has always been there since Day 1. I remember, when I was really young, just how amazing she was in looking out for me. I’m talking about when I was like four years old or so. Laundry would be so neatly folded. Meals cooked for when my Dad got back home. If I was sick, coming in during the middle of the night to make sure I had a fresh cool towel on my forehead. Teaching me both English and Chinese (I still remember the magnets used to teach me the traditional Mandarin “alphabet”). All the tapes of “Electric Company” and “Sesame Street” prepared to have me watch so that I could get a head start on learning.

As my childhood progressed, I still remember the pride and joy my Mom had when she bought fabric and made two pairs of pants out of them. Seriously, she spent WEEKS making those pants. She really really wanted to make them the coolest pants any kid had in my elementary school. The same effort went into making curtains for my family’s current home in Sugar Land, Texas. If you walk through our house, some of the really nice curtains were made by my Mom. She also made some curtains specifically tailored for our table tennis area so that when my sister and I trained, the balls wouldn’t fly over the balcony and to the first floor. So much effort. So much heart.

Recently, on a trip home for a wedding videographer gig, she only had the chance to see me during a lunch. She knows I love a specific type of OJ, and she brought it with her. TOTALLY unnecessary since I could’ve just gone to a store with my sister and got it for myself, but it showed how above and beyond my Mom is.

She’s amazing.

And I totally feel like, to this day, she is STILL my #1 protector.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!!!!! And the same for all the other mothers out there! Y’all deserve so much credit for seeing your children through to their various stages in life!!!

That's me and my Mom enjoying some Taiwanese cuisine!!!

It’s been well documented that Dane Sanzenbacher has made a living out of proving people wrong.

When you look at the former Central Catholic star, “NFL stud” doesn’t exactly pop in your head, at least not at first glance.

Of course, after you watch him on the field, it’s probably a different story. He was THE playmaker during Central’s run to the state title. He was this past year’s Buckeyes team MVP.

To be team MVP, you have to pretty much be able to perform both on and off the field. Dane was always precise with his routes and has great hands. Off the field, he is impeccable.

Thing is, like I said earlier, he’s not blessed with Randy Moss-like physical talents. That said, most people expected him to at least be drafted by somebody. The thought process was that once he made it to the NFL, his work ethic, leadership, and precision would have coaches falling in love with him and he could probably at least make a living being a possession-type receiver or maybe a depth guy.

Then the NFL lockout came along and made things tricky.

You see, in normal years, when a player goes undrafted, they’re pretty much immediately contacted by teams who’re interested in them and then they can take their pick of where they want to go. Arian Foster mastered this by choosing the Texans because he thought he’d have his best opportunity there. As we saw this past season, he was right.

Locally, guys like Brett Kern, Barry Church, and Stephen Williams from the University of Toledo made their decisions and made their respective teams.

If they could do it, you’d think that Dane could do it too, right?

Not so fast.

If there wasn’t a lockout, I’d have the utmost faith that Dane would pour all his time and energy into studying the playbook. Right now, the only thing he knows is that teams are interested. But who’ll sign him? And when? When will he actually receive his playbook?

This alone is a huge reason why the lockout is affecting Dane and similar undrafted free agents in such a big way. They simply cannot prepare for the next step because they have no clue where they’ll land. And the clock’s ticking.

Meanwhile, for the rookies who did get picked, they at least know where they’re going. Veterans can probably find a way to get those drafted rookies a playbook and to help guide them through it.

For Dane, when the time comes, he’ll not only have to battle the usual obstacles that come with being undrafted, now he’ll be further behind when it comes to knowledge and schemes compared to the veterans and drafted rookies trying to fend him off and keep their roster spots.

This just makes it tougher on Dane. I’m pulling for him, but he’s got his work cut out for him!