2 truths and a lie

You know what I hate? Ice-breakers. But whenever you go to a conference/workshop/etc., you're forced to engage in these ridiculous games and activities with total strangers where everything is backward because the most normal, well-adjusted people feel totally uncomfortable and the most insane, irritating individuals are as happy as a bunch of attention-starved clams. Anyway, the only one that I can kind of tolerate is 2 Truths and a Lie. If you haven't played the game before, the title pretty much says it all: You make three statements about yourself, two of which are true and one of which is a lie, then everyone else has to guess which is false. So we're going to play a little game of 2 Truths and a Lie starring yours truly. (If you're an avid reader, you'll notice that some of the answers have already been revealed in previous blog entries.)

CELEBRITY ENCOUNTERS
1) I once spoke on the telephone with 8-time National Sportswriter of the Year Rick Reilly.
2) If you look closely, you can see me in the background during the tour bus scene of the Vince Vaughn-Jennifer Aniston movie The Break-Up, which was shot in Chicago.
3) I once saw Kenny Chesney at a Subway in Nashville.

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
1) I was an all-conference football player in high school.
2) I was an all-conference basketball player in high school.
3) I was an all-conference baseball player in high school.

HOLIDAYS & OBSERVANCES
1) I dressed as Doogie Howser for one Halloween when I was in middle school.
2) I crashed my wife's car on the morning of our first Valentine's Day together.
3) I spent my 21st birthday alone in my dorm room studying for an Environmental Studies exam.

ENTERTAINMENT
1) I played the minor role of Pentheus, the King of Thebes, in a college production of The Bakkhai.
2) I was once called up to sing with the gospel choir at the Chicago House of Blues Gospel Brunch.
3) I sang "Mr. Blue," by Garth Brooks, in Walworth Grade School's Pops Concert when I was in 8th grade.

MOVIES & TELEVISION
1) I cried when Jennifer Lopez's character died during the movie Jersey Girl.
2) I own the first season of Mad About You on DVD.
3) I have never seen a full episode of Seinfeld.

FOOD & DRINK
1) I once ate an entire lemon wedge--including the peel--on a dare.
2) I have never had a cup of coffee.
3) I spilled ravioli on my white shirt during my first date with my wife.

JUNE 21, 2003
1) The bridesmaids at our wedding wore green dresses.
2) I didn't eat anything on the day of our wedding.
3) Our wedding party was introduced to the song "Copacabana," by Barry Manilow.

EDUCATION
1) I graduated suma cum laude from Ripon College.
2) I served as student council president my senior year of high school.
3) I began my 2nd-grade year taking two classes at the 3rd-grade level: math and handwriting.

NUMBERS
1) There were 90 students in my high school graduating class.
2) I lost $250 on a gambling web site after betting on the Chicago Bears to cover the spread in last year's Super Bowl.
3) Not including flip-flops, I own 5 pairs of shoes, none of which were purchased within the last calendar year.

CHUCK B.
1) My son thinks it's funny to pretend that certain professional basketball players--Michael Redd, Lebron James, Chris Paul--are sad.
2) My son wore an authentic Chinese vest to our Sunday morning Easter service.
3) My son can consistently count from 1 to 10.

Tune in tomorrow for the big reveal. Hope you'll still be able to sleep tonight.

Later gators.