FASHION, SPORTS

Football Pic

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Hey y’all!! Another day, another football post. I know I try to post on Tuesdays about football, but this week has been crazy!! With Halloween and more importantly the first CFP rankings on Tuesday, the Word Series going to 7 game (CAN I GET A GO STROS?!?), and trying to recover/unpack all 5 bags I brought to Shreveport, this week has just been nuts! Before we get off to another wild weekend full of football I wanted to give y’all another (hopefully helpful) guide.  So last time, we talked about the great game of football I tried to give y’all the basic rundown, but today we are going a bit more in depth. While I was at TCU, I had the opportunity to take a play-by-play class with a legendary play-by-play commentator for TCU Baseball, Chuck LaMendola. This was a BIG deal because they only offer this class every other spring, and the spots fill up super fast. I was pumped about this class!! I had been doing a sports radio show for the past two years, and I thought this play-by-play class would be my favorite class yet. Our first big assignment was to research two football teams, and make a flip board of their offense and defense (see picture below). He explains this project to us, and I was like, wow, this is going to be a breeze. I am going to do the Frogs offense vs UT defense on one side; and UT offense vs TCU defense of the other. This is so easy that I can crank this thing out in 2 days max (heck, I can probably even do it the night before). So that’s what I did… The night before this thing is due, I sit down and attempt to start setting up this flip board. At about 11pm, I had to call in the reinforcements. Marshall had to come over and save me; I was a mess with glue and paper all over me, about to have a mental breakdown over making this dang flip chart!!

So before I throw you guys in the deep end with the sharks, I am going to give y’all a glossary to the positions on the field.

 

FOOTBALL POSITION GLOSSARY

Center (C)– an offensive big boy who hikes or snaps the ball to the quarterback at the start of each play.

Corner Back (CB)– a defensive player who lines up on one of the wide sides of the field. They usually play opposite a receiver.

Defensive Back (DB)– form the back line of defense, whose job is to prevent the receivers from catching the ball/gaining yardage. This includes the corner backs and safeties.

Defensive End (DE)– a defensive player who lines up at the end of the defensive line. His job is to make sure the QB doesn’t get past him, and to contain any run plays.

Defensive Tackle (DT)– a defensive player who lines up on the interior of the defensive line (aka big boys lining up against the center). Their job is to stop the run game at the line and tackle people

Defensive Lineman– This term refers to all the big boys on the defensive line aka the defensive tackle, defensive end, and the nose guard

Fullback (FB)– an offensive player who lines up in the back field and blocks for the running back

Linebacker (LB)– a defensive player who lines up behind or beside the defensive linemen; they are usually one of the team’s best tacklers. Their job is to back up the d-line. There are outside linebackers (OLB) and inside linebackers (ILB)

Nose Guard (NG)-a big boy on the defensive line who lines up directly across from the center (aka nose to nose; get it?!) His job is to defend the middle of the line.

Offensive Guard (OG)– two (big boy) offensive players who line up on either side of the center. Their job is to block.

Offensive Tackle (OT)– two more offensive big boys who line up on either side of the guards. Their job is to block.

Offensive Lineman (OL) – the 5 men who make up the human wall that block to protect the quarterback and ball carriers. An offensive lineman can be a center, guard, or tackle

Place Kicker (PK)– The player who kicks the ball on kickoffs, extra point attempts, and field goal attempts. Unlike the punter, the PK kicks from a tee or when his teammate is holding it

Punter (P)– the player that stands 10 to 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage, and catches the long snap from the center, and then kicks the ball after dropping it towards his foot

Quarterback (QB)– the offensive player who usually receives the ball from the center of at the start of the each play. He lets his teammates know what play they are about to run, and either runs the ball or passes the ball to one of the receivers.

Running Back (RB)– an offensive player who runs with the ball

Safety (S)– a defensive player who lines up 15 yards in front of the line of scrimmage. Their job is to cover the players who the ball is getting passed to. There are 2 different types of safeties: a free safety (FS) and a strong safety (SS). A free safety lines up the deepest in the middle of the field, and a strong safety lines up close to the defensive line.

Snapper/Long Snapper (SN)– the player who can be the center or a specialized player who’s job is to snap the ball 5 to 15 feet. You use a long snapper for punts, and while kicking field goals.

Tight End (TE)– one of the most versatile players on the field. Tight ends are an offensive player who is a big receiver, but can also block. They line up beside the OT on either side.

Wide Receiver (WR)– an offensive player who is FAST and can run and catch the ball. Receivers can also run with the ball.

Formation

I hope this helps y’all! You can use the chart above to see exactly where every position goes. PS I promise next Tuesday we will be back to our regular football talk schedule. WAHOO!

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FASHION, LIFESTYLE


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“Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat,” was a little rhyme I always heard growing up, especially since I have a little brother. My family LOVES Halloween. When we were younger, we had the most precious yard art for Halloween; it was a train with all these little monsters riding it, Frankenstein, a vampire, a mummy, and a ghost. Every year we would take a picture in front of our train with our matching hand-made costumes on before our neighborhood hay ride put on by my dad. Yep, we were that family!  We matched every year until I was about seven: Madison and I were Snow White, while Parker was a dwarf; Madison and I were mermaids, and Parker was a pirate. I could go on and on. Poor Parker didn’t get much say in his costume for a while, but when he was finally old enough to pick his own, he was the Slim Jim Man. HAHAHA! I can promise you Paige Speer (my mom) wasn’t happy about that! As I got older, I realized some people don’t take Halloween quite as seriously as we did. Now that I am 23, Halloween still holds a special place in my heart. I might not dress up anymore, but you can bet that I still carve a pumpkin, make baked pumpkin seeds, and pass out candy with my friends (so I get to see the cute little trick or treaters!).

IMG_7221 (Y’all check out Madison and I!! Unfortunately I didn’t get the cool face paint like her!)

This year, I get to change things up, and bring the Halloween spirit to some adorable little monsters (aka Marshall’s nephews: Sky [4] and Liam [1]).  Anytime we get the chance to be around the boys, Marsh and I go all out. I don’t have any little relatives that live near by, so it’s fun seeing how excited they get about the little things. This weekend, the neighborhood where Marshall’s parents live is hosting a fall festival. On Friday, there is a farmers market; Saturday, they are having trick or treating; and Sunday, all sorts of games for kids. So when his parents asked us if we wanted to come and see the little ones in Shreveport for this festival, I jumped at the chance to bring my Halloween spirit to the boys! In preparation for our trip, I took it upon myself to make Sky and Liam Halloween baskets. We got matching Halloween shirts, two different Halloween books, and Halloween-themed cups. We always try and get the boys similar things, but with the three year age gap between them, its sometimes fun to do individual activities with Sky. So, I made him a cookie decorating kit, and y’all it was SO easy!

 

Now I know what some of y’all are thinking… You all have jobs, and don’t have time to make homemade sugar cookies! Well you’re in luck, because the BEST sugar cookies I’ve ever come across are the kind that comes in the Betty Crocker bag. Yep, you heard it here first, I make cookies from a bag and they are DELECIOUS! You just follow the instructions on the back, grab yourself a rolling pin, and viola!, they’re done. (Keep it on the DL, and remember; if anyone asks you, tell them you made the cookies from scratch! It’ll be our little secret). Below, you can find the recipe to the icing, cookies, and everything you’ll need for the decorating kit! I hope you all have a spooky Halloween and bring some fall spirit to your loved ones!

 

 

 

Caroline’s Cookie Kit 

The cookies:  

-1 bag of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Cookie Mix

-3 Tablespoons of Flour

-1 egg

-1 stick of butter

The Icing 

-1 egg white

-1 cup of powdered sugar

-Dash of vanilla

-Food coloring

The Decorations/supplies 

-Rolling pin

-Cookie Cutters

-Sprinkles

-Mini squeeze bottles

-Tin/container with a lid

 

 

PS I will keep you guys updated on how the decorating actually goes. You never know with a four year old!

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FASHION, SPORTS

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Hey y’all! I hope everyone had a GREAT weekend. Unfortunately, my weekend wasn’t so great. Instead of getting to drive to Waco with my good friend, Rachel, to talk with the Baylor football team, I was stuck at home, sick in my bed.  A huge wrench got thrown in my plans, but that didn’t stop me from watching football all weekend! I just snuggled up on my bed, threw my glasses on, and watched week 9 unfold.

 

The football season is about halfway done, and things are really starting to get interesting for college teams around the country. So, from now until the end of the regular season, I’ll be updating y’all with all your football news, terminology, and knowledge tidbits every Tuesday!
Why Tuesday, you ask??

 

Well, starting on HALLOWEEN (one of my favorite holidays), the first College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings come out, every Tuesday. Up until now, we have only seen the Associated Press (AP) rankings, which is a poll voted on by sports writers and broadcasters from around the country. Right now, if you look on my side bar, you can see the top 10 AP rankings, but those will all mean NOTHING come Halloween. The CFP rankings hold much more weight, as they are used to decide the playoff contenders at the end of the year. So on every Tuesday, starting on Halloween until November 28th, we will see these new rankings. Week after week, we will inch closer to SELECTION DAY on Sunday, December 3rd, when the four semifinal teams get announced.

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(P.S. y’all isn’t Mocha the cutest doodle ever?!)

So here is my rundown on why the CFP rankings are so important, and how easily they can change.  Back in 2014, it was the first year that college football changed over to the new playoff system (the CFP). The playoff consists of two semifinal games and one championship game. If your team is in the top 4, you play in a semifinal game, and have a shot at the National Championship. In the playoffs, the fourth-ranked team plays the first-ranked team, and the second and third-ranked teams play each other. If you’re not in the top four, you are out of the race for the National Championship. For the most part, it’s a good system, but it can be a let down to get left out of the top four. This is why we saw superstars like Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffery sit out of their bowl games last year. Neither of their respective teams were in the top four, and they didn’t see a lot of value in not playing for a national championship. So they didn’t play, because they didn’t want to risk getting injured playing in one last game before getting drafted into the pros.

 

Going back to 2014: I was a sophomore in College, and it seemed to the horned frog nation the Big 12 was finally getting respected for being a powerhouse conference. TCU and Baylor were the best in the Big 12, each only losing one game. Baylor lost to West Virginia, and TCU lost to Baylor. Baylor defeated TCU on October 11, and at this time, TCU was ranked 7th in the nation while Baylor was ranked 13th.  By week 14 (December 2nd), the CFP rankings had TCU at 3rd and Baylor at 6th, just a week before the final rankings came out. When TCU was revealed at Number 3; y’all I cried happy tears! We had one more conference game left to play at Amon G. Carter Stadium against Iowa State the following Saturday. We won that game by a huge margin, 55 to 3. On Sunday, December 7th, the final rankings came out, and TCU dropped from number 3 to number 6!!! So long happy tears; I was full on mad crying. I was TICKED OFF!! Not to mention our rival, Baylor, jumped from number 6 to number 5, ahead of TCU! I still remember this day like it was yesterday. This new playoff system was SUPPOSED to be equal for all conferences, and give the little guys (aka TCU) a chance to show the world what they were made of. Obviously, the CFP committee thought otherwise. TCU went on to play in the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss, winning 42 to 3. The strong showing proved to the committee, TCU deserved a spot in the top 4. Can y’all tell I’m still super bitter…? Hahaha!!!

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Now, this is an appropriate time to talk about the importance of conference championship games. I believe if we would’ve had a chance to play Baylor in a conference championship game, the Frogs would’ve come out victorious and maybe made it in the top four. But that is irrelevant now, because its 2017 and the frogs are 7 and 0! The purple and white still have five really tough games to play in the regular season, and will hopefully get to play in the first Big 12 championship game!! (WAHOO for the Big 12!!).

 

Well, that’s all for today guys, just thought I could come on here and rant about the worst day of 2014; and let everyone know that not only are the AP rankings meaningless, but the CFP rankings don’t even mean a whole lot until the fat lady sings on selection day. So stay tuned here on Lipstick and Linebackers for all your football updates!

 

 

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BODY POSITIVITY, LIFESTYLE

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Okay y’all it’s THURSDAY! So, in preparation for the weekend, I will reminisce with you guys about last weekend, and the chaos that is the State Fair of Texas. As some of you may know, it is State Fair time here in Texas; and since I live close to the fair grounds, Marshall (my boyfriend) and I decided to go this past Sunday. Fair warning, going on the weekend isn’t ideal. It was insanely packed. I mean we weren’t able to walk without getting run over by a baby stroller (and yes, that happened to both of us at least twice). BUT don’t let that fool you, we had a great time!!!

Before getting there, Marsh decided he HAD to get a “bacon queso funnel cake burger”. This burger won an award for “Best Taste—Savory”, and the award for “most creative”. The best thing about the burger (if you can really even call it that) is that it’s served at a pizza booth!! I swear we walked around the fair twice looking for this thing, before I finally asked somewhere to find it; yep, at the pizza booth, that’s where. So we are standing in line waiting to get this thing, and the person in front of us said “oh we’ve been waiting here for thirty minutes, and this isn’t the line where you pick it up,” then he proceeds to point to another line that is a mile long, and that’s not an exaggeration. I start mentally preparing myself to wait in both of these monstrous lines so Marshall can get this “burger”. Thank gosh he decided that he really didn’t want to wait over an hour for the burger. Once we get out of the line and begin to walk around again, Marshall says, “ Carol look, they have a taco salad”. Marshall no. We are at the State Fair. The capital of fried food, and I am getting a corn dog come hell or high water, NOT a taco salad *insert eye roll*. Let me tell y’all, that corndog was SO worth breaking my diet. I did let Marshall have a bite even after his horrendous salad suggestion, and he liked it almost as much as I did!

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After getting me a corndog, we had to find Marsh something to eat, he was getting a little hangrey, given he had been fasting in preparation for that burger. So he decided to try “Texas Fajita Fries”, which was a finalist for the “Big Tex” award. It was deep fried fajitas in a pretzel-style cone. Marsh thought it was pretty delicious, and was definitely happy he didn’t have to wait in a long line.

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Once we were both full on fried food and ice cream, Marshall suggested that we play a game (I don’t do fair rides). You would think after two plus years of dating, Marsh would know that we can NOT do anything competitive. One of my major downfalls is I am super competitive. Marshall and I cannot do any kind of sporting activity together because I refuse to lose, and when I win, I rub it in (mostly because I only let us do things I’m good at). I swear, the kid has been trying to get me to go bowling for years. I refuse to go, partly because I hate feet and sharing shoes really grosses me out, but mostly because I am a terrible bowler, and refuse to let him win… I know I am terrible, but I digress. So when we started looking at games, I knew that this would end badly for one of us (probably him). Hahaha!!! We approached the basketball game. It looks like a normal basketball hoop, but the rim is actually a lot smaller than you think it is. Once we started discussing rather or not we should play a round, one of the games next to us made a noise that sounded like a gunshot, and I was done. No more of that for me. It was actually just a dart popping a balloon, but it saved us from playing the game (AKA saved Marshall from losing!).

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After the game fiasco, we decided it was time to head home. On our walk out, we found the best thing of the day: FROZEN SWEET TEA. I am really sad I didn’t take a picture of this frozen goodness. I am not joking y’all, this was the best thing I had ALL day. It was like an icee and a big glass of chic-fil-a sweet tea, all in one! This sweet treat was a perfect way to end the day. The State Fair was definitely worth the trip. Even after all the trouble, it was still a great time! The last day for you guys to check out the fried food frenzy is this Sunday October 22nd!

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FASHION, SPORTS

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So as my first official blog post, I had to write about… you guessed it, FOOTBALL! I seriously cannot believe that we are already half way through the season! Good for us here in Texas, because its FINALLY starting to cool off *insert happy dance here*!  I want to give y’all a quick guide to college football Saturdays.

SCORING

So, first things first, lets talk about scoring. I know some of y’all are like Caroline… come on, we know about scoring; but I want to start from the basics. The main way a team can score points is by scoring a touchdown. A touchdown is worth 6 points; but after the touchdown is scored, the team has the opportunity to: 1) kick for an extra point, or 2) go for a two-point conversion. A two-point conversion is where the scoring team tries to get in the end zone again by running a play from the three yard line. So, once you score a touchdown, you can either get 6, 7, or potentially 8 points. Most teams choose the safer option and kick the extra point, unless they are losing and need to utilize a two-point conversion to tie the game. Another way a team can score is by kicking a field goal, which is three points. A field goal is kicked when a team is on a fourth down, and there is no chance for a touchdown, but they are close enough to the upright (the tall yellow posts that are in the end zones) to kick the ball through. Field goal range is in college is usually around 30 yards, but some field goal kickers can make longer attempts.

WHAT’S A DOWN?

If you’re watching your team either on TV or in the stadium you will hear the announcer say the word “down”. So what exactly is a down?? The offensive team has four attempts to either: 1) score, or 2) gain 10 yards.  Therefore, when you hear an announcer say your team got a first down, you cheer! This means they are making progress down the field. Here is an example: “THAT’S ANOTHER TCU FIRST DOWN”, and the crowd all cheers. Now you know why people are cheering when no one has scored!

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PENALTIES

So, now that we know how to score, and how to get a first down, lets talk about those little yellow flags that get thrown by the refs. These can either be a blessing or a curse to your team. Whew, okay this could take a while, so I am going to ease y’all into this.

-When the players are on the line of scrimmage (where the players are lined up face to face before the play starts) here are some of the reasons a yellow flag or penalty flag can be thrown: a false start, delay of game, or offsides. A false start is exactly what it sounds like (kind of like in track when a runner moves before the gun is fired) a player on the offensive moves before the play has started. Offsides is when a defensive player moves before the play has started. Lastly, a delay of game is when the center (the big boy in the center of the offensive line that has the ball and hikes it to the quarterback) doesn’t hike/give the ball to the QB before the play clock gets to zero.

-Holding and pass interference are some other reasons a team can get a penalty. Holding is just what it sounds like, it occurs when a player holds another player and prevents them from moving, and that player doesn’t have the ball. This is usually an offensive player holding a defensive player from moving. Next is a pass interference penalty. This usually occurs when a defensive player doesn’t give the offensive player a chance to catch the ball. The defensive player does this by holding onto the offensive player’s jersey, or making contact with the player before they have touched the ball. Y’all, I am not kidding, there are so many ways to get a penalty, but these are the main ones.

-So what happens when you get a penalty or a yellow flag?? If the offense gets a penalty, they will lose yardage, or they will move further away from the end zone than they already are. If the defense gets a penalty, then the offense will gain yardage or move closer to the end zone.

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Well guys, if you made it to the end of this post, WAHOOO! You did it! I know that was a lot of information, but I hope that helps a little bit for this weekend’s games. If you get anything out of this post, I want you to remember this: its okay to ask questions!!  There are times where I am like “what the heck just happened!” and that’s okay! Stay tuned for next week, with a whole post on penalties and the hand gestures the referees make.  If you don’t get it yet, I promise we will all get there together. If y’all want to shop my game day looks click on the links above. I hope you guys have a great Tuesday!!

 

 

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BODY POSITIVITY, FASHION, LIFESTYLE, SPORTS

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Hi! I’m Caroline Speer. Thank you so much for stopping by! Here’s a little about me:

I am a graduate of Texas Christian University (GO FROGS!) with a degree in Sports Broadcasting. As fall 2017 rolled around, I realized that several of my friends had ZERO idea about football fundamentals, or even the game of football as a whole; and I know they aren’t alone. When I started asking them about basketball and baseball, I got much of the same feedback. There are so many women who don’t really understand sports, but I am here to tell you that is OKAY!! After four years of focusing my life and studies to sports, I am here to help you with all the ends and outs, X’s and O’s, on and off the field.

So why did I choose sports?? Well, I was born and raised in a small town in Texas; and on Friday nights, the whole town packed up to go to our high school football games. I also played golf and volleyball; not to mention I was on the Little Dribblers National Championship team back when I was 8 (I was definitely a bench warmer, but hey, it counts!!). So my days back in the early 2000’s pretty much revolved around sports, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved closing my eyes and listening to the radio, as an announcer described a game and I visualized every play, or watching as one of my friends made the game winning touchdown. So when I got to college, I knew Sports Broadcasting was the major for me. I loved everything about it. Sports bring me so much joy, and I want to help other women experience that joy as well.

So now I am a graduate, trying to “adult” in an industry where one’s body image is so important. Now let me tell you, I am not a size 2, nor do I believe you need to be a certain size to be successful. If you love what you look like on the inside and out, others will love you too! So, Lipstick & Linebackers is a place for me to express my creativity, love of sports, and body positivity.

Here are some fun facts about me: I love the color pink; New York City and New Orleans are my all time favorite cities; I have my Bible along with a copy of Football for Dummies on my bedside table.

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