The History of ARod - According to Fox
(With Supplementals From VinnyX6, Polar Bear, and TDolan)
Welcome to Keough Hall
It was a hot and sweaty summer in 2003 and the freshmen boys of Keough Hall were moving in for the very first time. Fox was one of these boys. So was ARod. Together these boys would become a part of the Men of Keough Hall. ARod was not part of the first group of young men that Fox first meet that summer. At the time Fox's main friend was VinnyX6 - a crazy Californian from the OC. They were both from the same section. ARod was not. The Frosh-O staff were making these boys run around and do weird activities like the coolest indoor game ever. Oddly - no one really knows how Fox or VinnyX6 meet ARod. Some say that he participated in the Frosh-O events with Fox. Others say that Vinny and Fox just spotted him, his multi-button backpack, and his headphones and forced him into their gang. Alan hasn't been seen with his headphones since.
Buzzed for Speed
One of Fox's finest moments with ARod was a weekend night when the kids in ARod's section were partying it up a bit. Fox and the mellow thugs were being pretty mellow. Fox himself was known for being quite a loner when it came to party nights. That one night however, Fox recieved a visitor. It was Alan. He was admittedly buzzed but had come down to visit the mellow thugs so that he could get away from the party scene for awhile. This moment marked the night when Fox and ARod earned each other's trust. Fox honestly didn't know how to entertain a buzzed guy, but he went along and pulled out a deck of cards. The two friends began to play speed - a card came requiring quite a bit of focus and agility. At first Fox swept consecutive games, but afterawhile ARod was able to return the competition and fairly beat Fox in a few rounds. Although there was occational slurring and trips to take a leak, Fox felt honored that Alan came to him for company. ARod had earned Fox's full respect.
The Cool Brother
As Alan began showing up more and more around Keough (probably because he lived there), the boys began to accept him as their own. Some labeled Alan as the fourth mellow thug, however the wise VinnyX6 preached that as respectable human beings - we should not be given numbers. Instead we would all be known as brothers - loving the ones we are fortunate to have and always leaving an extended hand for the ones who someday will have us. The guys shot Vinny with his own nerf gun and he stopped preaching. Although the guys did have their awesome serious discussion about life, politics and all that fun stuff, they were more memorable for their antics around the dorm. ARod's personality fit perfectly with the mellow thugs. They shared common interests in movies and video games. A popular bonding experience between Fox and ARod was their sharing of jackets. As it grew cold in South Bend, Fox would let ARod borrow his coats when they would have random outings instead of making ARod walk back to the fourth floor to get his jacket. They added this to their brothership factor since ARod would always look way cool max dice.
Their Song
After hanging out one afternoon listening to Pibbs' No Doubt The Singles CD, Fox and ARod jammed to the collection of music. The song they enjoyed the most was "Bathwater" and has now been considered their song. The buddies now laugh everytime they hear the song and just jam to it. ARod would continue to spread his influence with music with the guys. After buying a Weezer DVD, Mandu, Vinny, and Lango would spend a night going through all the music videos of animals and muppets. Way cool.
The Love Hina Marathon
Fox was in fell in love with a manga/anime series last year and brought the anime with him to ND. He wanted to watch this anime with his buddies to see if any of them were interested. Interested, Alan ended up spending late night marathons to watch the Love Hina series. In one weekend, they had finished all the episodes. There were a few of these marathons. Lango would also share his "Mortal Kombat" movie collection which he and Mandu marathoned one afternoon. Mandu would continue to share his interests in movies with the others watching "Donnie Darko," "Fight Club," and a marathon of "The Evil Dead" and "Army of Darkness" - proof that cheesy B-movies are truly the worst movie ever. Lango and Mandu were the only ones to appreciate the ridiculous comedy. Lango and Mandu still have to schedule a marathon of Kare Kano.
The All Nighter - Jeopardy and the Philips Heist
During Fall Break, VinnyX6, Lango (Fox), and Mandu (ARod), were on their own on the empty campus. Naturally they had to find things to keep them busy. The solution? "Let's get a TV!" Lango's plan was flawless. They Philips Heist was a mission to escort Lango's television set from the store back to his dorm. This required much work including unpacking, packing, and hauling the set through the MgGlinn fields. Lango was a lazy mofo. Vinny and Mandu carried the thing most of the way for their friend and within hours they would set up the television that would bring them much life and prosperity. As to rise the stakes of their fall break fun, Vinny introduced his PC version of Jeopary. The simple games of Jeopardy sparked these new nicknames for the guys as well as lead to an all nighter. After pulling their very first all nighter in college, the guys went to BK for breakfast. They ate half asleep and walked back to Keough to crash. Now that's college.
His Love with Ebay
While at ND, Alan has expressed his strong relationship with online bidding. Over the school yeah he has purchased facinating items such as a pool cue, a lighter, videos, and video games. Yeah man.
Reckers
One of Polar Bear's favorite memories with Mandu would have to be their trip at Reckers where they got into an energetic conversation. Their friends around them thought it looked like they were star-crossed lovers with their eyes deep in stares. Lol. It was a hoot. Apparently they were talking about girls.
Being a friend of Alan's soon became an advantage to the guys. ARod was a proud worker of Reckers student lounge. It was also the guys favorite hangout spot. They would hang out there and Alan's coworkers would always see us with him. Soon we became known as "Alan's friends" and would recieve the extra fries here and there. Lol. It definitely pays to be one of Alan's friends.
The British Executive Transvestite Comedian
On Valentine's day, Alan introduced everyone to the BETC - Eddie Izzard. The gang spent hours in laughter in what truly became a bonding moment. A month later Alan recieved some more Eddie Izzard tapes and again the gang enjoyed laughing together. "Ciao!"
ARod the Athelete
ARod was an unremarkably talented guy. Whether it was watching ND sports such as hockey or playing sports with the guys, he was always one of the best. He tossed football around with Vinny and Lango during fall break. ARod was a champ at basketball everytime he played with the guys. During Spring Vis, Fox and ARod played raquetball against each other and he proved to be a formidable match. Alan's most proud moment of athletic accomplishment would have to be when he was at one of TDolan's trips to the hockey game and caught a Drive & Shine t-shirt. Way to go! Zambonies!
Red Hair?
One day TDolan and the gang persuaded Alan to dye his hair for fun. They bought the dye during a Meijer's run, but ARod would not use the dye until months later. During a crazy night when TDolan had the guys to herself, she took them out to dinner and chilled around Keough laughing up storms and sitting on futons upside down. It had to also be one of the weekends with the most innuendos as well. Bored, they decided to dye Alan's hair. TDolan sucessfully dyed his hair, but surprisingly enough his hair was too dark. In the light though you can see red highlights! Lol. Good job guys.
The Video Games - Vagrant Story
Thanks to Alan, the boys were able to have a PS2 in around the dorm. Since Lango and the only working TV around, it became the new home for the super video game machine. Together, Alan, Pibbs, and Fox would spend time sharing their common interest of gaming. Sadly during his school year, Fox was video game deprived. He played the least amount of video games due to his studies but took solace in having the company of his friends playing video games. Alan would start playing Vagrant Story, an RPG by Squaresoft - the best RPG makers ever. Many afternoons the guys would bond together around Alan and Vagrant Story. Alan just has the unique ability to make everyone happy. Fox would even enjoy doing his calculus HW next to Alan playing video games. It just made math more interesting.
Kill Bill Whistle
Kill Bill Vol. 1 was playing at SUB movies. Due to his Christmas in April house rebuilding project, Fox couldn't go see it on Friday. That Saturday, Alan would be whisling California Mountain Snake's hospital scene theme which would be stuck in Fox's head for the rest of the month. Alan and Pat would go see Kill Bill Vol. 1 with Fox, TDolan, and Vinny again on Saturday night and would also see Kill Bill Vol. 2 twice on Sunday, once with Fox and Vinny and again with TDolan. You're awesome kiddo.
ARod's Birthday
ARod has been so insistant about not telling anyone his birthday that still no one knows the exact day of his birthday, only that it's in April. So everyday in April (except the 30th since we know that his GF's birthday is after his on the same month) Fox tries to wish ARod Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday man.