Today is my big bro's 28th birthday. I thought there was no better way to honor him than let the world know I wouldn't be who I am without him. He tells me all the time "I taught you everything you know." He's right. Here are some life lessons the person I looked up to the most (figuratively and literally) taught me:

How to be Mature

They say life's too short to take things too seriously. Studying under the tutelage of Philip (one L) Rixman instilled that in me.

Class clown? Maybe. Life of the party? Absolutely. Sometimes takes things way to far? Who am I to judge? In all seriousness, anyone who knows Philip knows he would do anything for a laugh, but that's because deep down he loves making others happy!

How to be Lucky

Okay, so he's not the luckiest guy in the world. But sometimes bad luck is character building. From Phil, I learned to find the humor in misery, the strength to bounce back, and the courage to take the shot in the first place. Here are a few of my favorite courses:

Anatomy 101: This story is probably a little too blue for the blog, but none who were there will ever forget that one time at band camp and the HUGE infection that was in fact not cured by Gatorade...
Introduction to Statistics: Most people probably wouldn't think its a good idea to bet $600 on a few games of "3 cups and a ball." More people probably wouldn't bet a few random strangers on the street. Not my bro! Courage won out on this occasion... well courage and the strangers who won his $600...
Intermediate Neuroscience: The Cardinals make their first Orange Bowl. Leave it to Philip to drop his phone in the ocean and then get a devastating migraine for the duration of the game he was attending as a member of the band.
Advanced Mechanics: Knock on wood, I've not had a lot of serious car troubles. I like to think its because my brother took all the troubles for me. Whether its getting his car totaled but a guy who ran a red light, tearing his ACL pushing a car out of snow, getting his windows smashed and his radio stolen, or that one thing that Drew Elliott did that we don't speak about, it feels like the luck is against him at times. He deserves a break; I won't even mention that time he got a ticket in my car and didn't tell me...

How to be a Good Sport

Its a passionate rivalry U of L has with UK, but at the end of the day, its just a game and when UK's season ends, I learned from Philip how to take the high road and be a good sport:

Never Do Anything Halfway

The guy doesn't dabble. He doesn't dip his toe in the water. When Philip finds a new hobby, love interest, or weird collection opportunity, you better believe its a giant cannonball into the deep end. Here are a few of my favorites:

Collecting 80 bobble heads
32 DAYS of in-game Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2 time played
Probably triple that in Call of Duty gameplay streaming
A very impressive Kentucky Derby shrine of pins, cups, and tickets
21 Skyline Chili Coneys eaten in one sitting (Side Note: this record is contested as he may have thrown up halfway through. Side Note 2: I brought a girl here on a first date. Side Note 3: Oddly there was no second date)

Watching the master taking on the great eating challenge of our day! "Do not flash the camera in my approach!"

Friendship Above Everything

Two titans of the Love/Hate friendship model battling it out for the world to see. I was honored to have witnessed!

When Leslie and I started dating, she once confessed that she honestly thought me and my friends all hated each other. That's because we went to U of PAR (Philip Andrew Rixman) and learned a particular brand of friendship. There's no chance for the weak of soul here. It can get pretty brutal! Grounded in humor and tinged with unforgivableness, at the end of the day we all know there's nothing but love there.

How to be a Groomsmen

Is there any more tangible metric that proves how much one is loved than how many weddings he or she has been a part of? I've lost count of the number of times someone has asked Philip to be up on that alter on the biggest day of their life. Here are a few of my favorite images of Philip at weddings:

946263_10100650547759254_252938902_n (1).jpg

But maybe my favorite wedding picture of them all is this one. An immaculate shot taken by one of the nation's premier wedding photographers, capturing the moment, the mood, and the love of my first dance with my new bride. And the picture would mean half as much as it does to me now without Philip awkwardly snapping a picture with his giant phone right behind us.

Ball is Life

Urban dictionary defines "Ball is Life" as follows:

"A term used by fake ballers, whom think of themselves as the next Lebron, wear elite socks, and generally play basketball often. However it is overused often and taken out of context.
James : Yo, we balling today.
Jim : Yeah bro, ball is life."

But for Philip and I, Ball Actually is Life. Our childhood was spent in the driveway, playing 1 on 1, where he would absolutely beat me down (until one day the apprentice became the master). Its on that driveway that I developed a [sometimes unflattering] competitive edge that still exists today.

Its after those games that we'd go inside and play NBA Jam until Philip got too wired and did something like break my glasses that would get the controllers taken away from us.

"Ball" is the number one thing we have in common with our Dad, who would take us to Legendary Freedom Hall to root on the greatest and most morally pure college basketball program of all time.

It was together on court 1 of the SAC that the U of L football team absolutely DESTROYED us in a game of 5 on 5 (Kevin is still out there jacking threes!).

It's "Ball" that brought us the most satisfying victory and crowning atheltic achievement of our lives. Beating The Black Team at Crawford Gym.