Alright,  I will admit it. For a while in 2009, I lost my way. After graduating in May, the real world took me by surprise, and I had to fight for everything. No longer were the days of collegiate safety and splendor, relying on college loans and parental support.

After finding a job in late July, things appeared to be turning around. Unfortunately, Arizona State football did not, and I quickly lost all interest in covering the team. What used to be a joy had become a chore.

After spending all day working, there just wasn't enough enthusiasm in my heart to write articles. Adam, the co-manager of House Of Sparky, is currently in law school and cannot reasonably find time to write for the site anymore.

This all came to a head in late November, when Matt and I headed to Pasadena to cover the ASU/UCLA football game. Despite the fact that Matt spent the whole day taking pictures, I didn't even take the time to post any of them.

First of all, I'd like to apologize for that. It was selfish and lazy. Frankly, the readers deserve better than the product I have been putting out.

Some great things happened for me and House Of Sparky in 2009: I covered the Pac-10 tournament in Los Angeles, and was allocated press passes to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in Glendale. I also have continued to work with the ASU media department and am proud to be involved.

In the end, the goal here is to celebrate Arizona State athletics, giving these student-athletes the praise they deserve for the incredible amount of time and effort they expend each day. Going to class and going to practice is a never-ending cycle that these young men and women do without fail, without complaint.

House Of Sparky's coverage in 2010 will make it the best ASU blog on the internet. We have the opportunity to celebrate our school's deep and vast talents, to show the world that we are better than the naysayers, more vocal than the pessimists. We have a mission, perhaps a calling, to be Sun Devils.

In the end, we all bleed maroon. Ours just happens to be tinged with gold.

More pics after the jump...

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Mary Altaffer - AP

3 months ago: Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek speaks during an NCAA college basketball news conference for NIT Season Tip-off on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

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It looks like Lisa Love has earned herself a 4-year extension as the AD of Arizona State University.  In a move that is bound to be criticized by many, I think Crow made a good decision offering Lisa the extension.  

As the AD of ASU, Love has transformed the basketball program with the hire of Herb Sendek.  While her hire of Dennis Erickson is in question right now, overall ASU athletics have been improved overall.  

With Pat Murphy's resignation and the football teams dismal performance this year, Lisa is going to be heavily scrutinized in how she handles both situations.

 It appears that any word on assistant coach firings (ahem...Rich Olsen) has not been leaked, or is not happening. She needs to force Erickson to make changes in order to keep his job, a lot like the school down south did to Stoops.

Lisa's baseball hire must also be a crowd pleaser. It will be tough to follow up Pat Murphy's coaching reign over ASU baseball, but it should be easy to attract a top coach to replace him. Let's hope she continues to make quality hires like Sendek.

BAHRAM MARK SOBHANI - AP

3 months ago: Oklahoma City rookie guard James Harden dunks the ball over San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili of Argentina during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/ Bahram Mark Sobhani)

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James Harden is 12 games into his rookie NBA season with the Oklahoma City Thunder.  In his first 11 games, Harden contributed decent numbers coming off of the bench.  Harden is averaging 18 minutes per game and 7.3 ppg.  Currently leading the team in 3-pt%, Harden has been a boost off the bench for the young and energetic Thunder.  In last nights game, Harden came off the pine to go 6-7 from behind the arc, scoring 24 points in 31 minutes against the Magic in a losing effort.  It seems OKC needs to give more minutes to Harden, who as we all know, can rack up assists, steals, and points as quickly as Pendergraph picked up fouls in his junior year.

Speaking of Jeff Pendergraph, he is still recovering from hip surgery stemming back to September.  He is expected to miss a considerable amount of his rookie season in the NBA, but if anyone can bounce back from adversity, its Pendergraph.  He will most definitely be the hardest working player on the court once healthy, and may contribute key minutes for the 9-4 Blazers, while Greg Oden takes a break.

Everyone, I am very excited to announce that the new SBNation.com has launched this evening. Essentially, this great company has a vision to be the world's biggest and best sports blog site.

With that goal in mind, there has been a complete redesign of our main portal, which is now a one-stop hub for any and all sports information you could possibly want. It's what our individuals blogs are for local teams, but on a national scale to increase debate and fan participation.

Please go ahead and check it out. You may be pleasantly surprised by its look and ease of use. Welcome to the new SBNation!

In a recently developing story, Jason Kipnis has signed up with the Cleveland Indians, who picked him in the second round of the 2009 MLB Draft.

As per the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Kipnis received an estimated $575,000 signing bonus and will report to Class A Mahoning Valley on Monday. Kipnis was the 63rd player taken in the June draft. Last year high school outfielder Kenny Wilson, drafted by Toronto, received a $644,000 signing bonus.

"There's been a rollback in the bonuses this year," said Grant.

The Tribe has signed 19 of its first 20 picks.

"We're going to start Jason in center field," said Brad Grant, Indians director of amateur scouting. "He'll play some left and right field, but center field will be his primary position."

Kipnis hit .384 (91-for-237) with 76 runs, 21 doubles, four triples, 16 homers and 71 RBI in 63 games (62 starts) this season for the Sun Devils. He also had a .497 on-base percentage, a .709 slugging percentage and a 1.206 OPS.

How unfortunate for Kipnis that his signing bonus has been diminished by the recession, but I imagine he is livin' la vida loca with all that cash up front regardless.

Mike Leake and Josh Spence are still unsigned.

In terms of Jeff Pendergraph and James Harden, they are alreading going to work. Pendergraph reports to the Las Vegas summer league on the 13th, playing alongside former rival Jerryd Bayless.

Harden is getting some burn at PG in Florida for the Thunder, and he earned 1st Team honors in the Orlando Pro All-Summer League.

Not much is happening these days in Sun Devil land, as school is out for the summer, and all sports have wrapped up their postseasons.

ASU is being advised by AZCentral.com to check out these 5 recruits...

Kicker Thomas Weber has, once again, been named a Playboy All-American, despite his mediocre 2008 campaign.

Jeff Pendergraph will be playing on the Blazers' summer league team this July in Las Vegas.

Finally, I answered a very long Q&A from Welcome To Loud City, the Oklahoma City Thunder blog here at SBNation. You can read the entire interview about James Harden following the jump.

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Yeah, no ASU sports playing at the moment..unfortunately.. But. Still should be some links out there talking about why that is and whats going on with some of the other sports eh?

• Good news up first. ASU has snagged it's 6th recruit for the class of 2010 in football. Lot of offense so far - TE, RB, RB, QB (6'6), FB, WR.
• A look at the recruits.
• Some scouting reports on the kids.
• A recap of the heartbreak in the CWS.
• Looks like our top four baseball players - Leake, Kipnis, Spence and Ramirez - are all expected to sign. So are two from our recruiting class, second round 3B/C Nolan Arenado and P/1B Jake Barrett 3rd round. There is a look at who is leaving and who is coming back in this story.
• Brent Miller has been hired at Washington as a graduate assistant.
• Finally, Murphy has some VERY nice things to say about Leake. Comparing him to Pedroia and saying this is one of the most special groups he has ever managed.

As CFB starts to gear up we will start profiling the 2009 team, which looks to be awfully good on defense.

On May 13 at 7:00 PM, 8,000 lucky ASU graduates and their families will be on hand at Sun Devil Stadium to hear Barack Obama's commencement speech. The whole ceremony is scheduled to last two and a half hours.

Sounds great, right? I certainly agree. I cannot wait to see President Obama speak at the most important moment of my life. But take a look at these time guidelines set forth by ASU:

Schedule of Arrival for Ticket-holders

Please review the information below to prepare yourself for entry into Sun Devil Stadium. The times listed are when graduates and guests should be in line to clear security, not arrival times at the stadium. You should plan your schedule accordingly to allow plenty of time for travel to the stadium, parking and walking to the security check points. For a list of permitted and prohibited items, please view this announcement.

2:30 p.m. Gates open

2:30 p.m. Sections 4-14 arrive

3:00 p.m. Bachelor's graduates enter through north gate to field along with Sections 201-220 of the upper deck

3:30 p.m. Master's graduates arrive on field along with Sections 23-33 along with the loge

4:00 p.m. J.D. and doctorates arrive on field along with Sections 221-247

4:30 p.m. Other ticket-holders arrive

The amount of time that security has requested, and the vast list of items it has chosen to prohibit, are both burdensome and irritating.

The high temperature in mid-May is usually around 90-96. The sheet that I was given at the ticket booth implies that commencement goers will not be allowed to bring in any water bottles, including clear plastic ones (initially it seems as though they were allowed, but that section has been blacked out).

My favorite: no foods that can be used as projectiles (such as apples, oranges, or pears).

I hope no one has to go to the hospital (or worse) due to these rules. I also hope ASU has many free water facilities inside the stadium. I would like a few bottles of free Dasani, thank you.

All in all, if guests arrive at 2:30 pm like is requested by ASU, they will be on hand for 7 full hours in an unforgiving outdoor arena, with uncomfortable bench seats and very warm weather.

When did security become more important than the safety and comfort of the citizens? I would like a detailed account from ASU President Michael Crow as to why this situation has to be played out in the least enjoyable manner possible.