The Real Deal

The Bengals are flyin’  high!

It’s hard being a Bengals fan. Although I didn’t grow up watching them struggle (as a matter of fact, I never really watched football at all until I moved to Cincinnati), the past 13 years of being a fan has had its moments of frustration. Season after season of watching them bumble and stumble to below average and even when there was a hint of promise, the ball would take a wrong bounce or a player would go down and that would be the end of that. In 2005, Carson Palmer led the team into the playoffs for the first time in forever and on the first play a fat Steelers defensive lineman rolled over on his knee and then the Bengals were done. Needless to say, life as a Bengals fan is never easy. Just when you think the team has its head on straight, they do something lunkheaded and then you’re left scratching yours.

But this season it’s different. I have waited to write this post mostly because I didn’t want to jinx them, but I thought at the beginning of the season that this year might be different. I thought so because of the interviews I had seen and after watching a few of the “Hard Knocks” episodes on HBO. This team has a different feel. Not as egotistical. A little tougher around the edges. And so far…this season the Bengals have proven that they are very much one of the best in the NFL.

After a big win IN Pittsburgh yesterday, I think it’s safe to say that NFL fans have taken notice. Beating the 2008 Super Bowl champs on their home field is not an easy task. It’s quit possibly one of the most difficult stadiums to play in and the Bengals have had never had success there. But they did it. And Bengals fans everywhere were holding their breath, hoping that this time the possibility that this team could be the real deal was true.

And it is.

The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the best defenses in the league this year. They have a strong offensive line. They have a strong quarterback. They have a great receiving corps (apparently Chad Ochocinco has decided to show up this season). They have a good running back in previously underrated Cedric Benson. They have all the key components to be a factor in the playoffs this year. And, more than anything, they have confidence in themselves and as a team. This year the Bengals are as good as any team in the league. With only one true bad game versus Houston (and an unlucky tipped pass in the season-opener against the Broncos), the Bengals have shown that they belong with the Colts and the Patriots atop the AFC and I look forward to another playoff run this season. Now let’s just hope Kimo von Oelhoffen stays retired…

Football Finale

A Long Season Ends

The past couple of days, we sat through gorgeous fall temperatures to watch Christopher play in his final 2 football games of the season. The first round his team didn’t play very well and they lost, so the next day they played for 3rd place in their league. They ended up winning that game 22-6 and Christopher had a touchdown and a few tackles. Here are some photos from the games!

Christopher got to ride WITH the police escort!

The Pee Wees cheered the Starters as we headed to the game

The Run On

It was a beautiful night for a game

The cheering section

All Done

The Last Practice

Christopher had his last practice of the season last Thursday. It has been a long season and he has learned so much from his coaches and the other kids on his team. I can’t remember a time when he has been so into sports. He has been playing sports since he was 3, but this was the first time that he was really INTO playing and football is his favorite. So a big thanks to the coaches and here’s to a great Spartans season! The Starter Bowl is Tuesday & Wednesday and I will be there to cheer the team on! Go Spartans!!!

The muddy practice field

Christopher (aka Clayton) waits to play

The coach gets in on the action

Uh…Christopher? Ya gotta get in the stance big guy…

The coach gives them the play

The last team post-practice meeting

Guilty Pleasures: Golfin’ With My Dad & Brother

Editor’s Note: All photos posted in this blog were taken by my brother’s camera. I take no responsibility for any fuzziness or spot shadows because my brother has a new photo organizer that allows him to play with sepia tones and soft focus and he has taken to adding special effects to EVERY picture! So the ones of me where I look like I’m hitting out of the rough or where my Dad is NOT 4 inches from the pin? All done in Photoshop. Just sayin’…

I love going home to visit my family. Lucky for me, they all live within a short distance of my parents’ home. With the exception of one sister and myself, they all live in Zanesville, Ohio. Home of the Y-Bridge and Adornetto’s Pizzaria. I love going home to hang with my parents and I love visiting my nieces & nephews every chance I get. But the real guilty pleasure I get when I go home is when my Dad, my brother and I hit the links at my Dad’s home course…Fuller’s Fairways Jaycees Golf Course.

Nestled deep in the rolling countryside of Muskingum County, this little course is where my Dad spends his retirement. He golfs everyday with his buddies and buys rounds of coffee and soft drinks for everyone while he’s kicking their butts. It’s what a retired guy SHOULD do…well…except for when my Mom wants him home and then maybe it’s not. But for the most part…golf is his getaway. It’s what he does. And when he does it…he does it at Fuller’s Fairways. So when I come to town and my brother & I head out to the course with my Dad, here’s the way it goes…

My Dad & my brother face off and actually keep score. I do my best to hit the ball into the fairway.

Seriously.

Now I’m not a terrible golfer. I played on my high school golf team and I know the correct stance and how to grip the club and some of the basic rules (what’s that rule about not being allowed to kick your ball out from under a tree again?). But you get my Dad and my brother together and it’s like they are talking a different language. It’s golf lingo at its best as they discuss everything from new putting stances to club grips. I admittedly have no idea what they are talking about 95% of the time. What I do know is this…they can both out-drive me. They can both out-putt me. And they can both re-grip their own clubs. Soooo…they should both be better than me…right?

Well…they are. But that doesn’t stop me from getting out there and talking a little smack every now and then. But usually it ends up with Dad beating my brother by a stroke or two and some fairly competitive play happening for the last 4 holes of the course. As for me? Well…I sit back and soak it all in. There’s nothing better than to listen to my Dad give my little brother a verbal beatdown while the breeze is blowing and the cornfields are in the background and all I can hear are the birds and my Dad and Frank sparring with one another. For me…that’s good times. And it’s the stuff memories are made of.

Here’s some photos of our last get-together on Wednesday. Hopefully it’s not the last time this fall that we get to play. But if it is…then I’ll have to wait til next spring to get my putter back. Literally 22 years since my Dad gave it to me, my brother has finally promised to re-grip my putter. 22 YEARS later?!?! Oh I am SOOOOO gonna kick his butt on that first green next time we play…

I need to bend at the knees a little more…

Obviously NOT Photoshopped…

I didn’t see WHERE it went…

See!!! Soft Focus?!?!

Nice shot Pops!

Nice backswing…

Football & Family

A beautiful Saturday for football and today, Grandma, Grandpa & cousin Alarik made the trek all the way from Zanesville to watch Christopher take the field.

Proud grandparents.

Watching the action.

Truthfully…Christopher didn’t get many offensive touches. But he DID make a great TD saving tackle! It’s from a good distance, but hopefully you can see him catch up with the running back and bring him down!

Distracting the opponent with a quick game of thumb wrestling.

Taking his helmet off after the game.

The post-game meal.

A great day!

And his team pictures came back on Thursday. Check out THIS cool card…

The Itch

Every year around this time I start getting antsy. I am a lucky guy. I get to work in a field that allows me a lot of freedom. I get to travel. I get to watch sports. I get to work on a computer. It’s not hard, physical labor. It’s a pretty good job. But it can turn into a grind sometimes (like most jobs) and right now is the toughest grind of all for me every year….the end of baseball season.

Major League Baseball season lasts what seems like forever to me. I can’t explain it. It just does. 4 hour baseball games can be such an annoyance, especially when the team I follow is fielding a glorified minor league squad and has absolutely no shot of a decent season. And at this point I’ve grown bored with them. Tired of the same players, tired of the same scenerios. If I could count how many times in the last 10 years I’ve seen a runner on third in the bottom of the 8th with the winning run at the plate aaaaaaaand…he pops out to the shortstop. It happens…all…the…time. And it gets a little old. Oh sure….every now & then a player surprises me with a game-winning RBI (no bottom of the 9th? Excellent!) or a nice double play to end the game, but for the most part, baseball season could end at the All-Star Break and I’d be a happy camper.

So it’s around this time of the year, when the air gets cooler and the mornings are dark, when I start getting that itch to be working football. And why is that? Well…it’s one game a week, it’s a faster paced game, I get to travel (which I enjoy), it’s usually 2 different teams every weekend and I get to see friends I don’t get to see during the summer. The downside is that I’m gone for 17 weekends. Doing what I do for a living has it’s downside. Every job does. But it’s still a pretty fun job. I just wish the baseball team I have to watch could put together a winning season for once. It would make my job so much easier and a lot more fun. But I guess not everyone gets to watch sports for a living so I shouldn’t complain. I have a good job and for that I am thankful.

But a winning season WOULD be pretty cool.

And no post game show. THAT would be pretty cool also.

What The Heck…Rick Pitino?

We all know the hot water Rick Pitino has gotten himself in. He had sex at a bar (eeew?) with a woman who probably approached him while he was drinking and they found themselves doing the deed and now the deed has been done and then she got pregnant and asked him to help out with the abortion so he gave her 3 grand and that was supposed to cover up the whole deal but it didn’t and she cried “rape” but it wasn’t and now Pitino finds himself trying to smooth over the whole situation with his wife and family (5 kids? Seriously Rick?) and the media. It’s a story not necessarily new to the rich & famous. It’s called “golddigging” and it happens quite often, I’m pretty sure. Women are attracted to rich & famous guys. They give it up to rich & famous guys to SAY they gave it up to a rich & famous guy. And rich & famous guys take the bait…hook, line & sinker.

Eventually common sense gives way to drunken stupid guy-ness and a celebrity gets into a mess like this. It’s dumb. And in the case of Rick Pitino, not the smartest thing to do in one of the more religious parts of the country. Seriously…in Kentucky…there’s a church on every corner, on every dirt road, in every tiny town in appalachia. You just don’t go hoein’ around and get caught without people breaking out the pitchforks and wanting some kind of retribution. So Pitino stuck his tail between his legs and proceeded to announce that he HAD made a mistake but the allegations that he had raped this woman were absolutely false. And so that makes it better. Right?

And then he had a press conference yesterday where he said this…and I quote…

“Enough’s enough…everybody is tired of it. We need to get on with the important things in life like the economy and really crucial things in life like basketball.”

This is a direct quote taken from the Cincinnati Enquirer today.

Um…yeah. I don’t know who he thinks he’s fooling. I realize HE’S probably tired of hearing about it. It was HIS mistake. So for the media and the people of Kentucky to just up and forget about it? It’s not gonna happen. You were stupid and you are a very public figure. You’ve lived in the spotlight in this state for years and you have deserved it. You are an iconic figure in the history of 2 prolific basketball schools and you have done great things with each program. So you screw around with that (no pun intended), then you just expect people to NOT want to know about it? Don’t be an idiot.

And then you say we need to get on with MORE important things…like the economy…and BASKETBALL? Just an FYI to you, Mr. Pitino…basketball is NOT crucial in life. Basketball is a sport. It is played or enjoyed by fans only for entertainment purposes. To lump basketball (or any sport) into the “crucial” things in life is misguided and stupid. Or maybe you’ve overestimated what your purpose really is. Your purpose, celebrity or not, is to coach young men and to help guide them in a path that leads them on to be better people. Whether they go on to play professional basketball or own their own business or collecting trays at the local McDonalds, they need to have someone to look up to who is a strong person. Someone who is a father figure at a crucial time in their lives. I imagine when you pitch to parents to lure their kid to your college to play basketball THAT is in your sales pitch. That you can be the father away from their home.

Well…you’re not MY father. And I don’t look up to you in any way. You are a basketball coach who screwed up. The only people you truly need to answer to is your wife, your kids, and the young men on your basketball team who thought you were above this mess. Anyone can make a mistake. You did and you are paying for it. But to make statements like the one above is brash and arrogant. You’re a public figure. We are the public. We love you when you’re winning. We criticize when you’re losing. And when you make stupid comments like this one…well…we think you’re a putz. Suck it up and deal with it.

Now…I gotta go and start looking at my fantasy basketball team for this year. Apparently it’s CRUCIAL that I concern myself with these things…

Carson Palmer Can’t Do This

Christopher’s first game was scheduled for today. Unfortunately the other team couldn’t field enough players to play against his team (his pee wee league has 3 teams: green, white & black), so the black scrimmaged against the white team and Christopher made the most of it. He’s still working on his defense but his offense seems to have no trouble putting it in the endzone. He scored 2 touchdowns today, both on quarterback sneaks! Here are some pictures and a video of him scoring his 2nd TD. Watch as he heads outside, only to cut back, shake off a few tacklers and rumbles into the endzone for a TD celebration!

Ready to play!

Taking the field

The pregame CHARGE!

He came ready to play!

A beautiful day for football

The BIG play!

The end of the game (I gotta get a camera with a zoom lens…)

Great game dude!

Football Is For Boys…Right?

It’s that time of year again…Football Season! And we have it in full swing at our house. Christopher & all his friends are playing football (first game Sunday! I’ll post pictures!), I’ve been gearing up to work some NFL games (starting next week) and Steph and her friends are already looking at the high school, college & NFL schedules to see which games they can attend this fall.

And with school starting this week, so did high school football here in our little town. So we walked to watch the team scrimmage, just like last year at this time. And this year, Ava was just as excited as the boys! Except she was more excited about getting a snowcone than she was about football. Oh well…

Got her pigtails in and ready to cheer!

It’s not a long walk to the field

Hangin’ with the boys

Sleepyhead

Today Was A Most Excellent Day…Part I

If I could bottle up a day and keep it for myself, today would be one of those days. It was a gorgeous day, sunshine with a light breeze, temperature a little on the hot & humid side, but overall…as pretty as it gets here in Cincinnati. Although I had driven all night to get home from Canton (I arrived around 5:30am), my energy level was pretty high considering because I knew what I had in store for the day…football & a birthday party! And the day didn’t disappoint in any way.

First…football. As I have noted, Christopher is playing pee wee football for the first time and I’m not sure how many times I’m gonna get to see him play. With my work schedule, I might only get to a few, so I wanted to see him even if today was a scrimmage. And he was awesome! He played quarterback and led his team to at least 6 scores! And on one, he faked a handoff to the fullback and tucked the ball away for a quarterback sneak and scampered into the end zone! Amazing!!! And I didn’t get one picture. In all my excitement, I just wanted to watch it happen and remember it forever. But here are a few other shots at the game…

We are the green team…and Christopher is right in front of you

After the game…

The Starting QB

So Christopher started football practices 2 weeks ago. Except for a few learning experiences along the way (when he should eat, how to put his uniform on, which way the cup should go into his pants), it’s been a fun experience. He is playing with a good group of kids and the coaches seem great. For a while, the coaches had him playing with the older group of boys who had played last year. But the last couple of practices, it appears that they might be moving him back to the group one step below that squad to get him acclimated to playing and learning the plays. And yesterday, the news came…he’s gonna be the starting quarterback for that team!

Before the practices started, Christopher WANTED to be the QB. He LOVES throwing the football and really enjoys the idea of always getting the ball (much like his father playing basketball…). Unfortunately, this league doesn’t allow this age group to throw the ball. So now, he is basically handing the ball off or running QB sneaks. So…needless to say…that isn’t what he WANTS to be doing. Oh well…I still think he’s gonna have a blast. Now if only we could get the offensive line a little bit of time for him to get the snap. That MIGHT make the game a little more enjoyable for him. Because from what I’ve seen…he’s basically a tackling dummy. But we’ll work on that. For the meantime, Christopher is the starting QB for the white team!

GO WHITE TEAM! GO CHRISTOPHER!!! YAY!

And now we must study our plays….which look something like this…

And I’m NOT kidding…

Top 10 Reasons The Reds Are Fun To Watch This Year

Look…I know they don’t have the Yankees payroll or the backing of a network (like ESPN with the Red Sox), but this year’s squad is a lot of fun to watch! Even with an average record (as of this post they are 1 game over .500), these guys are one of the more exciting surprises in the Major Leagues this season. Here’s why…

10. They are not overpaid multi-millionaires
Without looking into it, I know that this team probably makes less money than the Dodgers  minor league squad. And still they play hard every night. Love that!

9. Adam Rosales
Uh…who? Well, the Reds brought him up from the minors a little over a month ago, and even though he ain’t exactly tearing it up like he once was, he is still one of the more fun guys to watch on the team. He ALWAYS hustles! And that makes him one of MY favorites.

8. Dusty Baker’s lineups
Seriously, I never know WHO will be playing from night to night. With 3 or 4 guys who play multiple positions, it’s a situation EVERY coach would love to have.

7. Fans are into it!
On any given night, the crowds at GABP have seemingly gotten bigger and a bit louder. They are expecting this team to win…and our city has needed that feeling for a very long time.

6. The bullpen
With the exception of maybe 2 players, all of the bullpen can hold their own against any spot in the opponents’ lineup. In the past, that wasn’t always the case. But this year? These guys are lights out!

5.  Brandon Phillips
Hands down, the most underrated 2nd baseman in baseball. I’ve seen him make some amazing plays and he still never gets voted to an All-Star game. CMON AMERICA! Give this guy some props!

4. The starting pitchers
We have 5 guys who can be, at any given time, excellent. And when you have excellent pitching, you always have a shot at winning.

3. The Joey Votto drama
For those of you who have no idea who Joey is…he’s the Reds best hitter. Except he’s injured. No wait…he’s sick. No wait…he’s got anxiety attacks. No wait…uh…we have no idea what his problem is, but we’re gonna send him to a minor league team to get better. Um….what?

2. They play good baseball!
Although they lack in the offensive categories without Votto in the lineup, these guys can still play baseball! The pitching is stellar, the defense is top notch and we have guys who CAN hit the ball on occasion. We even have a pitcher who pinch-hits, a couple of guys who play multiple positions and 3 mascots! It’s small ball at its best…

1. Enthusiasm
For many years, Brandon Phillips has been my favorite player on this team because of his enthusiasm. Now there are maybe 15 guys who share the same state of mind. Go get ‘em guys! And hopefully, by the end of the season, you’ll be showing the rest of the MLB how playing with smiles on your faces instead of your hand on your wallet makes a world of difference!

Ava Plays Football

Actually it’s known as soccer here in the states, but apparently everywhere else in the world it’s known as “football”. Whatever dude…I call it soccer. Anyways…my daughter plays and she is still getting the hang of it. However her team scored a couple of goals this season and Ava scored 1 (although apparently by mistake…but whatever). So this day was sunny & beautiful…a great day to catch my daughter kickin’ the ball around!

Aaaaand Then….I Lost Interest.

The door is which way?

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the differences in NBA basketball compared to college. Last night, the Orlando Magic took out the Cleveland Cavaliers to advance to the NBA Championship vs the Los Angeles Lakers. So now, whoever is carrying the championship on network television has the Kobe Bryant-led team from La La Land vs the team from the land of the Mouse. Exciting stuff…no?

Ummm…no.

Dwight Howard, as great a player as he can be, vs Bryant, the Jordan of this era, just doesn’t excite me. For the record, I was totally rooting for a Cavs/Nuggets matchup which would have pitted Carmelo Anthony vs LeBron James. But that didn’t happen. Even with the Cavs looking like they might have a little magic left with a buzzer beater that was the stuff of legends in Game 2. Instead, they squeaked out 1 more win and the Magic pretty much dominated them. So now we’re stuck with THIS matchup and I could honestly care less. So now it’s all baseball, all of the time because, quite frankly, I don’t like watching hockey on television and really there is no other sports until football picks up in August.

So let’s all root for the Reds to win until after the All-Star break and hope the Yankees and the Red Sox lose every game broadcast on ESPN (which is pretty much every game) and hope that the summer season runs its course quickly. The countdown to the NFL season is on!

An Odd Night At The Ball Park

Lots of unusual happenings going on at Great American last night. Some you might have been aware of if you happened to be watching the Reds television broadcast. Some were behind the scenes. Working on a television crew has its moments and tonight there were quite a few…

First off, the Phillies starting pitcher, Jamie Moyer (who is like…900 years old) actually balked with a runner on 2nd. Ya don’t see THAT much in baseball.

Secondly…one of our announcers was trying to be complimentary to a player and then mentioned something about the player having his urine tested. As the inning ended, during a commercial break, he asked if he should have said urine because what he wanted to say was “pee”. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Thirdly, during his 6th inning standup, our post-game announcer (who is very funny and a great guy) interviewed a woman who was celebrating her birthday in club seats. After asking her how old she was and then announcing that she was turning 50, the woman flew not 1, not 2, not 3…but 4 big birds to all of her friends…while STILL on t.v.! So there was our talent, tossing back to the booth, while a woman was flipping everyone off! You don’t see THAT everyday!

Oh…and the Reds beat the mighty Phillies and are hoping to win the series Thursday! Go Reds!

And finally, and the worst of them all, is that a man died today in the outfield seats at Great American. Apparently he suffered a heart attack before the game. Medics at the ball park rushed to the scene and were seen giving him CPR. They took him out after about 15 minutes of trying to resuscitate him, but rumor has it that he didn’t make it. My prayers go out to whoever that man was. And I would like to say that watching the men and women at the park trying to revive him was amazing to watch. Seriously…everyone involved did everything they could do to try to help the fallen man. They should be commended for the work that they do and for the speed in which they do it.

And that is it. Must have been a full moon tonight or something. The Cavs got beat by the Magic by 1 point in the opening game of the series (I thought the Cavs would sweep em!) and apparently Kris Allen won on American Idol. I haven’t watched it yet but it was posted all over Facebook during our game tonight. So that is how I found out (stupid Facebook…). Goes to show you should never check your email or Facebook account while at work on Finals night and also that you can’t discount a good-looking crooner who can play the guitar (and piano). But Adam Lambert will have a longer shelf life…trust me.

Goodnight all!