Being Mom For A Day

Twice a year my mother-in-law makes her pilgrimage to Cleveland Clinic to have her bi-annual checkup. So, twice a year the roles are reversed and I get to be Mr. Mom for a day or so while Stephanie accompanies her. It’s fun to see the “other side” every now and then, just like I imagine she gets to see what I get to put up with when I’m on the road. Granted, I don’t usually have my mom with me wherever I go but still…having to stay in a hotel and eat horribly at some hole-in-the-wall dump restaurant (like a PF Chang’s or Olive Garden) and then having to use hotel shampoo and conditioner? It’s a life not made for someone with a light stomach.

Aaaaaanyway…

So tonight I had things to do. Actually…I had a schedule. It was hand-written on a blue sticky note and it had my itinerary for the night. It looked like this…

This was all fine and good but it’s what ISN’T on there that was the more challenging aspect of it.

First, let’s break this down. Stephanie pulled away from our home today at approximately 12:33pm. I remember this because I glanced at my watch while I was wheeling out the lawn mower to tackle the jungle formerly known as our yard. As I watched her mother’s tail lights disappear up our street, I put in my earphones, cranked up the music and chuckled to myself…”I got this.” And I did! For maybe a couple hours. Then I picked the kids up from school and it was showtime!

2:58pm – 8 minutes late getting into the pickup line at school because I forgot I had to run to the bank. I get a phone call on the Batphone…
Christopher: “Where are you?”
Me (trying to hide the fact that I’m late and at the back of the line): “I’m in the line. Don’t you see me?”
Christopher: “No. We’ll walk to the BACK of the school so we don’t have to wait here longer.” *click*

There ya have it. I’ve been in charge for a whole 8 minutes and I’m already a failure.

After picking the kids up, my (internal) itinerary says I have 2 hours for them to get their homework done, get them a snack, get them organized and off to the first stop of the night…Christopher’s baseball practice. 1 hour and 47 minutes later, Ava has her homework binder in her arms, paper falling out of it, an eraser-less pencil clutched in one hand, her new cell phone in the other. Christopher is rushing down the stairs, bag full of clothes his mother packed for him over his shoulder, his new birthday IPhone in one hand, basketball shoes in the other. I rush to get him a water bottle before we leave (it’s on the list!) and conveniently leave it on the table as we rush out the door to baseball practice. And so the night begins.

Upon arriving at baseball practice, I drop our children off at the park and, realizing we (I) forgot the water bottle, return home to get it. I also grab a water bottle for Ava and a soda for myself (calorie free Vanilla Coke. Perfect!) and proceed out the door with both dogs staring at me with that “Please take us!” look in their eyes. I pretend not to see them and keep on movin’!

Back at the baseball field, I watch the clock as time starts to grow short. I have 15 minutes to get Christopher from baseball practice to a basketball skills practice and it’s 6:13. In my head I crunch the numbers…6 mile drive, maybe 7 stop lights, gotta get them in the car…that’s at least 18 minutes…UNLESS I hit 5 of the lights! THEN it’s possible! As we head to the car, Ava asks for her phone. I have conveniently left it on the bleachers right where she gave it to me so she wouldn’t lose it when she went off to play with her friend. *sigh*

Ava runs and gets the phone, rushes up to jump car as we’re pulling away. Chris changes in the backseat while Ava and I search for something to listen to on XM radio. Ava wants Disney, I want 80′s On 8 and Christopher is busy answering texts in the backseat while trying to pull on his basketball shorts. I somehow managed to make it with 2 minutes to spare (hey…4 of those lights were on YELLOW mister!!!) and Christopher is shooting layups in the gym by 6:30. WIN!!!

Unfortunately, Ava had decided to roll in the grass at the park and is all kinds of itchy. And so, with a little under an hour before her gymnastics class, I rush her home to get her a quick shower and a snack. When we arrive, Barkley and Stella are staring at me. It’s 6:45. Their dinnertime. Ava showers, I feed the dogs, update my Facebook status and somehow end up descrambling Ava’s english words for HER homework (I dunno how this happened) and then we’re off and running her to her class.

7:22pm – I drop Ava off at the studio for her 7:30pm class and I watch her walk into the building. I have to pick up Christopher in 10 minutes. I don’t like leaving Ava but she assures me that it’s okay and I’m not doing anything wrong. So I head south to get Fer.

7:35pm – Arrive back at the gym as things are wrapping up and my phone rings. Ava’s instructor hasn’t arrived and Ava is all alone. Luckily, her assistant principal (a friend of our family) is there and calls me. So now I feel REALLY bad as I’m rushing Christopher out of the gym to hurry back to get Ava! As I’m pulling out of the parking lot, I get a text that the instructor has arrived and no need to hurry. I sigh and slow down after peeling out of a school parking lot. All is good.

After Ava’s class is over, I take both of the kids to Skyline for dinner, get them home, get Fer showered and everyone is in bed by 9:35pm. Except I’ve left the windows open upstairs all day and it’s about 85 degrees so…after a little bit of complaining…I allow both kids to head downstairs to sleep in the much cooler basement.

It’s now 10:55 as I wrap this up. Being Mom for a day has its headaches but ya know what? I kind of enjoy it when I get a chance to do it. It shows me how much Stephanie does for this family and I should never take that for granted. And now…I’m off to bed. Gotta get the kids up and moving tomorrow for school!

Ready For The Madness 2013

And so it begins. Today I am in beautiful, sunny (not) Syracuse, NY, waiting to work the last NCAA Big East women’s hoops game of the season for CBS Sports Network and I’m going over my schedule and, like most years around this time, my schedule is JAMMED with day after day of work, work, work. Despite the fact that I like to keep busy, this kind of schedule can become a grind, especially when you add in some baseball and golf events. Here’s is what is on tap for the next 2 months. Should be interesting…

Indiana @ Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI

Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Rounds 2 & 3 in Lexington, KY

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Regional in Washington, DC

VACATION to Destin, FL

NCAA Men’s Division II Championship in Atlanta, GA

The Masters in Augusta, GA

Philadelphia Phillies & Miami Marlins @ Cincinnati Reds

The Zurich Classic in New Orleans, LA

All told, I’m looking at over 41 events (multiple basketball games in a single day, several hours of golf in a day), 40+ days of hotel rooms, serious amounts of coffee consumed and probably a headache or 3. But it beats the alternative of not working and having to worry about paying the bills so I consider myself to be blessed with opportunity. I just hope the 4 days of vacation I get in the middle of it will be the brief respite that I need to recharge and get motivated for the month of April!

2012 Was A Very Good Year

First off, I would like to acknowledge the fact that I am a Doritos junkie. Seriously…as I sit here and type, I can barely manage a thought without eating a chip. What IS it with these things anyway? I’m a 44 year old man with a serious love for Doritos. Is it weird? I dunno. I DO know I’ve been eating these damn things since I was a kid and they NEVER get old!!! They keep adding cheese and flavors and I have to eat them ALL!!!

Ok…with THAT out of the way…let’s get down to the brass tax of this post.

2012.

What can I say about 2012? What do I NOT say about this amazing year? So much to say, so little time. So you want “highlights?” There are too many. So…let’s get started…

Ava has had a remarkable year which started out with her playing violin. She then decided to opt out of that for a bit to concentrate on swimming, volleyball, basketball and her artwork. After taking a week-long horse-riding camp in early summer, she has been bitten by the horse bug and now she is taking horse-riding lessons. She also enjoys hanging out with her many friends and playing on our neighbor’s trampoline. To say she has an amazing sense of humor would be doing my daughter a disservice. Her laughter is contagious and I can only hope she manages to keep it as she prepares for next year and the dreaded 4th grade.

Christopher turned the BIG 1-0 this year and double digits has been good for him. Although he’s been incredibly busy with a full baseball schedule in the summer, another season of Spartan football (in which he was the starting QB and got them to the Junior Youth Super Bowl) in the fall and now with 3 basketball teams, he has managed to keep his grades up and is still as animated as ever. He’s growing quickly though (and so are his friends) and so there have been some interesting conversations we’ve had but that’s all to be expected. Life goes by too quickly for Christopher (who is now called Chris at times or “Fer” when playing sports) but he does enjoy the occasional hang with his mom or me, and those times are awesome!

Stephanie continues to work at Sephora as well as being “Team Mom” for Christopher’s baseball & football team. She also has been involved in many school-based activities and manages to have a strong interest in our small community here. A lot of people in our area know Stephanie and she has become involved in many activities on many different levels. I am proud of all the hats she wears and I am glad that she has seemed to find a great niche for herself.

As a family, we had some great times this year! We went to Gatlinberg, TN for a tournament with Christopher’s baseball team and we all went zip-lining for the first time! We also took a trip to Destin, FL with many of our friends and their families. I wasn’t able to stay the entire trip but I DID manage to get a nasty sunburn on the top of my feet! OUCH! And we watched the Kentucky Wildcats win the NCAA Final Four with a decisive victory over Kansas! The highlight of the tournament though was watching Ohio University get to the Sweet 16 before getting beat in OT by North Carolina. Still…a pretty great run for my Bobcats! We also went to Patrick & Katie’s wedding in Williamsburg, VA. What a beautiful wedding and the reception was a blast! It’s always good to see family and on Thanksgiving we went home for turkey dinner and lots of dessert!

In MY life, I’ve never been so busy! And the events were bigger this year than they’ve ever been! I can only believe that this year will go down as my most successful of my career. Here is a list of the events I was a part of this year…

1. The AFC Championship game (Baltimore @ New England)
2. The Super Bowl in Indianapolis
3. The Senior Bowl
4. NCAA Basketball Tournament (Louisville & Boston sites)
5. The NFL Combine
6. The NFL Draft
7. The Masters
8. FOX Reds Baseball
9. AT&T National
10. The John Deere Classic
11. The Olympics (Wrestling)
12. Navy vs Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland
13. NFL On CBS and Thursday Night Football for NFL Net

It was an honor to be involved with any and ALL of these events. Of them all, the Olympics will forever be a highlight of my career. I was lucky to be on a great crew that was televising the Wrestling events and I will always remember that particular trip. I also managed to squeeze a visit to Stonehenge out of that trip which was a thrill for me. I’ve always WANTED to see those druid stones! The AFC Championship is the most viewed event I’ve ever worked here in the U.S. and with a HUGE audience watching, Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff pulled a chip shot field goal attempt wide that would have tied the game but instead gave the Patriots a shot at Super Bowl XLVI. I also received my 2nd national Emmy for working with the FOX National crew on baseball this past year. So THAT happened…

On a more personal level, this year has been just as successful at home. We gained a new family member with the addition of our new kitten that was originally named “Reece Cup” but was soon changed to…well…”Kitten.” I hit the big 4-4 in December and got a new wallet out of it. We had our bathroom renovated after a water disaster that left me a little waterlogged in August. We also  stabilized our house by having steel pierings installed that will hold the foundation in place so there will be less shifting in our little house on the hill. I went on a mini-vacation with my best friends to New York City in May. I had my 25th Class Reunion in August and had a BLAST with all my former classmates! I’ve also somehow managed to have more family time even though I’ve been on the move quite a bit. My mentality on my job has changed this year. This year I’m accepting it for what it is. In the television industry, doors open and they close. With family, that door is ALWAYS open. Here’s hoping the upcoming year will find more doorways open and the continual growth and happiness of my family.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

GO 2013!!!

HEY!! What about ME?!?! I was BORN this year! Don’t forget about me!!!

Oh yeah…and we welcomed Ava & Christopher’s new cousin Drake into our family this year. Congrats to my sister and her husband, Chris, who seemingly know how to have cute kids!

Just ’cause…I love this shot!

Oh yeah…and I beat my brother at basketball on his OWN court! (And you thought I’d forget…didn’t ya Frank? LOL!!!)

In Stride

It’s not easy being 10, I imagine. When I was 10, I didn’t have the kind of pressure Christopher has on him these days. He’s in 5th grade and has homework and sports and friends and family and…well…maybe my life wasn’t THAT different, when I look at it that way…but yeah! He has it a LOT different than I did and I’m trying to adjust. What do I mean by ME trying to adjust? Well…

When I was 10, I don’t remember having the amount of homework that he has. I’m sure I had homework, but I don’t remember it taking me 2 hours to complete and then 20 minutes of reading time at the end of my day.

When I was 10, I wasn’t the starting quarterback for a football team. When I was 10, I wasn’t even playing basketball yet! Christopher has been playing sports since he was 4! So he has had THAT going on for well beyond when I got started.

When I was 10, I didn’t have a pack of friends to compete with. For me, living on a farm in the middle of nowhere, being able to have a single friend over to play was a treat. For Christopher, it’s normal for him to have 3 or 4 friends over at any given time. And they are all in sports. All the time. So it’s very competitive around here day in & day out.

When I was 10, my Dad was home every weekend. Christopher’s dad is not. Not making any excuses…just sayin’.

So there are a LOT of differences between my son and I at his age. But the most glaring difference is just how much faster he has had to grow up. I don’t know what it is…I can’t quite put my finger on it…but chatting with him the other day, it seemed almost as if he was 15. He has so much to learn and yet he is WELL above where I was when I was a preteen. I don’t know if it’s technology, or where he lives, or his schooling, or his mother or what. But when we have a really good conversation, I realize that he a lot smarter, a lot more athletic and a lot more advanced than I ever was.

I hear a lot about education and our social environment. There are a lot of things to worry about when you’re a parent. One of the things I worry about the most is that my kids are growing up in a society filled with pressure. Pressure to perform at the highest level in school, in sports, at home, with his friends. I want him to not feel that pressure. I want him to take his time growing up, to enjoy NOT having pressure. Unfortunately, I think it is in our culture now that kids his age have to grow up faster in order to stay ahead of the curve. Gone are the days of easy living in Mayberry. Now it’s all about getting ahead, being stronger, bigger, faster! The schedule my kids keep is exhausting to me. Just looking at their schedule gives me the shakes. It’s crazy but they both seem to enjoy it that way, especially Christopher who is besides himself whenever he has to stay in the house due to weather or illness. Today he received this note from one of his teachers…
Like any proud parent, I gush over this because a lot of times, I worry that he is falling behind. But he’s not. I imagine he is right on pace with all the other kids his age and doing very well for himself. He might not grow up to be an astro-physicist but he is doing a lot better than I did at his age, I’m sure. And who knows? The sky is the limit these days. I just hope he can keep his demeanor and his wit as time goes by. Don’t let things get to him and keeps a level head, even as the world seems to be exploding around him. He’s a great kid, an awesome son and one of the best friends anyone could ask for and it seems that as much as I worry about him…he’s doing A-okay on his own. He seems to be taking life in stride and, at his age, that’s really all I could ask for.

Win, Win, Win! Or Not…

My kids are, first and foremost, the greatest thing I have done with my life. I have to imagine every parent feels the same way and obviously, as parents, we all want our kids to succeed. I’ve read articles about helicopter parents and how our generation is coddling our children and I have to be honest…I’m guilty at times. At times I get involved a lot more than my parents ever did with me when I was 10 or so. Not that my parents didn’t love me unconditionally because they did and they did everything they could do for me at that age however it was a different time back then. Now we know WAY too much. We know to buckle our seat belts. We know to wear helmets. We know to start a savings account pre-birth. We KNOW what happens when we don’t do EVERYTHING the books and the internet and all the experts tell us. And that’s fine. Having more information has got to be better than not having any information at all…right?

So now the idea of being a helicopter parent comes into play when we have situations like we have now. Currently Christopher is back to football. Baseball season came and went and so it’s time to strap on the helmet and go hit somebody. The thing is…well…these kids are BIG now. I mean, in some cases, REALLY big. A LOT bigger than Christopher is and so, being a parent, that is a concern. We tried asking the league to allow Christopher to play down an age group. He only missed the age cutoff by a few days and we thought if he played with the younger boys he might get a chance to play more. That was shot down. So now he’s playing on the Juniors team. A Junior Youth team is also in play which is for kids more his size and age, so he will, more than likely, play on that team. And that’s fine. But in my head, I was kind of hoping he’d play down so he could get a lot of experience instead of the amount of playing time he’s had the last couple years.

But here’s the thing, and this seems to apply with ALL the sports that Christopher has played in the last 5 years…the only one seemingly concerned about this is his mother and I. Christopher seems fine with whatever comes his way. If he plays, he has fun. If he sits, he gets to hang with his buddies and for him, that’s fun. He goes to practices, he works out with his friends, he has fun. At this point, as much as I think he’s being sat too much or that he’s being pigeonholed into a certain position, Christopher himself doesn’t seem to take issue with it. Doesn’t matter how much time he rides the pine or how often he doesn’t get the opportunities that some other kids get, he still loves being with his buddies and playing sports! So…as a parent…I am trying very hard to keep my yap shut and let him do what he wants to do. From that perspective, it makes sense!

Here’s the problem with youth sports today…they begin at such an early age. So many parents are pushing their kids to play at such a high level with AAU teams and with so many leagues and all the options available, it’s a little out of control. I remember when I was 10, I don’t think I played ANY sports. If I remember correctly, I didn’t pick up a basketball until I was in 6th grade (but I’m sure my Mom will remember better and I’m sure she’ll comment on here eventually). So Christopher is WAY ahead of me when it comes to athletic prowess. So for me to be “pushing” him into sports is a non-issue. I don’t “push” my kids to do anything they don’t want to do. And I certainly don’t see the point in taking him away from his friends to play at a “higher” level when it comes to this time period in his life.

I see so many parents who seem to be telling their kids that winning IS everything. In order to be something in life, you need to be the best. Well…I disagree. He’s 10. He’s never gonna be 10 ever again. In MY opinion, I want my son to have fun playing sports. The odds that he’s gonna go big time and be a professional athlete are so small that it is a ridiculous pursuit and one that is completely a parents’ pride at work. For me, I want Christopher and Ava to just enjoy playing sports of any kind. And if they decide they want to play 1 sport? Fine. If they decide they don’t want to play any sports? Fine. If they aren’t the best players on the team but enjoy being with their friends and want to put in the practice time anyway? Fine. I’m all good with any of the above. I think that, as a parent, I should be supportive and hope that the kids take away from sports something other than just the need to win. I would hope, as they go on through their grade school and high school years, that sports brings to them a sense of camaraderie, community and an ability to work towards a goal, even if they don’t fully succeed in the end. Sports is NOT the end all of their lives. I would hate for Christopher or Ava to be the star athlete on their varsity team, win a state championship, go to college and then end up back in my basement, unable to find a job and living on that one moment in their life where they were the “next big thing.” Yeah…screw that.

The thing that pushes me to write about this topic is that there is so many pressures and so many options these days that it’s just exhausting. I don’t want my kids to have the pressure. I don’t want my kids to worry about the options. I want my kids to ENJOY being kids. There are enough pressures in this world and, in time, they will have their own. For me to push them into high levels of competition because of a dream I once had would be the worst possible thing I could do. So I tell my kids…go have fun. And if it’s not fun, don’t worry about it. You can always take up golf.

Right Dad?

The Crazy Train Is Derailed

Well…you remember the challenge that was initiated by my brother. He built his “Court of Dreams” and then challenged me to a game of 1-on-1. There were multiple texts and much hype but what it all came down to was this….

I got game.

Oh I know I’ve lost a step…or two. But the one thing I’ve got that Frank just refuses to understand is a jumpshot. From everywhere. It’s the strongest aspect of my now limited game so I used it on this night and Frank just couldn’t find an answer. Oh sure…he has a sweet sweeping hook shot going to his right and a nice little fadeaway bank shot drifting to his left but there is NOTHING he can do to stop me when I decide to launch from the right side, the left side, fading left or right, with my right OR my left hand. And even on his home court, which is set up much like a cage match with a fence surrounding the court and a giant tool shed behind the basket (which really limits my not-so-quick first step to the basket), Frank couldn’t stop “The Shot” when I decided it was time to put the game away. So I pulled up my old school socks and we played, immediately following a nice ribs dinner with french fries & salad & watermelon & macaroni & whatever else he came out with. It should be noted that Frank decided NOT to eat before our game in a genius play that didn’t quite work in his favor. But the dinner WAS quite tasty and after some corn hole with Dad, Chris & Amber and a scary attack of nasty yellow jackets that left Ava with a sting over her left eye, we got underway.

Game 1 saw a flurry of activity early, which left us both winded a little. But with the score stuck at 2-2 for a few moments, we finally settled down and got into a groove. I managed a small 3 point lead which went back & forth for a while but when the smoke settled, I managed to eek out a 21-18 victory. At this point, it was too early for the victory fireworks to be set off so we decided to play another one. Hey…ya gotta give the guy something to hope for…right?

Game 2 saw Frank attempting to get HIS jumpshot in play but failing miserably. So I hit a few jumpers from the right side, then a few from the top of the key. But I avoided that left corner of his court. For whatever reason, I couldn’t get a good flow from that corner so…I moved it around a bit. A couple quick drives and I had Frank completely befuddled. Was I gonna shoot a jumper or drive? What would I do? Well…it didn’t matter. In the end, I sank an over my head shot that left the crowd cheering for more and I once again walked away the victor, 21-19.

With my head-to-head lead at 2-0, we decided to try one more game, this time only playing to 11, win by 2. Honestly, I don’t even remember this game. All I know is that it ended with me hitting a left-handed scoop shot to finish off the night, 3-0. So…is Frank’s “dream” over? Will he finally accept that I have his number despite that one fateful day so many years ago when he beat me on the fadeaway jumper? I guess we shall see. We have all summer and with a visit in July looming, I’m sure there will be more backyard basketball to be played. However I CAN say this…10 years difference doesn’t matter when you can shoot from all over the court…and weigh about 30 pounds more. So Frank will have to practice a little bit more AND eat a few more hamburgers before he gets my number. I dunno about his jumper but I can guarantee that the extra pounds will happen eventually. He’s only 33. I give him a few more years and he’ll understand what I’m talking about. Lol!

Frank got smoked TWICE on this evening..

Mom was ready for the hoops action!

“Put me in coach!”

Frank preps for the big game

Let’s just say…we’re BOTH winners! (’cause it’s the nice thing to do…)

Crazy Train

The OLD Home Court…where I won 123 of 124 games…

Lately I’ve been “dabbling” in playing basketball again. Although I haven’t been involved in any 5-on-5 fullcourt pickup games, I have been shooting around and playing some halfcourt games whenever possible. This, obviously, isn’t gonna get me a contract with any NBA teams anytime soon but it’s good exercise and I’ve been watching myself, listening to my body and being careful so as not to hurt myself again. Recently my brother, who is quite the handy man, decided to build a basketball court in the amusement park area of his home called his backyard. He already has a jungle gym, a tool shed, a garden, a swing and who knows what else since the last time I came to visit. The guy can’t just leave his backyard alone….he ALWAYS has to have a project going on. I fully expect, by this time next year, there will be a roller coaster and a Tilt-A-Whirl somewhere out there among all the other things he’s done back there but either way…let’s not get off track…

So lately I’ve been getting text messages. My brother has decided that he wants to take me on in a game of 1-on-1. Last week, when I was in New York with my high school friends, I get THIS text message…

Followed by THIS text message…

Followed by THIS picture…

What this means? I have no idea. Maybe Frank thinks he’s gonna eat me for lunch? Maybe he has really bad gas pains? Maybe he’s yelling at his neighbors that he’s gonna take his ball and go home and they can’t play no mo? I dunno…

Either way…it continues.

So NOW he’s laid down the gauntlet. Oh…I KNOW it’s his home court and I KNOW he THINKS he’s got the upper hand but the real problem is that it’s obvious that he’s been waiting all of his life to beat me at my own game and except for one game about 20 years ago when he hit a fade away jumper while falling out of bounds at my parents’ old house that beat me (I’m pretty sure I had beat him 10 times already that day), Frank has NEVER come close to beating me at 1-on-1. Oh sure…I let him THINK he was in the game but truthfully…I was just playing with him. I mean seriously…you don’t want to devastate the “DREAM”…right? Frank has always owned me on the golf course…NOT the basketball court. So really what he SHOULD have done was build an 18 Hole golf course in his back yard and THEN he MIGHT stand a chance! But after I get THIS text…I’m thinking that maybe he’s jumping the shark a little with this whole “Choo Choo Train” bit…

So my baby brother, who is 10 years younger than me, who has been BRAGGING about schooling me at my own game, who has been telling ME that I should be riding the pine…got beat not only in “PIG” (which is the game I used to play with Christopher when he was 6-years old) but he ALSO got beat at “21″ by our Dad…who is 73? Not that my Dad isn’t qualified to beat my brother at basketball. I mean…the guy is in great shape and golfs every day and I can only HOPE I’m in as good a shape as my Dad is at his age. But…seriously Frank? Dad BEAT you at 21???

Okay…so you’ve been playing basketball with your buddies every day at work. But you work at an IT shop. Ever see “Revenge Of The Nerds?” You gonna go gettin’ all bad ass on me? Texting me and saying how you’re gonna choo-choo all over me? Oh…IT’S ON, BABY brother. You go gettin’ all up in MY face and we shall see how ugly this gets! So I’ll take your choo choo train bet and I’ll raise you on GIANT ass-whippin’! It’s gonna be OLD SKOOL next time I’m in town! We’re talking a beating that will crush that dream of yours and leave you forever scarred! You ain’t never seen a spanking that I’m gonna lay on you! You’ll be wishing you had put in an underground pool by the time I’m done and when that last jumpshot swishes through the net? I fully expect a nice dinner and a movie…courtesy of your wallet.

Oh yeah…and I want a soda and a medium bag of buttered popcorn also.

Chump.

The sport you SHOULD have stuck with. By the way…nice pants…

We’re All Learning Lessons

He’s just as good as he looks…sometimes.

The things we learn as kids are often times passed down from generation to generation. Whether it’s teaching our kids how to sew, how to cook, how to tie your shoes or any number of things. Many people have gone on to do great things and the first thing they do is thank God…and then their parents. And I imagine the people they became are a direct result of the parents they had.

The other day one of my best friends sent me this link to my wife and I. The article is called “What Makes A Nightmare Sports Parent And What Makes A Great One.” In it, the author highlights a survey that has been ongoing for over 3 decades and according to it, the absolute worst part of growing up and playing sports for kids is the ride home after the events. Not the losing or the coaches or the weightlifting or any other part of practices. Not the lack of playing time or the fact that there wasn’t enough Gatorade for everyone after the game. It’s the ride home and the misery that accompanies it that is the absolute WORST part of playing sports at any level.

After reading this, I thought about it and I wasn’t sure WHAT my thoughts were. I mean, I remember the drives home after basketball games and I remember my Dad giving me pointers on what I did right & wrong but I don’t remember ever thinking as I was leaving the gym, “I bet my Dad is PISSED!” or “I hope Dad didn’t leave me behind because I only scored 2 points tonight.” I remember there being long rides home because I was mad at myself for not playing the best I could or there would be disappointment that my team lost or there was excitement because I had played well or because we won but I don’t recall there ever being a time where I would say the worst part of playing sports was because my parents talked to me about my performance after an event.

Cut to 25 year later. This weekend I had the opportunity to go to 2 of Christopher’s basketball games. In the first one, he played one of the most impressive games of his young career that I have seen. I want to say he had 16 points, played good defense, had a couple assists and some rebounds. He had a great all-around game and his teammates also played as hard as they could but they still lost to one of the better teams in the league by 12 points. Nevertheless, all of the parents there were happy with what they saw because ALL of our boys played their hearts out and worked really hard despite the loss.

The second game was this morning and it was the exact opposite. Christopher is playing on a team where he knows few of the boys on the team, he’s easily the most advanced player on the squad and he knows it. So it was disappointing today when his team had an opportunity to win but fell a little short losing by 1. Christopher had 7 points and did do a lot to keep his team in the game but there was a different vibe to the way he played today compared to yesterday. And so here is where, as a parent, I needed to make a judgement call and so I did.

After the game yesterday, I was as supportive as I could have possibly been. He worked hard, held his head high against a team that had blown them out earlier in the season and despite the loss, Christopher had gone out swinging like a champion. In today’s game, when his team needed him to step up and be a leader, he didn’t. Instead he didn’t listen to his coach (who has been coaching him for 3 years now), he didn’t try to incorporate his teammates into the game (3 games into the season and he doesn’t know their names yet?) and he completely fell apart at the end of the game instead of staying positive and working to try to get an opportunity to win the game.

Soooo…after today’s game, I thought about that article my friend sent me as Christopher sat quietly in the back of the car. He was mad at himself and he had cried at the end of the game when they lost after he turned the ball over. I had a choice to make…do I console him? Do I scold him for being a jerk on the court? Do I just drop it? Or do I say (as the article says to do), “I love watching you play buddy!” and leave it at that.

Well…needless to say…the first 5 minutes of the drive it was quiet. Then I made a judgement call. This was a great time to make a point and despite what that article said, I firmly believe that this is the age where our kids are learning what it takes to be not only a good athlete…but a better, all-around person. And so I let him have it with both barrels.

I told him I was disappointed that he played like he was the only one on the team (he took several poor shots and didn’t pass the ball when he had teammates wide open). I told him I was disappointed in the way he disregarded the coach on the sideline when she was trying to set up plays. I told him I was disappointed that he didn’t look to HELP his teammates who are younger than he is and are still learning the game. And I told him that it is a slap in the face to his teammates that he has been playing with them for 3 weeks and STILL doesn’t know any of their names. I don’t care if they’re the best or the worst team, I don’t care if they win or lose, but for him to act like he is so far above his teammates and not be the kind of player that they can look up to (especially since he IS the best player on their squad) was a slap in their face and they deserved better.

So now I have to wonder…will what I say make ANY sense to a 9-year old? Did me telling him all of those things make him a better or worse person? Or am I a contributing factor to the decline in children’s attitude about sports? Or I am trying to live vicariously through my son by pushing him harder than I should? I realize it’s just a game but it’s NOT about winning or losing. It’s how you face adversity and work as a member of a team that should be the first thing learned in sports. It’s playing the best you can against ANY kind of competition and being a good sport after the final buzzer has sounded. In the case of today’s game, I felt Christopher let his ego get the best of him and because of that, his team lost. I told him I felt they didn’t lose in the 4th quarter when he had the turnover but in the very 1st quarter when he decided that he was the best player out there and didn’t have to play with his teammates.

Obviously this made him feel even worse but after sitting quietly for a while he came and sat down and ate some pizza and then I took him to his friends’ house and so here I am, wondering if I’ve been too hard on him or if what I said needed to be said and he might have learned something from his experience. I guess only time will tell but I DO know this…if I had simply said “I loved watching you play buddy” and NOT said anything about his attitude on the court today, I think that would have made me a bad parent. It’s our job as parents to help guide our kids through the early part of their lives and while I understand what that article was saying in regards to parents who have a “must win” mentality when it comes to sports, I do not. I just want to see 4 things when my son or daughter are playing sports:

1. Have fun.

2. Work hard.

3. Listen to your coach.

4. Be a good teammate.

Today Christopher DID work hard (there were only 5 players on his team) but the he certainly didn’t look like he was having any fun and he certainly was not listening to his coach or his teammates. So are my rules so wrong? I think not. Anyone who knows me knows I just want my kids to enjoy their time on the field/court/whatever. But when you get an attitude at the age of 9? Yeah…something needs to be said. And I’m pretty certain my Dad would have said the same things to me….

Ohio State Buckeyes…Big Ten Champs & We Were There!

So I took some much needed time off this week and to cap it all off, Christopher, his buddy Jackson and I all piled into Stephanie’s Traverse and drove to Indianapolis to watch THE Ohio State Buckeyes, the #1 ranked team in the country and now the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, win the Big Ten Tournament. After a close win vs Northwestern and a another tough win over Michigan, OSU needed a much bigger win over Penn State in order to secure their national prominence…and they got it. The best part…it was Christopher’s first college basketball game and we got to see a big win! Here are some pictures of our day…

At Conseco Fieldhouse

We had…seats…

A few conversations/questions from the day…

(crowd) O!…H!…I!…O!
Christopher: “Uh…dad? What are they spelling?”

Christopher: “What is their (Penn State’s) mascot?”
Me: “A Nittany Lion.”
Christopher: “It looks like a pig.”
Jackson: “No…it’s a dog. Or a vampire. It’s a pig-dog-pire!”

It kind of IS a pig-dog-pire…

Christopher: “What just happened?” (several times)

Christopher: “What did he (the announcer) just say?” (several times)

Christopher: “I want a pretzel. With cheese. And Skittles. And a water.”
Lady Behind Counter: “That’s $15.” (Christopher also ate Jackson’s ice cream)

Christopher: (after the game) “Dad…why did they put that ladder up?”
Me: “They cut down the nets after to celebrate the win.”
Jackson: “Why? Aren’t they gonna play here anymore?”

GO BUCKS!!!

We were wearing our colors!

Post-game Celebration!

We had a great time!

Hoops Action!

This weekend I stayed home to watch Christopher & Ava as they hooped it up here in northern Kentucky. Christopher’s Wildcats had a game and Ava is one of the cheerleaders for his team. I haven’t been able to see them in action this season so this was a real treat for me. Here are some pictures and a short video of the game!

And the final score was…

And THAT gave me something to cheer about!

Life In Perspective

People pass everyday and there are always stories to be told. For one young man in Fennville, MI, his story is one that really struck me for a couple of reasons. The first is because I love sports. I’ve played sports and enjoyed watching sports my entire life and so when a tragedy such as this happens, it affects anyone who truly enjoys athletics. The second reason being that I have a son who is extremely active in sports right now. He’s only 8 but he has managed to become a very good athlete and I am so proud of him and to think that something like the following story could happen to him or any one of his buddies is about the worst possible thing that I can imagine.

Wes Leonard was a 16-year old athlete. He was 6’2″ (good size for that age) and was known for his sports abilities. He played baseball, football and basketball and excelled at all of them. He was a gifted kid and it looked as if he might even have the potential to go on to play college sports someday. The other night, Wes’ basketball team was looking to wrap up a perfect 20-0 season against rival Bridgman High. It was a tight contest and with less than 30 seconds remaining, Wes hit the game-winning shot. Little did anyone know that it would be his final moment of what was a life full of them. During the victory celebration, Wes suffered a massive heart attack, collapsed to the floor and died in front of all of his friends and family. They rushed him to the hospital but he couldn’t be revived. The doctors have said that he had an enlarged heart and the strain that he put on it could have been the cause but they are still unsure. Either way, the story to be told here is the life of Wes Leonard. He was a good kid, friendly and liked by everyone. He enjoyed playing sports and I’m sure he was your typical 16-year old…carefree and loving life. And then suddenly it was gone.

I imagine if you were going to glamorize a tragedy such as this you could say that his game-winning shot will last forever in the heart of the 1,400 people who were there that night. But I’m sure that isn’t how anyone there will remember him. Everyone there will remember him for his smile and his enthusiasm and they’ll forever wonder about the potential he had and what his future could have been. And as a parent, stories like this scare the hell out of me.

Live life. Don’t ever stop. And kiss your kids today. Sometimes it’s the best we can do. Because all the rest is entirely out of our control.

If you want to read the entire story about Wes Leonard, here’s the link. My prayers go out to the Leonard family and the community of Fennville. I can’t even imagine the pain they are in right now…

The Competitive Edge

What the hell happened to me? One minute I was 17 years old, playing basketball every day and wanting to win every game I played in. The next…I’m 41 and barely have a competitive urge in my body.

What happened?

Well…I have this back/sciatica issue. That certainly didn’t help me at all. Had to give up basketball because of it. So since July of 2008, I haven’t played a competitive game of basketball. No leagues, no pickup games, no shooting around with guys my age. Nuthin’. And since then I’ve really lost all sense of competition. I have no urge to golf, play badminton, cornhole, table tennis…nothing.

Why is that?

Today I weighed myself. I’m at 201 lbs. Seriously? What…the…hell?

Look…I know I’m not in TERRIBLE shape. But I’m not on GOOD shape either. I’m somewhere in between that. And since I’ve been working in the sports industry for going on 14 years now, you would think that I would place a higher priority on staying in shape. Watching athletes compete for a living should rub off on me a little bit…wouldn’t ya think? But apparently it hasn’t. Could be because of all the travel. All the time sitting in a cold truck, typing on a computer all day. Kinda makes you sleepy just thinking about it. Weird hours. Eating crappy food all the time. Then when I DO get some time off, all I wanna do is eat MORE crappy food (I have 2 kids after all. McDonald’s is a staple in our diet.) and hang out. Who wants to hit the gym after traveling to 3 cities in 5 days? Not me apparently.

But that’s gonna change. The last couple of weeks have been an eye-opener for me. I have to change or else I’ll just continue to eat poorly and exercise lessly (yes…that IS a word for this post and I’m going with it) and then I’ll just keep growing and growing until eventually I’m like that fat dude in Monty Python’s “Meaning Of Life.” I’m stuffing down everything in sight and expansion never ends. So I need to change. And what got me to this point?

Well…other than the fact that I’m just not feeling healthy (at all) and I’m tired of feeling tired all the time? How about this one…my son. To say that this football season has been difficult would be doing it injustice. Christopher went from playing all the time last season to being 3rd string this year. He saw limited playing time and now he’s heading into basketball season. After talking with one of the other parents at his practice the other night, it stirred a little of my competitive edge when I was told that there are leagues out there that are geared for advanced players. Kids who are 8 or 9 who can dribble and shoot and break presses and play defense really well. Kids who “get it” and are driven to play full tilt, all the time. This made me remember when I used to be like that. Granted, I was never a GREAT basketball player in high school. I managed to average 7 points a game my senior year and never really lived up to my potential. I think I very easily coulda average 10 points a game. But the 6.5 turnovers per game probably offset that a little. But I digress…

Now is the time for me to be the most competitive. My son NEEDS me to be. He needs me to be a little more enthusiastic about the sports he participates in. I hear the other parents talking. Every one of them judging their kid and the other players on the team. I don’t judge. Or I’ve been trying NOT to judge. These kids are 8. They don’t even know why they are playing sports. But maybe now is the time to implement a little of that competitive nature? Get it engrained in their heads now and later they will just WANT to win. Show my son that I CAN be competitive and maybe he’ll understand a little. Get my ass to the gym 3 times a week, get back into shape. Play ball with him every chance I get. Show him dad still has “it”…even when I know I don’t. But I can still play basketball…I’ve just been too afraid of getting hurt again. And it’s possible (and very likely) that I WILL get hurt again. But working out and eating right and stretching and doing all the right things will surely make it LESS likely…right?

So this is me getting competitive again. It’s gotta happen. I’ve been moping around for too long and it’s time. Christopher needs the old me…not THIS old me. And I’ll be damned if I’m not gonna show him what I know now before he gets to an age where he already knows it all. If he’s gonna play basketball, I can show him how it’s supposed to be done. It’s the least I can do. And then I hope he plays with a little more love for the game than I did. And possibly average a few less turnovers than I did in the process…

My Road To The Final Four

March Madness is my favorite sporting event. All my life I’ve loved college basketball and I never thought that someday I would get to be a part of it, but there I was…living the dream and working on an all new way to cover event television…in 3D!

It all started in mid-March when I was shipped off to Milwaukee, WI for the 1st & 2nd Round. We had Ohio State & Xavier there, so that was exciting for me. I’ve been an Ohio State fan forever and I cover a lot of Xavier basketball throughout the season, so to see both programs in Milwaukee was a treat. And my Ohio Bobcats, who made the tournament by winning the MAC, managed to whip up on Big East goliath Georgetown and moved on to the 2nd Round, only to get beat by Tennessee. Oh well…

In the Graphics production truck

Courtside at the Bradley Center

From Milwaukee to St Louis for the Midwest Regional. I like St. Louis and there was plenty to do. Ohio State went up against the team that beat my Bobcats and once again Tennessee knocked off one of my favorite teams to move on to play Michigan State for a chance at the Final Four. They lost. Michigan State goes on to Indianapolis…and so did I.

The sunrise from my hotel window

The Buckeyes practice

I visited the Arch…

…and drank coffee. I’m crazy like that.

Courtside in St. Louis

Indianapolis is a very underrated city and it is taylor-made for events like The Final Four. Everything you need is right downtown and with hometown favorite, Butler, playing Cinderella, the fever was in full swing. The city was hoppin and references to “Hoosiers” were as commonplace as Big Ten coaches sightings (I counted at least 4…and Dennis Miller).

Our 3D tv crew courtside.

The great thing about this event wasn’t just that I LOVE college basketball, but also because I got to work the first 3D NCAA National Championship…and oh what a great game it was. It was a back & forth affair as a David vs Goliath raged for 2 halves and the Devils came up on the lucky side of the score, barely beating Butler by 2 points as a halfcourt 3-point heave ALMOST dropped for the Bulldogs, and then a city (and a nation) fell deflated. It truly was an amazing game and I was so lucky to be there. It will always be one of my fondest memories…especially the time when I got to shoot around on the court for a few minutes. Every player dreams of taking a shot or two on that championship court and I got to do it (even if it was 23 years too late).

H-O-Uhhhhhhh???

Let’s start this little story by saying that every week Christopher has a spelling test. And every week he studies for it. And every week he does excellent on it! And this past week Christopher, once again, got a passing grade, getting almost all of his words and all of the extra credit words correct. But he DID miss one word…

Christopher also loves basketball. Not as much as I do and not as much as football, but he loves to play it. And he loves to shoot around in our backyard with his buddies & me whenever the weather permits. Usually we play a quick game to 20. And we also play “HORSE”. If you’ve never played HORSE, the rules are simple…you shoot and make it, the other person has to take the same shot and make it. You miss? It’s their turn to try to make it and then YOU have to make the shot they just made. Got it? If you miss…then you get an “H”. Miss again, you get an “O”. And so on until someone misses 5 times, then you have HORSE.

Mmmmkay?

So we play this game often. At least once a week. And Christopher IS a great speller.

So last week he missed one word on his spelling test.

Guess what it was?

Silly kid…there ain’t no “U” in HORSE!

Today I Got Some Good News

So I work in television and I get to watch sports for a living. There…I said it and I’ve learned to embrace it. I’ve done many things in my relatively short career, but today I was asked to do the one event that I have always wanted to do…

The Final Four.

All my life I have loved basketball, especially high school & college, and for me the greatest event for basketball is the NCAA Final Four. Four of the countries top teams competing to see who is the best of that weekend in Indianapolis.

((Wait a minute…Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” on HBO…))

Okay…sorry about that…aaaaanyways….

So today I got the call. I’ll be working the world feed for CBS at the Final Four. Is it too late to put in for who I want to show up this year? How about an Ohio State / Ohio / Kentucky / Xavier matchup?

Huh? What? You don’t think Ohio has it in them? Okay then…maybe they get ousted in the Elite 8 by Kansas or somebody but whatever…

I’m gonna be there and I couldn’t be MORE excited!!!! It’s the one event I’ve always wanted to see up close and I’ll be getting paid to see it! Cool huh?

But what do I do after that? It’s really the only event I’ve ever really WANTED to do. I guess I’ll have to try to get to the NBA Finals someday. But for now I guess I’ll just have to follow it up with a little golf event in Augusta, GA. It’s not the Final Four…but my Dad would probably disagree with me.