Aunt Leann's Random Thoughts

Blog Moved

2007-08-16T14:25:00.000-04:00

My blog has moved. If you are not automatically redirected to my new blog, please click here.

Football Pads + Heat = RIDICULOUS

2007-08-09T09:36:00.000-04:00

That's the temperature gauge for Tuesday afternoon in Orlando, FL. That doesn't include the humidity factor. Word on the street is that it was 109 degrees just in the shade. I knew there was a reason I moved.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hold training camp in Orlando at Disney's Wide World of Sports, but occasionally weather does not permit them to stay outside for their practices. Here's how they beat the heat courtesy of the International Ballroom of the Orlando Omni Hotel.

And this guy, Cato June, totally looked better in Speed Blue, White, and Gray.

The Questionnaire

2007-08-07T10:26:00.000-04:00

I'm an avid viewer of Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton. I know his monotone demeanor and penchant for 1,000s of blue cards on everything about his guests down to the part they played in the 2nd grade play have made him an easy target for spoofing on shows like SNL, MadTV, The Simpsons, and The Chappelle Show, but I LOVE his interviews with some of the greatest entertainers of our time. They are the most in depth, raw interviews you'll find of these people because they're in their own words. My favorite part of every interview though is the questionnaire at the end. Lipton says it was made famous by Bernard Pivot (pronounced Bear-Nard Pea-Vo cause he's French), himself an interviewer of celebrities...mostly authors.

Last night as I was watching the Michelle Pfeiffer interview, I wondered what my answers to the questionnaire would be, and then I wondered what other people's answers might be. So, here are my answers. Feel free to answer these questions yourself on your own blog or in the comments section of my blog...or don't. I'm not requiring it or "tagging" anyone to do this. Just do it if you feel like it.

What is your favorite word? friend (Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious a close second)
What is your least favorite word? cancer
What turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]? Sadly because I wish it were something different than this, but my favorite sports teams and athletes winning.
What turns you off? cruelty/bigotry/racism AND opinionated people who think their way is the only way (there's more than one way to skin a cat, people)
What sound or noise do you love? Nelson calling me Ann-Nee AND the sound of the cars zooming by around the turn to the straightaway on a NASCAR race
What sound or noise do you hate? nails on a chalkboard AND trucks beeping when they back up
What is your favorite curse word? this one is tough because I don't really curse, but I do say Dang It a lot
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? NFL Commissioner OR Bakery Owner
What profession would you not like to do? Anything where you have to be outdoors all day long, i.e., construction worker, landscaper, etc. I'm an air conditioning and heating kind of girl.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? It does, and I want Him to say, "well done, my child. Come on in...I can explain."

Let's Go, Let's Get Two

2007-08-03T12:48:00.000-04:00

I realize the title of this blog usually refers to a double play in baseball or softball, but I'm using it for football anyway.

=====

I'll admit it. This was my test...my test to see if I was just pulling for them until Peyton won the Super Bowl or if I was really in it for the long haul. I mean I'd waited a few years for it to happen anyway and invested so much time and energy into pulling for them that I wondered if I'd just take a break...a breather...a time-out. I was worried. I wondered about my own desire, my own hope, my own cheering section. Would I be as hungry for them to win it again? Would I cheer as hard and as loudly as I had every year before? Would I care as deeply about all of my boys working their behinds off week in and week out? And then, July 29th came, they reported to training camp, and all my worries seized to exist. Well at least worries about how much I would care now that they've won a Super Bowl. The fire in my belly was still there. My concern about their health and fear of injuries came creeping right back in when they took the field for their first training camp practice. And I'm already sweating that first regular season game against the Saints. I can't leave my boys behind. The desire to win a Super Bowl is renewed every year when they regroup and all 32 teams have a 0-0 record.
I still want them to win every game they play, and I still believe they can win the Super Bowl every year. Sports Illustrated's Peter King reported after his visit to Colts Training Camp that Peyton returned to camp so hungry, it was sick. YEAH, BABY! Bring it on! Peyton wants to be a better quarterback than he was the previous season, EVERY YEAR. He never stops learning, reviewing, working to stay consistent, but better and more fine tuned. And he expects that from his teammates as well.

Something I learned about Peyton's offseason routine that shouldn't surprise me one bit, but actually made my jaw drop: He meets four times a week with offensive coordinator Tom Moore and quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell at 7:30 a.m., beginning in early April. They scrutinized each of the 710 passes he tossed in the regular season and playoffs. They watched tapes that involved only his interceptions, touchdowns, and sacks. Seriously! 4 times a week! 7:30am! All 710 passes! Now of course I know he's the king of the film room and can sit in there for hours on end scrutinizing every team in the NFL. He's got binders on every team that he keeps under lock and key even though his notes are written in some kind of code that only Peyton knows. He takes nearly every rep in practice and only stops when his coaches force him to, which has led to him being restricted to a pass count the last few years. Seriously...can any NFL player possibly prepare more than him?

Other Training Camp Observations

Rookie wide receiver, Anthony Gonzalez, told his agent to rush through his contract negotiations because he didn't want to miss a second of training camp. Come, again? He did what? And then, he arrived first at training camp before anyone else because he didn't want to be late. Who is this guy? Yeah...I love him already and can't wait to see him play.

Rookie offensive lineman, Tony Ugoh, is taking reps at the left tackle position vacated by retiring LT, Tarik Glenn. Last night on the NFL Network's training camp special from Colts Traning Camp, I wasn't completely impressed, yet. I think he's allowing Dwight Freeney too much room and not pushing back. Of course I also take comfort in that because if Tony Ugoh has to practice against Dwight Freeney all the time, then perhaps the NON-DWIGHT's in the NFL will be a piece of cake.

The backup running backs in camp are quite impressive. The Colts are trying to solidify which player will be the other half of the tandem with Addai, and from what I saw, that's going to be a tough decision. DeDe Dorsey didn't impress me as much as Clifton Dawson (a rookie from Harvard!). We'll see...

And so you'll say...the season following a Super Bowl win has a tradition of going poorly for the champion, but I'm holding out hope that the Colts will go against the grain and prove that their multiple post season years are no fluke and that they are a perennially good team.

Because they're my team, win or lose. So, let's go, let's get two.

=====

On a baseball note...this is for Kelli...I'm not a baseball fan. I have to be at the ballpark in order to actually enjoy a game (unless it's the college world series, and then I can't get enough). But I know good players and people when I see them. So congratulations to both Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn on their induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame last weekend. I've actually been a fan of Ripken's for a while based solely on his preparation and work ethic. Tony Gwynn exemplified similar qualities during his career with the Padres. They are both part of a dying breed, and well worth their 1st ballot election into the Hall.

My Nephew

2007-07-31T15:35:00.001-04:00

He's nearly finished with trimester 2 of his development. He weighs about 2 pounds, and his feet are bigger than his legs. I'm not completely surprised by this since my brother wears size 13 shoes. My brother says Lincoln has his nose and everything else looks like my sister-in-law.

And just like any member of my family he appears to already have a big mouth with LOTS to say.

Profile Pictures

Friday Tidbits (Mostly Sports News)

2007-07-27T10:03:00.000-04:00

Just a few things I'm thinking about right now:

* Shout out to my friends Andy and Laurie who survived taking the Virginia State Bar Exam earlier this week. I am incredibly proud of both of them. Results won't be announced for several months, but surviving taking the exam is half the battle.

*I can't seem to get that song "This World Is Not My Home" out of my head. I'm on day 2 of it being stuck on repeat in my brain.

* Wake Forest Basketball Coach, Skip Prosser, Dies
by UNC Athletic Comm.
Posted Jul 26, 2007
University of North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams comments on the death of Wake Forest Coach Skip Prosser ...
"I am absolutely shocked and deeply saddened. Today the world has lost not just an outstanding basketball coach, but a great person and great friend. I was fortunate to be friends with him even before I came back to Carolina. Over these last four seasons there have been several occasions on which he was the first coach to call and offer his heartfelt congratulations. I'll always remember him calling after the 2006 season to say what a great job we had done after losing all the players from the championship team. That call meant so much to have come from another coach. This April, I heard from a hundred or so coaches after the Hall of Fame announcement, and Skip was the first to call. But Skip was someone who will be measured in terms of his actions, not just words. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. The world has lost a great person and great family man."

*Michael Vick barred from training camp until further notice
I'm not going to make the headline "Michael Vick pleads not guilty" because seriously...who expected him not to do that? But I am pleased thus far with the NFL and Falcons' decisions. The Falcons' owner, Arthur Blank (God bless him) was prepared to go so far as to cut Vick, but settled on suspending him for the maximum 4 games allowed by teams under the collective bargaining agreement, but Roger Goodell, being the smart guy that he is, asked them to hold off on that until his independent review by his hired outside investigators and lawyers could be completed. This was two fold actually. If the Falcons hand down the 4 game suspension, Vick still gets to go to training camp and the suspension can be appealed and go before an arbitrator. But with Goodell banning him from training camp, that creates a temporary fix where one was needed. Then after the review is completed, Goodell may choose to hand down a heftier suspension based on the results of the review. When the Commissioner hands down a suspension, any appeal goes directly to the Commissioner and is not sent before an arbitrator effectually creating a dead end and making the suspension STICK. And that's what I want. I want whatever the NFL chooses to do to STICK and not have the benefit of an arbitrators decision. I was pleased that both Goodell and Blank stated that these charges were heinous and that neither of them would tolerate such actions by an NFL player, but I'm also pleased that they're going about this the right way by looking as deeply into the charges, the investigation, and the evidence before making a final decision. What I was not pleased with was this smirk on Vick's face when he entered the courthouse yesterday. You can tell he still doesn't get it. You can tell he still thinks he's above the law. And whether he did this or not, he shouldn't believe he is above the law EVER.

*SEC Media Days make a circus out of Nick Saban
I'm cautiously optimistic. I want desperately for Alabama to do well this season, but I'm concerned about the people who have reserved Nick's ticket for the National Championship already. Good grief. Let's give the man some time. Nick Saban makes the 6th head coach at Alabama since my freshman year in 1996 (7 if you count Joe Kines as acting head coach). Since 1892, Alabama has had 27 head coaches, and only 4 of them have won National Championships for us. What makes people think that Nick will be the 5th? I hope he is, but the head coach to championships ratio is seriously against him. That said, I'm excited about the 2007 Alabama football season even if we do fall flat on our faces. I'm still excited as I always am every year.

*Colts Set To Open Training Camp 7/29
...And Anthony Gonzalez, their 1st round pick, will be reporting on time because he signed his contract yesterday. I think it's kind of a low dollar amount, but I wasn't part of the negotiations, so I don't know what was discussed. There are still 6 of the 9 draft picks left to sign, but there's always today and tomorrow. I'm about a 3rd of the way through Tony Dungy's new book, Quiet Strength, and so far it's really great. I've laughed, I've cried, and I've underlined statements. It's not preachy at all, but just lays out one example of how to lead a life for Christ. He never says this is the only way, just that this is his way of being a faithful Christian. I'll give a better, more detailed review of the book once I've completed it.

Tarik, You Will Be Missed

2007-07-25T10:14:00.000-04:00

Colts Offensive Tackle Tarik Glenn Retires

This news saddens me greatly. I thought I at least had one more season before I had to come to grips with the idea of him not being at left tackle to protect Peyton's blindside since he would be a free agent at the end of the 2007 season. Granted he could give me fits with his tendency to commit false starts, but how great of a person and player he was incredibly outweighed those penalties. In fact there isn't much about him that I didn't like. A three time (04, 05, 06) pro bowl offensive lineman whose menacing ways on the field could fool you into believing this guy has no heart, but once he turns on the charm with that smile that could light up a room, you realize who the real Tarik is. #78 is one of the good guys, and I'll greatly miss watching him deny defenses access to his quarterback. My heart aches right now, but I understand and appreciate Tarik for recognizing when the passion has gone out of him and choosing to step aside rather than hurt the team. He has always done what was best for the team.

It's funny when I think about the fact that I wouldn't be a Colts fan if it weren't for Peyton Manning. Sure I might have followed them a little when Tony took over as coach because I love me some Tony Dungy, but my becoming a Colts fan was decided by the 1998 draft. And if it weren't for that, I never would have fallen in love with so many great people, especially Tarik. When I look back many years down the road when I hope to one day be a Colts fan for more years than I wasn't, I will see Peyton Manning and immediately look to his left to find Tarik Glenn because for me no one can replace him on that line. Sure someone will try to fill the void, but he brought so much more to his position than anyone ever asked for. I felt so safe, so secure when he was out there with Peyton because Tarik really was his bodyguard.

But I get it. I understand. He needs to walk away now, while he still can, when he knows his heart isn't in it any longer. So, for 10 seasons, sweet Tarik, I say, "Thanks for the memories! See you in Canton!"

Here's a Q&A with him from March of this year that will tell you more about the kind of man Tarik is.

Roger Goodell's Defining Moment

2007-07-18T14:56:00.000-04:00

Dear Commissioner Goodell,

I have to hand it to you. You are 3 weeks shy of finishing your first full year as the Commissioner of the National Football League, and you have easily cemented yourself as my favorite sports commissioner of all time with your zero tolerance, strong arm approach, which isn't difficult since I tend to dislike most any commissioner of any sport. Although, Bud Selig is doing some things that make me smile from time to time.

The new conduct policy that punishes everyone from the player to the mailroom clerk is a thing of beauty. Players seem to be sitting up and taking notice, watching what they do and with whom they choose to keep company. The Pacman Jones suspension was nothing short of spectacular. I thought the Tank Johnson suspension was a bit late, but at least you didn't make any idle threats. The fact that the Cincinnati Bengals can still field a team is a miracle in and of itself, but they're getting by. Some people in the media are saying that the intent of the new conduct policy is to penalize those players who are repeat offenders. However, I thought your intent with the policy was to penalize those players and franchises whose conduct casts a negative light on the League.

So yesterday, oh yesterday, Mr. Commissioner, the best opportunity of your career landed on your door step in the form of a 19 page Federal Grand Jury Indictment. Michael Vick, quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons and former #1 overall draft pick, has been charged with competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting and conducting the enterprise across state lines. The indictment is graphic and quite frankly turned my stomach when I read it as it should with any human being. Dogs are living creatures, and these dogs were perfectly normal loving dogs before they were trained to fight to the death. Whoever is responsible for these acts deserves whatever is coming to them, and if Michael Vick is guilty, I'll grant you, playing football should be the least of his worries.

Here's the thing Mr. Commissioner. You can choose to let the legal system decide Michael Vick's guilt or innocence (They did so well on that OJ Simpson case, why not leave it up to them.) or you can stand up for what is right and enforce what you said you would enforce...the need for proper conduct by NFL employees from the top down. Say Michael Vick is innocent, if these are the kind of people he allows to live on his property, he's not keeping very good company, which is one of the things you reportedly stress when you speak to players about their off the field infractions. Also consider that while this may be the first time Michael Vick has been charged with anything, it's not the first time he's done something with negative consequences. Case in point, you fined him during the 2006 season for using an obscene gesture towards the fans while exiting a stadium.

You're not alone in this situation though. The Atlanta Falcons Franchise has some thinking to do as well. Just a thought, but Humane Society and PETA picket lines outside of Falcon games could get old around the 3rd game of the season and losing corporate sponsorships could affect the Franchise and the League in the long run. Federal Grand Juries don't typically indict someone over 19 pages of narrative without at least probable cause and viable evidence. So, given your options Mr. Commissioner, I'd stand up for what is right and prove the point you've been trying to make the last 11 months: conduct unbecoming the League's definition of an NFL player will not be tolerated. The decision is yours, but keep in mind that this decision may very well define your entire career.

2007-07-13T08:53:00.000-04:00

New Trend

2007-06-28T11:08:00.000-04:00

Is this becoming a new trend in the Southeastern Conference? To leave your coaching job and change your mind within a weeks time. I promise when I went to Alabama this weekend I did not try to talk the baseball coach out of his retirement, but apparently someone did. In fact, I had come to terms with his leaving and moved on after hearing some insider things. Now with him pulling a Billy Donovan and wanting his job back, I have mixed emotions about his return. I'm not happy with him throwing us all for a loop, quite possibly wasting part of the University's money to start a coaching search for his replacement, and playing the just kidding game. I do not appreciate any of it. Thankfully, he only upset one group of people and not two as he was set to retire not take another job, but still, I can't just welcome him back with open arms.

Certainly Coach Wells was a fabulous coach during the heyday of his 13 years (so far) with THE University of Alabama, but this past season seemed to signify the beginning of the end. Our bats fell silent on way too many occasions for a Jim Wells coached team, and we missed the entire College World Series all together this year after losing on the second day of the SEC tournament (a tournament we have won 6 times during his tenure)...We weren't even invited to a Super Regional much less asked to host one. So, when he announced his retirement, I was a little shocked, but understood that when it's time to go it's time to go. Sometimes you can hurt an athletic program if you stay too long and lose the desire to coach the sport. Based on what I learned during my visit to Alabama for an absolutely awesome wedding, I'm hoping upon hope that Coach Wells's meeting with Mal Moore to request his job back included Mal Moore requesting that Coach Wells shape up the problems that apparently exist.

Until then, I remain a rather skeptical Alabama Baseball fan because if change was needed, then that's what I hope results.

Team Richie

2007-06-21T09:10:00.000-04:00

To say it's been a rough year for Richie Sambora would likely be the understatement of his life. All of us have our breaking points, and most of us don't know where that breaking point is and hopefully will never have to find out. Unfortunately this year, Richie found his. He went through a very public divorce from his wife of 11 years, Heather Locklear. Started a new relationship with Denise Richards after her divorce from Charlie Sheen, which I'm sure all of you have your opinions about. I choose to believe both Heather and Denise when they say that they were not best friends well before Richie and Heather's divorce. Making this not the case of dating the best friend. I also agree with Richie, Heather, Denise, and Charlie when they say that all of their relationship problems could have been handled better. Then, to top it all off, Richie's father passed away this spring after a long battle with cancer.

After all of that, we find out that he had a bit of trouble holding it all together for the filming of the Unplugged bonanza scheduled to air this weekend on MTV, VH1, and CMT. Resulting in the news report a couple weeks ago that Richie had entered rehab. Tuesday, Richie corrected us on The Today Show, saying that he entered detox not rehab and is currently in therapy following the detox.

So, based on my love of all things Bon Jovi, Richie being one of them cause he can play a mean guitar, I naturally have an opinion about all of this. Do I wish Richie and Heather never had to get divorced? ABSOLUTELY because I wouldn't wish that torture on anyone and I wanted desperately for them to be a power couple that beat the odds. Do I wish he could have found lasting happiness with Denise? ABSOLUTELY because I believe everyone should have the opportunity to share their life with someone they love. Do I wish his father had survived cancer and lived a long life dying some day only of natural causes? ABSOLUTELY, but I know this is very rarely the case when it comes to the horrific serial killer that is cancer.

Finally, the detox and therapy...I believe in the first step being admitting you have a problem. And I believe that if someone genuinely admits they have a problem and genuinely seeks help to control/manage that problem in their life, then I fully support them in surviving that problem. Alcoholics will tell you that you're never cured because it's a daily choice to not take a drink. Maybe you think that Richie should have been able to take more bad things happening to him before he hit his breaking point, and that's certainly your right to have that opinion. But until I've walked a mile or two in his shoes, I choose to support him just like his friends of more than 20 years are doing on his quest to battle, control, and manage his addictions.

Stand tall when you stumble
Stay proud when you're humbled
All the lessons you learn
Won't be the ones that you plan

Every step up that mountain
Will be more than worth countin'
When you walk through the valley
May you walk like a man

Side Note: The new album Lost Highway is incredible. It is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll, but when they come together with Jon's voice, Richie's guitar, Tico's drums, and Dave's keyboards, all I hear is Bon Jovi telling stories through music like they always have. If you decide to buy the album, get it at Target so you can get the bonus track, Walk Like A Man, quoted above. It's my favorite track off the album.

Lincoln Robert

2007-06-15T09:58:00.000-04:00

This is my beautiful nephew, Lincoln Robert. He is due to arrive in the outside world on November 2nd to my brother and sister-in-law and his extremely proud and capable of all out spoil-fest aunt, Leann.

With This Ring...

2007-06-14T09:32:00.000-04:00

...the 2006 season is officially complete.

No I was not there. These pictures and the following represent combined reports from the Associated Press as posted by ESPN, the Indianapolis Star, and the Official Indianapolis Colts Website:

It was enough to make even the toughest NFL players giddy. The blue horseshoe. The Lombardi Trophy in the middle of the Colts' logo. Even a red ruby to represent the figurative blood shed by the Colts over the course of the season. And, of course, the Super Bowl rings were all handed out Wednesday night on -- what else? -- a silver platter. Get past the 50 diamonds and synthetic blue sapphire horseshoe -- if your eyes allow it -- and the Indianapolis Colts' Super Bowl ring is much more about the simple words and symbols found in the subtleties of the design. There's the word "Faith'' on one shank, or side, of the ring. Faith "gives you the strength to have the perseverance to move forward even after many disappointments,'' Irsay explained. On the opposite shank is the phrase "Our time.'' That was the Colts' theme as they headed into the playoffs. Much less conspicuous, but just as meaningful, is a dot of red enamel found on each of the players' rings, forming one rivet in a small horseshoe. The red symbolizes a drop of blood, emblematic of players "leaving it all on the field,'' according to Pete Ward, the team's senior executive vice president. "There's obviously some bling,'' Irsay said. "But we wanted it to have some beautiful simplicity and we wanted to feature the horseshoe. The symbol of the horseshoe is so universal, so powerful.''

In discussing the ring at length, Irsay kept returning to that word: symbol. "That's the powerful thing about it,'' he said. "In life we use symbols . . . the art of symbols and reminders are part of our culture.'' The team did not release a list of ring recipients, but all 53 players who were on the active roster for the Super Bowl, along with the eight-man practice squad and players on the injured reserve list, received the deluxe, "first-tier" ring. It's priced at approximately $5,000, the maximum allowed by the NFL for Super Bowl rings. Top executives and other team officials also received that ring. Some employees were given a second-tier ring, a scaled-down version of the original priced between $1,500 and $2,000, while others received a third-tier ring that, according to Irsay, "is more like a class ring.'' All were made by Herff Jones, a local jeweler.

"To me,'' Irsay said, "it was trying to take into account everyone that I thought should be given consideration. You look at years of service, things like that.'' Irsay's mother, Harriett, was on hand Wednesday night. So were some people who contributed to the championship season but are no longer with the team, including wide receiver Brandon Stokley, linebacker Cato June and assistant coaches Leslie Frazier and Diron Reynolds. Irsay picked up the tab -- flight and hotel costs -- for everyone who came in from out of town.

Three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney said the design, courtesy of team owner Jim Irsay and his wife, was precisely what he envisioned. When they left the downtown theater's ballroom, players were so excited they didn't know what to do. "I might sleep with it tonight," said Freeney, one of the NFL's most-feared pass rushers. "I think today is the first day it really hits. Now it hits home and tomorrow is a new day. So it's time to get another one."

He dreamed about the moment since he can remember. Once it happened, once Bob Sanders slipped the ring around his finger, the Colts’ Pro Bowl safety said he could only think of one thing. Do it again. “Once you do it, it just makes you a lot more hungry to do it again,” Sanders said. Such was the feeling among Colts players Wednesday night. Said Sanders, “It’s just amazing. It’s a dream come true. You never expect it to be like this. The whole presentation, the ceremony – how they brought it in, was just amazing. I’m blessed. We’re all blessed. It’s a moment you all dream about. . . .The moment finally got here. I always thought about how it would feel once it happened. It just makes you want to do it again and again and again.”

It was, for many players, the culmination of a lifetime goal. "I’ve been dreaming about this since I was seven years old,” Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne said. And Wayne, like many, said it made him think of the future as well as the past. “It’s worth it,” Wayne said. “It’s a great feeling. Everyone’s excited. I feel like a new man right now. “We’ve got to keep it going and figure out a way to get it done next year.” Said Wayne, “It was great. We knew we were going to get the rings. The big thing was everyone came in with the smiles and loving that we were here together. It just goes to show this team is together. The camaraderie has been here forever. To get the ring just solidifies the whole thing.”

“It’s a little emotional,” Colts middle linebacker and 2006 defensive captain Gary Brackett said. “You see from the video all we had to go through during the season, the perseverance – all of it culminated by the rings. It was a beautiful event, man. A great feeling. I guess I’m still a little bit shocked. I feel really blessed to be fortunate enough to be on this team, with this great leadership. All we’ve been through the last couple of seasons, knocking on the door, knocking on the door – finally opening the door and seeing what’s on the other side, it’s a beautiful feeling.”

Rob Morris, who started the final seven games last season at strongside linebacker, called the night “awesome.” “After the Super Bowl I was like, ‘Now what? I’m hungry,’’’ Morris said. “It was nice to win and somebody said, ‘Wait until you get the ring.’ They were right. It really sets in.” Of the ceremony, Morris said. “You kind figured Mr. (Colts Owner Jim) Irsay was going to do it up real nice, which he did. I don’t think anyone was let down.”

Colts center Jeff Saturday called it, “a great night. We had a great time seeing guys. Everybody enjoyed it and the event was first-class, all around. All the pictures, it was a great way to finish up the season.” Saturday, like many players, said the moment when the ring slid on his finger was memorable. “It’s a bunch of emotions,” he said. “You’ve worked for it. You see it on your finger and it represents how hard all your teammates have worked to get to one destination and you finally made it. It’s a pretty great feeling.

Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning kept a low profile after picking up the one personal trophy that eluded him through his first eight seasons in the NFL. "It only gives you about a month and a half to wear it because then next season starts," Manning said last week. "I think you really can't wear it after that or you're just sort of hanging onto last season."

Moments after receiving his ring, team owner Jim Irsay said the moment was still sinking in. “It was incredible,” Irsay said. “The ring is what it’s all about. There was a lot of emotion in the room tonight, as there should be. I couldn’t be happier. It was a special evening – for the whole Colts family, it was special.”

Since taking over as owner, Irsay has built the Colts into one of the NFL’s elite franchises, hiring Bill Polian as President in 1998. The Colts drafted quarterback Peyton Manning shortly thereafter, and in 2002, hired Tony Dungy as head coach. The Colts have made seven playoff appearances since 1999, winning the last four AFC South Championships. From 2003-2005, they lost in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion each season, losing at New England in 2003 and 2004 and at home to Pittsburgh in 2005. Those moments and others, Irsay said, made Wednesday night special, too. “It’s really about enjoying the journey,” Irsay said. “You realize in life as you get older some of the things that help you grow are the more difficult things. Also, the difficult things you have to deal with with the bitter losses sometimes make the victory that much sweeter. It’s really a culmination of all that. It really feels great to the steward of the joy, so to speak. That’s my most enjoyable aspect – to see all this joy, to see dreams come true.” Irsay mentioned not only Dungy and Polian, but longtime Colts players such as wide receiver Marvin Harrison and Tarik Glenn, first-round draft selections by the team in 1996 and 1997, respectively. He also said the night was special because of the presence of many longtime Colts employees, some of whom have been with the organization since before the 1984 move to Indianapolis. “That’s what makes it so special,” he said. “I think about those who aren’t here, also. I think about my dad. Everyone thinks about people who didn’t quite make it in their bodies to this day, but we know they’re with us. Obviously, that’s something where it’s very retrospective in your mind. You take it all in and you start getting ready to defend and get ready to do it again.”

Gold, studded ring on his finger, Dungy – who will enter his sixth season as the Colts’ head coach next season – posed for pictures in the middle of the Indiana Roof Ballroom. He hugged friends and shared laughs with players past and present, family and coworkers. Through it all he said his emotions were never far from the surface. This night, he said, was about a group that achieved together. And he said being together again was what mattered on Wednesday. “I’m still so emotional,” Dungy said moments after the Colts received their championship rings in a private ceremony in downtown Indianapolis. “Just being here together, all of us, just reminds me how great this group is. The memories of the season, and the accomplishment, seeing the guys get their rewards . . .I’m so proud to work with (Colts Owner and Chief Executive Officer) Jim (Irsay). I’m so proud to be these guys’ coach – I don’t know what to say.” Wednesday night, he said, was a night he’ll long remember recognizing a team he and Colts fans will never forget. “It’s the symbolism of the sense of accomplishment,” Dungy said. “You start every year trying to get there. You know how difficult it is. When you achieve it, you’re just so proud of the guys, getting done what everyone wants to accomplish.”

Polian, the Colts’ President since 1998, helped lead the Buffalo Bills to three Super Bowls as that organization’s General Manager in 1990, 1991 and 1992. The Bills lost each of those Super Bowls, and the Colts’ 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears in January marked Polian’s first time as a member of a Super Bowl champion. “Worth the wait,” Polian said, smiling. “Absolutely worth the wait.” Polian, a five-time NFL Executive of the Year, said the ring symbolized what the night celebrated – not any one individual. Rather, it was about a team, a season, and a group of people working as one. “It’s a tangible symbol of everything you work so hard for,” Polian said. “This was a magnificent night. It was really the first time everybody in the organization has been together under one roof since we left for the Super Bowl. It’s special in that regard.” Polian also noted the presence of several players from last year’s team who have since signed elsewhere as free agents, players such as running back Dominic Rhodes, linebacker Cato June, cornerback Nick Harper, cornerback Jason David and wide receiver Brandon Stokley. All attended Wednesday night’s ceremony. “It’s special to have all of our players back, the guys who won it,” Polian said. “So many of them came back and that’s a tribute to Jim Irsay, to Tony and the organization. It’s just an incredible, incredible night.”

"Duke Boy" Gets It Right

2007-06-07T12:27:00.000-04:00

I'm not a fan of Jay Bilas. He's not nearly as bad as Dick Vitale, but occasionally he can show favoritism towards certain schools, which drives me up the wall. He played at Duke, and you probably have figured out that Duke is far from being a team I cheer for. However, I will be the first person to tell you that you can get a solid education at Duke University. They provide a good education for a non-Ivy League Private institution. Case in point of them providing a good education: The events of the past week when Jay Bilas weighed in on the "Billy Donovan: I'm Leaving Florida for the Orlando Magic, no just kidding saga." Here's what Jay Bilas had to say:

First of all, I think the world of Billy. I like him very much; he's a wonderful person. But I've never seen anything this unprofessional. Is it going to hurt him? Absolutely. It goes right to the very heart of his ability to make an important decision. There's no question this was an unprofessional way to handle this. There's no reasonable excuse. It's understandable if you can't make up your mind in a certain time frame. To take the step to agree to a contract and be introduced at a press conference and put people through this without having thought this through, there's no excuse. I understand nobody likes to move or pick kids up and change schools and leave a great job. But this is big-boy school now. Most people think this stuff through before hand to make sure. That's why they call it a contract.

If you read my blog with any regularity, you know I'm not a fan of the Florida Gators either. Still a great educational institution, but not a fan of their sports programs. I do, however, have experience with unprofessional coaches on behalf of Dennis Franchione's exit from Alabama to coach Texas A&M. It's definitely no fun being in that situation as a fan, so last week when Billy Donovan was introduced and signed a contract as the new head coach of the Orlando Magic, I could sympathize with the Gator faithful since Donovan had made every indication that he planned to be back next season complete with contract extension awaiting his signature on his desk.

Then the tables turned and I sympathize even more with the Orlando Magic. I'm sure some out there are of the opinion that you really can't say "Poor NBA Team" with a straight face, but at the very core of all of this is the inherent knowledge that the Magic had found their man. Their search was over, and Florida even seemed to have started putting the feelers out to at least one head coach as a replacement. So, all parties involved were moving forward into the future, except one: Billy Donovan.

He decided that he'd jump in a time machine and try to make what happened the week before disappear. You can't do that without some ramifications. You just can't. It's just not right. So...yeah...life isn't fair. I get that...believe me...I get that. But life also shouldn't be one where you can do whatever you want without it affecting people especially you. That's just immature, unprofessional, and plain evil. So he can't coach for any NBA team for the next 5 years. So what...I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a NBA team that could trust him enough to offer him a job EVER in the future. Sources say Donovan agreed to the 5 year ban to show recruits that he was committed to Florida. Here's a thought...perhaps you could have just stayed at Florida, signed the contract extension, and turned down the Orlando Magic to begin with...that probably would have shown just as much commitment to the recruits.

I just feel like he got off with no consequences really. He made a decision that affected a lot of people. If you make decisions that affect only you, then you face those consequences alone. But if you make decisions that affect other people in the process, then you're not facing it alone and you should have to face whatever consequences the other affected parties deem appropriate. Receiving a 6 year, $21 million contract with an option on the 7th year after you've signed a 5 year ban in the NBA is not facing consequences. That's having everything handed to you on a silver platter. Makes it a little sketchy to me as if he used the Orlando Magic to sweeten the pot on his contract extension with the Gators.

I know there are Florida fans out there who are going to disagree with me wholeheartedly, and you're perfectly entitled to do so. That's why they call them opinions. But hopefully once the smoke has cleared and you're all down from Cloud 9 that you've got your beloved coach back, you'll see the true reality of how Billy Donovan played the entire communities of the Florida Gators and the Orlando Magic. It's just plain not cool for him to go back to everything being normal without more consequences than the 5 year ban.

The Story

2007-05-23T12:17:00.000-04:00

Now that I'm almost a week removed from the event, my legs have stopped shaking, and I'm slowly coming down from cloud 9, I think I can tell you all the back story that helped make a more than decade long dream possible.

I couldn't tell many people about this event because I wasn't technically supposed to know about it, and I was afraid I would jinx it if I told too many people. Everyone was super nice as expected and I even got to joke with Peyton.

A reception was scheduled for the key members of the Colts organization: Jim Irsay, Bill Polian, Tony Dungy, and Peyton Manning. Even the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was there. I recognized him from the back of his head. Yep...I love football that much that I can recognize the commissioner from behind. I was informed of the reception through some of the people I work with. So I emailed the sponsoring office of the reception to ask if there was anything they could do to get me invited. My contact passed it on to someone who could help me in the office, and I conversed back and forth with that person until he emailed me during the reception to come on over and duck my head in.

I walked into the room and couldn't quite believe that those men were in that room with me. I spoke with Tony first and it was as if I'd known him for years. He was just that personable. I was shaking when we took the picture together. My legs felt like they were going to buckle underneath me. He was so incredibly nice and truly interested in what I had to say, which was a lot of congratulations, thanks for being the role model that he is, and about my having grown up in Florida where he still has a home. He even said he fishes in my hometown sometimes.

After that I took my picture with Mr. Lombardi (the trophy). Then, I was kind of milling around to try and get a chance to meet Peyton, but he was having conversations with the important people in the room, so I didn't want to interrupt him. But every time he moved to a different location it was away from me and not towards me. At one point, Jim Irsay was standing right next to me, so I introduced myself to him and told him congratulations and that, in my opinion, he is the best owner in the league. Then I said, I've been working my way towards Peyton but haven't gotten a chance to speak with him. So Jim Irsay calls him over and introduces me to him. Yes that's right...the owner of the Colts introduced me to Peyton Manning. I think that may have very well been the highlight. I spoke to Peyton and told him that I'd been a fan of his since he went to college which was difficult since I went to Alabama...and he said he'd forgive me for that. So I actually got him to joke with me. He was just plain super nice...and REALLY TALL! I mean I know he's 6'5", but seriously...that guy is big. He leaned down to look me in the eye the whole time I was talking to him...ok so it was like 30 seconds, but still. My only regret is that I wasn't clear headed enough to ask him the one question I've always wanted to ask him: what exactly goes through his mind, what does he think about during those 40 seconds between the end of a play and the snap of the ball for the next play? Oh well...guess I'll just have to ask him that next time I see him. :)

After taking my picture with Peyton, I thanked the person who had gotten me in and I left the reception. My legs shook all the way back to my office, and I had the best grin on my face and tears in my eyes. As far as having my silly dreams come true, this has just been the best year of my life...and it's only May.

P.S. 9 weeks and 4 days until Colts Training Camp!

No Words

2007-05-17T13:22:00.000-04:00

There are no words. Absolutely no words to describe what just happened. I'm simply amazed when God blesses me as He does every day of my life. I am thankful to Him every day for His love and forgiveness, for my life, for my family, and for my friends. And then He goes and throws in something that is simply icing on the cake. I do nothing to deserve the blessings He gives me every day, but I REALLY do nothing to deserve these little bits of happiness He hands me just for the fun of it.

Failure

2007-05-08T15:55:00.000-04:00

***Additional Information since original posting: I found out on my way out of my office building last night that not only did he come to Washington to attend the state dinner on Monday night, but at some point during Monday, he actually came into my office building complex. He was here, literally steps away from me and I didn't know. Man...I think I'm going to have to fire some spies.***

I feel like such a failure. I pride myself on pretty much being able to guess/determine where Peyton is pretty much year-round. He's a creature of habit, so it's not all that difficult to gauge where he is since he has roughly the same off-season routine every year.

Reasonable assurances placed him this week at mini-camp in Indianapolis, IN following his annual attendance of the Kentucky Derby with his family (and from what I understand...this year he brought along nearly the entire Colts starting offense). However, ESPN radio on my drive in this morning informed me otherwise of his whereabouts. He and his wife (the lovely, former Ashley Thompson of Memphis, TN pictured below) attended the state dinner last night at the White House honoring Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the United States. Not only that, but he's been in DC since at least Sunday when he was fitted last minute (according to CNN Headline News) for his required white tie and tales tuxedo.

Well I guess I'm allowed a slip-up every now and then. I'll try not to let it happen, again. :)

American Idol -- Revisited

2007-05-05T17:31:00.000-04:00

Before I begin let me say that I do not watch American Idol (AI). I used to, but I gave up on it a long while back and have only watched a couple episodes since. As a result, I do not know this season's contestants. I do know who is good and who is bad. I do not know their typical style or how they have performed in previous weeks on the show. So if you can let this one week stand alone, that's what I'm doing here. With my completely obsessive knowledge of all things Bon Jovi, the following is simply my assessment of this week's American Idol featuring Jon Bon Jovi and David Bryan as their mentors when the contestants sing songs from the vast Bon Jovi catalog. That said...

I was a little scared of this week on AI primarily because I'm not fond of listening to other people attempt to sing Bon Jovi's songs. I think one of the most true things said this week during the AI episodes was that Bon Jovi songs are not easy to sing unless you're Bon Jovi. The judges didn't say this in so many words, but you could tell in some of their comments that they knew these songs are hard to sing. Why? Because Jon and Richie have written every song (with the exception of 2 songs on early albums) they have EVER recorded. Thus, they are written for their voices. If you listen to some of the REALLY early work (Before Slippery) you will hear that Jon and Richie were great song writers based on lyrical content, but they were still learning how to match lyric with music and keys that worked for their voices. The newer work you can really tell how much better they got and continue to get...and in concert you can hear that they've transformed the oldies but goodies for their ever-evolving (read: aging) voices. Still, though they are aging (quite handsomely I might add...don't you just love their hair much better now), there are notes that both Jon and Richie hit that still amaze me. When you hear either one of them speak in an interview, you would never expect them to hit some of the notes they are capable of hitting. AMAZING!

So, I was cautiously optimistic that with Jon's help the contestants wouldn't butcher my memories...I mean...Bon Jovi's songs. I loved seeing Dave there to play the piano. Dave is quite possibly my 2nd favorite band member behind Jon. Sorry, Richie, but I have a soft spot for piano players. Dave was a 4.0 GPA pre-med student at Rutgers who had just received a scholarship to Juilliard. He was planning to go to Juilliard when Jon called him to tell him that they'd gotten a record deal. Dave was the first person Jon called when the record deal was offered. I guess you know what he chose. The man can play a mean piano and can even stand between two keyboards and play them at the same time. I swear...I have pictures. He's scored Broadway musicals in his spare time and even written an instrumental solo album. Plus...he's got awesome curly hair. :)

Did I know Jon could teach these contestants to be rock stars? OH YEAH! But I was concerned that he would fall into that trap that other mentors have in just praising the contestants and not helping them learn what was best for their voice and their performance. Then I remembered...Jon cares about the music. He cares that it translates the way the singers intend. He did crack me up though with his little "my kids love this show" bit before he got down to business with the six contestants. I always have moments where I forget that he's just a regular guy who's been living his teenage dream for the last 20+ years all because he works his butt off and 100,000,000 people never gave up on him and wouldn't stop believing.

So...this guy Phil chooses Blaze of Glory. I have a bone of contention with this song. It's a great song. Don't get me wrong. But it's not a Bon Jovi song. It's a Jon Bon Jovi song. It was, as Jon said, written for Young Guns II. None of the songs on the Young Guns II soundtrack are BonJovi songs. They are all Jon Bon Jovi songs with the exception of the score written by Alan Silvestri. Jon still sings the song in concert every now and then, but in my opinion it's a solo album song (he has one of those, too...Destination Anywhere). But regardless, Phil picked it because apparently he'd been singing it into his comb (which he had no other use for) in front of a mirror for the last 15 years. So, Phil comes out, the music starts, and I close my eyes. That's my test for all Bon Jovi songs. If I can close my eyes and not be able to tell that Jon's not singing...you win. Phil won. He nailed that song. Unfortunately, he got eliminated the next night when the votes came in. And his performance of Blaze of Glory after he'd been eliminated was even stronger than his Tuesday night performance. They really should sing their songs on performance night as if they're not coming back. It would make this competition a lot more, well, competitive. So...we have a good start...maybe this won't be so bad. Not so fast...

So...Jordin...Jordin grew up on Bon Jovi because her mom (God bless her) "got me into y'all." That statement made me feel old, so I can only imagine how Jon and Dave felt. Jordin wants to sing Livin' On A Prayer. Heaven help me...I think I might have a coronary. Bon Jovi songs are meant to tell a story, and if any song is the epitome of that purpose, it's Livin' On A Prayer. VERY few people can sing this song without sounding like they're trying too hard because the tempo really fluctuates. You have to have a range and an ability to use that range when you sing this. When Jon stopped Jordin when she was trying to hit the low note on "tough, so tough," I was so thankful. He gave her great advice. "When the key doesn't fit your range, change the key." I thought he explained it pretty well and that they found a note for her to sing that song. Oh my...like I said...I don't know about her other performances...but to me...she fell into the trap...she tried too hard...and it sounded a little better than a karaoke performance. It just seemed like she spent that time screaming instead of singing. I'm guessing this was just a bad night for her and that she does do pretty well otherwise because she wasn't eliminated the next night. So, you can only go up from here...

Ah...Lakisha...I really loved her little Q&A with Ryan before they rolled her footage and she performed. "I want the camera to get my slim side." Right on, girl! I will say I was surprised. This Ain't A Love Song. That's meaty, girl. These Days is not a well known Bon Jovi album. It's actually their anger album. Though it was recorded in 1995, it was written about a time in the late 80's when things weren't going well for the guys...mainly Jon. In the late 80's, Jon had broken up with Diane Lane, after a brief romance and hadn't gotten back together and married his high school sweetheart, Dorothea, yet (they got married in 1989). The album doesn't have a ton of happy songs on it, but way to go Lakisha for finding this gem among the 12 songs on that album. So...Lakisha...that guy is walking out the door and you have GOT TO make him turn around and stay. SELL IT, GIRL! She sold it, and I was buying. You will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER hear me say this next statement, again, EVER. Lakisha sang that song better than Bon Jovi did on the recording. (That is not an open invitation to comment that everyone sings better than Bon Jovi.) It brought tears to my eyes. I even wanted to plead with the guy to stay because if I were him, I would have stayed. I LOVED IT! Ok...so, now we're getting somewhere. Thank you, Lakisha for giving me hope that not all was lost.

Hmm...Blake...I think I was as nervous as Jon was. Since I don't know these contestants, I didn't know what Blake's style was or what he had done in the past, but he even said he was taking a risk by doing what he was doing to this song. After the fact, I was informed from some other people that he's done beatboxing before...not all the time...but previously. So, I didn't know what to expect. Jon was saying that it was an "adventurous rendition," "had a lot of charm," he was "rolling the dice," Blake had to "sell an interpretation of a song that a lot of people know and don't want messed with," and "sixteen measures of him not singing on a show that's supposed to highlight singers worried him." Oh my...You Give Love A Bad Name may never be the same. Jon and the guys know first hand not to mess with their classic songs after recording the album This Left Feels Right where they re-arranged a lot of their classic songs to a slower tempo. I loved the album, but there were a lot of diehard Bon Jovi fans who said "don't mess with our memories." The band heard that loud and clear and didn't tour with that album. So...we have Blake doing Heaven only knows what with You Give Love A Bad Name. I was scared, but only for about a split second. Blake rocked his rendition. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the beginning with him taking the record off the shelf and putting it on the player. He changed the arrangement of the song just enough for me to forget that it was a Bon Jovi song, which is the ONLY way to get me to like someone changing their songs. He brought the audience in at the end, which is what you're supposed to do with that song. Stadium rock IS audience participation. The sixteen measures of him not singing was ok actually. I think at the end of it, I didn't really know what had hit me, but I knew I liked it. It was original (Randy) and half will love it and half will hate it, but that was the right thing to do and it was brave (Simon). Everyone was right that you can't get ANYWHERE in the music business without taking risks. Jon fired the Bands' entire management group in the late 80s/early 90s and decided to have the band manage themselves instead of having someone do it for them. Everyone said, don't do it...you'll brake up faster than you can imagine. Nearly 20 years later...they're still here...they're still together. Blake took a risk when a lot of America was watching and trying to decide if he deserved their vote. I will admit I didn't vote Tuesday night, but Blake would have gotten mine if I had. So...this may not be so bad. There's only two left...it's looking up...

YIKES...Chris...WANTED: Dead or Alive. Ryan calling Chris Justin Timberlake didn't give me a high first impression of the guy. Chris let me tell you something that maybe no one has told you, yet. Just cause your name is Chris doesn't mean you ARE Chris Daughtry. His rendition of WANTED is the only other time before this past week that I allowed myself to actually like someone else singing Bon Jovi's songs. It is one of their best known songs...in fact, in concert they call it their "national" anthem. The lyric behind the song tells the story about what it's like to be on tour, living on a bus, a new city every night, being away from family, and having only the audience and each other to keep them company. First of all, if you're gonna sing this song, you gotta know the lyrics and you gotta know which lyrics to sing when. My favorite part of the song is the part that, in practice, Chris didn't know: "I've seen a million faces, and I've rocked them all." That part LIVE is AMAZING. Also, the melody wanted DOES NOT get sung by the lead singer every time it comes up in the lyric. That's why it's the melody. Richie sings that part...or the audience. This song is also an audience participation song, and Chris could have sold it better that way if he'd gotten the audience to come in and sing the melody wanted. Jon does that in concert sometimes. So, Randy says Chris "made it his own." At this point, I'm starting to think that "made it your own" equates to "didn't sing it right." Based on what I could gather about his voice, I'll Be There For You probably would have worked better for him. And, seriously, why didn't anyone choose that song??? Heaven help me...there's one more...please let this end well...

Sweet, Melinda...she's not a rock star...HA...not a rock star, my foot. She cracked me up with her attempt to with the ROCK ON symbol. Have A Nice Day is actually a fantastic rock song with, like Jon said, a lot of soul in it that requires good pipes...both of which Melinda has. The lyrical content is not meant to be a sweet story. It was actually written after John Kerry lost the Presidential election in 2004. Jon was very unhappy with the direction the country was going, so he wrote a song about how everyone can just go *#&$(#&$# themselves and get out of his face. Melinda nailed that. Her attitude while singing the song was SPOT ON. I'm not a fan of females singing with the band. I actually like Jennifer Nettles on the country version of Who Says You Can't Go Home, but on This Left Feels Right they had a female sing with Jon on Livin' On A Prayer. It's horrid. But hands down, if Melinda wanted to tour with the Band, I'd LOVE it. While she was singing, I actually thought about Tina Turner, so when Randy and Simon both mentioned it, I wasn't surprised. Tina Turner had/has a lot of rock in her. Melinda may think she's not a rock star, but underneath all that apprehension, she's a rock star at heart. ROCK ON, Melinda, and thanks for ending the show on a high note.

THE RESULTS SHOW:
I wouldn't have sent Phil home. I would have sent Jordin and Chris home, but only based on the performances from this week. Regardless, my primary reason for watching the results show was to see Bon Jovi perform (You Want To) Make A Memory. It's the first single off their new album Lost Highway due out June 19th. You can pre-order on Itunes and get the single for free. I haven't pre-ordered because I prefer to get my Best Buy reward zone points for buying it, but I did buy the single on Itunes. I LOVE IT. Before the single was released, I listened to it on Bonjovi.com twice before I was sold on it. First I listened for the tempo of the song, and then, I listened to the lyric. It reminds me a lot of the ballads on the Bounce album, and Bounce may very well be my favorite album of theirs. Their performance was great. Richie was rockin' Wednesday night. His father just died the week before after a long battle with cancer, so I didn't know if he'd actually perform, but oh man did he ever. And I swear every time Jon smiles, I can't help but smile, too. I could be in a very foul mood and see him smile and I'd probably just giggle and then smile, too. And oh that note he hit at the end of the song...I nearly fell off the couch. He did a fantastic job mentoring those contestants, giving them constructive criticism, and helping them navigate through singing his songs. If all the mentors were like that, I might actually start watching AI, again. Now, I'm a Ryan Seacrest fan. I know a lot of people out there are tired of him, but I'm sorry...he knows the music business and pop culture better than most. He's been doing radio forever! I don't know...I just like him...and NO, I do not think he's hot. That said...I would totally take Jon as host of AI over Ryan, every day and twice on Sundays.

The video for the single just came out this week. See it here: (You Want To) Make A Memory Video. It made me cry, so I can't watch it very often. Well that's it...my review of Bon Jovi's appearance on American Idol. ROCK ON, y'all!

REALLY?...NO, REALLY???

2007-04-30T10:21:00.000-04:00

I think I'm happy with these picks. Typically, I question the motives behind Bill Polian and Tony Dungy's decisions on draft day, but I've come to understand that they obviously know more about these players (at this point) than I do. By the end of the season, I'll know everything there is to know about the players that we keep from this list.

Indianapolis
Rd	Sel#	Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	School
1	32	Gonzalez, Anthony	WR	6-0	195	Ohio State
2	42	Ugoh, Tony	G	6-5	305	Arkansas
3	95	Hughes, Daymeion	CB	5-10	192	California
3	98	Pitcock, Quinn	DT	6-3	301	Ohio State
4	131	Condren, Brannon	FS	6-1	208	Troy
4	136	Session, Clint	OLB	5-11	236	Pittsburgh
5	169	Hall, Roy	WR	6-2	229	Ohio State
5	173	Coe, Michael	CB	6-1	190	Alabama State
7	242	Dawson, Keyunta	DE	6-0	268	Texas Tech

I went back and looked at the draft picks from last year, and I was simply amazed at how many of them played and how many of them made an impact on us winning the Super Bowl. Joseph Addai, definitely, but Antoine Bethea and Charlie Johnson were on that list from last year. Both played throughout the season and in the Super Bowl. Charlie Johnson made such a seemless transition on the O-line that I never knew when he was in the game and Ryan Diem wasn't. I can't say enough about Antoine. He really came up big for us when we needed him so much so that I clean forgot he was a rookie.

Commissioner Goodell did a FANTASTIC job at his first draft...especially with the decision to move Brady Quinn to another room away from the cameras that wouldn't leave him alone. That poor guy. I've never been a fan of Notre Dame, but I like Brady. I think he's a good guy and a good QB, so I felt bad for him being the only one left in the green room and the cameras hounding him. I taped the 1st round (apparently the longest in NFL history) so I wouldn't miss Commissioner Goodell saying "with the 32nd pick in the 2007 draft, the Indianapolis Colts select...". I was a little squeamish when I heard him say Wide Receiver for the first pick as I knew that Aaron Moorehead had just signed his tender Friday. In my mind, all I could see was Nick Harper, Jason David, and Cato June packing up their lockers. All defensive players and we pick an offensive player. Of course then I'm reminded that Brandon Stokley chose (after we cut him because he couldn't pass his physical) to play for the Broncos this year in what may very well be his final year in the league (but he may surprise me).

So, every analyst I hear says this Anthony Gonzalez is a stronger/faster/younger version of Brandon (who I loved during his time with the Colts). I guess I'll take that. I love his vertical leap (38") and the fact that he was an Academic All-American and Rhodes Scholar Candidate. Not to mention the fact that he said being chosen by the Colts was a dream come true. I think I can get behind this kid.

Now for the scary part. As I mentioned, we lost Cato June, Nick Harper, and Jason David to other teams during the Free Agency period. And, then on the second day of the draft, the Raiders did something crazy, smart, stupid...I'm not really sure at this point what to call it. They traded (as had been speculated for some time now) Randy Moss to the Patriots...get this...for a 4TH ROUND PICK. Randy Moss, who I considered a great receiver when he came out of college who has/had problems with his off the field situations and the running of his mouth, has been relegated to being equal to a 4th round draft pick. So does that mean he's washed up or just a plague on the franchise? Don't know...what I do know is that we lost the three of the best players on the team to cover a player like that, and we have to play the Patriots this year. I NEVER look forward to that game on the schedule, but sheesh...I'm REALLY not looking forward to it now.

In other news, Alabama for the first time since the 1936 draft, has a Mr. Irrelevant (or last player chosen in the draft). Ramzee Robinson is a better player than that, but he did get drafted, and I hope the Lions know how good of a player they got. The plague that is Mike Shula continues as the players from his final season as the Alabama coach were pushed to the second day of the draft. All the prospects from Alabama this year are good players, and as I watched the names go by, I couldn't help but wonder how much of the free fall that was Shula's final season with us, made their draft stock fall.

Ahhh...I love the NFL, and the draft just makes me feel like the season isn't as far away as it actually is.

"I ask you, who is that nice?"

2007-04-27T08:50:00.000-04:00

Many times on this blog you've read about Tony Dungy and how much I completely adore him. He has, in my opinion, revolutionized the idea of head coaching demeanor. He has a deep, deep faith in God and cares about family first. He doesn't spend all hours of the day in his office. He doesn't expect his other coaches and players to do so either. His quiet strength is remarkable considering the business he has chosen as a career. But there are so many things we don't know about this man, but yet when I hear new things about him, I'm never surprised. The following is the Rick Reilly column from this week's Sports Illustrated. I cried through nearly the entire article, but no matter how many times I tell people how incredible this man is, I always feel like I'm not convincing enough. If this article doesn't convince any leftover doubters out there, then I don't know what will. Read on if you wish.

Coaching the Grief-Stricken
by Rick Reilly

Maybe you could use a happy story after what happened at Virginia Tech, and maybe I've got one.
I have this friend, an Iowa truck driver named Mark Lemke. Last July he wrote to SI, nominating his 19-year-old son, Cory, for FACES IN THE CROWD. Said the kid set all kinds of golf records and he'd been meaning to write for a long time. Said he was finally doing it now because Cory had just died in a motorcycle wreck.
Well, I wrote a column (Aug. 21, 2006) about how I got Mark on his cellphone as he was driving his tractor trailer on an Ohio highway and how he wept while talking about losing his best pal. And I don't know if it was from thinking of my own 19-year-old son or what, but it's the only time I ever cried while I wrote.
And then we made up a FACES IN THE CROWD box for Cory and stuck it at the bottom of the column.
Anyway, a couple of months go by, and then Mark gets this call: "Mr. Lemke?" the voice says. "It's Tony Dungy."
Now, Lemke, 51, is just an ex-jock with a simple life that a motorcycle drove a hole through. The most he hopes for when he gets off the road is his wife Maud's sloppy joes and his favorite couch and maybe a frosty root beer and a Vikings game to take his mind off Cory for a few hours. So, naturally, he figures the call is a joke.
"No, it is Tony Dungy," the voice says. "I'm just calling to offer my condolences to you and see if there's anything I can do to help you."
Now you've got to understand, this was in October. The Colts were into the teeth of their schedule, the most critical season in Dungy's life, not to mention Peyton Manning's, not to mention the millions of Colts fans'. They figure if their team doesn't win it all this year, the genie goes back in the bottle.
But Dungy has his own sorrow to swallow. His 18-year-old son, James, hanged himself three days before Christmas in 2005. And Lemke knows this. So maybe Dungy, who's the same age as Lemke, is a guy who can relate. So they talk, and the coach tells Lemke to keep in touch.
"The hardest thing for me is, I sit in that truck all day, and all I do is think about him," Lemke tells him one day. "You're lucky. You've got so many people around you to get you through the days."
"Yeah," Dungy says, "but it doesn't get you through the nights."
And pretty soon they've got this bond going. Dungy has a wife, five kids, the monster job, numerous charities he works with and a thousand things to do, yet he takes the time to answer every Lemke e-mail, gives him his cell number and returns every call. They go deep sometimes. Lemke gets hot at God for taking Cory. Dungy tells him that's normal, but he adds that if they keep their faith, "we'll see them again."
Then it's the playoffs, and Dungy is apologizing for not replying to Lemke right away. Sorry about not getting back to you, he emails Lemke one day. Sometimes I can go a few days without getting on my computer, especially if our defense is not playing well.
I ask you, who is that nice?
Next thing you know, the Colts are in the Super Bowl and Dungy is inviting a man he's never met, a Vikings fan, no less, to be his guest there. So Lemke finds a load that needs hauling to Florida and a load that has to come back, and he drives his 18-wheel rig to Miami. The day before the game he meets Dungy in person at the team hotel. They hug. They visit. They pray. The next day Lemke takes his seat in Dolphin Stadium and watches his new buddy win it all.
And this is only one stranger whom Tony Dungy has befriended. There's the former high school coach in Wisconsin whose son committed suicide. There's the young kid in Indianapolis who lost his mother and brother in a car wreck. Heartbroken people all over are suddenly getting a hand up from a man who himself should be a puddle but is instead a river of strength.
Yet Dungy refuses to talk to the media about these good deeds, which only makes them better.
"I'm awfully grateful to him," Lemke says. "He helped me keep my faith. He taught me that he and I -- we're not alone."
After two weeks of hearing about how low man can sink, isn't it nice to know how high he can rise?
Tony Dungy stands as a reminder to every parent who's grieving right now that there is a way through the pain. And that way is through each other.

BEST. MONDAY. EVER.

2007-04-24T11:40:00.000-04:00

Monday, the President of the United States, per tradition, welcomed the Super Bowl Champions to the White House for a visit. Thanks to my most gracious, kind, and wonderful friend Sammie (and yes I’d say that about you even if you hadn’t gotten me in) got me on the list of invitees. His name has replaced mine in my parents’ wills, per my request. And as you’ll see in the pictures, I was pretty close to the action. The entire team wasn’t there, but a good number of them were…including some that will not be on the 2007 roster. I’m still matching faces in my pictures with names because I know that a lot of the 3rd string depth chart and the practice squad was there (YEA JOSH BETTS!). Their faces are less recognizable to me than the Bob Sanders, Tarik Glenn, and Reggie Wayne’s of the group.

Monday just seemed to tie a nice little bow on top of the gift that was the 2006 season. I have lots of memories (good and bad) from this season, but this one took the cake. After President Bush’s speech, which was actually pretty good and you can read here, he took some pictures with the entire team, received a few gifts, and then was led off of the South Lawn as were the players. However, some of the players stopped on their way out to sign autographs and shake hands with the Colts faithful in attendance. I got to meet Dallas Clark, Jeff Saturday, and Adam Vinatieri. That was priceless. Dallas was absolutely sweet, Jeff was gracious and humble, and Adam was patient and kind…Just as I expected them to be. Tony Dungy and Peyton were led away from the crowd because the event coordinators decided they’d hung around too long with the special guests in attendance (senators, Condoleeza Rice, etc.), so I didn’t get to meet them…someday though…even if it’s in Heaven. I didn’t actually go with the expectation of meeting any of them. I just wanted to be there with them…to experience, with them, the culmination of what they’d worked so hard for…to be a part of the Colts family for just one afternoon…to nod my head in complete agreement when the President spoke of their perseverance and good hearts…to know that no one can take this away from them…to know that I will never forget every second of Monday afternoon as long as I live.

52 Dunks and Standing Room Only

2007-04-23T10:50:00.000-04:00

This weekend was pretty awesome for the sports fanatic in me. Saturday night, I attended the Commonwealth Collegiate Challenge in Richmond, VA where between the CAA and ACC, 52 slam dunks were made...all with some kind of acrobatics involved. The final score:

ACC was Home, CAA was Guest. It was really a lot of fun. The guys, who hadn't practiced together unless from the same team, had an all out blast. You could see it on their faces. They were really having a lot of fun. I think by the end of it, every player had dunked a ball and/or made a 3 point shot. And those tiny point guards have vertical leaps you wouldn't believe. I think even the 6'10" center from UVA (Jason Cain) made a three point shot on his way to a 30 point game total (tied with Reyshawn Terry from UNC for the most points).

About 12 hours away on the same day, Alabama was holding it's spring football scrimmage called the A-Day game. I kind of envisioned that a lot of people would come to see what Nick Saban has put together in the last 4 months, but I didn't imagine this:

Bryant-Denny Stadium now has 92,138 seats. Every single one of them was filled on Saturday. As Sportscenter put it, there are only about 16 teams in the all of college that average that attendance for a REGULAR SEASON GAME. The gate attendees had to turn people away in the first half because the stadium was at its capacity. There were people standing on the ramps at each corner, which is common during the season as well since the student section is on a first come, first served basis.

The previous high attendance for an Alabama A-Day game was 51,117 at Birmingham's Legion Field (Current Capacity: 71,594) in 1988. Admission is always free. The previous best for a Southeastern Conference spring game was believed to have been 73,000 at Tennessee (Neyland Stadium current capacity: 104,079) in 1986, according to Alabama. By comparison, national runner-up Ohio State drew 75,310 (Ohio Stadium capacity: 101,568) at $5 a ticket for its own spring game on Saturday and champion Florida (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium capacity: 92,000) earlier pulled in 47,500. Simply amazing.

After this afternoon, I'll have what is probably the best Monday of my life to share with you. Nothing can take this one away...not even if this afternoon at 4pm Brandan Wright announces he's going to the NBA. Stay tuned...

Courage

2007-04-18T16:18:00.000-04:00

We've seen a lot of courage this week in the recounting of stories in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy. I've found myself seeking solace in normal everyday problems to try and take my mind off of all of it because every now and then you just need a break from thinking about all those families who will never see their son, daughter, mother, father, sister, or brother smile or hear their laugh, again. To never be able to hug them, again...it's just a deep sadness that makes you sit unable to move for an eternity.

This weekend, I'm going to Richmond to attend the Commonwealth Collegiate Challenge. It's a Senior game between basketball players from the Colonial Athletic Association and the Atlantic Coast Conference. When I first heard about it, I was excited to go because Reyshawn Terry and Wes Miller from UNC were playing in it. I've spoken over email and the phone with the event coordinator, and today I asked if because of the tragedy this week if the Virginia Tech players planned to still play. I explained that I understood completely if they didn't, but would love it if they did. He said they did plan to play, and the only change was actually Wes Miller having to drop out because of a prior engagement. That saddened me because Wes is my favorite player from this year's team until he explained that they had replaced Wes on the roster with another Virginia Tech senior. These same players that it pained me to see during the season, these Tech basketball players who may not have known the shooter or the victims at all, but as was said several times in yesterday's convocation, they are all Hokies. Courage comes in all shapes, sizes, and amounts, and when those boys walk out on that court Saturday night, I'll be proud to stand up and cheer on the HOKIES.

So It Goes. Rest In Peace, Mr. Vonnegut

2007-04-12T13:25:00.000-04:00

Ever since the first time I picked up Slaughterhouse-Five in high school to do a book report because it was on the approved list of books from which we could choose, I have been a fan of Mr. Vonnegut's and that book became my favorite book of all time. I couldn't put it down. It moved so quickly and all over the place. And I loved it. He was insightful and honest and a little bit crazy, but what I loved about him was that he wasn't afraid to be crazy and to speak his mind. Thanks, Mr. Vonnegut for leaving the legacy you did with your writing. Your brilliance will be sorely missed.

Kurt Vonnegut, Counterculture’s Novelist, Dies

By DINITIA SMITH

Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Cat’s Cradle” and “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater” caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died last night in Manhattan. He was 84 and had homes in Manhattan and in Sagaponack on Long Island.

His death was reported by his wife, the author and photographer Jill Krementz, who said he had been hospitalized after suffering irreversible brain injuries as a result of a fall several weeks ago.

Mr. Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction. But it was his novels that became classics of the American counterculture, making him a literary idol, particularly to students in the 1960s and ’70s. Dog-eared paperback copies of his books could be found in the back pockets of blue jeans and in dorm rooms on campuses throughout the United States.

Like Mark Twain, Mr. Vonnegut used humor to tackle the basic questions of human existence: Why are we in this world? Is there a presiding figure to make sense of all this, a god who in the end, despite making people suffer, wishes them well?

He also shared with Twain a profound pessimism. “Mark Twain,” Mr. Vonnegut wrote in his 1991 book, “Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage,” “finally stopped laughing at his own agony and that of those around him. He denounced life on this planet as a crock. He died.”

Not all Mr. Vonnegut’s themes were metaphysical. With a blend of science fiction, philosophy and jokes, he also wrote about the banalities of consumer culture, for example, or the destruction of the environment.

His novels — 14 in all — were alternate universes, filled with topsy-turvy images and populated by races of his own creation, like the Tralfamadorians and the Mercurian Harmoniums. He invented phenomena like chrono-synclastic infundibula (places in the universe where all truths fit neatly together) as well as religions, like the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent and Bokononism (based on the books of a black British Episcopalian from Tobago “filled with bittersweet lies,” a narrator says).

The defining moment of Mr. Vonnegut’s life was the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, by Allied forces in 1945, an event he witnessed firsthand as a young prisoner of war. Thousands of civilians were killed in the raids, many of them burned to death or asphyxiated. “The firebombing of Dresden,” Mr. Vonnegut wrote, “was a work of art.” It was, he added, “a tower of smoke and flame to commemorate the rage and heartbreak of so many who had had their lives warped or ruined by the indescribable greed and vanity and cruelty of Germany.”

His experience in Dresden was the basis of “Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade,” which was published in 1969 against the backdrop of war in Vietnam, racial unrest and cultural and social upheaval. The novel, wrote the critic Jerome Klinkowitz, “so perfectly caught America’s transformative mood that its story and structure became best-selling metaphors for the new age.”

To Mr. Vonnegut, the only possible redemption for the madness and apparent meaninglessness of existence was human kindness. The title character in his 1965 novel, “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine,” summed up his philosophy:

“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ”

Mr. Vonnegut eschewed traditional structure and punctuation. His books were a mixture of fiction and autobiography in a vernacular voice, prone to one-sentence paragraphs, exclamation points and italics. Graham Greene called him “one of the most able of living American writers.” Some critics said he had invented a new literary type, infusing the science-fiction form with humor and moral relevance and elevating it to serious literature.

He was also accused of repeating himself, of recycling themes and characters. Some readers found his work incoherent. His harshest critics called him no more than a comic book philosopher, a purveyor of empty aphorisms.

With his curly hair askew, deep pouches under his eyes and rumpled clothes, he often looked like an out-of-work philosophy professor, typically chain smoking, his conversation punctuated with coughs and wheezes. But he also maintained a certain celebrity, as a regular on panels and at literary parties in Manhattan and on the East End of Long Island, where he lived near his friend and fellow war veteran Joseph Heller, another darkly comic literary hero of the age.

Mr. Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922, the youngest of three children. His father, Kurt Sr., was an architect. His mother, Edith, came from a wealthy brewery family. Mr. Vonnegut’s brother, Bernard, who died in 1997, was a physicist and an expert on thunderstorms.

During the Depression, the elder Vonnegut went for long stretches without work, and Mrs. Vonnegut suffered from episodes of mental illness. “When my mother went off her rocker late at night, the hatred and contempt she sprayed on my father, as gentle and innocent a man as ever lived, was without limit and pure, untainted by ideas or information,” Mr. Vonnegut wrote. She committed suicide, an act that haunted her son for the rest of his life.

He had, he said, a lifelong difficulty with women. He remembered an aunt once telling him, “All Vonnegut men are scared to death of women.”

“My theory is that all women have hydrofluoric acid bottled up inside,” he wrote.

Mr. Vonnegut went east to attend Cornell University, but he enlisted in the Army before he could get a degree. The Army initially sent him to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh and the University of Tennessee to study mechanical engineering.

In 1944 he was shipped to Europe with the 106th Infantry Division and shortly saw combat in the Battle of the Bulge. With his unit nearly destroyed, he wandered behind enemy lines for several days until he was captured and sent to a prisoner of war camp near Dresden, the architectural jewel of Germany.

Assigned by his captors to make vitamin supplements, he was working with other prisoners in an underground meat locker when British and American warplanes started carpet bombing the city, creating a firestorm above him. The work detail saved his life.

Afterward, he and his fellow prisoners were assigned to remove the dead.

“The corpses, most of them in ordinary cellars, were so numerous and represented such a health hazard that they were cremated on huge funeral pyres, or by flamethrowers whose nozzles were thrust into the cellars, without being counted or identified,” he wrote in “Fates Worse Than Death.” When the war ended, Mr. Vonnegut returned to the United States and married his high school sweetheart, Jane Marie Cox. They settled in Chicago in 1945. The couple had three children, Mark, Edith and Nanette. In 1958, Mr. Vonnegut’s sister, Alice, and her husband died within a day of each other, she of cancer and he in a train crash. The Vonneguts took custody of their children, Tiger, Jim and Steven.

In Chicago, Mr. Vonnegut worked as a police reporter for the City News Bureau. He also studied for a master’s degree in anthropology at the University of Chicago, writing a thesis on “The Fluctuations Between Good and Evil in Simple Tales.” It was rejected unanimously by the faculty. (The university finally awarded him a degree almost a quarter of a century later, allowing him to use his novel “Cat’s Cradle” as his thesis.)

In 1947, he moved to Schenectady, N.Y., and took a job in public relations for the General Electric Company. Three years later he sold his first short story, “Report on the Barnhouse Effect,” to Collier’s magazine and decided to move his family to Cape Cod, Mass., where he wrote fiction for magazines like Argosy and The Saturday Evening Post. To bolster his income, he taught emotionally disturbed children, worked at an advertising agency and at one point started a Saab auto dealership.

His first novel was “Player Piano,” published in 1952. A satire on corporate life — the meetings, the pep talks, the cultivation of bosses — it also carries echoes of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” It concerns an engineer, Paul Proteus, who is employed by the Ilium Works, a company similar to General Electric. Proteus becomes the leader of a band of revolutionaries who destroy machines that they think are taking over the world.

“Player Piano” was followed in 1959 by “The Sirens of Titan,” a science-fiction novel featuring the Church of God of the Utterly Indifferent. In 1961 he published “Mother Night,” involving an American writer awaiting trial in Israel on charges of war crimes in Nazi Germany. Like Mr. Vonnegut’s other early novels, they were published as paperback originals. And like “Slaughterhouse-Five,” in 1972, and a number of other Vonnegut novels, “Mother Night” was adapted for film, in 1996, starring Nick Nolte.

In 1963, Mr. Vonnegut published “Cat’s Cradle.” Though it initially sold only about 500 copies, it is widely read today in high school English classes. The novel, which takes its title from an Eskimo game in which children try to snare the sun with string, is an autobiographical work about a family named Hoenikker. The narrator, an adherent of the religion Bokononism, is writing a book about the bombing of Hiroshima and comes to witness the destruction of the world by something called Ice-Nine, which, on contact, causes all water to freeze at room temperature.

Mr. Vonnegut shed the label of science-fiction writer with “Slaughterhouse-Five.” It tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an infantry scout (as Mr. Vonnegut was), who discovers the horror of war. “You know — we’ve had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves,” an English colonel says in the book. “We had forgotten that wars were fought by babies. When I saw those freshly shaved faces, it was a shock. My God, my God — I said to myself, ‘It’s the Children’s Crusade.’ ”

As Mr. Vonnegut was, Billy is captured and assigned to manufacture vitamin supplements in an underground meat locker, where the prisoners take refuge from Allied bombing.

“Slaughterhouse-Five” provided another stage for his fictional alter ego, Kilgore Trout, a recurring character introduced in “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.” The novel also featured a signature Vonnegut phrase.

“Robert Kennedy, whose summer home is eight miles from the home I live in all year round,” Mr. Vonnegut wrote at the end of the book, “was shot two nights ago. He died last night. So it goes.

“Martin Luther King was shot a month ago. He died, too. So it goes. And every day my Government gives me a count of corpses created by military science in Vietnam. So it goes.”

One of many Zenlike words and phrases that run through Mr. Vonnegut’s books, “so it goes” became a catchphrase for opponents of the Vietnam war.

“Slaughterhouse-Five” reached No. 1 on best-seller lists, making Mr. Vonnegut a cult hero. Some schools and libraries have banned it because of its sexual content, rough language and scenes of violence.

After the book was published, Mr. Vonnegut went into a severe depression and vowed never to write another novel. Suicide was always a temptation, he wrote. In 1984, he tried to take his life with sleeping pills and alcohol.

“The child of a suicide will naturally think of death, the big one, as a logical solution to any problem,” he wrote. His son Mark also suffered a breakdown, in the 1970s, from which he recovered, writing about it in a book, “The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity.”

Forsaking novels, Mr. Vonnegut decided to become a playwright. His first effort, “Happy Birthday, Wanda June,” opened Off Broadway in 1970 to mixed reviews. Around this time he separated from his wife and moved to New York. (She remarried and died in 1986.)

In 1970, Mr. Vonnegut moved in with Ms. Krementz, whom he married in 1979. They had a daughter, Lily. They survive him, as do all his other children.

Mr. Vonnegut returned to novels with “Breakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday” (1973), calling it a “tale of a meeting of two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast.” This time his alter ego is Philboyd Studge, who is writing a book about Dwayne Hoover, a wealthy auto dealer. Hoover has a breakdown after reading a novel written by Kilgore Trout, who reappears in this book, and begins to believe that everyone around him is a robot.

In 1997, Mr. Vonnegut published “Timequake,” a tale of the millennium in which a wrinkle in space-time compels the world to relive the 1990s. The book, based on an earlier failed novel of his, was, in his own words, “a stew” of plot summaries and autobiographical writings. Once again, Kilgore Trout is a character. “If I’d wasted my time creating characters,” Mr. Vonnegut said in defense of his “recycling,” “I would never have gotten around to calling attention to things that really matter.”

Though it was a best seller, it also met with mixed reviews. “Having a novelist’s free hand to write what you will does not mean you are entitled to a free ride,” R. Z. Sheppard wrote in Time. But the novelist Valerie Sayers, in The New York Times Book Review, wrote: “The real pleasure lies in Vonnegut’s transforming his continuing interest in the highly suspicious relationship between fact and fiction into the neatest trick yet played on a publishing world consumed with the furor over novel versus memoir.”

Mr. Vonnegut said in the prologue to “Timequake” that it would be his last novel. And so it was.

His last book, in 2005, was a collection of biographical essays, “A Man Without a Country.” It, too, was a best seller.

It concludes with a poem written by Mr. Vonnegut called “Requiem,” which has these closing lines:

When the last living thing

has died on account of us,

how poetical it would be

if Earth could say,

in a voice floating up

perhaps

from the floor

of the Grand Canyon,

“It is done.”

People did not like it here.

Schedule Release

2007-04-12T09:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday at about 1pm I got a little excited, and then, I got a lot nervous. Here's why:

Indianapolis Colts 2007 Schedule

WEEK	DATE	OPPONENT	TIME
1	Thu., Sep. 6	SAINTS	8:30 p.m.
2	Sun., Sep. 16	at Titans	1 p.m.
3	Sat., Sep. 22	at Texans	1 p.m.
4	Sun., Sep. 30	BRONCOS	4:15 p.m.
5	Sun., Oct. 7	BUCCANEERS	4:05 p.m.
6	BYE
7	Mon., Oct. 22	at Jaguars	8:30 p.m.
8	Sun., Oct. 28	at Panthers	1 p.m.
9	Sun., Nov. 4	PATRIOTS	4:15 p.m.
10	Sun., Nov. 11	at Chargers	8:15 p.m.
11	Sun., Nov. 18	CHIEFS	1 p.m.
12	Thu., Nov. 22	at Falcons	8:15 p.m.
13	Sun., Dec. 2	JAGUARS	1 p.m.
14	Sun., Dec. 9	at Ravens	8:15 p.m.
15	Sun., Dec. 16	at Raiders	4:05 p.m.
16	Sun., Dec. 23	TEXANS	1 p.m.
17	Sun., Dec. 30	TITANS	1 p.m.

Making it to the Super Bowl last year was hard enough. Repeating is rare. This schedule does not bleed repeat. Except for that week we play BYE. I love that team. They always lose. :) Excuse me while I go and bring my heart rate back down to normal.

To find out if you should be a lot nervous or a little excited go to 2007 NFL Schedule to see the schedule for your favorite team.

Where Do I Send My Resume?

2007-04-11T11:10:00.000-04:00

I am so excited about the new NFL personal conduct policy. The best part about it is that the teams can be fined if the League determines that the team was negligent in complying with the policy and educating their employees. FANTASTIC! The best part is at the bottom where the NFL suggests that a best practice in implementing the policy is to have a full-time club player development director, i.e., Team Mom. Where do I send my resume????

On a totally different front, Tyler Hansbrough is returning for his junior year at North Carolina. Today is an ultra smile-worthy day. I smile every day that I get to live, but today this is something extra to smile about.

NFL strengthens personal conduct policy

(April 10, 2007) -- The NFL announced changes to its long-standing personal conduct policy and programs for players, coaches, and other team and league employees.
The modifications focus on expanded educational and support programs in addition to increased levels of discipline for violations of the policy, Commissioner Roger Goodell said.

"It is important that the NFL be represented consistently by outstanding people as well as great football players, coaches, and staff," Commissioner Goodell said. "We hold ourselves to higher standards of responsible conduct because of what it means to be part of the National Football League. We have long had policies and programs designed to encourage responsible behavior, and this policy is a further step in ensuring that everyone who is part of the NFL meets that standard. We will continue to review the policy and modify it as warranted."

Added NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw: "The NFL Players Association and the Player Advisory Council have been discussing this issue for several months. We believe that these are steps that the commissioner needs to take and we support the policy. It is important that players in violation of the policy will have the opportunity and the support to change their conduct and earn their way back."

Education

The annual rookie symposium of all drafted players will be expanded to include mandatory year-round rookie orientation by all clubs that will reinforce the information presented at the June symposium.

An expanded annual life-skills program for all players and clubs will be mandatory.

There will be mandatory briefings each year for all players and clubs given by local law enforcement representatives. These briefings will cover laws pertaining to possession of guns, drinking and driving, domestic disputes and other matters, including gang-related activities in the community that could be of significance to players, coaches, and other club-related personnel.

Every club will be required to implement a program for employees to enhance compliance with laws relating to drinking and driving.

Counseling and treatment programs for all club and league employees that violate the policy will be expanded.

Discipline

The standard of socially responsible conduct for NFL employees will be higher. Club and league employees will be held to a higher standard than players. Conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity and reputation of the NFL will be subject to discipline, even if not criminal in nature.

Discipline for individuals that violate the policy will include larger fines and longer suspensions.

Repeat violations of the personal conduct policy will be dealt with aggressively, including discipline for repeat offenders even when the conduct itself has not yet resulted in a conviction of a crime.

Individuals suspended under the policy must earn their way back to active status by fully complying with professional counseling and treatment that will include evaluation on a regular basis.

Clubs will be subject to discipline in cases involving violations of the Personal Conduct Policy by club employees. In determining potential club discipline going forward, the commissioner will consider all relevant factors, including the history of conduct-related violations by that club's employees and the extent to which the club's support programs are consistent with best practices as identified and shared with the clubs. Recommended best practices include having a full-time club player development director and a full-time club security director.

Next Tip-Off: 7 months

2007-04-03T13:26:00.000-04:00

It's times like this when you wish the new season started tomorrow so you could at least start gradually getting this bad taste out of your mouth.

P.S. Apparently if you play or played for the Colts and your name starts with a D you get in trouble with D-Law. Knock it off boys cause this Team Mom is starting to disown a few of you.

Rest In Peace, Jason Kendall "Rameses" Ray

2007-03-26T13:10:00.000-04:00

Please continue to pray for the family and friends of Jason as well as the entire UNC Tarheel family who were touched so much by him during his time here on earth.

Jason Ray, Tar Heel Mascot, Succumbs To Accident Injuries

The senior business major was pronounced dead this morning in New Jersey.

March 26, 2007
CHAPEL HILL - Jason Kendall Ray, 21, died this morning (Monday, March 26) at Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center. Ray, a senior at the University of North Carolina, was a member of UNC's cheerleading squad and was injured in a pedestrian/vehicle accident in Fort Lee, N.J., on Friday, March 23. He was pronounced dead by doctors at 8:38 a.m.
Ray was in New Jersey to perform as the Tar Heels' mascot, Rameses, in the NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional in East Rutherford, N.J., on Friday and Sunday. Dozens of family and friends gathered at the hospital's Surgical Intensive Care Unit since the accident.
"Our family would like to thank the staff at Hackensack University Medical Center for the compassionate and professional care they provided," says Jason's brother, Allen, speaking on behalf of the family. "They made this terrible experience as tolerable as possible and gave solace to our family. "We would also like to thank the UNC athletic department. Jason was a member of their family and they extended their support to us and provided support to our family as we have dealt with this terrible loss.
"Jason was a wonderful son, brother and friend. He leaves behind a legacy of friendship, laughter, excitement for life and a genuine love for all the people he touched during his all-too-short life."
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Jason Kendall Ray Memorial Fund, Concord Christian Church, 3101 Davidson Highway, Concord, NC 28027.
"Jason believed in organ donation and in the sharing of the gift of life," Allen Ray says. "His organs will be donated to the Sharing Network of New Jersey. We hope that Jason's gift will be able to help up to 50 people in critical need of transplant."
"This is a devastating loss to the Ray family and our University community," says Director of Athletics Dick Baddour. "Jason had many talents. Over the last several days, we have heard from so many people who said Jason went above the call of duty to brighten their days and make their child smile and laugh. He may have performed in the anonymity that comes with playing the mascot, but his life has had an overt and lasting impact on the people whose lives he touched. Our hearts and prayers again go out to his family and friends in this time of extraordinary grief."
Jason was majoring in business administration with a concentration in marketing at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School and was working toward a minor in religious studies. He had played the Ram mascot for the past three seasons.
"Jason gave Rameses an energy that was unique," says UNC cheerleading coach Brown Walters. "He embodied all of the qualities you would want in a team member. He was a tremendous ambassador of the University of North Carolina and that spirit will live on forever. The Carolina Spirit Program has lost a member of our family and he will be deeply missed."
"The loss of Jason Ray will be felt by all of us who love and care about Carolina," says Chancellor James Moeser. "His legacy will be one of caring and joy, of hard work and enthusiasm for life. Susan and I join his friends, classmates, teammates and instructors, people across the campus and far beyond Chapel Hill in wishing his family comfort during this time of profound loss."
"My heart goes out to Jason's family," says Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams. "He was an engaging young man and a friend to a number of our players and managers. They tell me he was a wonderful person. Obviously our team is disappointed with the outcome of Sunday's game, but that pales greatly in comparison with the loss the Ray family is dealing with today. We ask everyone to remember Jason and his family in their prayers."

Please Pray

2007-03-25T20:37:00.000-04:00

The doctors say that there's no hope beyond intervention from God, and as a believer, I know how that works, so please pray for this young man who appears to have such a great future ahead of him but may never get to see it. There are two articles here: (1) from ESPN and (2) from the UNC Athletics website.

Family, friends hold bedside vigil for Ray

Associated Press
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- More than two dozen of Jason Ray's family and close friends were at his hospital bedside Sunday, holding a vigil as the University of North Carolina mascot lay gravely injured after being hit by an SUV.
The 21-year-old senior remained on life support and in extremely critical condition
Sunday, two days after he was run down near his hotel in Fort Lee. Ray, who suited up as UNC's ram mascot, Rameses, was in New Jersey for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, a portion of which is being played at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford.
Ray's father, Emmitt, who flew to New Jersey in a friend's private plane after getting word of his son's life-threatening head injuries on Friday, said doctors hold out little hope for his son's recovery "short of the intervention of the Lord."
The UNC mascot had run out to get a burrito and a coke at a nearby convenience store Friday afternoon, and was walking back to his hotel along Route 4 when he was struck from behind by an SUV. The driver stopped immediately to call 911. No charges have been filed.
Ray's top-seeded Tar Heels were facing Georgetown Sunday at 5 p.m. for a spot in the coveted Final Four. It was to be Ray's chance to entertain his biggest crowd ever.
"We've known Jason since he was 11 years old -- he is an awesome kid," said Jodi Stewart, a neighbor of the Ray family who attends the same church in Concord, N.C.
"I never knew a kid who was more full of life. He was excited every day. He loved what he was doing, he loved God, his family, and being the school's mascot. We have not given up hope."
Stewart said about 30 of Ray's family and friends were at Hackensack University Medical Center Sunday, including his parents, Emmitt and Charlotte Ray, two brothers, and five high school friends who lived with Ray in Chapel Hill, N.C. Two students wearing UNC sweat shirts on the hospital grounds declined to speak with a reporter Sunday afternoon.
Stewart said the Rays had Jason when they were in their 40s, and devoted a lot of time to their son. "They cherish this boy. You cannot put into words what this child means to them," she said. "Jason is their life. They live their life for him."
Stewart said Ray was an Eagle scout and was involved in his church. While in high school at Jay M. Robinson High School in Concord, Ray was often seen cheering in the stands at basketball games, she said.
Ray's dad told The Star-Ledger that his son "absolutely loved" dressing up as Rameses, despite the costume's bulk. "It was his way of supporting the team," said Emmitt Ray. "There are things you just can't explain," he continued. "He just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. He wasn't doing anything he wasn't supposed to be doing. He was 200 yards from the hotel."
Police said Gagik Hovsepyan, 51, driver who hit Ray, had a valid driver's license and did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. His son was asleep in the
SUV at the time, police said.
At 6-foot-5, Jason Ray was such a commanding presence that when UNC Coach Roy Williams first met him in the campus gym, he wondered aloud why Ray wasn't on his team. "I'm too slow and I can't jump," Jason told Williams. "But I can be of assistance in other ways, coach."
Ray was to graduate in May with a 3.6 GPA, majoring in business administration with a minor in religion. He had a sales and marketing job lined up in nearby Raleigh, N.C.

Lucas: Tears For A Ram
Jason Ray, a senior who serves as Carolina's mascot, was critically injured Friday night.
March 24, 2007
By Adam Lucas

When you're in the mascot business, you're used to giving, not receiving.

Give a high five. Give a hug. Give a smile.

Calling it a "business" is a bit misleading, of course. That implies that it's somehow lucrative. It's not. Being a mascot falls in the same category as being a band member or cheerleader--you're part of the integral fabric of college sports, but no one notices you unless they have a complaint.

But at least a trumpet player or a tumbler can show his face. When you're a mascot, you learn to see the world through two small eye holes. You have to speak only with your gestures. It's hot in there--really, really hot.

Jason Ray travels with the tools of his trade in a black trash bag. That's how he walked into the North Carolina Children's Hospital last fall. He looked like just another tall guy in a Carolina windsuit. There were plenty of them around, because the football team was making its regular pre-home game Friday visit to the hospital. At that moment, tall guys in Carolina windsuits were the rule, not the exception.

But what was that big, bulky thing in his bag?

"Hey," he said. "Do you know if there's a place where I can change?"

Ten minutes later, Ray was gone. Rameses had appeared. He'd put on the costume he carried in the bag, including the enormous head, and proceeded to do exactly what Rameses always does--make people smile. Kids smiled. Parents smiled. Even a few football players smiled.

If you're a parent of a small child, you know that the only thing more entertaining than Tyler Hansbrough for them at a Carolina game is the sight of the ram. My kids are no different. They can be in the middle of a full-scale meltdown, and three simple words will snap them back to rapt attention:

"Where's the ram?"

He might be getting passed through the student section. Or maybe he's over there directing the band. Whatever he's doing, they love it. One of my favorite pictures of my daughter, McKay, is her sitting on the steps at a women's basketball game, shoulder-to-shoulder with Rameses. He looks gargantuan. She looks tiny. I like to think of both of them that way.
As a daddy, there is nothing better than making your kids laugh. So this is an enormous admission: Rameses can make them laugh even better than me. He runs out of the tunnel, he dances like the Blues Brothers, and sometimes he even sits down on press row and slums with the media. Look at the picture, but don't look at the giant ram. Look at the smiles of the faces on the people around him.
If you're a parent, this is the kind of day you dread. Rameses is going to be on the news frequently in the days to come as more news trickles out about the car accident in New Jersey that placed him in critical condition. His parents arrived last night and his brother flew in from Colorado.
What do you say when your kids ask you why Rameses is on TV? Mascots don't get hurt. Not like this. And neither should college kids.
You watched one Carolina team squeeze out a victory last night in the Sweet 16. They flew to New Jersey on a plane packed with other essential members of the traveling parties--associate athletic directors, band members, cheerleaders. And the ram.
Without a mascot--no, that's not it, they were without a team member--the cheerleaders were given the option of cheering at the game last night. They chose to do it, and to watch them you would have never known what they knew. In order to make sure all parties had been informed, Carolina didn't confirm the accident until the second half of the basketball game. Even before then, though, there was no outward sign of distress from the cheerleaders. They were as professional as amateurs (that's what we all are here, even the players) can be.
Until you ran into them immediately after the game in a Meadowlands hallway. It wasn't the looks on their faces that were most telling. It was the fact that almost every single one of them was on a cell phone. They were trying to get news, trying to relay news, trying to find out what they had missed during the three hours they were on the court.
Communication, of course, is one of the hardest parts of being a mascot. That fall day at the Children's Hospital, Ray--as Rameses--walked up to me. His big paw was grasping a folded piece of paper, and he was making a motion I didn't understand.
I eventually figured out he wanted me to hold the paper for him until the event was over. Once all the kids had been hugged and the last picture had been taken, Rameses finally disappeared...and Jason Ray reappeared.
"Thanks for holding that picture," he said. As he unfolded it, he proudly displayed a child's drawing of Rameses.

"I'd like to take this with me, if that's OK," he told the program coordinator. "One of the patients gave it to me."

Then he walked out, big bulky trash bag in one hand, picture in the other. It was the perfect portrait of someone who had spent most of the day giving...and unexpectedly received something, too.

Can I Have This Dance For the Rest of My Life?

2007-03-15T13:38:00.000-04:00

This is without a doubt my favorite sports related days of the entire year. Everyone today has a 0-0 record and anyone can win. ANYONE!! I agree with some that one of these days a 16 seed is going to beat a #1. I just don't know when it'll be. Maybe this year...maybe not. We'll see. Until then, let's fill that dance card all the way to April 2nd.

Welcome to the World, Jilian Kay

2007-03-13T17:04:00.000-04:00

Jilian Kay was born to my friends Anita and Tom on Friday, March 9, 2007 at 5:19pm weighing 6lbs 14 oz and 19 inches long.

Is this girl beautiful or what!!!! She is breathtakingly beautiful if you ask me and THANKFULLY looks very much like her mother except for the dark hair, which she gets from her proud papa.

Live From New York...

2007-03-02T08:51:00.000-05:00

It just keeps getting better and better this offseason despite my anxiety and nerves about free agency. I keep trying to remind myself that Pro Football is a business and though I love my boys, some of them won't be my boys next season. In any case, the entertainment world (or the brilliant minds at NBC, whichever you choose to believe) has brought us this for late night on March 24th:

Colts Quarterback to Host Saturday Night Live
INDIANAPOLIS – Since being named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLI, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has received many offers for appearances.
Manning, the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2003 and 2004, said this week that on March 24 – his 31st birthday – he will host Saturday Night Live, NBC’s long-running sketch-comedy show.
“I figure this is my one shot to be asked (to host the program),” Manning told media Wednesday night at the premiere of the Colts’ Super Bowl DVD, “2006 Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl XLI Champions.”
“I figure it ought to be fun.”

I may be the only one (and I don't really care if I am), but this is marked on my calendar! You think they can get him to bring out the Tango?

For a funny take on what could be in store for Peyton on SNL read this article on the Indystar.com:

The Not Ready for Prime Time QB

No...Football season never ends here at Leann's Random Thoughts as I take the same approach as the NFL Network...Football 24/7.

8 weeks until the Draft
4 months until Training Camp starts
23 weeks until the 2007 Hall of Fame enshrinement and game (Steelers vs. Saints)

WANTED: Team Mom

2007-02-20T13:56:00.000-05:00

Things that wouldn't happen if I were Team Mom:

Colts running back Rhodes arrested for drunken driving

Clark ejected from prep game

This makes me very sad. Way to go boys on representing the Colts organization in an upstanding citizen kind of way. As my mother always told me, I love you, but I don't always love the things you do. Being a Super Bowl Champion does NOT make you above the law (I realize Dallas didn't break the law, but still). Act responsibly and think of your family.

These things, on the other hand, make me very happy:

Colts make DE Freeney club's franchise player

Dungy says he's coming back to defend the title

T.E.A.M.: Together Everyone Achieves More

2007-02-13T11:16:00.000-05:00

This is a long one folks, so if you don’t make it to the end, I’ll understand.

I started out this season with one number in my head: 20.That’s how many regular season and post season games a team has to play to win the Super Bowl (assuming no first round bye in the playoffs); the last four have to be wins and a good number of the other 16 have to be as well. So as the weeks went on, I counted down: 20, 19, 18, etc. The two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, I had the number one in my head constantly. Just one more, guys…that’s all that’s left.

I’ll admit I had my doubts that this would be the season we made it to the Super Bowl much less won it. I mean really what part of NO RUN DEFENSE does one have to know before you stop believing it’s possible. At first, I thought the loss of Edgerrin James would do them in; that we would have a rebuilding year of sorts, then the tandem of Rhodes and Addai came to fruition, and I gained more hope. (Really how cool are those two guys. They pat each other on the back and do their jobs brilliantly.) We could have chalked it up to the injuries on defense, sure, because there were many…but I saw the bad run defense in the opening game of the regular season against the Giants BEFORE the injuries. Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs ran all over them, but the offense found a way to keep the Colts out in front. But the running just never stopped as team after team just kept running and running and running. I thought it was footage from Forrest Gump that never made it in the movie. We were ranked 32nd in run defense in the league and NO TEAM has ever won the Super Bowl being ranked that low. We allowed 100+ yards in all 16 games and gave some has been running backs the games of their careers (read: Ron Dayne). I held my breath more than a couple of times this season on games so close I was losing years off my life just watching them. We were winning the hard way on 2 minute drills, game winning field goals (or their missed field goals), and a chance interception here and there to stop the opponent’s final drive. I learned more than once what “you only need to win by 1 point” and “winning the hard way” meant. Amazingly, we never went to overtime in any game.

Peyton even started to slump, he started to throw interceptions when the ball never should have been thrown (even though he ended the regular season with the fewest interceptions of his career) or he would make bad reads and get sacked (even though the offensive line ended the season allowing the fewest sacks in the league).

Side Note: A common misconception about Peyton: he DOES NOT have happy feet. He moves his feet (Dance Revolution Style) constantly once the ball is snapped to keep himself mobile in case he has to run (heaven help me…it scares me when he runs). It’s not that he doesn’t trust his O-Line; he just always feels the need to be ready to run.

His receivers and tight ends would drop passes thrown right to the numbers (he had double the dropped passes this year than he had last year). The Jaguars game in December was the full team meltdown that I think they’d all been escaping all season. Sometimes though, a loss is a blessing in disguise. Sure they’d lost 2 games before that, but not as horribly as that Jaguars game. And, although they lost another game after that, I think the Jaguars game was kind of a wake up call to say, we’ve been going along like this, keeping the faith that everything would work out in the end, but somewhere along the lines they needed to do their part, too and finish plays. I, myself, even gave up on the season somewhere around the Tennessee loss. I wasn’t completely gone. I just firmly believed that if we (the entire team…all three units) continued to play the way we had been (just getting by and not finishing plays) then there was no way we could make it all the way to February. I felt a little bit better after the Bengals game, and I had to kind of brush away the loss to the Texans because really, we’d beaten them 9 straight times…eventually something had to give.

And then came the playoffs…

My goodness could the NFL have given them a bigger mountain to climb, not nearly as big a mountain as the Steelers last year starting as the 6th seed, but still…an uphill battle. The 32nd rated run defense against the #2 (by yardage) running back in the league…Are you kidding me??? Win that one; you get to go play the Ravens with the #1 defense in the league. Seriously??? Win that one, and you get to play either the Chargers (thought to be the most complete team in the league) or the Patriots (Sheesh…not again).

I was so scared the day of the Chiefs game that I was walking around just going through the motions and not really paying much attention to the world around me. But then the first ball was snapped to Trent Green, he handed it off to Larry Johnson, and Larry Johnson went no where. HUH??? WHAT??? Oh ok…that was the first play…there’s no way we can keep this up all game. And then the next play, and the next play, and the next play…It didn’t stop…3 and outs for the Chiefs until nearly the end of the 3rd quarter. Who would have guessed that? Not this girl. Larry Johnson was held to 32 yards. (No…I didn’t forget to put the 1 in front of that.) Peyton on the other hand played like…well like a rookie. He threw 3 interceptions, 2 were to Ty Law, the NFL player with the most career INTs off of Peyton (9 now). He was out of sync with Marvin Harrison, and I really just thought…well ok…we can beat Kansas City because the defense played like they should have been all season, but we can’t beat Baltimore without Peyton playing better than that. Colts 23, Chiefs 8

Favorite Quotes from the game:

“It’s not like we’re going to hold Larry Johnson to 12 carries for 25 yards,” Tony Dungy the week before the game. (He was right: Larry Johnson was held to 13 carries for 32 yards.)

"I told Ty Law I’d be happy to introduce him at the Hall of Fame,” Peyton Manning after throwing his 8th and 9th INT to Ty Law in the game

“Our receivers did really well with the ball when I threw it to THEM,” Peyton Manning discussing his poor passing performance during the game.

Favorite Play from the game:

Well my favorite play of any game is if/when Peyton gets to take a knee to run out the clock, but in this game it was the first play from scrimmage for the Chiefs when the Colts defense didn’t let Larry Johnson go anywhere. I breathed a slight sigh of relief at that point.

On to Baltimore…Oh my goodness…what a horrible week that was leading up to the #3 offense playing the #1 defense. There were about 2,000 articles about the Mayflower moving trucks that week. I was already tired of hearing about that dead-of-night move before the Colts played the Chiefs, but I mean this was crazy and getting out of hand. Good-natured grudges are all well and good, but this was like hostile and violent almost. So naturally, it didn’t stop me from being nervous about the game. I wasn’t sure what the weather was going to do. We’d been having mild weather for a couple of weeks by then and I was hoping for it to stick around at least long enough for the game to come and go. Still, rain was predicted for the game, and that concerned me. Little did I know I had nothing to worry about. Plus, I was so afraid of what Ray Lewis would do to Peyton that I was in a foggy haze. Then the game started and there was no turning back. We were in it for 60 minutes…or at least our special teams was. :) Peyton reduced his INTs from 3 to 2 for this game. Dallas Clark came up HUGE as did Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. They all caught some MAJOR passes that kept us in the game and ahead of Baltimore. The offense kept getting into good enough field position for Adam Vinatieri field goals and the defense was keeping McNair out of the end zone, but I still didn’t really breathe until Adam kicked his last field goal. The last field goal being the one that has Coach Tony Dungy naming Adam, “Money.” 18 down 2 to go. Colts 15, Ravens 6

Favorite Quotes from the Game:

Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan asked his fans for five seconds of quiet each time Indianapolis lined up for an offensive play. The reasoning behind Ryan’s request was to allow his defense a chance to make quick defensive calls and adjustments before the Colts snap the ball. Dungy, however, didn't mind the quiet if Baltimore fans want to afford them the opportunity.

“I did hear that. And so we kind of said the same thing. We’re going do all our communication in those five seconds. We’ll yell as quick as we can the plays and see if we can get them out in five seconds,” joked Coach Tony Dungy.

“There were a lot of middle fingers on the bus ride here tonight,” Peyton Manning about the hostile environment and Baltimore fans.

“Take it out on the owner. From what I understand, it was one man’s decision and that man is no longer living. Everything I’ve read about him, I don’t think I’d have liked him very much. I was eight years old when it happened,” Peyton Manning responding to the Baltimore v Indy history.

Favorite Plays of the Game:

Dallas’s catch for 13 yards and a first down that kept our offense out on the field to drown the clock.

Joseph’s lateral to Peyton which resulted in a Marvin Harrison reception for a 1^st down. I’m trying to figure out if there is any uncatchable catch that Marvin can’t make. Sometimes he drops the easy ones, but he always seems to come up with the ones that no one should be able to catch.

My favorite field goal of the night was the 51 yd FG that hit the cross bar and went over. Vanderjagt’s would have bounced off and out not in.

On to New England…I kept trying to figure out the whole time leading up to the Patriots/Chargers game which team I wanted to win. Did I really want to go to San Diego and play LaDainian or did I want to have the Patriots come to Indy and have to play the playoff version of the team? Since there was nothing I could do about it, I just hoped that we played well in the AFC championship game against whoever we played. I was sick all day that Sunday leading up to the game not to mention that I had a very bad drive home from church that afternoon because the snow started earlier than it was supposed to. At that point, I was thankful that we had the head to head lead on the Patriots and didn’t have to play this game in New England because if it was snowing here, there’s no telling what it was doing in Massachusetts. I won’t explain the entire game here as I’ve done that in a previous blog already. But suffice it to say, by the end of the night, I was indescribably thrilled. There are only two other times in my life that I have felt joy greater than I felt that Sunday night: (1) the day I was baptized and (2) the day Nelson was born, in that order. Colts 38, Patriots 31

Favorite Quotes from the Game:

“I don’t get into monkeys and vindication. I don’t play that card,” Peyton Manning after being asked for the gazillionth time whether making it to the Super Bowl validated his career.

“People ask me if this is how I wanted this game to go, and I say, ‘no, I’d have taken 35-0 or playing Oakland,’” Peyton Manning during the AFC Championship trophy presentation.

“It’s a shame we have to go to Miami, we should just go to Fort Wayne and play this off,” Tony Dungy after being asked about playing the I-65 Super Bowl against their neighbors to the north, Chicago.

“INTERCEPTED. The Colts are going to the Super Bowl,” Jim Nantz after Marlin Jackson intercepted Tom Brady’s pass with 24 seconds left on the clock.

Even better: “We’re going to the Super Bowl! We’re going to the Super Bowl!,” Indianapolis radio announcer and voice of the Colts, Bob Lamey.

Favorite Plays of the Game:

The touchdown to Dan Klecko in the 3rd quarter (and the 2 point conversion that only Marvin could catch) as well as Jeff Saturday’s fumble recovery in the end zone in the 4th quarter that finally tied the game. (Jeff’s spiking of the ball was just so darned satisfying.)

The 52 yard pass to Dallas Clark in the 4th quarter that lead to Adam’s final field goal of the game.

The 32 yard corner-route pass to Brian Fletcher on the Colts’ final drive of the game.

Joseph Addai’s touchdown that finally put us ahead after 59 minutes of game time.

And naturally, Marlin Jackson’s interception. I loved the fact that he thought about running but just collapsed onto the field so he wouldn’t lose the ball. I was already pretty much out of breath at this point, but Marlin sent me into hyperventilation.

On to the Super Bowl…I had little twinges the week before the game, but I never got really sick until the teams ran out on the field. There were parts of me that thought, they’re not going to give this up. They made it this far, they’re bringing it home. But there were Bears players that scared me. I was scared of which Rex Grossman would show up. He’s the scariest kind of quarterback…the inconsistent quarterback. How do you prepare for that? Is the good Rex or the bad Rex going to show up. Prepare for the good, hope for the bad. Brian Urlacher didn’t play in the last Colts/Bears game a couple years ago, so I didn’t really know what to expect. He’s a great athlete and fantastic at his position, so anything could have happened. Devin Hester had run multiple kickoffs back for touchdowns this season and I knew our special teams wasn’t good at return coverage. I had reason to be concerned. And then there was the weather. Rain favors the offense and specifically the running game. Peyton tends to get pass happy when he gets flustered and doesn’t rely on the running game like he should (see playoff game against the Steelers last year). So I was nervous that the rain would unnerve him and he would try to pass all night. On that one, I had nothing to worry about.

I had secretly hoped leading up to the game that we would lose the coin toss even though we got to call it. Every post season game we’d played to that point, we lost the coin toss and look how those turned out. So, Adam calls tails and in my head, I’m chanting heads, heads, heads. I’m probably the only Colts fan in the world who was excited that we lost the coin toss. Then the moment Adam’s foot hit the football on the opening kickoff, I knew. I just knew. I don’t know why I did, but I did…and it happened. Devin Hester, 92 yards, touchdown. First ever opening kickoff return for a touchdown in Super Bowl history. I also knew that the game was not going to end at 7-0. Colts turn…Peyton ended the first drive with an interception. His only one for the whole game, but at least it wasn’t costly as the Bears went three and out on the next drive. Peyton threw a beautiful 53 yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne, and I felt better. Then the PAT happened or didn’t actually. Hunter Smith (love you buddy) fumbled the snap and Adam Vinatieri was forced to take the ball and basically fall on it. After that the rest of the first half was basically, a touchdown by Chicago, a touchdown and a field goal by the Colts, and five more turnovers between the two teams before Prince even started tuning up his guitar. I lost count of the total fumbles (lost and recovered).

The second half I was still unnerved as we were only up by five starting out. First drive of the second half, we get a field goal. Adam had missed the one right before halftime and you’d think the world was coming to an end the way the announcers talked about it. Do people forget that he has missed in the post season before. In fact, the 1st New England Super Bowl run, he missed a field goal in the AFC Championship and in the 2nd NE Super Bowl run, he missed 2 field goals in the Super Bowl and one in the divisional round. He’s not perfect and if you repeat that he hadn’t missed all post season this year every time he walks on the field to kick, quite frankly, you’re inviting a miss. In any case, by the end of the third quarter, we had added two field goals and the Bears had added one. Peyton along with mainly his running backs (Joseph and Dominic) were busy drowning the clock as neither the team nor I was sitting pretty with a five point lead. With a little over eleven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Rex Grossman threw an interception to Kelvin Hayden (in the game for an injured Nick Harper) and Kelvin ran it back for a touchdown. We were now ahead by twelve, and I was a little more relaxed. Then on the very next drive, Rex Grossman throws another interception to Bob “what knee injury” Sanders with roughly 10 minutes left on the clock. On their final drives, the Bears never got past midfield. I was only sad that Peyton didn’t get to take a knee at the end, but knee or no knee, we won the Super Bowl. Colts 29, Bears 17

I waited 11 years to see Tony Dungy have Gatorade dumped on him. I waited 13 years to see Peyton Manning win “the BIG one.” I waited 9 years for the Colts to have 53 players that could play as a team. In the grand scheme of things, I know lots of people have waited a lot longer than I have for the Colts to win the Super Bowl, but I enjoyed every minute of it: validation, vindication, monkeys gone, whatever you want to call it…it was worth the wait.

I was proud of Peyton accepting the MVP award on behalf of the entire team because that 60 minutes was what we had all been waiting for during the 19 previous games. The number 20 in my head had been reduced to zero (which I somehow realized when Kelvin intercepted the ball. I realized there was no next game. This was it.). I was sad that I’d given up on them after the Tennessee game, but realized that the way the team was playing after that game was not the way they were playing now. And that other team was the one I gave up on. I wouldn’t change a thing. I wouldn’t take back any of the losses because I think they helped us. I wouldn’t take back any of the interceptions Peyton threw in the post season because it made the defense work that much harder. I wouldn’t take back the utter depression I felt at halftime of the AFC championship game because the joy I felt after the second half was worth it. I know Peyton has said he’d have taken 35-0 against the Patriots, but if I had it to do over again, this is exactly how I would have scripted every single play.

Favorite Quotes from the Game and Beyond:

“Super Bowl Champion Tony Dungy,” Rich Eisen on NFL Gameday. “Say that, again,” Tony Dungy coming to join NFL Gameday for a postgame interview.

“I wanted to be on a TEAM that won the Super Bowl, and I’m just proud to be a part of this team,” Peyton Manning during postgame interviews.

“We wanted to win this one for our coach,” Peyton Manning during a press conference following the game.

“We’re going to Disney World,” Tony Dungy and Dominic Rhodes.

“I want to thank Peyton Manning and the offense for making me the least used player at my position in the history of the game,” Hunter “the Punter” Smith at the Colts Homecoming Rally at the RCA Dome. (This was Hunter's 8th season. He has punted 472 times in regular season play. That's an average of 3.7 times per game and 59 times per season. He punted 47 times this season, a career low. Only the NE punter had fewer punts for the season with 43.)

Favorite Plays of the Game:

Matt Giordano’s never give up play on the opening kick off return against Devin Hester. He didn’t catch Devin until the end zone, but the boy just never gave up and still pulled him down. Didn’t save the 6 points, but good grief, how many other defenders do you know who wouldn’t just pull up when the guy crossed the goal line? Nice hustle, Matt. Two seconds earlier and you’d have had him.

Reggie Wayne’s 53 yard touchdown pass. It was a thing of beauty. After all he’s been through this season with his family, it was a beautiful cap on the season to see him make it to the end zone. (His 6 receptions for 137 yards the next week in the Pro Bowl made me VERY happy!)

Dominic Rhodes on every play he was in the game for. He would make a fabulous contractor because apparently there isn’t one brick wall anywhere he can’t run through.

Kelvin Hayden’s interception returned for a touchdown.

And that’s it. If you made it this far, I commend you. Thanks for sticking it out for the long haul. Everyone else, I understand your giving up because this blog post (as most of them are) was mainly for me.

My final thought…

I’ve waited a long time to say this as I was there 9 years ago when it was the 1st, but…

With the 32nd pick in the 2007 NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts pick…

Stay tuned!

In Adversity and Victory: To God Be The Glory, ALWAYS

2007-02-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

The Colts organization and especially Tony Dungy has been professing their faith for a long time (years before this season ever started). Not only were they saying that they had faith in each other and weren't giving up, but they weren't at all afraid to lay it all out there to say that God deserved all the praise and glory for what they were able to accomplish. They even praised Him for the struggles and trials they were going through during and after them. It's a testament to the kind of person that Tony Dungy is that he would instill those kinds of values and beliefs in his players because he is a Christian and knows what is most important. I just had to share because there was more than a football game won on that field Sunday night. I, as a Christian, am grateful that there are people like Tony Dungy out there who are willing to stand in front of the 3rd largest television audience ever and say God is responsible for the victory Sunday night (and I'm not talking about the game). Satan was horrified Sunday night over God's latest celebration. All that to say that I find it as no surprise that this was the scene in the locker room following all the trophy presentations and on field celebrating:

Colts owner Jim Irsay, holding the Lombardi Trophy in the team's locker room shortly after the game ended, asked coach Tony Dungy to gather the team for a post-championship prayer as soon as he walked into jubilant scene. And, in the middle of the celebration that had the locker room buzzing after the Indianapolis Colts' Super Bowl XLI victory, Tony Dungy had an announcement. They were not leaving Dolphin Stadium without one more piece of business.

A prayer.

Dungy, saying the team would end its season the same way it began, called the team together at the center of its Dolphin Stadium dressing area. He asked members of the media to turn off their television cameras and huddled the Colts together. The interviews with maybe a dozen reporters still lingering stopped. The pictures players were snapping of each other holding the Lombardi Trophy needed to wait.

"Wait a minute, Coach. Some guys are in the showers," someone yelled from the back of the pack as players made their way to the center of the room. A few seconds later, Bob Sanders and a couple of others emerged wearing towels.

"You lead us," punter Hunter Smith said as he pointed at Dungy.

"Me?" replied the coach humbly.

"You," Smith said, confidently nodding his head in appreciation of the man who became the first black head coach to win the Super Bowl.

Then it was so quiet the proverbial pin drop could be heard.

Dungy prayed.

Players knelt around Dungy and friends, family members (including Dungy's son) and Colts officials crowded into the jam-packed room. With the team's chaplain by his side, the Colts coach gave thanks for the players' health, expressed joy that the team stayed together through adversity. Holding hands, the team joined him in unison to recite The Lord's Prayer.

After the prayer, Dungy left his team laughing. Dungy referenced the team's long year that began in March, and repeatedly talked about the faith around which so many of the players rallied. He reminded them of his Saturday night speech. "We said there were going to be some storms," he said. "We just didn't know they would come on the first play of the game." But the Colts didn't crumble. "Like we've done all year, we just fought, hung tough and everybody did their job," Dungy told his players. "And when everybody does their job, it's a beautiful thing to watch."

To close the session, one player in the scrum of what seemed like hundreds of people crammed into the room prompted his teammates for a "world champs" chant.

And to the delight of the room, the players obliged. "World champs on three," went the yell.

And the room responded: "One ... two... three.... world champs."
(Combined reports by Beau Dure and Jarrett Bell)

There is no doubt in my mind that had the Lombardi Trophy NOT been sitting in that room with them, that they would still have ended their season in that locker room this way: Thanking God for EVERY blessing He has given them (trials and successes). So even if you begrudged the Colts winning the Super Bowl for whatever reason, I would hope upon hope that Christians in this world would be thankful for what was said after both the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl by members of the Colts Organization regarding their faith in and praise for God. They gave the glory to Him, the real MVP.

Best.Interview.EVER!

2007-02-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed all of the 2 weeks leading up to the Super Bowl with the exception of the waiting 2 weeks for the Super Bowl. Media Day last Tuesday was at some points annoying, but the media days after that were spectacular, especially when they bring you something like this:

I was in the floor laughing so hard I was crying when he gave the original interview prior to the play video being released, and still can't watch the interview or the video without laughing. My favorite part is "the bull." I love Peyton Manning (yeah I had to tell you that AGAIN), and one of my favorite things about him is his ability to laugh at himself. Just when I thought I knew EVERYTHING there was to know about him. He throws this at me.

It's A Beautiful Day

2007-02-05T10:11:00.000-05:00

I can't quite put my thoughts in to words just yet about everything, but I promise that once I can, I'll let you all know them. I can say that it hasn't fully sunk in, yet and I'm still walking around wondering what just happened. We waited all season long for a 60 minute total team effort, and I, for one, am glad they held out until the end to make that happen. Every one of them played so well and fought their way through (not letting the opening kick off return get to them).

I am incredibly excited for Tony Dungy and the entire Colts organization. I couldn't be happier for them!! If there was a way to give the MVP to the entire team, that's who would deserve it. Unfortunately, the MVP is voted for in the first half of the game, and a lot of guys who could have won it didn't get that opportunity to be considered. However, Peyton did share it with them in his post game speech. We've come a long way from throwing his O-line under the bus haven't we, Terry Bradshaw!

If I could I would have every sports writer who ever said that Tony or Peyton would never make it to the Super Bowl, much less win it (especially in the rain), write "I was wrong" 5,000 times each.

P.S. Two special shout outs:

1. To Malcolm Glazer (the owner of the Buccaneers) for firing Tony Dungy at the end of the 2001 season.

2. To all my friends and family members who have put up with me for the last 13 years listening to me talk about Peyton Manning and the Colts (for 9 years). I know you've suffered in more ways than one just having to listen to me, but some of you have even helped me get through some of the lowest lows over the years. And those of you who got to share the victory with me last night, it was much appreciated.

MORE LATER...GO COLTS!!!...And to God be all the Glory!!!

Cooper Manning

2007-02-02T09:04:00.000-05:00

This is an article about Cooper Manning. He is the oldest of the three Manning brothers. Not many people even know he exists, but to be honest with you, if you were to ask me which Manning brother is my favorite, it'd be Cooper. For all that Peyton and Eli have accomplished in their football careers, it pales in comparison to what Cooper has been through, overcome, and been successful in life doing. Read on if you're interested:

Another Line
By ALAN GREENBERG And JOHN ALTAVILLA
Courant Staff Writers

February 2 2007

MIAMI -- He's easily the funniest and most outgoing of Archie and Olivia Manning's three sons, and once might have been the best athlete. But while younger brothers Peyton and Eli study NFL defenses, Cooper Manning studies oil and natural gas companies for a boutique brokerage.

"I enjoy it, and I'm pretty good at it," he says in a phone interview from a 35th-floor office with grand views of the Mississippi River and New Orleans. "If I wasn't pretty good, I'd be looking at doing something else."

We all have our dreams, and when your dreams are of football glory, and you're the son of Ole Miss legend and former Saints quarterback Archie Manning, there's a darn good chance that those dreams will be fulfilled. Sunday at Dolphin Stadium, Colts quarterback Peyton fulfills a dream when he becomes the first Manning to lead his team to the Super Bowl. The family will be there, including Cooper (the "oo" is pronounced as in "book") and wife Ellen.

"The kids [daughter May, 4, and sons Arch, 21/2, and Heid, 1] aren't making the cut," says Cooper, meaning the travel squad. "This is a chance for me to get some sleep."

For a guy who views the glass as half-empty, it would also be a chance to lose sleep. To think about what might have been. Cooper Manning, an all-state receiver in high school, was forced to quit football as an Ole Miss freshman when doctors belatedly discovered that he had a congenital narrowing of the spinal canal known as spinal stenosis. It meant that Cooper risked being paralyzed the next time he was hit, and had been risking it all along.

Suddenly, there were no more hits, and no more gridiron glory. And instead of following Cooper to Ole Miss, where he knew they would be the greatest passing combination the world had ever seen, just as they were for that one precious year in high school, a despondent Peyton chose to attend Tennessee. Cooper learned to attend to life without football.

But Cooper, 32, is a glass half-full kind of guy. And the tears he shed 13, 14 years ago - when he endured several operations and doctors unpeeled his back like a banana - are gone. He had to learn to walk again after the surgery, and even once he did the occasional numbness in his legs would cause him to fall down as if he were drunk, a conclusion of passersby that he never bothered to correct.

No longer can Cooper throw a football or shoot a jumper with his misshapen right hand, the numbness and weakness in which was the first symptom of the grim diagnosis. No longer can he drive a golf ball with power, or crush you with a warm handshake when he looks you in the eye, as Archie Manning taught his boys to.

"My handshake sucks," he said.

But never his attitude. Cooper limps, yet carries himself with grace.

"I don't particularly like to dwell," he said. "I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me. I was 18 or 19 and I've moved on. I've done a lot of things I couldn't or wouldn't have done, made some buddies I wouldn't have had if I'd still played football. I'd like to think I became a little more well-rounded, a little more worldly, because I didn't have to get up to lift [weights] at 6 in the morning."

Archie remembers those years.

"One of the greatest years in my life was 1991, when Cooper was a senior all-state receiver and Peyton was a sophomore quarterback," Archie said. "It was a fun year for them. It formed an even tighter bond. And then it's a year later and Cooper's going to get his chance to play in college, which was his dream. And then the injury prevented all that.

"I believe Cooper handled it much better than Peyton did. Cooper just thought it was how life went; Peyton was angry, he thought it wasn't fair. They talked it through between them. Their relationship, their love for each other, makes me proud, even very emotional sometimes because the years have a tendency to go by."

After graduating from Ole Miss, Cooper worked in the oil service business for three years, then briefly considered becoming a sports agent or broadcaster before joining energy investment firm Howard, Weil, Labouisse, Friedrichs eight years ago.

"There was something about me," Cooper said, "that wanted to go into a total different direction than Peyton."

As kids, they used to go in the same direction - at each other. Whether it was fighting in the house or mauling each other under the driveway basketball hoop, there was mayhem. And Cooper, two years older, was always the winner. But Cooper also let his brother in on things in the neighborhood.

"They played together in playgrounds and in backyards and as usually was the case it was Cooper's buddies who were there," Archie said. "But they always let Peyton in. They abused him, kicked him around a little and probably toughened him up in the process. But all in all they competed against each other like the devil. They were so close."

Eli, 26, was too young to get involved in that stuff.

Peyton and Cooper got all the benefits of seeing Dad play in the NFL. Eli didn't.

"We just grew up in a different way," said Eli, quarterback of the Giants. "When Peyton and Cooper were growing up, my dad was still playing for the Saints and then Minnesota. So they were going in the locker rooms and knew all the players. They were just around football. By the time I came around, my dad was done playing football, so I never got that atmosphere where it was ingrained on me as early as those two guys."

For many, being the only brother who isn't a football star in America's royal football family could be a royal pain, especially when being a football star was all you wanted to be before a medical condition crushed your dream.

"I like to have fun with it rather than be annoyed by it," says the 6-foot-4, 185-pound Cooper, although honesty keeps him from signing their name when an autograph-seeker confuses him with Peyton or Eli.

Of course, a younger Cooper did get a kick out of a little confusion. When Peyton played at Tennessee, Cooper would come up to Knoxville for the weekend and occasionally sit in a local bar, cigar and drink in hand, on the eve of the game. When a fan, mistaking him for Peyton, would ask why he was out so late, Cooper would say, "Hey, we're only playing ..."

Although Cooper admits he gets tired of being asked, "Tell me some funny stuff about you and your brothers when you were young," he neither hides nor publicizes who he is. A year or two ago, a business client who had become a friend told him, "You're a jerk. I can't believe we've been dealing together for four years and you didn't tell me you were Peyton's brother."

What, no trading on the Manning name?

"These clients are far more intelligent than I could ever imagine being," Cooper said. "That's neat for about 10 minutes. But if you can't tell 'em what they want to know or make money for them, you're on a short leash."

So is Cooper. He can't snow or water ski, and an innocent bearhug or slap on the back can briefly leave him numb or in pain.

But that's just one of the many ways he's different than his brothers.

"Peyton's serious, and I'm not," Cooper said. "I'm very inquisitive, no matter what's going on. Eli doesn't really care. He's not overly interested in where the guy next to him on the flight is from. Eli is particularly comfortable with the awkward silence. I'm not.

"I'm kind of jealous of both those things, being comfortable with the awkward silence, and the ability to be so passionate, like Peyton's approach. He is not going to do his homework and leave a few answers to do the next morning before class real quick. I gave a little informal speech recently to 15 guys that wanted me to talk to them about the Saints and the Colts. I took a few notes, but sort of just winged it. Peyton would have written it all out and practiced it."

Cooper doesn't manage either brother's money. "I'll let other people lose it for them," he says. He does say Eli is more likely to ask.

"I'm more of a big brother to him. I'm more of a peer to Peyton; he doesn't really ask my advice. Peyton, he's a tough customer," Cooper said. "He'd be a hard person; he'd be hard to please. You're just not going to be showered with compliments. It would be, `That's good, but ...

"Eli would be a delight."

Peyton will be less than delighted if he loses the Super Bowl. But not for long. His older brother's dreams, and how abruptly they were destroyed, is Peyton's reality check. Sometimes it's hard to be a Manning, but harder to be a man. Cooper reminds everyone how to be both.

My Boys

2007-02-01T14:55:00.000-05:00

Allow me to be Verne Lundquist for a moment. If you’ve ever watched a CBS College Football game on Saturday afternoon, you know what I’m talking about. If not, Verne Lundquist is what I call the King of Hard-luck stories. He finds the most disastrous story about one of the players in the game and milks it for all it’s worth for the next three and a half hours. In any case………

These are my boys. I swear I would be the best Team Mom for the Colts. They’d probably all be really fat and unable to play because I’d just keep baking them cookies, cakes, and pies and really fatty southern food, but hey…they’d love me. :) I’ve often wondered if such a position exists and if so, how on earth do I apply for that job. I would love to take care of the rookies and help get them oriented to their new surroundings before they get their welcome to the NFL moment. Of course I’d baby them and they’d never grow up, but who cares…I’d be so good at it. In the course of these gentlemen becoming “my boys,” I’ve learned quite a bit about them. Some of them I know their statistics, some of them I know their background and how they got to the NFL, and some of them I know both of those things about them.

Take, for instance, Gary Brackett: he’s a linebacker from Rutgers, but has the cutest, most pinchable cheeks I’ve ever seen on a grown man. He had 123 total tackles this season, 72 of them were solo. But what you might not know about him is that he lost his father, mother, and brother to three different medical problems all in a 16 month span starting at the end of 2003. He dedicates a lot of his playing to them and just keeps going.

Take, for instance, Dallas Clark: he’s a tight end from Iowa who has one of the best smiles I’ve ever seen. I've taken to calling him my baby boy because I just love him. I fell apart when he hit the ground in the Philly game with what they thought was a torn ACL. Turns out it was a partial tear that has healed itself enough for him to be the biggest producers for the Colts in the postseason. He leads the league in receiving yards for the postseason. That has never happened in his career (regular season or otherwise). But his is of a different story. The week of his high school graduation, his mother died of a sudden heart attack. He competed in a district track meet a few days after her death. He played defense in high school, but his college coach moved him to tight end. This was after he walked on to the team and didn’t receive a scholarship until his junior year. Prior to the scholarship he worked his way through college working for the grounds crew of the Iowa Hawkeye’s stadium. And he worked on that grounds crew like his life depended on it being so incredibly proud of the patch of grass near the 20 yard line that he was responsible for. After being granted a scholarship, he started all 13 games as he helped lead Iowa to its first undefeated conference season in 80 years. His biggest game came against Purdue where on his first touchdown he broke a tackle and raced 95 yards for a touchdown. It was the longest pass play in Kinnick Stadium history and the second longest in school history. His second touchdown came with Iowa down 28-24, he caught a seven yard pass on fourth and goal to give Iowa a 31-28 win. He was a consensus first team All-American. He won the John Mackey Award for the country’s best tight end after that season. He left Iowa with 1,281 career receiving yards in just two years at the tight end position. All this from a kid who lost his mom the week before he graduated from high school. His wristbands every Sunday have “MOM” written on them.

Take, for instance, Jeff Saturday: he the Pro Bowl center from North Carolina who wasn’t drafted. He signed as a free agent with Baltimore in 1998 who waived him less than 2 months later. He was prepared at that point to enter the Arena league and play one season as a way to say goodbye to the sport he loved so much. He was preparing to go into the electrical sales business after that. Then the Colts called 7 months after he was waived by Baltimore and asked him to help protect Peyton Manning. This month he not only takes his Offensive Line that leads the league in fewest sacks given up into the Super Bowl, but he and his left tackle buddy Tarik Glenn are going to the Pro-Bowl. This will be Jeff’s second Pro Bowl of his career. Just 9 years ago he thought he was going to be an electrical salesman.

Take, for instance, Bryan Fletcher: he’s a tight end from UCLA who saw a good amount of action while Dallas Clark was out with his knee injury. Bryan’s stat on the roster lists him as having 2 years of NFL experience. What you don’t know is his patient journey before those 2 years. He was a 6th round pick by Chicago in the 2002 draft. He was waived by them 4 months after the draft. He went to the practice squad for Tennessee a week later and was waived by Tennessee a week after that. Three months later, Chicago asked him back for their practice squad and was signed as a free agent with them the next month only to be allocated to NFL Europe. Seven months later, he was waived by Chicago, again. Five months later, the Colts signed him as a free agent and allocated him to NFL Europe, again. Since September of 2004 he has been waived and signed to the practice squad twice only to be finally signed as a free agent by the Colts in January of 2005, which brings us to the present. Peyton loves him as he says Bryan is the kind of guy who just catches Touchdowns. He held on, and worked his behind off to make others realize just what an asset he could be to their team. And the Colts finally noticed. Patience (and a little hard work) is indeed a virtue.

Take, for instance, Anthony “Booger” McFarland: he’s a defensive tackle from LSU who was originally a first round draft pick of Tampa Bay in the 1999 draft. Earlier this season before the trade deadline, Tampa considered him washed up and not performing well enough for their team. He was traded to the Colts in October and has helped keep the defense steady and working hard to produce the way they have in the postseason. I’ve often wondered this season just how bad the run defense would have been if Booger wasn’t there. He found new life for his career on the Colts team and has helped them with his leadership and experience (he already has a Super Bowl ring). Thanks, Tampa for putting him out to pasture.

Take, for instance, Nick Harper: he’s a defensive back from Ft. Valley State who darn near ruined the Steelers’ postseason quest last year. Jerome Bettis fumbled near the goal line and Nick Harper picked the ball up and started running the other way. Ben Roethlisberger made a shoestring tackle to stop him. The ensuing drive led to a missed field goal by Mike Vanderjagt, which ended the game and sent the Steelers to the AFC championship and eventually the Super Bowl. The week before that playoff game, Nick Harper had a heated argument with his wife in the kitchen of their home. She pulled a knife on him and stabbed him in the leg. So it’s not a happy story or a situation that I condone in any way, shape, or form, but it happened nonetheless. I’ve often wondered what might have happened during his run back of the fumble had his knee not been sliced open by his wife. By the way, they’re still married.

Take, for instance, Terrence Wilkins: he’s listed as a wide receiver from Virginia, but he’s our return specialist on special teams. At the game I attended in September, he returned a punt for a touchdown. His career is similar to that of Bryan Fletcher. He started with the Colts as a free agent in April 1999. He played 3 seasons with us before being traded to St. Louis. He played one season with St. Louis, then signed with Carolina where he was placed on injured reserve almost immediately. He re-signed as a free agent with the Colts a few months later and a few months after that signed as an unrestricted free agent with Miami. He was waived by Miami in August 2004. A year later he signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League and less than a year after that, he signed as a free agent with the Colts. He has had a stellar season on special teams (despite a couple of fumbles), but he has an uncanny ability to put us in fantastic field position.

Take, for instance, Reggie Wayne: he’s a wide receiver from Miami. His brother died in a car accident in September and I still get this little pang every time I think about it. He never missed a game even with funeral arrangements and the actual funeral. He dedicated his season to Rashad and this year after 6 years in the league behind, arguably, the best receiver in the league (possibly ever) he is going to the Pro Bowl. On any other team, Reggie is the #1 receiver. On the Colts he plays the left side of the formation while Marvin Harrison plays the right side, but Peyton uses him as if he’s his #1 option. Of course Peyton uses all his wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs as his #1 option at some point in the game. In the AFC Championship game, Reggie nearly lost the ball on the game winning drive. It squirted up into the air, and came back down in his hands. I could only imagine that Rashad was right there next to him in spirit forcing that ball back into Reggie’s hands.

Take, for instance, Joseph Addai: he’s a running back from LSU. He’s played nearly every producing position on offense at some point in his football career, but at LSU he never saw a season over 1,000 yards. He was our first round draft pick in the 2006 draft and he has split time on the field with Dominic Rhodes for every game of the season. There was a large running back class from the 2006 draft that started immediately on their respective teams. Joseph is the only rookie drafted running back playing in the Super Bowl and the only one with over a 1,000 yards rushing in his rookie season that didn’t start any of the 16 regular season games.

Take, for instance, Montae Reagor, Mike Doss, Brandon Stokley, Corey Simon, and James Mungro: these are our starters on injured reserve. Montae Reagor was injured in a car accident before the Redskins game. Mike Doss tore his ACL in the Redskins game. Corey Simon hasn’t played a game all season due to a non-football related injury (rumor has it it is some kind of arthritis that affects multiple joints). James Mungro tore his ACL before the season started leaving the offense with no option at fullback. Brandon Stokley (who is much smaller in person than I expected) ruptured his Achilles during the second Jacksonville game of the season without anyone touching him. This was after his season had already been bombarded with knee injuries that kept him out of all but three games before that game. These are the guys who are in Miami wearing their jerseys but not getting to play with their team. These are the sideline cheerleaders helping in whatever way they can. These are the guys who feel more than the pain of their injuries. They’re feeling the pain of not getting to help their team on the field.

These are my boys. Every last one of them has a story, but these are just a few of the more detailed ones. Every last one of them works hard to help the Colts win games. Every last one of them is going to play their heart out on Sunday night to help bring a Super Bowl to Indianapolis for the first time ever and I’m going to be proud of all of them. And, yes, every last one of them has flaws because no one is perfect, but for the men that they are and are not…that’s what makes them my boys.

A Smile Thirteen Years in the Making

2007-01-24T16:29:00.000-05:00

It’s taken me until today to put my thoughts completely together, but this is what I’ve come up with…

It was early one Saturday morning in the fall of 1993. Well, early by this high school sophomore’s (at the time) standards. I had probably slept in as much as possible following the previous night’s high school football game, but was up nonetheless to enjoy a tradition that my brother and I had started unbeknownst to both of us. We watched a show together on Saturday mornings in stone silence. It was a high school football recruitment show that highlighted area talent who were being recruited for college. This particular Saturday morning, a young 17 year old high school senior quarterback from New Orleans, LA was highlighted, but I didn’t understand why at first since he was not from the area I lived in. At this point in my life, I was just beginning to enjoy and understand football, so history was nearly lost on me when they said he was the middle son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning. The stone silence was broken so my brother could educate me. But from that moment on, from that interview footage of him playing catch with his father in the front yard, I was hooked. People always talk about athletes having that special something, that one thing that lets you know that they’re going to make it and make it big. I didn’t understand all that jargon until that morning. I watched that tall, skinny kid with dirty-blonde hair smile and talk about football like he was a textbook on the subject. I can’t say for certain if he had committed to Tennessee at that point, but that’s where he ended up. I had not at that point chosen or even thought about Alabama, so I didn’t know the heated rivalry between the two schools and really wouldn’t for another 2-3 years.

This past fall marked 13 years since Peyton Manning entered my life through a TV screen and 13 years since I first saw what everyone else on this earth finally knows. I’ve been through 13 seasons of football watching him even though he didn’t take his first snap until the 4th game of his freshman season and only because he was next in the depth chart after everyone else got hurt. But since he took that first snap he has started every game of his career: college and pro (pre, regular, and post season). He is a workhorse in more ways than one: in the film room, in the weight room, on the practice field, in the game, and on the sidelines. He never stops thinking about that next play and what he needs to do to make it successful. In those 13 seasons, I’ve watched and felt a lot of losses, but the wins…oh the wins. I’ve seen a few to say the least. I’ve been amazed and proud and excited, but there was always something. There was always that group of people who doubted.

In college, it was the ones who couldn’t get past the fact that Tennessee didn't beat Florida while Peyton was in college since it was Florida’s 11 guys against Peyton, not Florida’s 11 guys against Tennessee’s 11 guys. Has anyone ever stopped to mention the fact that the time in which Peyton was in college was (and I hate to say this) the high time for Florida football? I mean come on, Florida won the national championship Peyton’s junior year of college. There’s even people out there (and these people really disgust me) who think that Tennessee won the national championship during Peyton’s rookie season in the NFL BECAUSE Peyton wasn’t there anymore. That's just hurtful to honestly believe that the success or failure rests on the shoulders of one individual in a team sport. In the pros, it’s been the Patriots with the group always saying it was Manning vs. Belichick or Manning vs. Brady or Manning vs. The Patriots. Never the Colts vs. the Patriots. I’ve often wondered how these reporters got their job if they don’t fundamentally understand that there are 22 guys on the field at one time and none of those 22 guys is Bill Belichick nor are Manning and Brady ever on the playing field at the same time. But, I digress.

I knew this day would come. This day when the Colts would make it to the Super Bowl. I've never been a firm believer in the idea that a Super Bowl appearance or a Super Bowl win makes you any better of a football player than when you walked on that field at the beginning of the game. I think every player is the same player. There's just another bullet point on their resume. But for the naysayers, for the doubters, I wanted this win. It's not a monkey that was on their backs; it was a group of reporters who don't have anything better to report. But if you want to call them monkeys, I'm cool with that.

I woke up early that Saturday morning in April 1998, well early for this college sophomore (at the time). I left my room so my roommate could continue sleeping and went into the living room of our dorm suite and watched the first pick of the NFL draft. Peyton was pacing back and forth in his holding room (they have tables now), and I was just as nervous. Then Paul Tagliabue said it and he said it in a different way than he has said every other NFL draft pick. Normally, he says, "With the V pick in the draft the W team selects X player, Y position, Z school." That morning he said, “With the V pick in the draft, the W team selects, Z school, Y position, X player." Oh the suspense. Though when he said University of instead of Washington State, I knew that Peyton was the #1 pick. The entire week leading up to the draft, all we ever heard was would Peyton or Ryan Leaf go first. After that, I turned off the TV and went back to bed. There was much work to do; however, in learning to be a Colts fan...

As the first pick in the draft, Peyton became the starting quarterback for a team coming off a 3-13 season with a new head coach in Jim Mora, Sr. Again, I believed. I’ve blocked most of his rookie season out of my head as the Colts went on to its second season with a 3-13 record, and Peyton threw 2 more interceptions than touchdown passes that season. The next season would be different, I believed. And it was. With the exception of Peyton’s rookie season and the 2001 season (Coach Mora’s last and a season when Edgerrin James was injured), the Colts have gone to the playoffs every season of Peyton’s NFL career so far. This is Peyton’s 9th NFL season.

Thirteen years ago this all began. Thirteen years ago, I believed this would one day happen. My love for Peyton has grown over the years, and as much as he is a textbook on football, I’m probably a textbook on him, all 6’5”, 230 pound QB, laser rocket arm of him. But it’s grown in ways I never imagined. It’s grown in Dwight Freeney, Jeff Saturday, Tarik Glenn, Bob Sanders, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Marlin Jackson, Nick Harper, Booger McFarland, Matt Giordano, Rob Morris, Ryan Lilja, Ryan Diem, Hunter Smith, Justin Snow, Adam Vinatieri, Dallas Clark, Bryan Fletcher, Joseph Addai, Dominic Rhodes, Kelvin Hayden, Cato June, Antoine Bethea, Rocky Boiman, Dan Klecko, Gary Brackett, Robert Mathis, Terrence Wilkins, Coach Dungy, Coach Moore, Coach Caldwell, Coach Meeks, Bill Polian, and Jim Irsay. I have become not only a Peyton Manning fan but a Colts fan. I have found in this organization, a group of people who believe faith and family comes before football, who believe that success comes from giving glory to God, never giving up, and never losing faith, and who believe they are a family first and foremost.

On Sunday, I almost lost my belief. I almost went to bed at halftime. But I remembered a promise I made earlier in the season. I promised that I wouldn’t give up on them. I wouldn’t stop believing. I would be in this for the long haul no matter how many years it took. Even if they never saw the light of day at a Super Bowl until Peyton was long gone from the NFL, I would never stop believing. And so, I stayed up, and I stayed in my seat on the couch only moving to get clothes out of the washer or dryer. And what a reward staying up was. I watched as 53 men and their coaches said, 18 points, so what, don’t give up, don’t count us out, this is a 60 minute game, let’s make play after play after play, and let’s get it done. I cried. I crawled across the room to kiss the TV when Joseph Addai ran in untouched for the final score of the game. I crawled back to the TV when Marlin Jackson intercepted the ball with 16 seconds on the clock in the 4th quarter. I hyperventilated for 10 minutes and had to rewind to the interception to see the last 16 seconds since I missed them through the hyperventilating and crying.

There are snapshots in my head that pop up at the weirdest times. I’ll be driving down the road and the snapshot of Joseph scoring will pop up. The snapshot of Peyton taking a knee (MY VERY FAVORITE PLAY OF THE WHOLE NIGHT) will pop up. The snapshot of Marvin Harrison catching the 2 point conversion on a catch only he could make will pop up. The snapshot of Dallas Clark's 52 yard reception will pop up. But my favorite snapshot that pops in my head is what I call The Smile. The camera caught Peyton’s reaction when Marlin caught the interception. In thirteen years, I’ve seen Peyton smile a lot, but never like that. It was of pure satisfaction, of relief, of it’s about time, and a little bit of we did it together. I’ve waited thirteen years for that smile. And all I can say is it was worth the wait. I know there’s one more game. I know this isn’t over by a long shot. I know the Bears are going to bring everything they’ve got, but for the rest of my life, I will never forget The Smile.

New Addition

2007-01-23T09:02:00.000-05:00

Here she is ladies and gentleman:
Best Buy Page (I paid a lot less for this TV than what the website says.)

She was adopted on Saturday morning and will be delivered to my house on January 30th (Katherine and Nelson will be receiving the shipment because they're just awesome like that). And, just so you know, it was not because I had confidence we would win on Sunday night. In fact, I was sick as a dog from the NFC championship trophy presentation after the Bears game all the way through the 1st half. I almost gave up and went to bed after the interception in the 2nd quarter, but I just couldn't leave my boys like that. My decision to give up on my plan to not buy the Big Screen until they actually made the Super Bowl came around the week after the regular season loss to Tennessee at the beginning of December. It wasn't that I'd given up on them because I've always believed they could make it to the Super Bowl if the correct three units came to play in the same game. It was more that I decided that their ability to win football games was not dependent on my ability to overcome living in low-def (did you see that commercial?). Funny how a little thing like giving up your promise to the "football gods" makes a porous defense close up holes. Because when I started to look at different TV model choices, it was around the start of the playoffs. Regardless, I've already ordered the HD-DVR from Cox (even got an extra $100 off the TV for going through Best Buy to order it) and will be picking it up this weekend so it will there when she arrives a week from today!!!

My question to all y'all out in cyberspace...she needs a name. Any suggestions?

Still Breathing

2007-01-22T13:39:00.000-05:00

I have waited a LOOOOONNNNNGGGG time for these pictures. I realize there's one more game to go, but these images from last night will never leave my head.

This is Alabama Football

2007-01-12T15:09:00.000-05:00

Yes I know I'm a little late in reporting this, but these past couple weeks have been odd to say the least. In any case, I cannot say enough about DeMeco Ryans and how proud I am of him for being named the Defensive Rookie of the Year for the NFL. He represents everything that I love about Alabama football because he was a true student-athlete at the Capstone; graduating with honors while leading the Crimson Tide to a 10-2 record during his senior season. He also won the NCAA Top VIII award given each year to the 8 student athletes out of ALL NCAA student-athletes who excel in the classroom, on the field, and in the community. His performance during his rookie season in the NFL may have surprised some, but not me. I knew what he was capable of, and even though they changed his position when he signed with the Texans, he took that position and made it his own including more tackles than any other rookie linebacker has ever made. ROLL TIDE ROLL, DeMeco!

Ryans wins dual honors

January 03, 2007
HoustonTexans.com

HOUSTON – The Associated Press announced today that Houston Texans LB DeMeco Ryans was named Defensive Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Texans player to win the honor. Ryans received 72 percent of the vote (36 of 50 votes). Ryans also discovered later in the day that he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for December.

Ryans, the team’s second-round draft pick (33rd overall) out of Alabama, finished the season with 156 tackles, including 126 solo stops, based on press box statistics. His 156 total tackles were more than any rookie in the last 20 years. Ryans led the NFL in solo tackles and finished second in total tackles.

In December, Ryans led the Texans to wins in three of the team's final five games, totaling 57 tackles, one interception, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and five passes defensed during the stretch. Only Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl linebacker Zach Thomas had more tackles in that period.

Ryans (6-1, 239) recorded 10 or more tackles in nine of 16 games, more than any other defender in the league, and four more than any other rookie. He led the team or tied for the team lead in tackles 10 times. In addition to his historic tackle numbers, Ryans finished tied for the lead among rookie inside linebackers with 3.5 sacks and finished second among rookie linebackers with one interception.

Ryans was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after Houston’s 23-14 win over Oakland in Week 13 (12/3). In that game, he finished with 15 tackles (14 solo), an interception, a fumble recovery, a sack, a forced fumble and three passes defensed. Ryans became the only player in the NFL this season to record double-digit tackles, a sack, interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery in a single game.

The rookie middle linebacker burst onto the scene in his professional debut, tallying 13 tackles (12 solos) against Philadelphia. He finished the year strong, recording double-digit tackles in five of his last six games.

Ryans played an integral role in the Texans’ defensive improvement over the last three months of the season. Over the last 14 weeks of the season, Houston ranked 10th in the league in total defense and 13th in scoring defense.

Texans DE Mario Williams received one vote, making the Texans the only team with multiple players garnering a vote.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby Nelson

2006-12-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been a whole year. Where does the time go? I completely understand what parents mean when they say kids grow up too fast. There is not enough space on this blog or quite frankly all of cyberspace to articulate all the things that Nelson has taught me, shown me, given me, and brought to my life. I have always loved children (and babies especially), but I never imagined I would love a child this much. I still tear up and occasionally cry just thinking about him. I was blessed and honored to have my dear friends Ben and Katherine allow me to be there for his birth. I will NEVER for the rest of my life forget that entire VERY EARLY morning on Christmas Eve 2005 when this precious angel came in to the world. I can still see him looking up at me when I held him for the first time. He still looks at me that way every now and then. I will always remember him sleeping through the Alabama bowl game on my chest when he was a week old. That he doesn't do any more...sadly for me. When Katherine was pregnant, I wondered constantly what his smile would look like, what his laugh would sound like, and if he would like me or run screaming from the room away from me. Over the last year, I have seen that smile so many times, my heart is a puddle because it melts every time. His laugh is infectious and one of the only sounds in this world that can make any bad mood I have go away. And, thankfully, he seems to love me. He walks to me, hugs me, kisses me, and (occasionally) snuggles with me. Over the last year, Nelson has filled a hole in my heart that I didn't know was there, and I only have God to thank for that. God brought Ben and Katherine into my life, He gave Ben and Katherine Nelson, and they have allowed me to be a major part of Nelson's life because of the gracious and kind people that God created them to be. If all this fit in to one year, I cannot even begin to imagine what the next year and the next year and the next year have in store. Happy Birthday, sweet baby Nelson. Thank you for being one of the great loves of my life.

Rest In Peace, Sweet Sarah

2006-12-12T09:14:00.000-05:00

5/8/69 - 12/11/06

I wish I'd known her better because she was an incredible human being. I did have the pleasure of "teaching" her youngest daughter in my very first Seedlings nursery class. There are no words that I can think of to properly speak of how wonderful Sarah was, but you can certainly see every bit of her influence in her husband, Scott and her four children, Hannah, Noah, Jonah, and Rachel. I pray that they will carry on her legacy of faith, love, and caring. I pray that we will never forget her and what she taught us during her all too short time with us. I pray for comfort and peace for her entire family. Though we are sad here on earth, we know that Sarah is in a much better place now with her Lord.

Rest in Peace, Sweet Sarah.

Weirdo

2006-11-30T13:24:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Jill and with a little time here at the end of my lunchhour, I thought I'd come clean on all my little secrets:

1. I can tell you the entire plot summary of all 179 I Love Lucy episodes within the first 30 seconds of the episode and sometimes with just the title of the episode. I even know most of the Lucy/Desi Comedy Hours that followed the original I Love Lucy. Sometimes I can even recite lines from the episodes without prompting.

2. Talking animals freak me out, but only animated talking animals like in The Lion King or Happy Feet. The last animated talking animal movie that didn't freak me out was Bambi. I am not, however, freaked out by live action talking animals, for instance the new Charlotte's Web...that's ok...I can handle that. I can't explain it, but that's who I am...and don't try to tell me how good those animated talking animal movies are...it won't work. :)

3. I can travel to places no one ever thought possible with my thought processes...I mean incredibly weird like "how did you get there from here" kind of things. For example, say the words "spiced tea" to me and here's my brain's function: Spiced tea makes me think of Ashley because Ashley gave me the recipe, which I in turn used to create gifts for my co-workers last Christmas, one of my coworkers Erica loved the spiced tea, she has a husband named Art who loves Ohio State to which my brain starts contemplating the possible opponents that Ohio State will play in the National Championship game and why the impossible opponents won't be playing them. See...I told you...from Spiced Tea I can get into a debate with myself over who should play Ohio State for the championship.

4. My brain (as evidenced above) is about 95% useless knowledge, and 5% useful knowledge. I know things that no person in their right mind should ever know because there's no reason to. For instance, I know that there are 2 other players on the Colts team who share Peyton Manning's birthday (3/24). The other two players are Mike Doss and Bo Schobel, both defensive players. I also know that Bo Schobel has a cousin (Aaron) who plays for the Buffalo Bills. And that Peyton's birthday is exactly one week after his wedding anniversary. And it's not just limited to sports either. I can tell you that on the show Designing Women the actress who played Charlene (Jean Smart) met her husband on the show he was the actor who played JD Shackelford who was dating the Mary Jo character. The two actors got married and had a baby. Jean Smart was really pregnant when her character was pregnant on the show. See...useless knowledge. I mostly know all of this from reading news articles on the internet until my eyes hurt because I love knowledge (useless or not). By the way, the useful stuff, at least if you're a publicly traded company, I can write your annual report for you. Love that accounting degree.

5. The accounting degree leads me to my next item. I am an accountant because of MTV. Yes, you read that right. When I was in high school, I watched The Real World religiously. The Los Angeles season was on and there was a guy named Aaron on the show who was a student at UCLA studying accounting. I got curious, did some research, and here we are...I'm an accountant.

6. Finally, I yell at the TV...no matter the program: series, news, sports, whatever. I yell at the TV. I know sometimes I'm yelling at make believe stuff, but that doesn't stop me from telling some character that can't hear me that what they did was stupid. When it comes to sports, I'm usually yelling at the referees or giving the players little pep talks. Again, I know they can't hear me, but it makes the show go by faster if I have this little interaction with the TV.

I'm quite certain there are more than 6 weird things about me, but hey...this is what I narrowed it down to. Hope you enjoyed this little look inside Leann.

November 7, 1991

2006-11-07T16:01:00.000-05:00

How many of you know what that date is or know exactly where you were when you heard?

15 years ago today, Magic Johnson announced his retirement from the game of basketball because he had contracted the AIDS virus, HIV. Yeah we know he contracted it because of unprotected sex, but that aside, he was the first icon of our generation to announce such a thing.

I was 13 years old and I was getting ready to go to a junior high dance. Right before my mom drove me up to the school, Magic Johnson held his press conference and we sat in my parents' bedroom staring stunned at the TV screen.

I had grown up knowing the story of Ryan White, the young boy with hemophilia who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion. Ryan had died a year and a half before Magic Johnson's announcement and two years to the day before Arthur Ashe announced that he, too, had AIDS, contracted through a blood transfusion during heart surgery. Before them, Rock Hudson was the only celebrity or icon who had AIDS that we knew about. All three of these resulted in fatalities. It's a crazy disease that has no cure, though Magic Johnson has managed to live 15 years on a cocktail of drugs.

My parents can tell you where they were when the bombs dropped during WWII or where they were when they heard about JFK's assassination or where they were when President Nixon announced his resignation. My mother specifically can tell you where she was when she heard Elvis died.

I, on the other hand, can tell you exactly where I was when Magic Johnson told the world he had HIV.

No matter the way it's contracted, it's still a disease that has prevention and no cure. Don't let awareness sleep folks. That just makes the disease grow.

Win Or Lose

2006-11-04T21:43:00.000-05:00

*****Update: I'm worn out. I mean just plain tired, but what a game that was. I was sick all day Sunday, but felt this immediate calm win the game came on and Bob Sanders was dressed out. Welcome back, Bob. And if you missed Peyton's new MasterCard commercial, it's a good one. "Rub Some Dirt On It" is my new favorite phrase. Adam had a rough night in kicking and in booing, but I still adore the heck out of him. Oh, and I think I'd marry Cato June if he asked me.*****

I unintentionally made a deal with football gods last year, and they took me seriously. I jokingly said that I would forgo the Super Bowl last year if the Colts would beat the Patriots in Foxboro. Important part of that sentence: JOKINGLY! Important lesson from all this: Don’t joke with the football gods. They took me seriously. This time no jokes, no deals. The only way I want the Colts to win the game tomorrow night is if it leads the Colts to a Super Bowl win. I’m tired (mentally and emotionally) of this being the defining game of the season. I’m tired of the comparisons of the two QBs. I’m tired of the criticism. I’m tired of the hype. Just let those 106 players play the game and let the best team (that day) win the game. But I guess if there weren’t big games, comparisons, criticism, and hype, we’d have no opinionated sportscasters…wait a minute……

But seriously…as a Colts fan…I think they can win the game if they play the way they know how to play. Without Bob Sanders (as it’s looking like), Mike Doss, and Montae Reagor, it’s a tough sell I know, but I’ve seen teams with a lot less talent surprise people (Texans vs. Jags, Oakland vs. Pitt…seriously…who saw either of those coming?...not me). It may be an uphill battle, but I’m behind them all the way. No other defense reads Peyton as well as the Patriots and no other offense plays as well against the Colts as the Patriots. It is a good game, but really I’d rather people just see it as another game on the schedule instead of proclaiming the entire week leading up to the game Colts/Pats week (ESPN did this). There are 30 other teams in the NFL and 26 of them also have games this weekend. The Colts have come this far and while a 16-0 run into the playoffs and the possibility of the first time having 2 undefeated teams in the Super Bowl is interesting, let’s just play the game at hand and worry about January when it gets here.

So here it is…win or lose…they’re still my team…win or lose…I still think they’re the best in the NFL (yeah that’s my homer attitude)…win or lose…no deals with the football gods…win or lose……

P.S. My thoughts are with Adam Vinatieri who is entering some hostile territory tomorrow night. Let it be known that Adam did not cut and run for the money. Adam only wanted market value...to be paid what a player who has won 2 Super Bowls (and got robbed of the MVP) for the Pats was worth. The Pats had the opportunity to match the Colts' offering (After the $3.5 million signing bonus he's only making $1.7 million a year.), but they didn't. And boy is he worth every penny of that 12 million dollars!!!

Pain In The Neck

2006-10-24T10:52:00.000-04:00

***UPDATE***The NFL fined Phillip Daniels $5,000 last week for this hit.***UPDATE***

Please allow me to introduce everyone to the man with the strongest neck in the world (or at least that I've ever seen)...Mr. Peyton Williams Manning who comes from a family with a genetic predisposition to Spinal Stenosis (look it up). Thanks to Mr. Phillip Daniels, Defensive End for the Washington Redskins from Georgia, those of us who watched the Colts/Redskins game on Sunday afternoon were privy to what I call roughing the passer (apparently the refs didn't see it that way). But I don't know what else to call grabbing someone by the neck, pulling them back until their back is bending in a direction it shouldn't, and snapping the QB's helmet off until Peyton's entire body springs back to the earth face first. I nearly lost it especially when Peyton grabbed his shoulder and didn't get up right away.

I read an article the next day that said Peyton dressed much slower on Sunday evening in the locker room with obvious reason...the boy was sore from head to toe. People say...that's just football and he's a football player and he should expect to get hit like that. But any sport that sees a hit like Carson Palmer took in the playoffs last year, Ben Roethlisberger took on Sunday and got a concussion, and Peyton took on Sunday...something needs to be done. I don't think I can point to another NFL season that saw this many injuries (a lot of them multiple weeks to season ending) by week 7. If I'm not mistaken, following Monday night football, at least 4 players are out for the season and at least 3 more of out for multiple weeks...and there wasn't even a Sunday night football game. Were there any teams that played this weekend that made it out unscathed?

P.S. Special shout out thank you to the Houston Texans for putting the Jaguars back 3 games even though I think the Colts' Super Bowl hopes are all but gone with Mike Doss out for the season and Montae "I don't wear my seat belt" Reagor's return uncertain. But still...well played, Texans, well played.

Promises, Promises

2006-10-13T16:47:00.000-04:00

Ok. I realize I’ve been promising you all a lot lately, all the way back to August when I promised you my trip review of St. Louis. Then I promised you all a review of my trip to Indianapolis, but Reggie Wayne’s brother died and that pushed my review back a little bit. Please accept my sincere apologies as August and September turned out to be so busy that I cannot even remember what I did when. I’ve also been trying to scrape myself off the floor following the multiple 2 minute drills that the Colts have had to play in the waning minutes of at least 2 of their games of late (more on that later). Don’t even get me started on how Alabama is playing (or not playing as the case may be)! Excuses aside, I’m hoping this entry will at least make up for some of that. It’s long…so settle in if you’re really that interested.

St. Louis

It was HOT. I don’t mean just a little uncomfortable…I mean like step outside for one minute and come in drenched in sweat HOT. Thankfully my hotel was right across the street from the conference center so my time spent outside was minimized. The client reception I attended had food stations in different areas of the museum where it was held and one of the stations was a mashed potato bar. You just walked right up and told them whatever you wanted in your potatoes: cheese, onions, jalapenos, bacon bits, etc., and they added it. It was much like an omelet bar only better. I didn’t see much of St. Louis because I spent every waking minute in that conference room (and air conditioning) learning ways to do my job better and to be prepared for what lies ahead (and boy does the future hold a lot). I had a little bit of excitement because the conference center was attached to the Edward Jones Dome where the Tarheels won the National Championship in 2005. Unfortunately, they don’t give tours of the Dome unless you’re part of a group, but the St. Louis Rams junk all around was enough to keep me away. Quite unfairly, the preseason game between the Rams and the Colts was played at the Dome just one week after my conference. That planning needs to be a bit better next time if you ask me. Next year the conference is in Philly, so perhaps there will be a Philly/Colts preseason game. I did take a trip up in the Gateway Arch. Not much to really do once you’re up there except see the city from that elevation. And I got to see where Budweiser makes their beer. I learned some interesting facts there especially about what the Bud company did during a little thing called Prohibition. If you’re in St. Louis and you get the chance, take the tour. It’s worth it, and it’s free. In any case, the trip was good and educational despite the heat.

Indianapolis

I really can’t say enough about this trip. I had more fun than I thought I would I think because I loved the city so much. It was just enough big city for me that I honestly could see myself living there some day…even if the Colts weren’t the home team. After leaving the airport, we drove to the Colts’ training facility. We were just driving along 56th street (where it’s located) and then all of a sudden, the training facility, BIG AND BLUE with the Colts logo, pops out of nowhere in the middle of this residential area. It was beautiful (well I thought it was). There were no sightings of players that morning (plenty of really nice car sightings), but just being where they train was excitement enough. The NCAA headquarters is located in Indianapolis as is its hall of champions. That was a lot of fun. There was even a basketball court from like the 1940s and on its floor they had placed spots where major shots had been made, such as Michael Jordan’s shot in the 1982 National Championship game. They had a section for every division football champion from last season (Div I, Div I-AA, Div II, etc.). There was a place where you could watch things like a replay of the last few seconds of the NC State National Championship in 1983. And you could press a button and hear different fight songs or school cheers. I think the Hall of Honor was my favorite part. This is where the NCAA displays the names of all the recipients of the major NCAA awards for top STUDENT-athletes: those who excel in the classroom, in sports, and in their community. There are computers for you to look up any name and watch a video about a particular award winner. Especially appealing to me was DeMeco Ryans who graduated from Alabama last year and now plays for the Houston Texans. He was one of the recipients of the Top VIII award last year. There was a huge display on March Madness where you could watch ALL of the One Shining Moment videos since they started back in the 80s. I, of course, watched all the North Carolina ones they had plus the one from 2004 where Alabama was highlighted after beating #1 seed Stanford. Though I have a deep animosity towards the NCAA and the decisions they make that they say are for the good of the student-athletes, the Hall of Champions was much fun.

Our hotel was about 3 blocks from the RCA Dome and I made plans to be at the players’ entrance Sunday morning to see if I recognized anyone. I’m pretty good when they’re in their uniforms and on the field (even without looking at the their numbers or names), but you put street clothes on them and it takes me a little while to peg who they are. We headed into the Dome, which was my first time to see a football game indoors. I grew up in Florida…you don’t need domes in Florida, apparently. But let me tell you…football games, live and in person, PLUS air conditioning…GREATEST INVENTION EVER! It was a little chilly during pre-game warm ups, which were a blast to watch, when the whole crowd wasn’t there, but once the game got going and everyone was jumping up and down and screaming (loudest place I think I’ve ever been and that includes Bon Jovi concerts)…it warmed up a bit.

At some point about half way through the 2nd quarter when the Colts were down 7-0, I started to waiver. I thought, maybe we need to lose this early in the season…just so we know we’re not invincible…cause I think going 13-0 last season mentally hurt us. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of being at the game they lost or that it would be a loss to a division opponent, but I resigned myself to the idea that maybe it would be more beneficial in the long run. About that time, one of my new favorite players, Terrence Wilkins, who I love for his hustle and determination, ran a punt return back for a touchdown in the end zone we were sitting behind. He’s been around for a while, but seems to have finally found his place on the team as a return specialist. If only we could keep him from getting concussions during practice. SHEESH! The place lit up, and I changed my mind about how I wanted the game to end. We went in to halftime tied at 7 all, and Jacksonville was running all over us…not as much as the Giants, but enough to annoy me. Plus there was this catch that Reggie Wayne made at the end of the first half that was overturned after review. It was bogus…the overturning not the catch. Reggie caught that ball and pulled it in to his body, but apparently the refs were on the Jacksonville payroll…all afternoon. I had half a mind to write a letter to the new commissioner about it, I was so mad…especially after the two missed pass interference calls on the guy covering Marvin Harrison that could have resulted in touchdowns if not for said interference.

The Colts came out in the 2nd half and looked much better. Late in the 3rd quarter, Peyton eyed Dallas Clark for a 30 yard touchdown pass. Dallas was wide open right in front of us. Dallas said afterwards that it seemed like an eternity for that ball to come down to him, and I really agreed with him. A lot of the game seemed to be in slow motion to me, and I don’t know why. But that touchdown was another reason to make this the perfect game I could have seen. Terrence had already scored and then Dallas, who quickly became one of my favorites last season, scored. He’s just adorable, has a great personal story of faith in the shadow of loss, and is just an all around good guy…and pretty talented…despite what his stats this season say. I didn’t really know how it could get much better…except that the Colts needed to win. They were then up 14-7 on the Jags.

The 4th quarter did not disappoint. There were some kids who were sitting in the row behind us, and they kept making some of the craziest suggestions for plays throughout the game, such as a screen pass on 3rd and really long and a quarterback sneak of 3rd and even longer. On that latter suggestion I said to myself, yeah right…Peyton hasn’t scored a rushing touchdown in 4 years, I don’t see him starting now. Something you should know...Over the years I’ve learned that Peyton likes to prove me wrong (or make me look like an idiot…I don’t know which) because a couple of plays later, he ran in a 2 yard touchdown on a naked bootleg. I thought I was going to cry I was so excited. In fact, my eyes did get a little watery. And thus, I saw the perfect game I could have seen. Terrence Wilkins, Dallas Clark, and Peyton Manning all scored. The only down side was not getting to see Adam Vinatieri kick as he was sidelined with a groin injury. The Jacksonville kicker missed 2 field goals that day, but I take solace in the fact that if he had made those field goals, the Colts still would have won. I also think I’m getting better at reading the plays on the field because right before both of Byron Leftwich’s interceptions I had scanned the field and was watching Byron’s eyes as he scanned the field and pegged that he was going to throw them right before he did. I can’t say that this is a skill that I’ve noted since that game, but I was quite impressed that I at least to myself called both interceptions. The last one to Mike Doss sealed the victory, and I got to see Peyton kneel the clock out. I really didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay right there and never move, but we headed back to the players entrance/exit to see some of the players leave. We got a few autographs and I got to speak to Bill Polian, the president of the team. Right before Bill got to us, something terribly wrong happened because one of the guys with him handed him a cell phone and after listening to what the person had to say, the blood drained from Bill’s face. He spent about 5-10 minutes on the phone with whatever was going on, and then returned to the fans. But I didn’t find out why the blood drained from his face until the next day: he had just been informed that Reggie Wayne’s brother had died. Despite that ending, it was a fantastic experience, and one I’d like to live through, again. I spent way too much money at the pro shop and even bought a Dallas Clark jersey to go with the Peyton Manning one I wore to the game. The streak with the jersey and attending Peyton’s games continues for now, but it doesn’t stop them from trying to give me a heart attack every Sunday.

They’ve won their last two games by a grand total margin of 4 points. Peyton had rushes in both games including a rushing touchdown in the Jets game. He also completed two 2-minute drills in the last 3 minutes of that game (which I know doesn't add up, but he worked with the time he had). They are, by the skin of their teeth, 5-0 along with the Chicago Bears. They are beaten up and bruised. The defense is soft and the offense is getting covered more than they’re used to. It’s causing the Colts to find new ways to win, and by golly they’re finding them to the detriment of my sanity and blood pressure. I realize pretty wins don’t count in football, but just once I wouldn’t mind a good old-fashioned 45-0 game. On the flip side, I’m very impressed with their ability to stay poised and not get flustered by the fact that they’re behind. They realize they only need to win by one point and so what if they do. It seemed like all last year if they weren’t ahead from the start; there was no way they could come back. This season, they’ve proven that wrong and while it’s stressful, it’s definitely an added skill that I’ll take. After the BYE this weekend, they go on a 3 game stretch that is extremely uncertain: Redskins (Home), Broncos (Away), and Patriots (Away). Mother nature will likely play a part in the both the Broncos and Patriots games, but if we can dispel one rumor this season, why not dispel them all. January and February seem so far away, but I’m in it for the long haul boys, and I hope you are, too.

R.I.P. Rashad Wayne

2006-09-26T11:03:00.000-04:00

I couldn't have said this better myself, so rather than try, I'm passing on the words from ColtPower.com (a division of Scout.com). My full review of the weekend in Indy will come at a a later date.

You're In Our Thoughts and Prayers, Reggie

Ed Thompson
ColtPower.com
Sep 25, 2006

ColtPower extends our deepest sympathy to Reggie Wayne and his entire family on the loss of Reggie's older brother, Rashad Wayne, who died in an automobile accident on Sunday. And we ask that all Colts fans remember him and his family in their thoughts and prayers...

...There really isn't much more to say at a time like this when what's most important is letting someone simply know that you care. We're so helpless at moments like these when we wish we had the power to lift the entire weight of the sadness from those most affected.

But in addition to having a strong family, an organization and teammates who truly care about him, we also wanted Reggie and his whole family to know that there are thousands of people who will undoubtedly take a moment to lift up their hearts, their thoughts and perhaps even a prayer for them.

Scattered across the country, and even across oceans, there are Colts fans who are thinking of the Wayne family and will continue to do so this week. All of us at ColtPower certainly will.

We understand that football is a game played by real people who are making a living just like us, who experience many of the same moments of joy and despair that we all face in our lives.

And that common bond brings all of us together at a moment like this, whether you're a Colts fan in Indianapolis or in Tulsa, Oklahoma, or an administrative assistant at Colts headquarters, a starting linebacker for the Colts, a writer who covers the team, the owner or president of the Colts, or even the guy who turns off the lights in the locker room after the team has left for the day.

Suddenly, who we are and what we do is less important than the loss that another person is feeling -- someone who we're able to feel compassion for whether or not we've ever had the chance to exchange a personal "hello" with him or whether we're so close to him that he's like a brother to us.

Reggie Wayne has touched people's lives and brought moments of joy to thousands of people in different ways. And now he and his family have lost someone who brought joy to his life.

We get it. And we care. It's not a news story to us at ColtPower. It's a moment to express our support and encourage others to do the same.

Deepest condolences to the entire Wayne family -- and to all of those in the Colts organization who form his extended family -- from ColtPower and our family of fans.

Story URL: http://colts.scout.com/2/572705.html

What a Week...and it's only Thursday!

2006-09-21T10:09:00.000-04:00

This week has already been so incredibly fantastic and there's so much more to come. For the TV lovers (like me) out there, this is the first real premiere week. My TIVO (read: Cox DVR) is in overdrive. No fumes have come out just yet, but she's definitely getting a workout. I already love Studio 60. Right there at the end of the first show I could see the Aaron Sorkin spark and I can't wait for more. For those of you who were worried you'd see Chandler too much in Matthew Perry's character, I didn't see a hint of him. This is a totally different character and I love it. He and Bradley Whitford are a great pairing as Executive Producers of the show within the show. There was a little altering in my schedule/commute home last night, so I missed my timing to be able to see last night's shows. However, if you are one of those people who has yet to give Justice on FOX a chance...you are missing out. It's really fantastic to the point where Wednesdays can't come soon enough. (I haven't said that since Dawson's Creek was on.) But today...my friends...today is Thursday, September 21st. And you know what that means...yes...that's right...it's Grey's Anatomy day!!! I woke up a little tired this morning, but there was a commercial on my radio about Grey's Anatomy and I perked right up. Tonight the show opens it's 3rd season on a new night and time and really...9pm seems lightyears away. But rest assured, I will be in front of my TV with a good portion of the rest of the Eastern time zone at 9pm to find out whether Meredith chose Derek or Finn!

Aside from TV, yesterday was pay day and this weekend I go to Indianapolis to watch a beaten up Colts team (could someone from the Colts organization please give me a concrete answer on whether Freeney and Vinatieri are going to play...this wishy washy stuff is driving me insane.) take on the Jacksonville Jaguars who have decided to prove to the NFL that they have a defense after all. Trust me...I'm not sitting pretty in this match up. I've seen Peyton play twice before (college and pro) and his team has won both games. I think this Sunday may be the end of that streak. The Colts/Jags game has maybe once or twice been decided by a double digit spread and yes, the Jags have come out on top a couple times. I think we can safely say I'm nervous, but so terribly excited to be going to the game and to Indianapolis.

Well that's been my week thus far. I'm loving the weather, the TV, the pay check, and the future. Bring it on!

Food Item Revolt; Film at 11

2006-09-16T09:33:00.000-04:00

Wal-Mart Ends Layaway Service (actual headline in the Washington Post). Apparently Wal-Mart believes the idea of delayed gratification from purchases has become obsolete and they are discontinuing layaway service. Customers can place items (no food items) on layaway until November 19th, but all items must be picked up and paid for in full by December 8th.

Wal-Mart says the service is obsolete, but I think they're covering up a food item revolt. Imagine all those little food items getting together with little demonstration signs (which means the office supply department was in on it, too) to demand equality in the layaway department. Way to go, Food Items...but definitely sad for all those people who were enjoying the layaway service. The full article can be found here. (Note to reader: I have not lost my mind [yet]. Please see entry on the Sonic trip to Williamsburg for more details.)

On a different note, this time next week I will be on a plane bound for Indianapolis!!!

...And We're Back

2006-09-11T16:36:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the dry spell on the Blog. Things have been a bit hectic lately, but hopefully that has all been taken care of. Without further delay...my latest thoughts:

Things I learned from the Colts-Giants season opener (the game and the hype):

1. Olivia Manning’s childhood nickname for Peyton (which she still uses) is Peytey Pie. It’s really nice to know that you can make over $14 million dollars a year and your mom will still call you what she called you when you were 4 years old, no matter how much Peyton doth protest.

2. I don’t know if the game lived up the hype because by kickoff I was sick of hearing about it and just wanted the game over, but it was definitely a good game. I stayed through to the end and even watched the post game press conferences, which were as sweet and as funny as can be.
3. The refereeing has NOT improved from last season. There were more than a couple questionable calls in that game last night. I can’t say that reversing any of the calls would have changed the outcome of the game, but man…that was rough for the Giants.

4. The Colts have no running game (nor do they have a defense that is capable of stopping the run)…or if they do, they’re hiding it from all of us. Peyton and his receiving corp continue to amaze me when they catch passes that I can’t believe anyone would be able to. And, I think Adam Vinatieri and Terrence Wilkins should have shared the Sunday Night Football Rock Star (MVP) award. Adam for kicking with sprained ligaments and a bone chip and his 14 points and Terrence Wilkins for the awesome field position after kick offs (he averaged almost 28 yards per return). Perhaps he’d considered switching positions to running back.

5. Peyton really is just one big ole country boy who loves his family. He had a moment when he was out on the field for pre-game warm-ups and Eli walked out onto the field. Peyton looked up and realized what this all meant as he thought to himself, “that’s my brother.” He was just so darn proud of him and it melted my heart to hear him talk about it all.

6. Peyton’s commercials are still funny…EVERY TIME! (Except for the Direct TV one where he stops the game in progress.) I don’t care what you say Andy Pierce. And…yes…I do like 6’5”, 230 pound quarterbacks with laser-rocket arms.

7. I have officially changed my opinion of Eli. I used to love the guy just because he was Peyton’s brother until about his sophomore season in college. Then I spiraled into not liking him at all. Last night, the last 6 years were erased. What I learned most from Peyton and Eli was that you can approach the game in many different ways and be tremendously successful. I used to be angry with Eli because he didn’t use the resource he had in Peyton to improve his game, but last night, Eli showed me that he didn’t need to be little Peyton (by a 1/2 inch) to be an incredible quarterback. It was nearly like comparing apples to oranges. Peyton and Eli are similar in their focus and preparation for the game, but when it comes to game time, they each individually approach it differently, and are successful in their own ways. For the first time, I was actually very proud of Eli and the way he competed. He held his own and (bad ref calls aside) really did a fantastic job. But it took seeing them both play on the same field in the same 4 hour period to change my mind. Now, he obviously can’t replace Peyton for me, but I have finally come around and gotten off the Eli-hating bus. Eli…I really am sorry for the last 6 years. You are a really nice kid who handles pressure very well.

8. Olivia and Archie Manning need an Emmy (since it was on TV) for their portrayal of the two most bored people at the Meadowlands last night. Every time the camera panned to them, they were expressionless. Not even when one of their boys scored a touchdown did they cheer because that meant the other brother’s team didn’t score. I honestly don’t think I would have lasted as long as they did without expressing some kind of emotion. Well Done! I think Cooper was the only one actually smiling in that booth.

9. The season can officially begin now that we’ve gotten that crazy game out of the way. I no longer have finger nails after the stress of last night. I lost count the number of times, I moved from my recliner to in front of the TV to the couch, etc. But I did make it through the entire day without throwing up just thinking about the game despite my loss of appetite and upset stomach on Sunday morning. Bring on the Texans, we’ve got work to do!

P.S. Say a little prayer for Trent Green. That hit was rough! Anytime a person’s head bounces off the field like that, it’s not a good thing.

Unbelievable: A Prayer Request

2006-08-21T14:40:00.000-04:00

My mom called me yesterday to deliver some disturbing news. My parents left their house on Friday afternoon to go to Tampa and stay with my brother and sister in law and then go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers preseason game on Saturday night. They returned home on Saturday night/early Sunday morning and went to bed. Around 4am, they both awoke to the sounds of the doorbell being rung over and over again. Mom looked out the window, nothing. Dad opened the door, nothing. They went back to bed. Sunday during the day, my dad discovered his palm pilot and digital camera missing, prompting my mom to look around the rest of the house for anything else missing. A couple of her cheap watches were gone as well as all 3 sets (mom, dad, brother) of season tickets to the Buccaneers. Apparently, the house was broken in to while they were in Tampa overnight.

They called the police and filed a report, but the police don't expect to find anything. A dead bolt has been put on the door because the only thing my parents can figure is that the doorbell at 4am was the burglars coming back. Tampa Bay has been nice enough to reissue the tickets and parking passes for the season once the police report listing the tickets as missing is on file. So, if anyone tries to sell you Tampa Bay home game tickets Section 123, Row L, Seats 3,4,&5, don't buy them...they're stolen property, and they will be void when you get to the gate at the stadium. My parents are terribly shaken up by this. They plan to get a security system on top of the new dead bolt.

So please pray for this entire situation: the guilty party, my parents, and my parents' house. They've lived in that house for 21 years and this is the first disturbance they've ever encountered...besides Hurricane Charley two years ago.

Tidbits

2006-08-09T09:12:00.000-04:00

I can't tell you how terribly excited I am that I walked out of my house this morning to go to work and I actually got a little bit of a chill. The wind was blowing, I felt no humidity, and the high today is actually in the 80s. YAHOO!!!! Please can this stick around for a while?

I was at a conference in St. Louis last week, so there was a drought on the blog. Sorry about that. A complete run down of my "exciting" time in St. Louis is coming soon.

Last night the NFL team owners voted unanimously in the 5th ballot to name Roger Goodell (above, NFL VP and COO since 2001) the new commissioner, succeeding Paul Taglibue. This is exciting. I was pulling for this guy once the names of the finalists were released and Rich McKay wasn't one of them. If for no other reason, but that he was the only one actually on the NFL payroll. Others had done legal work for the NFL, but none of them had really started at the bottom of the barrel like this guy. He worked his way up from an intern position in 1982...and that's something I can really get behind. Interesting tidbit about the new commissioner's family...his father was an appointed U.S. Senator hired to complete the term of the late Robert F. Kennedy.

The Colts' first preseason game is tomorrow (Thursday) night against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. (How mean is that...my conference was last week...it couldn't be this week...NOOOO!!) Tony Dungy has promised me the 1st string offense will run 15 plays. I'm holding him to that...while I hold my breath that no one gets hurt. 46 days until I see the Colts play in the RCA Dome in Indy.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is my birthday...one year older...yippee.

“I don’t put pickles on my tater tots.” Or Things I Learned On My Trip to Williamsburg

2006-07-24T17:33:00.000-04:00

We had this plan. Ann and Andy promised us dinner from a prize that Jessica won during Ann and Andy's move, so we decided we wanted Sonic. We could have chosen just about anywhere, but we chose Sonic. Jessica and I paid for the gas to Williamsburg and Ann and Andy paid for the food. Great plan! Little did I know what an educational experience this little trek would be.

We were cruising along I-95 south in the HOV lanes for a bit and then in the regular lanes when the HOV ended. Then we hit some traffic...oh for the love...all we want is some Sonic. We did notice this lovely place on the side of the road called Aunt Sarah's House of Pancakes and Steaks, to which acceptable directions to are, "Over there across the road somewhere." Please see Jessica's blog for a complete run down of that little adventure.

At one point, we pulled out the atlas in Ann's car to see if there was an alternate route from I-64 to Williamsburg without taking I-64. The atlas exploded in little bits and pieces all over Jessica, so she cleaned up. Oh and I learned that Andy is a rather versatile guy who can wear many hats at one time...literally. We love you, Andy, for putting up with three women all day. Admit it...you had fun, my friend.

We finally made it to Sonic. We pulled up to the menu where we could hardly contain ourselves. Ann wrote down what we wanted so Andy could order for us. He got to his order and asked for a #2 with tater tots but no pickles if you put them on there. To which Carl, the Williamsburg Sonic order taker, responded, "I don't put pickles on my tater tots." It's a good thing I didn't already have my cherry limeade because I think it would have come out my nose. Here we are enjoying our Sonic trip #1 (there were 3 with 4 orders).

After Sonic trip #1, we walked across the parking lot to the Wal-Mart Supercenter...oh how I miss those places. Cheap groceries and you don't have to go to fifteen different stores. We discovered all kinds of things in Wal-Mart that we'd forgotten they had and we couldn't get anymore. At some point, we decided that a pit stop in the Wal-Mart ladies room would be a good idea, but Jessica and I still had our limeades in our hands, so I went in and she waited outside. Then I waited outside while she went in. To pass the time, I sat down on the bench across from the Layaway Department counter and read the Layaway guidelines. Guideline #4: Food items may not be placed on layaway. Good to know.

Jessica found two DVDs to buy in the 2 for $11 bin, so we went to the checkouts. This was unlike any other Wal-Mart Supercenter I've been to. There were actually cash registers open with no waiting. Does Williamsburg have that low of a population or do they not know they have a Supercenter? I mean it was Saturday people! It was fantastic if you ask me, though. I think this is when we first thought about moving to Williamsburg...or at least cared enough to say it out loud. That is until we met the cashier. Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" was playing on the speaker system in the store while Jessica was checking out. We made a comment about it, and the cashier informed us that this was her favorite song. She knows Dolly Parton was first, but she prefers the Whitney Houston version. So, if you happen to frequent the Williamsburg Wal-Mart Supercenter, be sure to check out near the cigarette counter and talk to the lady about her favorite song.

From Wal-Mart we went back to Sonic for trip and order #2 and ordered dessert for our lunch. I ordered a blended root beer float. The order was taking quite a bit of time, so Andy pushed the button again to ask what was taking so long. They asked again if we wanted the float regular or blended, to which we said blended. They said they had to re-make it so that's what was taking so long. Apparently the transition between float and blended float is not as simple as it might seem. We took our desserts and hopped back in the car and headed to the outlet mall. We got a little turned around because Ms. I Will Always Love You sent us to the ghetto outlet mall. But on the way, we did learn that senior citizens can take karate, as we passed an Antique Mall that offered karate classes.

Back on the right track, we headed to the Prime Outlet Mall where Jessica nearly had a coronary just reading all the shoe and clothing store names. We made a plan to meet back at the car at 6pm. It was 3:15 at that point. Jessica and I started at one end and walked around the entire thing and made it back to the car at 6:02pm. We headed back to Sonic for trip #3 and orders #3 and #4. Jessica and I had coney dogs and cherry limeades, but when I was ordering I asked for Jessica's to be a route 64 instead of a route 44. Unfortunately, Sonic maxs out at 44. Bummer. Our sweet car hop, Klara delivered our dinner and Jessica asked her for some mints. Klara looked at her kind of weird, but went to get some anyway. Apparently no one asks for the mints in Williamsburg so we got a whole handful. Thanks, Klara. For dessert, we ordered Sonic blasts and then headed back to Wal-Mart for our final trip.

We bought two coolers and filled them with various amounts of fantastic, only at Wal-Mart Supercenter food (since you can't put it on layaway) and ice, dropped them in the car, and headed home with full tummies from eating too much, cheeks that hurt from smiling too much, and heads that hurt from laughing too much. The fun didn't end there, though.

On the way home, I learned one more thing: you really can get a pink Barbie convertible.

We never set foot in Colonial Williamsburg or took a spin on any Busch Gardens rides, but my first trip to Williamsburg was educational, historic, adventurous, and thrilling.

On A Clear Day You Can See Forever

2006-07-10T14:49:00.000-04:00

This morning when I woke up, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and in the distance you could hear the sounds of the Monday Night Football theme playing (ok so it was just a commercial on ESPN). :)

3 weeks until Colts Training Camp Starts
26 days until Troy Aikman is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
1 month until the Colts' 1st preseason game (on my birthday)
76 days until the Colts vs the Jaguars in Indianapolis (viewed from my and Jessica's seats on the 11th row of the end zone)

So bring on the stormy weather because in my world today is bright and sunny with a light ever so clear at the end of the tunnel.

P.S. For those of you who watched the race yesterday: bump drafting, scraping, whatever you wanna call it...rubbin' is always racin'...not cheating. Get over it, and Go 24!!

Update on Baby Joey -- Keep Praying

2006-07-06T14:41:00.000-04:00

Chris and I brought Joseph home yesterday -- very fitting that it was Independence Day! He seemed to tolerate his first round of chemotherapy well. He had to have a blood transfusion to increase his red blood cells, but the doctors said that we could expect that to happen during the course of treatment. Unfortunately, his increased blood supply/energy kicked in right around 11pm when I was on hospital duty...needless to say, I was not a happy camper at 1am when he was still full of energy!

Joseph is on a 42 week treatment schedule. The one thing Chris and I are both learning throughout this entire process is that we cannot plan anything. However, for the most part, his treatment schedule will be as follows -- he received a big round of treatment this past Friday, meaning that he received three chemo drugs which required him to stay in the hospital for a few days. He will receive a smaller dose of chemo this Friday and next Friday, and then he will receive a very large chemo treatment the following Friday which will require us to be in the hospital for at least five to six days. For the most part, we can plan on being in the hospital for at least eight days each month. We are discussing possible surgery in about 12 weeks, and then he will continue chemo after that. However, so much of this is dependent on how Joseph tolerates the drugs. So far, he has done great, so we just hope and pray that that will continue.

Chris and I are starting to feel like honorary nurses with the shots that we provide him and the flushing of his lines, so I think we will be asking for hospital scrubs for Christmas!! For the most part, we will not be straying far from home throughout the next 11 months. We are able to take Joseph outside and to a few places, but since there will be times that he will be completely unable to fight infection, we really do have to limit where we go and who we expose him to.

At this point, we really need the continued prayers and support. Chris and I are both truly grateful for the kind words, encouraging messages and tremendous generosity we have received thus far. We try to stay optimistic about this entire process, and it makes it much easier knowing we have such an unbelievable support system. Joseph is truly a fighter, so if he can muster up the strength to fight this, we can to.

Once again, thank you for everything. We will continue to keep you all posted with any information. Chris is working on setting up a website that will provide regular updates.

Much love,
Meghan

Dr. Burke and the girls

2006-06-29T10:07:00.000-04:00

Sweet Baby Joey

2006-06-26T23:59:00.000-04:00

A very dear friend of mine, Meghan, recently gave birth to Joseph. He is only a couple of weeks old, and I received this email from her on Saturday. I figured the best way to get the word out and the prayers up was to post her email on my blog. If you are a praying person, PLEASE take a moment out of your time and send up a special request on Joseph's behalf. Thank you!

Dear Friends, God has given us a new challenge-- we need you to keep our son in all your thoughts and prayers. Joseph has been preliminarily diagnosed with a rare form of muscle cancer, Rhabdomyosarcoma. Very soon, he will begin several months of chemotherapy that may lead to surgery. We have a very long road ahead, yet we know God -- and your loving prayers-- will carry us through these next months. As we receive further details, we will keep you all informed. Much love, Chris and Meghan

Butterflies in the Sky and Dr. Preston Burke

2006-06-22T15:46:00.000-04:00

So I’ve had this job for a little over 2 years now, and I’ve always seemed to miss the rockin’ famous people who come to visit our nation’s capitol. But this time, no this time, I wasn’t going to be the last one to know. I was out sick on Tuesday and considered not going to work on Wednesday to continue my recovery, but since I felt much better than I did on Monday and Tuesday mornings, I decided to go ahead and go to work.

When I got to work, the schedule of the days events (hearings, meetings, etc.) going on in the buildings was in an email in my inbox. I scanned through them quickly only to find that one of the committees was holding a hearing and one of the witnesses testifying before the committee was none other than Mr. LeVar “don’t take my word for it” Burton. If you’re like me, you grew up watching Reading Rainbow. In fact, I can pretty much directly connect my love for reading to LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow. So, maybe some of you know him from Roots or Star Trek, but regardless, LeVar, Kunta Kinte, or Geordi La Forge, he’s likely part of your history in some way. It just so happens that I had a slight advantage on meeting Mr. Burton as I have an inside track with the committee holding the hearing. We called them up and asked if one of the interns and I could get in to see the hearing and possibly meet Mr. Burton. And that’s all it took. They were nice enough to seat us right next to the witness table, less than 6 feet from Mr. Burton.

After the hearing, we were introduced to him and I had the opportunity to speak with him about how Reading Rainbow impacted my life. I mean when someone is partially responsible for your literacy and you get a chance to shake that man’s hand, what could possibly stop you! He was kind enough to stay after the hearing to take pictures with just about everyone on the committee staff and us interlopers even after our intern’s camera battery decided to die and I had find my inside track to get her camera. I told him that I absolutely loved Reading Rainbow and that I still watch it today (if I happen to catch it while channel surfing) and he told me that I made his day. I mean SERIOUSLY…LeVar Burton told ME that I made HIS day. Maybe I really can fly twice as high (kudos to anyone who knows what that means). :)

Ok…so the story cannot end there…even though I would have been thrilled to end my day at that point.

My friend Jessica had a meeting Wednesday morning regarding employment opportunities and asked if I wanted to have lunch with her when she was finished. I said, sure. So I waited and waited and waited (just kidding Jessica…I actually had work to do). Anyway, Jessica got held up at her meeting for much longer than she anticipated and we didn’t get to have lunch until about 1:30. But that turned out to be to our advantage. I suggested we just go to the cafeteria that way I could stay in the building in case my office needed to contact me. We had a lovely lunch with Jessica steaming about the fact that I had met LeVar Burton and she had not. In fact, our friendship was almost ended because of how jealous she was. Such an ugly thing that jealousy, but just when she was about to say FRIENDSHIP OVER, sitting two tables away was our friendship’s saving grace. :) We got up and started to walk out of the cafeteria when I happened to glance at this table by the exit. I stared (hopefully not noticeably) at this one gentleman at the table and thought to myself, that’s Isaiah Washington. It kind of threw me because he wasn’t in Dr. Preston Burke’s scrubs. He was wearing a dark suit and had a lapel pin on. Where I work the important people wear lapel pins, but I thought nope, we don’t have any important people here who look like Isaiah Washington…not even close…cause if we did…I’d be working for THAT office! :) So I directed Jessica out of the cafeteria to a location where we could inconspicuously stare even longer at him and make sure he was who I thought he was. I said Jessica is that Dr. Burke over there and she looked at him, then at me, then at him, and then at me and said “YEAH…that’s him” in an ever so subtle gasping for air kind of way.

So I thought I’m not letting my introvertedness keep me away since I met LeVar Burton this morning. This is so cool. So, I march right over to the table where he’s eating lunch (yes I interrupted his lunch which was probably rude…unless you start the conversation out the way I did). “Excuse me, sir. I’m sorry to interrupt your lunch but are you Isaiah Washington?” He said, “Yes ma’am, I am.” And I said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you because I absolutely love your show.” He (and this is for you Mrs. Jill Young) then, because he had a mouth full of food at this point, signed “thank you” to me. Then, he actually said it after he swallowed. We made a little small talk about what he was doing there, and we left before I could make any further of a fool of myself. I went back to my office and told one of the front office employees, Erica, that he was down there and she, being a Grey’s Anatomy-aholic, grabbed her camera and Jessica and me and we went back down there. At first Erica wasn’t going to go over to him (she was just gonna stare) and I thought I was going to have to go outside and cut a switch off a tree, but alas she did and we had a really wonderful conversation about the show moving to Thursday nights where I got to display my plethora (I love that word) of useless TV knowledge. I KNEW it would come in handy eventually. So, we all got our picture taken with him and thus ended probably one of the strangest, yet amazing days of my life.

Once I have the picture of the ladies and Isaiah Washington, I will post it (It’s on Erica’s camera). Until then, just enjoy the lovely picture of Mr. Burton!

Unfortunately, today (Thursday) has not lived up to yesterday’s excitement...except that I nearly ran into Isaiah Washington again on my way to the restroom a few minutes ago!

Coming Soon...

2006-06-21T16:47:00.000-04:00

Musings on Meeting LeVar Burton (Roots, Reading Rainbow, Star Trek) and Isaiah Washington (Grey's Anatomy) on the same day at different times.

How cool IS my job, really???

Double Blog

2006-06-16T14:10:00.000-04:00

I didn't want to have double blogs about the same article, so I thought I'd just direct your attention to Dave Roland's blog about a Tony Dungy article that speaks volumes about faith in God and how God can help a person through personal tragedy.

I've said before that Tony Dungy is one of my favorite people of all time because of the human being he is. He makes no excuses for the person he is and never skirts an opportunity to profess his faith and how it has helped him become the man he is.

My heart still goes out to him and his family. Rest In Peace Sweet Jamie.

Showdown: Tuscaloosa

2006-06-08T08:54:00.000-04:00

Well I have hoped and hoped since 1996 that this would never happen. What would I do? Who would I cheer for? Would I really be happy either way? So, instead of answering those questions, I just hoped it would never happen. But the NCAA, in its “wisdom,” saw fit to build a 64 team bracket for the College World Series and put the North Carolina Tarheels and the Alabama Crimson Tide close enough in proximity so that, provided they emerged from their respective regionals, they would have to play each other in the super regional for a chance to play in the College World Series Finals. And guess what…yep…it happened. They both won their regionals and North Carolina is headed to Alabama this weekend for the best of three super regional match-up. Alabama edged North Carolina out as hosts of the super regional because Alabama is ranked 4th overall in the 64 team field. So the train wreck that I just won’t be able to look away from begins at 7 pm ET on ESPN Friday night in Tuscaloosa.

North Carolina brings with them 2 players who were chosen in the first round of the MLB draft this week; one of them (Andrew Miller) was chosen 6th overall. Alabama’s highest drafted player is pitcher Wade LeBlanc, who was selected in the 2nd round, 61st overall. Neither school has ever won the College World Series though Alabama has been the runner-up twice. Oh what to do…what to do. On the one hand, I’ve always been a North Carolina fan even before I went to college at Alabama…but I am primarily a Carolina basketball fan…but the baseball team has never been this successful and I want to applaud that. On the other hand, I’ve sat in those bleachers at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on cool Friday nights and hot Saturday and Sunday afternoons and cheered for each and every one of those Alabama baseball players. Coach Wells is the most successful baseball coach in Alabama history, and I just adore him. Oh this is just totally uncool…and in the end I’ll actually experience being happy and sad at the same time. Is that possible?

The New NFL

2006-05-24T13:23:00.000-04:00

ESPN reported (ESPN Report) today that Florida governor, Jeb Bush had been approached privately about taking over for retiring NFL commish Paul Tagliabue. This sent my wheels to spining on what the NFL would be like if this actually happened. Here's a little look into the crystal ball, my friends.

If Jeb Bush was the NFL Commissioner:

Players would get vouchers so they could go to any team they wanted to at any point during the season, and their salary would continue to be paid for by the team they leave.
Every team would only be allowed one head coach because a 1 to 53 ratio of coach to players is ideal.
The pre-, regular, and post-season would be played as normal. However, all 32 NFL teams would be ranked according to their performance during the pre-, regular, and post-season (much like the NFL draft, but in reverse) with the winner of the actual Super Bowl game at #1. Then all teams would have to take a standardized test. The first team in the ranking with all team members present and passing the test, would be deemed the actual Super Bowl Champions. If the winner of the actual Super Bowl game is not deemed the Super Bowl Champion, they would be given a certificate of completion.
All teams would be graded on how well they improved from the previous season, and revenue from the NFL would go to the teams improving the most. Therefore, if the same team who won the championship the previous year, wins again, then that team gets no revenue from the league.
The NFL draft order would be determined by ranking the teams on their improvement with most improved being ranked #1.
Revenue to buy new equipment, uniforms or improve practice facilities and stadiums would be based on team improvement as well. Therefore, some teams could not afford to buy new equipment or uniforms or make improvements to their facilities or stadiums, but will be required to perform as well as or better than the teams who do receive revenue to make said improvements if they expect to receive any revenue the following year.
Teams who are not deemed the Super Bowl Champions after five years will be closed, thus possibly eliminating the entire NFL in ten years.
Los Angeles would not get an NFL team. The next expansion team would be located in Miami (making that 2 teams for Miami) because Jeb’s wife, Columba would want it that way. Additionally, the official language of the NFL will be Spanish.

Potential good that could come from this: Coach and player salaries would be drastically reduced to well below what they are worth with no possible chance of a substantial raise in the future.

Paul Taglibue is looking better every day.

Stay Tuned: Fall 2006

2006-05-22T11:10:00.000-04:00

After last week's whirlwind that was the networks' release of their fall schedules, I give you TV Guide's Show Grid. 7th Heaven was "resurrected," which is good in a way as long as they tell me what Sandy said to Simon at the reception. I'll be interested to see how they play this everyone is having twins thing, but really I just wanna know if Simon is the real father of Sandy's baby, which doesn't excuse Brenda Hampton for changing Martin's "wait until I get married" character, but it will be interesting to say the least. I'm none too happy about Grey's Anatomy, Studio 60, and Supernatural being on the same night and same timeslot. But I'm reading that NBC may consider moving Studio 60 to another night to avoid being demolished by Grey's.

UGH...4 months is way too long to wait to see who Meredith chooses (and if Izzie really is giving up her surgical career, and if George will ever tell Callie he loves her), if the Winchester boys (and dad) live, if Ed Deline is really dead (and who Delinda marries), if Agent Gibbs is really quitting, if Lucas will make it to the bridge in time to save Nathan (and if ALL the girls are pregnant), if Robin and Ted survive the re-kindling (and if Marshall and Lily get back together), and if Lorelai really hates herself for sleeping with Christopher as much as I hate it. The countdown begins...

Kudos to all of y'all who can figure out which shows those all belong to. :)

Firsts and Lasts

2006-05-19T13:04:00.000-04:00

This is my 150th post, and it’s been a little over a year since I started Leann’s Random Thoughts. I don’t know that any good has come of it, but it’s been a fun time for me to pretend I’m a writer. This past year has been an interesting one for me, and I’ve sort of stepped back recently and learned from it. Perspective is really fun to play around with every now and then.

About 5 months ago, one of my best friends, Katherine, gave birth to Nelson Bennett. (Shout out to Momma Katherine!) He quickly stole my heart, oh about 5 minutes after his birth when I first held him. It really is fun to try and see the world through his eyes. Everything is new to him even though we live quite jaded lives. Celebrating his firsts have been so much fun. He’s already cut his first tooth, he’s rolled over both ways, he’s sat up on his own, he smiles like it’s going out of style, he eats and grows at maximum speed, and he looks like an absolute angel when he’s asleep. I think that’s my favorite part: when he falls asleep in my arms. It’s getting more rare these days as he becomes more active, but it’s a feeling I absolutely cherish. Oh yeah, and to my knowledge, I believe I am still the only person who has changed his diaper multiple times who hasn’t been, shall we say, squirted. (Yep…just jinxed myself.) That’s not to say that he doesn’t give me a hard time for the rest of the diaper change. He doesn’t ever seem to like me snapping his clothes back together. He gets really impatient with me, but good grief, some of those snaps can be hard to do.

On the flip side, my mother is retiring on May 26th after 40 years of teaching. So, in the same year that I’ve been witnessing Nelson’s firsts, I’ve been privy to my mother’s lasts. I think I started really noticing it when she got to Christmas break and I realized that was her last Christmas break. Then came her last spring break, and her last time to teach “Tuck Everlasting,” and her last mid-term progress reports, and her last historical short story projects, and her last 6th grade dance, etc. The best last was the last time she had to proctor the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test--statewide standardized test for Florida students) exam, which became a source of frustration in the latter part of her career. In these last few weeks, she’s finally started to really enjoy the idea of retiring. It took us a while to get her to really want to celebrate it, but she’s come around. She’s almost finished packing up everything and giving away things to other teachers. I know it must be sad for her and that she’ll miss it terribly when August rolls around and she doesn’t have to go back. Turning in her keys the last time will probably be the hardest, but perhaps I’ll be there to hold her hand when she does. I’m headed down to celebrate her retirement at the end of next week. What she’ll do with her time after she’s retired, I don’t know, but after 40 years of standing before elementary and middle school students, she deserves the break.

It seems odd to be so proud of these two people. Nelson because I’m not blood related to him. He’s just managed to steal my heart, and I love him more than words could say. I’m just so proud of the little man that he already is. My mom because she’s my mom. She’s supposed to be proud of me, which she is to an astronomical extent. But, I didn’t think children could be proud of their parents even though this daughter definitely is. I’ve always felt blessed that she was my mother (even when I didn’t really show it), and I’ve always adored that her chosen profession was teaching. Because, really, if you think about it, my mother has spent her life in two very thankless jobs: motherhood and teaching. No mother or teacher has ever received the appreciation they so greatly deserve, yet they are responsible for our lives and our futures.

So, over the last year I’ve been blessed to learn from a precious baby boy just discovering the world and from a remarkable woman aged by the years of a career she’s loved longer than anything else in her life. Perspective Indeed.

No, Thank YOU, Mr. President

2006-05-15T14:22:00.000-04:00

The tears started around 7:55pm on Sunday night as the final scene of the pilot episode aired. The tears continued to come and go until the scene of the airplane in the sky faded to black. There was some laughter, a great deal of smiles, and a definite appreciation and nod to 7 years of one heck of a great time.

It was interesting to me that The West Wing closed the curtains on its series run on Mother’s Day as it was my own mother who convinced me to watch this show. I hadn’t seen any of the first season’s episodes until I returned home for summer break in college. The first episode I watched was actually a rerun the week before the 1st season finale. Then, my mother and I watched the season finale together, and I predicted the assassination attempt pretty early on in that episode. From there, I watched the entire first season in reruns that summer and was hooked.

There was certainly an ebb and flow to this series, but regardless of the changing of the guard in writing and directing and the show taking a decidedly soap operatic turn mid-way through, I still loved every minute of it and never missed an episode. It was an escape from the reality of this country’s politics, and a look into what was a West Wing Utopia.

The awards and nominations abounded for this series and to that end Martin Sheen was profusely nominated but never won an Emmy. He did, however, win a Golden Globe once for his role as President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet. Allison Janney won multiple Emmy’s for her role as CJ (Claudia Jean) Craig first as a supporting actress and then as the more apt lead actress. Bradley Whitford won an Emmy for best supporting actor in his role as Deputy Chief of Staff, Joshua Lyman. John Spencer (may he rest in peace) won an Emmy for his role as Leo McGarry, Chief of Staff and best friend of the President…and to this day the only character on the show besides the First Lady who could tell the President NO and get away with it. Richard Schiff (whose character I didn’t like from about the end of the 2nd season on) also won an Emmy for his role as Toby Ziegler, the White House Communications Director and is still the only staff member to be fired from the Bartlet White House. The First Lady, Stockard Channing (Rizzo herself) won an Emmy for best supporting actress in the same year that she won a best supporting actress Emmy for her role in a television movie. The show won Emmys four times as Best Drama Series.

You will find no spoilers here even though there wasn’t much surprise in the last episode, but my favorite part was President Bartlet’s good-byes to his staff. Charlie’s (pronounced with Martin Sheen’s accent as CHAW-LEE) was probably my favorite. His relationship with the President as his personal assistant was one of the most brilliant pieces of writing I’ve ever seen. They were like a father and son who just plain understood each other. Nevermind the definite strain in the relationship with Charlie started dating the President’s daughter Zoey. :)

The death of Mrs. Landingham, though I’m still upset about that one, is probably one of the most well done storylines of any series I’ve ever seen. And my favorite episode to this day is the 2nd Season episode titled “The Midterms.” A religious radio talk show host called out the Bartlet White House on many issues, but in her visit to the White House for a reception, the host is met with a President who is even more fluent in the Bible than she claims to be. It’s my favorite scene when he basically pulls the carpet out from under her on everything she has claimed on her show while she remains seated on her stool in the reception room. At the end of his speech, he tells her one more thing: “In this building, when the President stands, NO BODY sits.” Causing her to jump to her feet and recognize how wrong she was. That speech still gives me chills.

But, alas, all good things must come to an end, and last night closed the door on an irreplaceable series. Even as President Bartlet was telling his staff what a pleasure it was working with them, I could only think about how the pleasure truly was all ours as viewers.

Anonymous Comments

2006-05-12T15:07:00.000-04:00

Begin Soapbox

I have an unwritten rule about MY blog. I monitor my comments to eliminate those who choose to post a comment which happens to have nothing to do with the content or subject matter of the blog. I also don't like Anonymous Comments. Blogger only offers the option of having Only Blogspot users post or Everyone post. And because I don't believe in preventing those who don't blog to post, I have no choice but to have the anonymous comment option on my blog.

So here's my rule: anonymous comments don't get posted on my blog regardless of subject matter because I think if you have something to say then you should own up to your opinion and be willing to put your name on it. Anonymous comments are like saying this is what I think, but I don't want anyone to know that I'm thinking it. If you have enough confidence to believe in what you're saying, then have enough confidence to stand behind it as well.

Don't like it...get your own blog and tell the world all about it.

End Soapbox

ABOMINATION

2006-05-11T09:21:00.000-04:00

Reason why I don’t watch American Idol anymore:

Because people like Chris Daughtry get voted off.

I stopped watching American Idol about halfway through the season that Fantasia won because Jasmine Trias was still in the competition, but if you’ve ever tried to stop watching one of the most popular television shows on the air, then you probably know that everyone around you ends up talking about it, including the morning show I listen to on the radio. So, it’s not that I actually started watching it, but it was definitely hard not to know what was going on. I watched one episode this season when my brother and sister in law were in town. I had been told about Chris’s rendition of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted, Dead or Alive.” I had been told it was fantastic. Jon Bon Jovi even said so in an interview. So I figure if Jon gives him the endorsement then he must be good because Jon isn't always quick to praise people covering his work. Then that one episode I saw sealed the deal. He was uncompromising. Refused to be a cookie cutter popsicle that sounds like everything else you hear on the Top 40 countdown. And that’s what I liked about him. He stood on that stage and said, “this is me, love it or hate it, I’m not willing to stand up here and sound like the next Clay Aiken, I’m only willing to stand up here and sound like the next Chris Daughtry.” I was sad to hear that he was the one who was voted off last night. He was considered the favorite to win the whole thing, and I was fine with that. All this from a show I don’t even watch. :) In any case, I hope that the music industry recognizes this talent even though the voters who actually watch the show couldn’t because if Chris records an album, I’ll be first in line to purchase it. Best of luck, Chris. You deserve much more than the horrible hand that was dealt to you on Wednesday night.

A Decade of 7th Heaven

2006-05-08T11:22:00.000-04:00

7th Heaven

When I see their happy faces,

smilin' back at me...

7th heaven

I know there's no greater feelin' than the love of family

Where can you go

When The world don't treat you right?

The answer is home!!!!!!!!!

That's the one place that you'll find,

7th heaven.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

7th Heaven

7th Heaven

Thanks for the memories, high blood pressure, laughter, stress, tears, annoyances, fun, aggravation, and joy the last 10 seasons have provided. I know that's a crazy mixture of emotion, but the roller coaster lives of The Camdens were definitely more than I bargained for in 1996 when the show first started. They didn't always get it right, right away, but they did seem to always package it nicely with a bow at the end. I'm certain that tonight's series finale will be no different. Mondays will never be the same. You will be missed (at least by this viewer).

Loved It!

2006-05-01T09:46:00.000-04:00

10 hours in front of the NFL Network on Saturday is exhausting, but I loved every minute of it. Sunday was a little harder to focus on because of other things going on, but I still managed to catch most of it. My favorite part had to be the crickets you could hear chirping at Matt Leinart's table from picks 1 thru 9. He and his entire family (ne entourage) seemed to disappear and leaving one unidentifiable guy just sitting there alone. NICE!

But, who knew the draft would actually start on Friday with Mario Williams signing a contract with Houston before Paul Tagliabue ever uttered the words, "Houston Is On The Clock." I'm impressed with Houston recognizing that they didn't actually need a running back, but sad that Reggie Bush didn't get to lie awake on Friday night wondering if he'd go first or not. I guess lying awake wondering if you'll go 2nd could be just as fun.

I loved Denver trading up to get Jay Cutler. I think in the long run, he's going to be the quarterback out of this class that gets it done and why shouldn't he with Mike Shanahan as his coach and Jake Plummer as his teacher.

Funniest name all weekend: Ashton Youboty. It's funny, EVERY TIME.

Here's how the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Indianapolis Colts did this weekend.

ROLL TIDE and GO COLTS!!

ALABAMA

DeMeco Ryans, OLB, Round 2, Pick 1(33), Houston
Roman Harper, S, Round 2, Pick 11(43), New Orleans
Brodie Croyle, QB, Round 3, Pick 21(85), Kansas City
Charlie Peprah, S, Round 5, Pick 26(158), NY Giants
Mark Anderson, DE, Round 5, Pick 27(159), Chicago

(Apparently cornerback, Anthony Madison agreed to a free agent contract with Pittsburgh following the draft.)

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Joseph Addai, RB, Round 1, Pick 30(30), LSU
Tim Jennings, CB, Round 2, Pick 30(62), GEORGIA
Freddie Keiaho, OLB, Round 3, Pick 30(94), SAN DIEGO ST
Michael Toudouze, OT, Round 5 30(162), TCU
Charlie Johnson, OT, Round 6, Pick 30(199), OKLA ST
Antoine Bethea, S, Round 6, Pick 38(207), HOWARD
TJ Rushing, CB, Round 7, Pick 30(238), STANFORD

(Can anyone help me pronounce the last names of the 3rd and 4th pick? How's a girl supposed to learn the new players on her team if she can't even pronounce their names? It took me long enough to learn Polamalu, and he's not even a Colt.)

Kelli Gave Me the Letter "P"

2006-04-26T13:25:00.000-04:00

This is how it works: Comment on this entry and get a letter. Write ten words beginning with that letter, including an explanation of what the word means to you and why.

Peyton – When Kelli gave me the letter “P,” I wondered if it was on purpose, but regardless, I’ll take any chance I can get to put Peyton Williams Manning’s name on my blog, again. I can think back on my 27 1/2 years of life and don’t think I could note another athlete that I obsess about as much as I do with Peyton. That’s not to say there haven’t been other obsessions of athletes, but none of them have been as thorough as Peyton. I could spout out his stats or you could just watch ESPN. He’s an amazing individual on and off the field. He’s intelligent (finished college in 3 years) and has his priorities straight: Faith, Family, Education, and then Sports. I just wish there were more like.

Pandas – I’ve been collecting pandas since I was in elementary school. They are my favorite animal. They are on the endangered species list primarily because they’re not too thrilled with the idea of mating with each other. Even though this world has to keep them in captivity in order to help this species avoid extinction, I’m glad they’ve been at least minimally successful. Oh and Tai Shan is as adorable as you might think and no longer looks like a butter stick.

Peeler – Family name – my heritage and my roots.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – The first Bible verse I memorized: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” There are also books titled Psalms, Philippians, Philemon, and 1st and 2nd Peter in the greatest Book ever published: The Bible.

Pal – A synonym for friend. I cherish my friends greatly and know in the deepest recesses of my mind and heart that I would not have survived the last 27 1/2 years without them.

Perth Amboy, New Jersey – Birthplace of John Francis Bongiovi on March 2, 1962, but he grew up in Sayreville, NJ. In the 1980s, he would become known to the world as Jon Bon Jovi, lead singer of the rock group Bon Jovi, which includes Richie Sambora (lead guitar), Tico Torres (drums), and David Bryan (keyboards). I can talk for hours about everything I know about them or you could just buy their albums.

Port Charlotte, Florida – Not my birthplace, but definitely the home of my childhood. We moved there when I was 2 months shy of my 3rd Birthday. My parents still live there in the house where I grew up. The town was devastated by Hurricane Charley in 2004, but it is bouncing back as I knew it would. By default, I must mention Punta Gorda, Florida, the city just across the river where I went to high school. Lots of memories still live there for me.

Paul William “Bear” Bryant – Many people could be credited with creating Alabama Tradition and many people are. But for my immediate recollection and knowledge, I lay that title squarely on the shoulders of one Paul Bryant. His rough exterior hid his heart of gold that was deeply rooted in his faith in God. In his lifetime, he brought the Alabama Football program to a place in our history that can never be denied. I have a lot of memories from my days in Tuscaloosa at The University of Alabama. I could speak at length about the person I became during college and the friendships I made. I could talk your ear off about how great the accounting and English programs are. Or you could just experience a Saturday afternoon in the fall at Bryant-Denny Stadium where you will undoubtedly need no further explanation. ROLL TIDE ROLL!!

Phil Ford – If you’re familiar with North Carolina Basketball history, then you probably know who Phil Ford is. Phil Ford isn’t as well known as the other North Carolina basketball grads such as Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Antawn Jamison, etc. But that doesn’t make his contribution to the Tarheels any less significant. For the longest time, he sat next to Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge as an assistant until he was unnecessarily fired by Coach Guthridge’s successor Matt Doherty (the worst hire in Tarheel history). During his playing career with the Tarheels, Phil earned All-ACC First Team, All-ACC Tournament First Team, and First Team All-American accolades three straight years each. He was also 1978 winner of the John Wooden Award, and was named ACC Player of the Year two years straight. He has been a keeper of Tarheel Basketball tradition longer than I have been alive, and is, hands down, my favorite Tarheel of all time. Vince Carter, Shammond Williams, Sean May, and Dante Calabria round out my top 5. (I know it’s sacrilege to not have MJ in my top 5…get over it.) Currently, Phil is an assistant coach for the New York Knicks where Larry Brown (another UNC grad) is the head coach.

Possibility – Faith makes things possible, not easy. But it is that possibility that keeps me going every day. The idea that there is something more, something out there, something undefined, something I have no idea is coming. It’s full of anxiety and excitement, but just knowing there is possibility in all of us is fantastic. Uncertainty doesn’t always have to be a negative!

Monday Mayhem

2006-04-24T16:42:00.000-04:00

In the midst of my busy work schedule (be careful what you wish for when you wish for more work), I thought I'd take some time out to give you some quick hits:

A really nice article about Peyton Manning's work off the football field can be found here.
The 2006 NFL draft is this weekend. I can't wait!! It's a sign that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel and the season is right around the corner.
Leading up to the draft, this will be quite an interesting week for Reggie Bush in a way he probably didn't expect. I do have to wonder how he can say he knew NOTHING about it. But, take it from this girl who has read, cover to cover, a NCAA sanction report, the NCAA does not care whatsoever if you knew about the violation that occurred...only that it actually occurred.
Jessica and I are going to see the Colts play in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis on September 24th against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Oh yeah, the seats are 11 rows from the field in the very center of the end zone!! We're all set...now we just need the calendar to quickly make it to September.
Faith's first day in my nursery class was on Sunday. She was a real trooper, but I think she's on to me. She kept looking at me when I would hold up a certain animal during the lesson as if to say, "Miss Leann, that is SO NOT a squirrel." She's a bright one and a treasure to have her in class. Next week, Nelson joins us in an effort to balance out the girl to boy ratio. After that, Rachel will be coming in to take charge and steal all the boys' hearts with her smile!
I recently purchased the Saving Jane CD. They're the group that sings "Girl Next Door". The entire album is really good, and there's even a hidden song. I didn't really pay much attention to it when I first heard it, but after a couple more listens, I realized it was a song to God. The lyrics are perfect, and the song is absolutely too short! It's called, "You Say":

I've been calling and calling for You but You answer and I shut my mouth.

I've been searching and searching for You but myself I don't want to be found.

You say I AM, You say Let go, You say believe, but its not that easy for me.

You say wait, You say right now, don't you see you're already one foot in the ground.

You say

I've been wicked and wild and wrong and I've wondered the price of my shame.

I've been hiding my face for so long its a wonder that You know my name.

You say come home, You say I'm here, you say there's some things you just can't control,

You say let me, You say believe, why do you search for the answers you already know.

You say I am the Way and the Light and the Truth,

don't be mislead by the flight of your youth,
Have faith in the things you can't see to believe

What if you had faith in Me?

You say rest here, this is your home, don't you see that you knew I was here all along,

You say...

Alabama's Newest National Champion: Paper, rock 'n' Roll Tide

2006-04-12T12:48:00.000-04:00

UA sophomore wins national Rock Paper Scissors tournament in New York City

By Lori Creel
Senior Staff Reporter, The Crimson White

April 12, 2006

The Alabama faithful can brag about another national championship - this time in the childhood game Rock Paper Scissors.

Julianna Vaughn, a sophomore majoring in marketing, out-shot players from 81 other universities across the nation last week to win the National Collegiate Rock Paper Scissors Tournament in New York City for a $5,000 prize.

Vaughn said she registered in a drawing to represent the University in the tournament through The College Store. When she received an e-mail telling her she'd won a free trip to New York, complete with airfare for her and a friend, Vaughn said she thought it was spam.

"I just randomly won," she said. "It was just weird because I'd never won a trip before."

Vaughn said the College Store officials told her she'd be playing in a Rock Paper Scissors competition, but she was more excited about the free trip.

"I spent about 15 minutes researching - looking it up on the Internet, but I didn't think I'd have a chance of winning so I didn't put the time into it," Vaughn said.

Vaughn said players spent the first night of the trip learning the game's international rules. The tournament began the next morning, narrowing the field from 81 to 16 players.

Other competitors took the tournament seriously, Vaughn said.

"A lot of people were dressed up in costumes," she said. "People I talked to had been reading books on it and stuff."

Vaughn said the costumes were meant to distract or "psych out" opposing players. The audience also tried to distract players by calling out what they thought each would do.

"There are really no rules except the way you shoot," Vaughn said. "You can say anything during the competition."

Vaughn said her only strategy was to try to determine the other player's next hand and shoot accordingly.

"I tried to put myself in their shoes," she said.

By having a "random strategy," she said, she was able to keep the other players from figuring out what she would do next.

As she defeated each round of players, Vaughn said she didn't know what to think, though her father, who she chose to go on the trip with her as her "coach," told her all along she would win.

"I just kept thinking 'This can't be happening,'" Vaughn said.

After several hours of playing, Vaughn said she started to care about the game.

"I kind of got into it when it got down to the wire," Vaughn said. "My hands started shaking."

Four hours and nine rounds of Rock Paper Scissors later, she won the tournament.

She said she plans to invest her prize money in stocks.

Vaughn said she doesn't know whether she'll continue on to the world competition or compete again in next year's national championship.

"I really don't know what's next," she said. "I don't really know what goes on after this."

The moment she won, Vaughn said she was shocked, but her father ran on stage yelling "Roll Tide."

Speaking of Birthdays: Happy Birthday to My Alma Mater

2006-04-12T12:37:00.000-04:00

Community to celebrate UA's 175th birthday

When the Capstone opened to young men in Alabama on April 12, 1831, it consisted of two faculty houses, two dormitories, a laboratory, Gorgas House and the Rotunda.

The University is now home to more than 21,000 students from 49 states and 79 countries. The University has changed a lot during its existence, and the UA community will celebrate those changes at an event marking the 175th anniversary of the institutions' founding today at 3:30 p.m.

There will be more events this year marking the University's 175th birthday, including concerts, lectures, speakers, art events and an unveiling of a permanent campus marker during the commencement ceremony in December.

Edited from: Community to celebrate UA's 175th birthday, Ceremony to be held outside Gorgas today, By Christy Conner, Contributing Writer, The Crimson White, April 12, 2006

August 10th

2006-04-12T10:54:00.000-04:00

(Thanks to Elise, Shayna, Carl, and Dave's blogs.)

Only because this is interesting: August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 143 days remaining. (My birth year was not a leap year.)

Events:

1846 - The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the U.S. Congress after $500,000 was given for such a purpose by scientist James Smithson.
1977 - In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over a year's period. (A lot of very violent things happened on my birthdate.)
2003 - The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK, 38.5Â°C (101.3Â°F), occurs in Kent. It is the first time the UK has recorded a temperature over 100 degrees.

Births:

1856 - William Willett, Inventor of Daylight Saving Time (d. 1915)
1874 - Herbert Hoover, President of the United States (d. 1964)
1967 - Riddick Bowe, American boxer

Deaths:

258 - Saint Lawrence, martyr
1963 - Estes Kefauver, U.S. Senator from Tennessee (b. 1903)
2002 - Michael Houser, American guitarist (Widespread Panic) (b. 1962)

You Complete Me

2006-04-06T17:49:00.000-04:00

It’s taken 3 years and 3 days to complete, but every little step has made those three years worthwhile.

On January 20, 1998, the first episode of Dawson’s Creek aired after much advertisement on The WB. I can remember the advertisements being just Dawson on his boat out on the creek and basically saying, “it’s coming January 20th." I remember being in my dorm room waiting quite impatiently for it to begin. The series started on a Tuesday, but was later moved to Wednesdays. I would go to church on Wednesday nights, but I would not go to sleep that night until I had watched the episode. I never missed one.

On May 14, 2003, the final episode faded to black around 10pm ET after 2 hours of one of the best episodes of the series, and I had tears streaming down my face. About a month before that on April 1, 2003, season one of the series was released on DVD.

For nearly 5 1/2 years, I shared their storylines, sat on the edge of my seat, yelled at the screen, laughed, smiled, cried, cheered them on, rolled my eyes in disgust (mostly at Dawson) and always hoped that what I wanted to happen really would.

So, here it is, 8 years after the series first aired and the 6th and final season was released on DVD on Tuesday, April 4th. My collection is complete. I no longer have to wait for TBS to get around to one of my favorite episodes.

I can tell you almost anything. I can tell you in the opening 90 seconds which episode it is and what is going to happen. I can tell you which episodes are still so painful to watch because I just want to slap Dawson. I actually liked Dawson in season one and pulled wholeheartedly for Joey and Dawson to get together because I knew EXACTLY where she was coming from in her unrequited love for him. But then Pacey came in and shook everything up and Dawson became a whiney little (fill in the blank). I can tell you that their Halloween episodes are among the best of the series and that I still cry at the end of the final episode every time I see it.

My favorite episodes take place not in Capeside, but during trips away from their hometown. Excluding the series finale, my favorite episode is the one where Pacey and Joey get stuck in Kmart overnight. My least favorite episodes are the ones when Audrey is at the height of her alcoholism and the episodes when Dawson is at his jerkiest about Pacey.

These characters changed and evolved through their high school days and part of their college days for the greater part of my own college career. It may be silly, but they’re a part of me. So, now the collection is complete. Welcome Home, Capesiders.

Nervous Yet?

2006-04-03T11:31:00.000-04:00

The beauty of an RSS reader allows me to read my hometown newspaper with ease. (shout out to Carl for helping figure out all the little kinks...oh and Happy Anniversary to you and your lovely wife). Considering tonight's grudge match between the UCLA Bruins and the Florida Gators, I found this article quite interesting. It's certainly a lot of things that, if given the chance, I would love to tell any athlete playing on his/her biggest stage. Cherish it because it typically only happens once. 40 minutes of play clock left. Don't miss a thing. Take it all in.

P.S. Congratulations to the STUDENT-ATHLETES of George Mason University's men's basketball team. Thanks for the ride and for reminding all of us obsessed fans just how much fun this game is supposed to be.

Players must cherish this game
By DOUG FERNANDES
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

INDIANAPOLIS - An open letter to the players for Florida and UCLA:

Nervous yet?

You should be. There should be a feeling in the middle of your stomach, that can't-shake-it-loose, jumpy-all-over feeling.

A feeling of excitement. A feeling of nervousness.

A feeling that, in just a few hours, you will be playing in the biggest basketball game of your young lives.

The biggest basketball game the NCAA has to offer. It's your Super Bowl, World Series and Stanley Cup final. You have every right to feel as you do.

You know what's at stake. You realize the public perception that's formed by the difference of a few points on a scoreboard.

One team is remembered as a champion, a year's worth of bragging rights as the finest college basketball team in the land.

The other isn't remembered. Who did North Carolina beat last year? Can't remember, can you? That's just the way sports are. Illinois is the answer. (Leann's note...I knew this one. I can also tell you that Michigan State was the team that beat Florida in the 2000 Championship in the RCA Dome.)

Surely you can't wait for the game to start. True, you've been treated like royalty your four days here. The toast of Indianapolis.

But those questions, one after the other, posed by people you've never seen before, probably never will see again, got monotonous in a hurry.

You've sampled the mints left on your hotel room pillow. The bed wasn't soft enough, the shower didn't get hot enough, and the maids never left enough of those really big towels.

You want to get home.

But you want to return a winner.

As this point, there's not much a guy who never played high school basketball can tell you.

Except this:

Enjoy tonight. Enjoy the moment.

Every available one.

Professional athletes say it all the time. Those who come oh-so-close to having champagne sprayed in their face but become wet only through the moisture of their own tears.

It doesn't happen automatically. You don't start a season with the simple declaration, "This is our year," then merrily skip to a title.

It takes all the work and dedication and sacrifice your body can muster. You guys know. Only you know what was required to reach this special day.

So enjoy it. Don't be afraid to mimic what several George Mason players did Saturday, just moments before the start of their semifinal game against the Gators.

They looked around the packed RCA Dome stands. Just looked. Took everything in. One player even allowed a small smile to crease his face.

They all knew, in their heart of hearts, they would never get back here again.

You Gators and Bruins, even the younger ones, those expected to carry your programs into the future, do likewise.

Even for a few seconds, listen tonight to your band play.

Watch your cheerleaders pump their fists skyward and scream until hoarse.

See your team manager scurry about, passing out towels and water as though he were standing at the foul line, three seconds left, his team down by a point.

Absorb it all, knowing that it's being done all for you.

Then go out onto the court and play as though it's your final college game. For a few players tonight, it will be.

A couple of hours later, you may be rewarded for your efforts with college basketball's most valued possession.

A national title.

Nervous yet?

You should be.

One Shining Moment

2006-03-31T16:54:00.000-05:00

It’s come down to this. We’ve made it through 19 days of March Madness since Selection Sunday…some of us made it through a little more successfully than others: Florida, George Mason, LSU, and UCLA. It’s been a lot of heart ache, a lot of smiles, a lot of NO WAYs, a lot of years erased from the end of our lives because of last second shots and overtimes. We have new names to learn: Bradley, Northwestern State, Larranaga (How did I miss knowing about this fantastic coach), etc. But there are still 5 games to play and one very important ending.

Since somewhere around the ‘86 or ‘87 championship, one thing and one thing alone has closed the book on every Men’s Basketball National Championship tournament. It’s a montage of exciting and heartbreaking moments from the previous three weeks set to the most perfect song, “One Shining Moment.” The song was written by David Barrett, who, oddly enough, has spent his life writing scores to different sporting events as well as the score to a PBS special on C.S. Lewis. He sang the original recording of “One Shining Moment” (which you can buy at here), but now I believe the recording by the late Luther Vandross is the one that CBS uses.

From Selection Sunday to the trophy presentation, I wait, somewhat impatiently, for the One Shining Moment B-roll. It is by far my favorite part of March Madness. Little kids have grown up watching that ending to the tournament and hoping one day to be one of the faces in the clips. Some see it as an honor, an achievement for all they’ve accomplished. I can hear those words and that music in my head for the entirety of March Madness, and I even find myself mentally picking out clips game by game that I think will make it in. So, even if you’re not planning to watch the final game or if you’re planning to turn the TV off as soon as the game is over, I urge you to stay up just a little longer and just watch. I’ve included the lyrics and a link to where you can hear a 36 second snippet of the song here. For the song in its entirety, tune in April 3rd to CBS. You won’t be sorry.

The Lyrics
The ball is tipped
and there you are
you're running for your life
you're a shooting star
And all the years
no one knows
just how hard you worked
but now it shows...

(in) ONE SHINING MOMENT, IT'S ALL ON THE LINE
ONE SHINING MOMENT, THERE FROZEN IN TIME

But time is short
and the road is long
in the blinking of an eye
ah that moment's gone
And when it's done
win or lose
you always did your best
cause inside you knew...

(that) ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU REACHED DEEP INSIDE
ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU KNEW YOU WERE ALIVE

Feel the beat of your heart
feel the wind in your face
it's more than a contest
it's more than a race...
And when it's done
win or lose
you always did your best
cause inside you knew...

(that) ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU REACHED FOR THE SKY
ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU KNEW
ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU WERE WILLING TO TRY
ONE SHINING MOMENT....

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

2006-03-27T11:45:00.000-05:00

Ok. Listen carefully because you will NOT hear me say (or type) this again unless something no one in their right mind ever would have predicted, happens on April 1st and possibly April 3rd. Ok...you ready...

GO PATRIOTS!!!

Of course I mean the George Mason men's basketball team that makes its home about 10 minutes from my house and not the red, white, and blue Foxborough boys who make their home in a stadium sponsored by a company that can't make up its mind how many blades a man needs to shave his face.

So as these Green and Yellow Patriots make their way to Indianapolis as so many Patriots have before them, I have only one hope for the Final Four...MAY THE PATRIOTS PREVAIL!!!

March 24th, 1976

2006-03-24T15:22:00.000-05:00

Forgive me this minor indulgence................

Happy 30th Birthday, Peyton!!!

Here's hoping that your Birthday Present comes a little late this year, say February 4th, 2007. :)

Common Ground

2006-03-24T11:59:00.000-05:00

Last night I did something I never thought I’d do. I felt bad for Duke. I felt bad for J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams. Heck, I even felt a little bad for Coach K. Now let me set you (the reader) straight. I am most certainly not developing a soft spot for Duke. I still hate (such a strong word) them, and maybe one day I’ll have the strength and courage to explain all the reasons why, but today is not that day. It’s too emotionally driven and tied to family history and extends way beyond the basketball court to a place in my mind and my heart that I don’t allow myself to go to but once or twice a year. All that aside, the pain was still there.

When I first met Jessica, I thought “what an awesome person.” And then I thought, “oh heavens there has to be something wrong with her because no one is this cool without a flaw and we all have flaws no matter how cool we are.” Then, I found out…she is a Duke fan. “Oh this will never work,” I thought. I cannot be friends, scratch that, good friends with a Duke fan. It’ll never work…we’ll drive each other insane with my talk about Roy Williams and her talk about Coach K. We’ll be pulling each other’s hair out before mid-season. Oddly enough though, it works. I think we’ve both been equally successful in tuning the other one out when we go on our UNC or Duke rants. She called to console me after the first Duke/UNC game of the season, and I provided the chocolate after the second meeting. I think it surprised us both that we were able to develop such a strong friendship in spite of our mutual admiration (read: obsession) of rivaling schools, but it surprised me even more that I was able to console her last night without cracking a smile or jumping up and down (things I’ve been known to do in the past after a Duke loss). In fact, the only thing I laughed at last night was the air horn they brought out to the scorers table because the Georgia Dome buzzer system had malfunctioned. Now THAT was funny.

But in the end, it was all about my friend and how unhappy and sad she was last night. There was nothing I really could do since I couldn’t jump through the TV and make LSU lose. I wanted to make her smile and laugh, and I did a couple of times. And after all was said and done, I realized I wasn’t necessarily feeling bad for Duke and their coaches and players as much as I was feeling bad for my friend who saw a dream fall apart that she had wholeheartedly believed in with her team. I know that feeling. OH how I know that feeling. It’s a sadness so deep that it hurts. So, it’s just basketball (or sports in general) most will say, but to us it’s different. We’ve seen the desire in their eyes just by watching every game they’ve played. We’ve seen the smiles and the tears. We’ve felt the agony of defeat and the joy of victory. We’ve read every article, every biography, every statistic. Simply because we’re obsessive fans, and we love our teams. And even when you’re fans of two schools who avidly hate each other, which dictates that the two of us should hate each other, somewhere amidst the rubble of the hopes and dreams of both schools, you find a common ground that builds a friendship. I (heart) you, J.Mo! Hang in there!