Saynora!!!

As I have mentioned numerous times - I have such good intentions when trying to blog. However, the time invloved to actually create content for the blog seems to slip from my fingers. I have so many things that I want to say, but couldn't find a place where everything fell into place to get it done....until now.

From now on you can find me micro-blogging on Twitter. You can follow me at:
www.twitter.com/illini3sc

Shawn

Updates

Wow - I always get so ambitious when I try and start up the blog....and then life gets in the way. So to make up for lost time, here is a bulleted list of things that have happened since our last conversation.

• I got an iPhone. LOVE IT!!! For some reason, I couldn't talk my wife into letting me get one. But the salesman at the AT&T store could. Woo-hoo!! And I wasn't going to let her get one without me getting one. If you have a chance to get one - do it. You won't regret it.
• We finally got our back patio poured and it is awesome. It makes such a HUGE difference to have a place now in back where you can go and relax. We eat dinner out there alot too because it is so nice.
• School is starting soon....yuck. I have started to plan for the fall and it becomes tougher every year. Not because I don't enjoy school but because the summer goes so fast and I enjoy the time with my family
• My ankle is getting better. The physical therapy is helping...but it is just a slow process.
• Got to visit home over the weekend. So much fun!! I got to take the boys to all the places I frequented as a kid. I showed them the houses I grew up in, the schools I went to, the ball fields I played on all summer long, and we went to visit Dad's grave as well. Brannon kind of freaked out about dying and being away from us. But we worked it out.
• I love two things about going home (besides the fan) - Kitchen Cooked Potato Chips. They are the best chips on the planet. And Avanti's restaurant. Their food is amazing, especially the Gondola. It is the best sandwich in the entire world. My wife is hooked on them now and so is her parents. Once you have one, you will be too
• The Cubs - yikes. How up and down can they be? Sweep Washington, lost 2 straight to Philly. At least they are still only two games out....I guess.
• The All-Star Game just sucks now. I HATE the face that the winner gets home field in the World Series. It's not right. Plus, guys who get to go to the game don't get to play...just in case it goes extra innings. It is an EXHIBITION!!! Keep it at that.

OK, that's all for now. I will try and keep up in the near future.....so says the sporadic blogger. :)

More thoughts....

Happy July 4th to everyone!!! Please don't forget those who have served our country and those who are currently serving. It is the courage of those that allow us to have the freedoms that we enjoy every day.

A couple of thoughts from the weekend:

• It is so cool how things can work out. We had some friends need to go visit a sick relative and from that we ended up having a group from Springfield, MO conduct a backyard bible club at our house all week. They were the NEATEST people. It was like we had known them forever. Other than the fact that they were Cardinals fans and Missouri fans, they were great. I feel like we made some friends for life this week.
• I FINALLY went to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen this weekend with my wife. Wow! I loved it. I thought the story was well thought out and it played out at a very good pace. Nothing was rushed just to get into the CGI stuff. Definitely a movie I will own and watch countless times.
• I had a dream last night of Marian Hossa's first game as a Blackhawk. I know that sounds weird but that was a HUGE get for the Hawks. They are going to make even more noise next year in the NHL playoffs. Oh yeah baby!
• Maybe this is the homestand that turns the Cubs around. Taking the first two from the Brewers is a good start to making their move and taking control of the Central. Now if they could get ARam back and swinging the bat as well as get Soriano right - watch out!
• Even though I probably shouldn't have (with my bad ankle) I went and played golf yesterday. Had a blast. I even played pretty well with a bad ankle and not having played in a year. Shot a 49 and 52 at Stoney Creek. I will take that all day at this point. I ever parred the last hole, a par 5.

Til next time!

Getting Old

Hello again. Sorry I have taken almost a week since getting back from being out of town to posting something. It is interesting how long it takes to get back adjusted after being with teenagers on a set schedule for a week.

Speaking of, let me tell you about my first 36 hours or so of camp. We left the high school parking lot at about 11pm for the overnight drive on a charter bus. Not so bad to begin with - until we realize that the air conditioning is not working on our bus. Luckily for me, I got a seat in the very back. Why? Well, the bus driver opened a ceiling window that allowed air in and I got a steady breeze. The bad part was that then all of the kids came rushing to the back to get some air. So I got NO sleep whatsoever until we stopped in Janesville, WI. We stopped to exchange buses and were there for about 45 minutes. Enough time to fully wake up. :)

Part 2 of the trip consisted of the trip from Janesville, WI to Detroit Lakes, MN (about an hour east of Fargo, ND). It was long and I still didn't get much sleep. I tried to lay on the floor a couple of times and ended getting around 3-4 hours of sleep. We arrived at Castaway around 1 PM and unloaded for our stay. We no more than got our stuff in our cabin when we were told we were to immediately go to the lake for tubing. As I went to put my contacts in I realized something was wrong with my left contact. When I went to check it, I couldn't find it. Yep, I lost it. The start of the day from hell.

Tubing was fun, but there was one thing. I love rides, like roller coasters and the like, but I don't do spinning rides very well. Of course, when you are tubing the driver moves in circles constantly to try and throw the tubers off the tubes. By the end of our session I was in a bad way. I nearly threw up in the lake at the end. We made it back to shore and I was woozy. My next bad decision was to go into the hot tub with all the other guys. Once in there my body started to overheat more than it already had from the bus ride and the spinning. I called it off and went back to our room so I could lay down for a bit. I laid down for a bit and ate a fruit bar. Didn't help.

After all of this we were supposed to go to a leaders meeting. I tried my best but I was sweating like a faucet was on in my head and I had to leave. I was done. I don't think I've ever felt so deflated and exhausted before. Another leader walked me to the infirmary where I laid down and tried to get back into shape. They brought me some dinner and I got some rest. After about 90 minutes I thought I could go to Club and get ready to watch my guys do the obstacle course. I made it through both and then we went back to our cabin....where my fateful decision of the night was yet to come.

The leaders always choose bunks by the door and so I did as I always do in that situation. But in this room the door opened right into my bed. So I thought maybe I should think about using the top bunk so the doorknob wouldn't crank me in the head. I got up on the top bunk and realized that there wasn't much room between the bed and the ceiling. Plus there was a huge ceiling beam that hung down right over the ladder. So I decided I would stay with the bottom bunk. I sat on the edge of the top bunk and went to get down like I always do. I slid off the bed and stepped on the bottom bunk with my right foot and then went land on my left foot. Somehow, something went wrong and when I landed my left foot got caught under me and all my weight proceeded to twist my ankle under me. Wow. The sound and feel of that moment made me think my ankle would be dangling from my leg. Luckily it wasn't , but it was bad.

The EMT trained camp staff came and looked at it and took me to the infirmary. They thought it was broken so a trip to the ER was in store for me. The x-rays were negative but I don't know how they could see anything through all the swelling. It looked like someone and stuffed an egg under my skin. They gave me a protective boot and crutches to get around and it was back to my room for the night.

The funny thing is - it totally turned around my week. When I was exhausted and nauseous, I did not want to be at camp. I wanted to go home and wondered why I was there. Once I cranked my ankle my mood totally changed for the better. I was smiling and joking and was ready for a great week. And a great week I had.....even though I couldn't do any of the water stuff. God does work in mysterious ways. :)

I just need to remember my age and be more careful....and not to get on top bunks anymore.

The Cubs....

Has anyone seen the movie "The Hangover"? My wife and I went to see it and we loved it. But as I started to think about the concept something just struck me as odd and I couldn't figure it out. And then, as I was watching the Cubs this afternoon, it hit me.

Background - there was a rain delay and CSN was showing a game from September of last year against the Brewers. Ramirez was hitting like a madman and Soto looked good...it made no sense why they were stinking up the joint this year. I think it was the game where ARam hits the HR to beat them. It just didn't seem possible that a team that won 97 games last year could be hovering at .500 in June this year. My thoughts went to the playoffs against the Dodgers - and that is when I got it. The Cubs have a hangover. I really believe that. All they heard in the offseason was about how badly the played in the playoffs and how much they needed a LH bat in the lineup. Every move in the winter was made to get that lefty bat - which also hasn't done jack. If you hear something enough, don't you start to believe it?

The hard part is fixing the hangover. Lord knows, if you've partied at all there are a thousand different "methods" for curing the hangover. Do I believe cutting Gerlad Perry loose was one o them? No, but something had to be done. If I knew enough about the game I would be getting paid by a team to help them - but I have suggestions....

1. Tell Soriano he is not hitting leadoff and if he doesn't like it - threaten him with a suspension like Frank Robinson did in Washington. He did end up going to LF remember? And he played well. Do the same thing. The managers run the team, not the players.
2. I would hit Reed Johnson leadoff if it were me. IT seems like he is a catalyst for this team. He plays the game the right way - and he wear his stirrups the right way too. :)
3. Hit Theriot 2nd. He is the perfect 2 hitter - bat control, moving runners, taking pitches, etc...
4. Fukudome sits. Let him get right - this whole LH bat thing spiraled out of control. Just give me guys who hit. I don't care what side of the plate they hit from.
5. Play Jake Fox at 3rd until Rami gets healthy. Yes, it could be ugly defensively but you cannot keep giving up such quality starts from the starting pitching.
6. The rest of the lineup would be as such: Lee 1B, Fox 3B, Soriano LF, Bradley RF, Soto C, and some warm body at 2b. Probably Fontenot because he is a lefty.

There you go Lou, the answer to all your problems. :)

College World Series

I know it's been a few days....but I am getting ready to go to Young Life Camp for a week starting on Saturday. We are going to Castaway Camp in Minnesota. It looks very cool, but is a LONG way away. I wish charter buses had more leg room. :)

OK, so I have been trying to watch as much of the College World Series as possible. As you probably already know, I am a baseball fanatic - in every sense of the word. I watch MLB, CWS, Little League World Series and even the Pony League WS. If it is baseball, I'll watch it.

The thing is - there aren't many college baseball powerhouses in the Midwest region. So it really wasn't until I went to college in SW Missouri (Southwest Baptist Univ.) that I latched on to college baseball. My first memorie are of Robin Ventura having a 58 game hit streak for Oklahoma State. He is still one of my favorite all-time players. But living there - everyone liked OU, OSU or Missouri. And I wanted to be different, so I really didn't connect with any one team...until I graduated from college.

In 1994 I was watching the CWS and caught Cal State Fullerton. They were coached by Augie Garrido (now at Texas) and they were awesome. They played the game the right way (the way I liked to play it and to watch it - like Dirtbags) and had a stud named Mark Kotsay. They were unbelievable and I was hooked. They became my team. After a few years I went to Spring Training one year in Arizona and ended watching ASU play Stanford in Tempe. Their field is very cool and even though Bonds went there I found myself liking them as well. Finally, around the same time I stumbled upon Rice. It is a smaller college in Houston, but I loved their uni's, their coach and a player named Lance Berkman. Over time, Rice surpassed ASU - but they are the three teams that I follow.

In 2006, when I graduated with my Masters, my present was a trip to the CWS. I went by myself (which I wouldn't do again) and loved it. It is such a festival type of atmosphere. College kids and younger baseball players with their dads. It is so cool. I did get to see Fullerton and Rice that year, but Oregon State ended up beating UNC for the title. I will go back someday - and maybe even someday Illinois can get there. :)

Anyway, if you get a chance to watch the CWS - please take some time and check it out. I know they use aluminum bats but college sports are almost always more fun to watch than the pros because of the spirit. This year Fullerton and ASU both made it (Rice lost in the Super Regional to LSU). Fullerton is out and ASU is on their last leg. Good luck Sun Devils!!

(If you get a chance try to find pictures of ASU playing Texas two night ago, their throwbacks were awesome. For any uni-related items I suggest going to www.uniwatchblog.com where Paul Lukas and the Gang do a tremendous job covering the uni-related issues in the sports world)

The Weekend

Nice, short weekend in Chi-town. Went to a friend's wedding on Saturday and then caught the Cubbies on Sunday. Had fantastic seats, and as always, sat next to great people. It was topped all of by my boy, Ryan Theriot, hitting a walk-off single in the 9th (btw, I called a walk-off win for the Cubs at the game - no specifics, just a walk-off win. I'll take what I can get).

SO many thoughts over the weekend - let's just hit a few.

• Way too much to talk about with the Cubs, so I'll save it for a rainy day. I just know that I LOVE going to Wrigley. It is still amazing.
• My old stomping grounds of Westfield HS has their baseball playing for the state championship this Saturday at the home of the Indianapolis Indians, Victory Field. Pretty cool stuff.
• Speaking of Westfield, one of my former students (and current ace of the staff) Kyle Kramp got drafted by the SF Giants. While you may say that it was the 45th round I will say it is still cool as heck that someone you know got drafted. I think he will still go pitch for Butler Univ. this fall though.
• I really like Northern Indiana. Merrillville, Crown Point, Valpo, Hobart....all nice towns. And very close to Chicago, which helps.
• Let me just say that it is weird staying at a relatives house when they are not there.
  
• Road construction must be what Hell is like.....because I cannot stand it. It is incredible all of the never-ending construction on I-65. People - let's get it right.
• My summer vacation is going WAY to quick. For those of you who don't know - I am a high school teacher
• I could spend thousands of dollars and hats and shoes (mostly of the athletic variety), but alas - my exorbitant salary does not allow it

Finally, let me get back to the "list" thing. I LOVE lists. Addicted to them. VH1 could put out a Top 100 Metal Hairdos of All-Time and I would watch it. That being said - I am also very critical of them as well. Last week I recorded and watched the BDSSP's list of top 50 Unbelievable Upsets and I have some thoughts.

1. You CANNOT, under any circumstances, consider an MLS upset as one of the 50 greatest. I am sorry - it's not happening. World Cup I can understand. But if you are trying to tell me that you think some playoff upset in the MLS is better than Doug Flutie upsetting Miami FL in 1984 with the Hail Mary....YOU ARE INSANE!!!!!
2. While the Giants beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl was an upset - it is NOT more of an upset than the Jets beating the Colts in SB3. Sorry - not buying that either. We knew the Giants could play with the Pats just from the final game of the regular season. Plus, the NFL today has alot more parity than it did back then. In SB3, the AFL was considered the step-child league. Until that point no one believed (from SB1 and SB2) that the AFL was worthy of holding the NFL's jock. The Colts that year were as dominant (in the NFL) as any team had ever been and were in line to be considered one of the all-time greats. The Jets were 17.5 point underdogs...(Giants were around 11.5 underdogs) and that was kind. And to top it all of - Joe Willie "guaranteed" the win for the Jets. C'mon, you know what guarantees get you - a _____ slap upside the head because it is bulletin board material.
3. Thankfully, you cannot go wrong with #1. The good old 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team. I swear every time I watch a show about them it gets misty in the room (apologies to my blatant copying of the Sports Guy. You know what they say about imitation....)

Anyway, I won't bore you with the rest. But I will post some of my own list on here from time to time. One of the things I do as a teacher is have Top Ten Tuesday. It's just a fun thing to get students warmed up for class and to have some fun at the same time. Who says we can't have fun in the classroom and learn at the same time? :)

Fanaticism

Just watched the movie "Fanboys". For those of you who haven't seen it, the plot involves a group of friends road-tripping to Skywalker Ranch to steal a preview of Episode 1. It was very funny, but when the movie was over I turned to my wife and said "see, I could have been one of those, but I chose sports". She said she was glad I chose sports but it is still weird.

I couldn't help but wonder as I watched it why a fanaticism like that can be portrayed as somewhat nerdy, but cute (just like in "40 Year Old Virgin"). Sadly, the one movie that comes to mind about a sports fanatic was that horrible Jimmy Fallon movie about the Red Sox. Or the one scene in "City Slickers" where they talk about sports around the fire. So why is it that sports fanatacism can be looked upon as worse than a Fanboy or Trekkie? By worse, I mean that I have heard on many occasions that I follow because I couldn't play, or get a life it's only sports, blah, blah, blah. And yes, you would be right in saying that the Star Wars or Start Trek nerds endured the same thing. BUT - has a sports fanatic ever been romaticized on the big screen? No, we get movies like "The Fan" with DeNiro going overboard and trying to kill Wesley Snipes. If you can think of a sports fanatic being portrayed in a good light in a movie, please let me know.

All I ask is for fair treatment Hollywood. Some of us out here will remember that Fred Lynn won the MVP and ROY before Ichiro did it (with the Red Sox 1975 - and that he was the 1st player to hit a grand slam in an All-Star Game, 1983 with the Angels at Comiskey Park off of Giants pitcher Atlee Hammaker). Until then I will just have to keep watching Big Bang Theory and enjoy watching it even though they like comics and such and not sports.

Cubs....

Getting ready to go watch the rubber game of the Cubs-Astros series. Was disappointed in the loss last night. I continue to be amazed at this team's lack of ability to score runs. Granted, their best hitter is on the DL (Ramirez) - but still, it's frustrating. Miles, Fontenot, Johnson, etc... aren't going to give you more than stopgap ability. Long term, they need Aramis. And maybe even more help.

The bullpen has been shaky to say the least. I will give Guzman a break for last night because he has been awesome with that exception. Gregg and Marmol need to pick it up and Heilman better start throwing strikes or he is going to be gone. I think they should bring up the Shark.

Anyway, good news is that they are only 3 games back....and it's a long summer. Maybe they are lowering our exepectations and then surprising us, like the Astros a few years back. Let's hope so.

New Start

Well, so much for living the blogger life like I wanted to many years ago....it's amazing how things change when you get married and have kids. It's also from me being lazy. But, we are going to give it another go. Yes, there will mostly be sports talk. But there will also be random Top 10 Lists and other pop culture stuff as well.

So without further adieu, I give you the relaunched "14 Days of Ambivalence". Enjoy!