Friday Football Picks And Some College basketball!

So the only thing I seem to be getting right is my football picks lately.  Just the ones I'm posting that is. Everything else seems to be going in the tank sports wise, but at least the posted ones are paying off so hopefully you are paying attention and wagering accordingly.  That in mind, college basketball kicks off today as well, and although i know next to nothing about any of the teams out there with the exception of the Shocker, I do know the book doesn't know anything yet either.  That means, take good teams, who are traditionally good, early; even with big lines.  It's a lot like the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. The lines are large, as well as the vig, but if you bet the faves early, they still end up covering.  Therefore, do the same thing at the beginning of the year as well. I will be taking a few CBB teams with huge lines in hopes of this theory panning out. So, without further adieu, the picks:

CFB:

KSU-7: Need you even ask.  Yeah, they are on the road. Yeah, Klein might be a little bit banged up.  Sure, most of America wants them to fail. Sorry. To good of a team.  To well coached and too disciplined. They are better. Klein will be fine, and as I've said before, I'll ride them til I get bucked off.

Louisville-1.5: Undefeated. Superior team and superior players.  Syracuse = not good.  The problem is that the line keeps going down?  Opened at -3.5 now at -1.5. Vegas knows something I don't but I am a gluten for punishment. Go Cards. . .

Georgia-14: This line keeps wavering, but I need the game for my GA big east champion play.  I think they take care of business because Auburn is wretched. Need the double dip for this game. Plus, again, I've been riding them all year.

Others that I really like: Cincy-8.5, Kent St.-6.5, Oregon St.+4, WVa+10, Tulsa-3.5

NFL:

New England-11: Anyone remember how this game turned out earlier this year?  Buffalo up 14 early, NE wins by 30.  I don't think NE falls behind in this one this time.

New Orleans+2.5: They are at home. Team of Destiny. Score a lot of points. Whatever you want to say, I just have a hunch that Atlanta loses their first in the Superdome.

Pittsburgh-11: See other picks. Until proven wrong, I will continue to bet against the Chiefs.

CBB: I will preface this with the thought that these are the very first games of the season.  Pre-season hunches aside, no one knows anything about these teams. With that being said, here are the picks:

KSU-20, KU-22, Creighton-10, Duke-20, Michigan State-7

There you have it, all solid winnrs so wager the kids college funds on it, the house payement, your life's savings.  If it doesn't work out, hey, don't blame me, this is all illegal. 

A big Shout Out to the Kansas City Royal's Billy Butler for winning the Silver Slugger award at DH. Another shout out to LF Alex Gordon for his 2nd straight Gold Glove.

 

Also a big shout out to LF Alex Gordon for winning his second straight Gold Glove award.

Not a shout out, but at least an "About Time" to my Los Angeles Lakers for finally firing head coach Mike Brown.  I am not sure who they are going to hire, but this game was to big for him to coach LeBron and it's to big for him to coach Kobe. Phil anyone?

Have a good weekend folks and get that book.

I will add more later, but someone went 6-0 in their CFB and NFL picks last week.  Hmm, who could that be?  oh, yeah, it was me.

Weekend Football Picks and Football Only

So I know I said I would try and do some more writing last night, but I also stated that I was pretty tired as well.  After watching my pitiful KC Chiefs donk another game away in the 4th quarter, I decided that I had had enough.  I watched a little tv and tried to get through a few programs on the dvr then called it a night. Today wasn't much different. up, shower, dress, kids, eat, work, . . . . .same old, same old.  At least tonight I get to put away Halloween decorations. Yay! Yippee! Hooray!! I know, one cannot quite contain their excitement at the thought of taking down and putting back away, 5 enormous boxes of decorations.  On the bright side, the wife is completely in charge of all Christmas decorating except the outside of the house, the yard, the train sets: ok, she puts up the tree. I still get the rest.  Hopefully that Christmas spirit will sneak up and bite me in the ass soon.  If I stay this cranky through Thanksgiving, I'm not sure if anyone will want to be around me by the time Christmas gets here. I really do like Christmas, and I thoroughly enjoy Thanksgiving, but I'm not a kid any more.  No more week long vacations from school.  As an adult, and especially one in retail, it's just an extra vacation day off, but then it's right back to the grind the day after. It builds and builds and builds, then bang, holiday over, back to work. I know it's not a resolution, but just like every other person who spends to much time on Facebook each day, I'm trying to post something I'm thankful for each day up until Thanksgiving. I am currently at 1. Long way to go. Enough about me though, let's get to some football picks.

CFB:

KSU-10: the line keeps moving because I'm not sure the book has figured out how to get people to bet on OSU yet.  I know it's in Stillwater, and I know that this could be "the game" that fouls up the Cats' chances, but you ride a winner until he don't win no more. Go Cats.

Miami of Ohio+3: RTF. Miami of Ohio isnt great, but Buffalo is 1-7 and stinks. Not sure why the line is what it is, but I am going all road this week, and this one sticks out.

Oregon-8: See KSU. Covering machine who should destroy USC.  Remember when they said AZ would keep it close? That lasted 54 minutes of the first quarter.  This will not be a repeat of last year's game.

Others to watch but no promises: Florida (should bounce back nicely), Standford (CU is horrid), WVA (TCU is 1-3 since Patschell went out), Ark. St., San Jose State, UL Monroe (more small teams that cover)

NFL:

Detroit-3.5: If Jacksonville were playing the Chiefs they would have a chance.  They are not. down 1 wide out and Detroit is picking up steam.

Green Bay-10: This just in, the wheels have fallen off in Arizona.  I thought my AZ under season wins of 6 was in trouble: nope, I still think I'm good. Plus, it's in Green Bay and I need A-Rodgers to score me some fantasy points.

Denver-3.5: I pains me to say it but Denver, and that hall of fame qb they have playing for them, are good.  real good. Cincy having a down year after last year's surprise won't keep up.

So there you have it.  It's all for fun, but go ahead and put the kids college fund on these picks. They're all winners. . .

To Tired To Post

Well, with Halloween last night, a Halloween party last Friday and a "Halloween" wedding last Saturday, it's already Thursday and heading into the next week: I'm still just so tired.  Am I old? Getting older? Can't handle myself in public places anymore?  I'm not sure what it is, but I am beat. Working until 7 tonight, then I'll head home, scarf down some dinner, put the kids to bed, get myself in some kind of order, maybe a bit of tv or a book, or some internet "surfing" (that's code for porn) and then it's midnight again.  You would think that whenever the Mayans or Aztec's or whoever came up with the calendar when they did, they could have come up with a few more hours in it. Right?

Look, I'll post some really good football picks tomorrow, and continuing on my trend, I've been pretty good lately.  And, if I get some "free" time tonight, maybe I'll try posting something Witty or whimsical instead of this dribble I'm writing now.  I just needed to get something down on paper here. Get some emotion out there and keep this thing we call life chugging down the road. Until next time, catch some Zzz's for me.

More Halloween

I like Halloween and I like televisions.  I'm also a sucker for combining the two: the Halloween episodes from some of my favorite television shows.

 

First Up: The Neighbor's.  I think I've said it before, but I don't think this show will make it through the new year, but I think if people give it a chance, it may grow on them.  Aliens living in the United States, all together in a single gated community, befriending a family who just moved from New Jersey. What's not to like.

 

 

Nerd Alert!: It probably comes as no surprise to most people that I love The Big Bang Theory. Maybe it's the comic book, Star Wars, Star Trek, science aspect of it, or maybe it's that it's well written, acted and still topical. Maybe it's all of it, but it's a good show.

 

 

 

Parks and Rec: This show keeps getting better every year.

 

 

Ok, now that I have gotten that out of the way. Tonight is the start of the big weekend, so wish me luck. After my daughter's musical program tonight, it's straight home to get the house in order.  Everything is pretty much up for the Halloween party, but there are some last minute spider web's to put up, and some finishing touches in the garage to do.  Most of the night will be spent on food prep though.  I'll let everyone know how the party goes, but I thought I would share with everyone tomorrow evening's menu:

 

Witches Brew Punch

Bizarre Brain Patte

Fresh Flayed Flesh and Ectoplasm Crusts

Roasted Alien Fingers

Bat Wings

Booger Dip

Deviled Egg Eyeballs



 

 

 

 

 



HALLOWEEN!!

Other then football and family, it was a pretty slow weekend. This weekend will be different though because it will be as busy as busy gets. Thursday I have a bachelor party for a fraternity brother of mine, Friday we are having our annual Halloween party at our house, and then on Saturday, we will be attending the wedding for the same said fraternity brother.  The best thing about the wedding this weekend? It's Halloween themed! Complete with ditch the suit and ties and don the Halloween costume for the wedding and reception! Score!!

The family reunion went real well and without a hitch.  I think everyone who came had a real good time and I know my mother was pleased with the number of people in attendance.  She did a real good job and I think it was so successful that the "Cart/Ralston" reunion might now be a yearly event.

Football also went real well last week after a rough start. I only went 1-2 in my CFB picks, but I went 3-0 in my NFL picks to go 4-2 for the weekend and a big plus in the money department.  Additionally, KSU looked great in whooping that WVa ass, and they moved up to number 3 in the BCS polls.  They still have some tough games on the horizon, but it's one game at a time.  My KC Chiefs were on their bye week this last weekend, which means they finally didn't lose a game.  Even on the bye, they are so bad, I thought it was still possible that they might lose without even playing. Oh well, here's looking at finally drafting a quarter back in this year's draft. Barkley, Jones, Smith, Klein?  How would it look if the HBCK (honey badger Colin Klien) himself, Optimus Klein were to dawn a Chiefs jersey next year. He's big, slow, but can play like a mother. Ben Rothlisburger has two rings, why not Klein?

I love Halloween.  Always have.  I can remember as a little kid decorating my room or the basement as a haunted house and making my family or friends go through it.  It wasn't ever scary and it never lasted long, but it was just the process of getting everything out, decorating everything, trying to scare people.. . I loved it all. Every year, I always spent hours trying to decide on just the right costume. Scary, funny, over the top: I've done it all. My love of Halloween hasn't changed, even 20 years later. In fact, my infatuation with Halloween has probably only gotten worse.  The number of tubs we have filled with Halloween stuff in them now rivals the number of tubs we have for Christmas, which is a lot.  We even have our own traditions around our house much like everyone else: the wife is in charge of decorating for Christmas (except I still do the exterior lights) and I decorate for Halloween (inside and outside). We both go to the extreme, but I think going over the top is what the burb's is all about.  Outdo your neighbor. Be the best. he who has the most lights wins.

Every year we have a Halloween party at our house and invite all of our friends and family over.  We try and create a theme around it (last year it was Heroes and Villain's), and I always take up until the last minute to decide what my costume will be. I go all out every year for Halloween. decorations inside and out. Masks, costumes, wall hangings, scary sounds and spooky lights. We have tombstones and graveyards, window hangings, and shrunken heads. I'm the Clark W. Griswold of Halloween on my block, and I'll be damned if I'll get beat in any year of competition. The food spread is even more grandiose then the decorations. Everything is Halloween related so little smokies become alien fingers, deviled eggs are eyeballs, and everything, like hell, is hot. Hot salsa, hell dips, inferno bat wings, and devil fire mummy balls.

Yeah, it's all over the top, but for me, it's still one of the few times each year that I can revert back to being a kid. Even with our own kids now just a wee bit older, it's become a shared experience for all of us.  The kids love Halloween. They love decorating for Halloween and planning for the party.  This will be the first year where we will be having a kid friendly party, and we'll lose some of our kid less regulars who don't want to be around all these parents and their little witches and warlocks, but now we can spend it together. Plus the wife hates it.  The sluttier the costumes get each year, the less she likes Halloween.  She's not big on dressing up to begin with. Like I said, she's Christmas and I'm more Halloween, but she still works with it. I'll post pre and posat party picks from this year's party.  We get to combine the Halloween costumes and wedding costumes this year, so at least we get to wear everything more then once and get our monies worth out of it. It should still be a great time and how can it not when your kids go from this:

 

To this: Man they grow up fast. Must be something in the water.

 

 

 

 

Football Friday and Family Reunions

So last week's re-cap of games: In CFB I went 2-0 in my main picks (ISU and S. Caro) and 3-2 in my throw out picks (wins for Bama, Florida, and Ohio State. Losses for OSU and W. Va) In last weeks NFL picks I only went 1-2 but i think we can get back to work this week. So, without further adieu. . .

CFB

ISU+14.5: Why spoil a good thing.  Iowa State has a good team, and if Oklahoma State can't put Kansas away, I'm not sure how they are giving 14.5 to ISU, even if they are at home. Take the roadie.

Colorado+40.5: CU stinks. USC is good. Over 40 is a lot of points.  This game will probably go like most of CU's games this year where they will score 1 or 2 cheap td's somewhere.

KSU+3: I think in order for this to happen, KSU is going to have to show up again.  They will have to do this all year.  Most pundits are on WVa which is where I like them to be. Go Cats.

Others: Rutgers, Stanford, Boise, FSU, San Diego State

NFL

New Orleans-2.5: This is the most dangerous 1-5 team there is and like Green Bay, I don't see them letting up, and I see them feasting on inferior teams, which despite what Tampa Bay did to KC, is.

Green Bay-5: Yeah they are on the road, and yes, St. Louis plays good D at home, but Green Bay has to find its rhythm and if last week is any indication, GB is mad and St. Louis is in for it.

NYJ+10.5: The teams are similar, the Jets showed they can keep up, NE can't keep leads, and in the NFL this is a lot of points. 3rd road team to take this week.

So, after football, what else do we have on this weekend's agenda? Oh yeah, a lot. Tonight is my 4 year old daughter's Halloween party at school.  My oldest has gymnastics, but then I have to get her over to the Halloween party because God forbid she not get to do something that her sister does. Tomorrow I have the day off, but we have a "family reunion" planned for the day. That should last most of the day, and hopefully I get a work out in at some point, and then a good buddy is in town so I am going to try and meet up with him later Saturday night. Sunday, with the Chiefs off, is shooting day out at the gun range, then maybe another workout, or maybe spend some time with my relatives who are in town for the reunion. The reunion.

My parents two sides of the their families couldn't be more different, but oddly still the same when you get down to the heart of it.  Both are extremely different from my wife's families, so anything we do that's "family" related always makes the wife smile because while it's new to us, it's usually old hat to her.  My dad comes from a large family, who have been in the area for quite some time. Our background is Lebanese, but when people ask where our families from, I always tell them Oklahoma, because that's pretty much where they migrated from after coming over from the old country in the early 1900's. As we get older, we seem to see less of each other, and have grown further apart.  I guess it's only natural that as grandparents or great grandparents move on, the family settles in more with the new grandparents.  Whereas my father's mother was the matriarch of the family, that role is now headed by my father but we don't see the uncles, aunts, and cousins as much anymore.  We have a large reunion on my father's side every summer, and it gets bigger and bigger each year, but I see a lot of those relatives in passing as most of us all live in Wichita. The wife's families have 3-4 reunions every year, and it's always the same people, regardless of which last name is getting together, because as German Catholics from Smalltown, Kansas, everyone is related.  To me, its just an excuse to get together, eat, drink, and share stories, and I guess that's what it's really about anyway.

My mother's side of the family is a little different, and it's why this reunion tomorrow might be a little strange. My mother can trace her families roots back to the beginning of our nations history. After the Civil War ended, the Ralston's migrated from Pennsylvania, and my grandfather's family settled in Kansas and specifically the Augusta/Andover/Rose Hill area. Time passes, their farmers, ranchers, cowboys, yada, yada, yada. As things go, it gets down to my grandfather and his brother.  The only two living children of my great grandfather and great grandmother (I still had one of my great grandmother's until I was 20) ended up with small families, but a whole lotta land. My mother is only 1 of three and her older brother passed away over 20 years ago, leaving just my mother and her sister who has lived in Tennessee for the last 20 years. On the other side, my Grandfather's brother also only had two children, and they subsequently only had 1 or 2 children each as well.  Let's just say that there aren't a whole lot of the Ralston's left in the area and after changes in name through marriage, there really aren't many left.

Since the passing of my grandparents, and his brother, I think nostalgia has started to set in. My grandfather and his brother spoke very few words to each other the last 20 years of their lives due to a family feud after my great grandmother died divided the family. It divided land, blood, and it made people choose sides.  Unfortunately, you always choose your families side, and because of that, my mother and aunt have had very little contact with their first cousins because of it.  Well, they say that time heals all wounds, and maybe our family is no exception.  As they have gotten older, my mother, her sister, and their cousins have become increasingly curious about their families history. How they came to where they are; where people have been and where people went. Between the two sets of Ralston's, there are farm houses, home stead's, burial sites, river's, ponds, and beautiful Kansas land.  In the last several months, I think they have all gotten together and decided that maybe it's time to mend the family fences that have been weathered over time.  This Saturday will mark the first time that this set of Ralston's will have gathered together in over 20 years.  I'm not really sure what to expect or what's going to happen, but I'm excited to go, and excited to see and meet family that I don't really know.

I Waited to Write This, I Should Have Waited to Run

Every Twitter post, every Facebook message: running, running, running.  What is the fascination with running?  Why is it that as we get older, we think we should automatically become healthier, as if we weren't before, and that running is somehow the answer? When do we realize that as adults, that competitive team sports like soccer, baseball, and basketball are either below us now, or to difficult to do anymore and that our only alternative to the sports we once loved but can only watch are now solo sports like golf, fishing, and running?  I just don't get it. I go to the gym on a fairly frequent basis and besides the young muscle heads on the weights, everyone else is running. Elliptical's, treadmills, stair step's, the track, aerobics. . . .it's all running to me, no matter what you call it. So this brings me to this year's Prairie Fire Marathon. I'm sure you've seen the posts, and I'm sure you've read countless articles about it, but I'd thought I'd throw my two cents in as well.  Since I was made to run it, I might as well get to talk about it.

Let me first say that I did not run the marathon.  I didn't even run the half marathon.  I ran the mayor's 5k. Since the wife has me on this "plan" to run with her in Vegas in December, this race lined up with my "training" schedule she has me on. I've stated before, on several occasions, that I hate running.  This race was no different. I'm only doing it to stay in shape, keep some of the weight off that I lost in the last few months, and get a nice trip out of season to Vegas out of it.  The wife on the other hand seems to love it.  Eats the shit right up.  Likes running, training, racing, buying the shoes and jelly beans, the whole ordeal. And good for her.  If she's found something she likes, then so be it.  And I support her. I'm, there when she finishes every time, tell her good job and that I'm proud of her, and makes sure she can get the time she needs to train.  Me? I got my full running cross country in high school. My body just doesn't want to do it. 1 mile. 2 miles. 6 miles. It hasn't gotten any easier, and I haven't found a set of songs to make a play list out of to make the time I do it any more enjoyable. I do it, get it done, and then I'm over it. Ran 4 miles this morning. Didn't like it, but I did it.

This race though?  These people are nuts. Only in suburbia Kansas or suburbia anywhere do you find stuff like this.  And it's every week. These people are fanatical. It was my first experience with a large scale race, but I'm told their all pretty much the same. thousands of people. In every different color of spandex imaginable. thousand dollar shoes, and no shoes at all.  It's 50 degree's outside for the race and their barefoot in a speedo?  What are these people thinking? They have watch timers, special glasses and and fanny packs. Hand packs to hold drinks. Waist packs to hold multiple drinks. Jelly beans and goo for energy. And energy? You'd think our body's can't make their own. There's bars, drinks, gum, candy, lotions, gels. It doesn't stop.  Energy is everywhere and in every form at these events. The events themselves, ridiculous. Paying anywhere from $20 to $100 bucks a pop to run a race. On a city street. Yeah, there's free drinks and eats afterwards, and if I finish I get a t-shirt, but do i need that stuff. Give me $60 bucks and i"ll buy you a shirt and put up a finish line.

So I run my race. It was short and easy.  I didn't like it.  I didn't improve any time or have any goal.  I ran slowly by myself because I didn't see anyone else I knew running the 5k that would want to run slowly with me, but I got it done. No big deal.  I then spend the next 3 hours waiting on the wife. I get to people watch.  My number two favorite thing to do in my down time after you know what.  these races; great place to people watch. The crying, the laughing, moaning, groaning, screams. It's every where. Guys and gals giving it their all for any variety of cancer, AID's, SID's, ALS, Parkinson's; whatever this week's race is for. Discarded clothes every where. Matted grass, mud, and rock across the landscape of pavement. But it is a spectacle I can't stop watching.

It's the people who make these events enjoyable.  It's the looks on their faces. It's the gratitude people give you when you finish, regardless of what place you finished in or what race you ran. It's genuine. It's honest. People who have overcome cancer. Beat the disease. Lost the weight. Ran for a loved one lost. The sense of pride they get when they finished, for what they accomplished. the happiness on their faces when they hear strangers cheering them on for finishing something they just started. It's the fulfillment of that goal.  That's why people do it.  That's what I need to find. I don't have it yet.  Simply running to say I ran isn't going to do it for me.  It's not running towards anything or for anything.  It's just running, and that's why it doesn't get any better or any easier.  I'm not sure how you find those things or get those things inside you to create that burn or desire to topple the challenge, but I don't it yet.  Might not ever have it. Maybe I should have waited until I did before I wrote this. . . .

It's Friday Night and I'm...Home

Let's get the football picks out of the quickly as I think the dogs will cover big time this week.

NCCAA Football:

ISU+6.5: I love Kansas state as much as the next guy but this game is in Ames and ISU has been within a td the last 4 years. Happy with a KSU blowout but I'll take ISU and the points.

South Carolina+2.5: any team that can do that to Georgia gets my vote. LSU has not been impressive. Again, take the points.

Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State: those are all decent size lines but should all cover. Take them all, hit at least 3, and go home happy.

NFL:

NYG+6.5: I love San Francisco, but never count the Giants out. The line is just to big.

Indy+3.5: I think luck is the real deal and they look awfully good against green bay. Plus the jets just got done playing a heart breaker.

Minnesota+1.5: I'm not sure I buy Mindy, but I don't buy Washington, never had. If Minnesota is for real, they win this game.

Good luck everyone and remember to get that book.
Once again, I'm sitting here on a Friday night and it dawns on me how old I am. Not necessarily in age, I'm only 35, but in the game of life, I'm no spring chicken. Started drinking, partying, and having a real good time at a very young age, and now that I'm married with children, the old Al Bundy has set in. For me, I was never satisfied staying at home on a weekend night. Heck, I never sat at home on any night, let alone a Friday night. It's not even the kids or the wife that keep me at home anymore, it's my friends. Weak sauce guys. The wife and I always make time for each other, but I think more importantly for a strong marriage you have to make sure that you make time to stand out as individuals. Typically I get Tuesday nights to play cards or do whatever, and she gets Wednesday nights.  The weekends are always just kind of a toss up. The older I get though, the less there seems to be going on?

Is it because there is actually less going on where I live now then before? That can't be possible. There are more bars, bistro's, clubs, and dives then ever before. I think that not only have the burbs grabbed me, but it's grabbed all of my friends as well, and they have all decided to not fight the fight, but to simply give up? Where's the toughness? Where's the machismo? Where's the guys who would rather drop dead from exhaustion then to ever stay home? Most of the time I get one of two responses:  one, "I'm tired": two, "dude, there's nothing to do, so I think I'll just stay in". I literally had a conversation the other day that went like this:

Me: let's go out.

Lazy friend: I'd like to go out but what do you want to do?

Me: I don't care but let's do something different. Tired of sitting at a bar telling the same stories.

Lazy friend: so. . . .

Me: we could go see a band, we could go bowling, we could go eat, we could see a movie and eat, we could go to an art show, we could go to a thunder game, shocker game, wing nuts game, a gastropub, a play, hit golf balls. . . .

Lazy friend: that all sounds stupid, I'd go to "insert name of bar we always go to" or I can just stay home.

Me: aaaaaarrrrggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

My point tonight: take advantage of what you have around you. The town may be small but it's not dead. It's not new York city but there are things to do. Fun things to do. Different things to do. Go out and explore. Try new things. Eat at new places. Experiences what your city has to offer before you miss out on something. Don't get stuck at home on the weekends just because you don't want to try new things. Tomorrow, tomorrow a buddy of ours from college is in town and we're going out. get off work at 5:30, go work out and shower, meet the guys at 7pm at Twin peaks for some grub, beer's, and then watch the UFC fights. After the fights, who knows, maybe we'll find a rocket ship to Mars. At least we're out and about, and not at home on a Friday night. .  .like i am now. Hope she's having fun because I know I will. : )

5th Floor Views of Justice

So the last time I was at the county courthouse it was to serve on a jury.  That was about 10 years ago. Now I'm back again, and not much has changed. Let me first say that I'm glad I'm here.  My wallet was stolen after my car was broken into last May, and after talking to a detective who was assigned my case, and after shutting my credit Nd all my cards down, I was pretty sure nothing was going to happen. My driver's license, social security card, birth certificate, and everything else of real importance was all replaced. Even so, there's that feeling in the pit of your stomach that stays with you.  That feeling that you have been violated, that someone else has a piece of you that you'll never be able to get back.

Anyway, I get a call a month later from a different detective telling me they arrested a guy who had some of my stuff on him. He wanted to know if I knew the person or had given this information to the person. Of course I said no, and said nothing would probably come out of it but he would let me know if it did. I gave him the original case number from the break in and told him to let me know if there was anything else he needed to give me a call. A month or so after that, in August, I get a call from a different detective, this time out of Maize, who said they had busted a guy for writing checks in my name. I give him the first case number and detective and the second detectives information. He said he would be in touch, and then that's the last I had heard of anything.

Another month of so passes and I start getting subpoena's to appear in court for something I assume is related to my car break in. After calling in several times only to have the case date being pushed back, I was informed yesterday that today would be the day. I show up on time, early in fact, and arrive at the doorstep of the courthouse. Hello Walmart law. The line to get into the courthouse looks like I'm arriving at McCarann airport in Vegas to come home to Wichita. It's at least 60 people deep and it's a who's who of Wichita's finest: like they combined a Walmart with the state fair and added a splash of the downtown club scene from a Saturday night. It was a who's who. We should all be used to lines and searches but it's the same ol, same ol. Knives, arguments, refusing to take off belts or shoes. For Pete's sake, act like you've been there before.

I get through the line, get up to my area, and check in. I thought I would be the only one involved, but besides our break for lunch, I've been in the same room on the 5th floor for the last 8 hours. The "criminal masterminds" who stole my stuff, also stole the identities and information from several other people. Between all of the breaks, and the testimony of the police officers involved in at least 5 different incidents, we haven't even gotten to any of us who's identities were even stolen; and this is just the prelim's. Sounds like at least one of the guys has had enough and is going to take a deal, so that's a different process that has to be done before we can get back to our cases. I've know lot's of lawyers and I've known a lot of them who hated what they did, but this assistant d.a. Seems to like his job. He's apologized several times for keeping us here all day [he's said this is the longest prelim he's ever had], but man, we are still here. . . 8 hours and counting, and I have yet to step into the courtroom. I'll keep you updated on the outcome, but this guys done his duty, and identity theft be damned, I'm ready to go.

TGIF. . .But I Work Saturdays. . . At Least There's Baseball. . .Kind of

We're going to get to the baseball playoffs which start this afternoon, but right off the bat, since it's sports Fridays, let start with the obvious picks for the weekend:

CFB

1) KSU-24: I've seen KU play in person and they are wretched with a capitol yuck. If this games under 30 I'd really be surprised.  Time for Snyder to show Weiss how the big boys do it.

2) West Virgina+7: Anyone watch the Baylor/WVa game last week?  I'm not sure their defense is any good, but I know they can score on anyone at any given time.  Texas better be ready. Plus, WVA was the preseason Big 12 pick, so I'm not sure why the line is so high even when it's in Texas.

3)La Tech-24, UL Monroe-3, N. Illinois-3: I know what you're saying, you've never heard of these teams before. I get it. But let me tell you something, these teams can flat out play.  I've followed and been with them all year so there's no reason to let up now.  They are covering machines and should do so again this Saturday.

NFL

1) Baltimore Ravens-5: Like I said last week, until my chiefs can show that they are an NFL team and not a D1 team, I will continue to bet against them.

2) Pittsburgh Steelers-3: They are at home, Philly has all kinds of problems and Pitt is coming off the buy.  They are as healthy as they can be at this point and Philly is on the down slide.

3) Chicago-4.5: Carolina is horrid. Cutler loves to twist the knife and with Forte back, things should really come together for the Bears this weekend.

So let's get to the meat of this Friday's blog. MLB baseball. Let me first say that I love baseball. Played it all my life. Wasn't great at it, but I tried.  Usually when you are not athletically great at something, but you still love it, you tend to follow it more after you quite trying. I follow baseball about as closely as I follow any major sport which means I'm just left of nerdom, but still way right of most Americans. Baseball, being America's past time, has had it's ups and downs over the years. Strikes, tied all star games, a canceled world series.  Let's just say it hit a rough patch.  And I understand that the NFL has supplemented the MLB as America's go to sport, but my love for the game hasn't changed. Whether it's live or on tv, I can sit there and watch an entire game.  With attendance and ratings up across the board for baseball in the last few year's, I think America is with me: baseball has made a comeback. The playoffs though. . . I just don't get it.

Call me old school, and by old school, I mean I'm over thirty, but the expansion of the playoffs makes no sense. Prior to 1994 there were two leagues and two divisions in each league.  American and National Leagues, an East and West Division in each.  With expansion of baseball and the addition of the Rays, Rockies, and Marlins, they added a new Central division to each league, re-shuffled the teams and now there were 3 divisions in each league.  Since no one can just sit out a round of playoffs, a new "wild card" was added. This alone caused panic and uproar throughout the lives of geeks everywhere.  Suffice it to say, based on the number of teams that have won the World Series as wild cards, and I think even that has worked out as well. 8 teams, then 4, then 2 in the World Series.  It makes sense numerically and everything is fine.

A second wild card?  Does that even make sense? 5 teams to the playoff's in each league. A 1 game  series between the two wild card teams to decide who is the wild card team?  We're getting a little carried away with it right?  I understand the concept behind it.  Play til the end.  Try and win your division instead of coasting in as the lone wild card.  Who are we kidding though right?  It's about money. wild card t-shirts. 1 more home game. more television time.  You can make all the excuses you want about the integrity of the game but expansion, whether its the number of teams you have or the number of games you play; whether its in the NFL, MLB, of NBA; it's always about revenue. If that weren't true, there would be contraction.  We would get rid of several teams who aren't supported by their market and make all of the other teams around them stronger. We don't though.  We change formats, rules, and regulations so that it makes it look like things will be better.  And maybe they will be.  I for one will tune in to both games today to watch the drama unfold. I hope the Braves and Orioles win their games and move on to the next round. I assume after a number of year's that this new 2 team wild card format will seem just as normal as 3 separate divisions do now. Where it will lead though is easy to see. Just like in the NBA where half of the teams make the playoff, i bet within 10 years we'll have 6 or 8 teams from each league in the playoffs.  What ever it takes to keep this game new, fresh and relevant to today's fan. Or in other words, whatever brings in the most money. 

Tom Selleck for President

This will be Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, all rolled into one.  I have resisted making any comments about politics or choosing a political side on other sites like Twitter and Facebook, and I will do my best to continue to not make political comments here; at least so far as trashing any politician for whatever their political or social stance they have, that I may not agree with. As a former political science major, history teacher and debate coach, I have always loved politics. As a person who ran for every high school and college office there was, I have always taken the political process very seriously.  I enjoy politics. I especially love American politics. The history of it.  The romantic nature of it. Founding fathers. The Constitution. I eat that shit up.

I imagine that the world of American politics is really like The West Wing. I still get chills when I watch re-runs and President Bartlett played by Martin Sheen, slips his hands in his pants pockets before announcing something extraordinary to the nation. I get goosebumps while watching Independence Day and President Whitmore, played by Bill Pullman, give an amazing speech about sacking up and kicking some alien ass. Morgan Freeman is President Beck in Deep Impact, and despite the fact that the entire world is getting ready to be destroyed, he re-assures us that we'll be OK, and we believe him. Harrison Ford is President James Marshall, and terrorist be damned, no one messes with his air force one.

But now. . . where are we in the world? Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton. Regardless of their politics, these men seemed larger then life. I don't want to get into the issues, because let's face it, in today's world, there's simply to many issues to even list them in the order of importance. I wouldn't even begin to to try and tell you that I had the faintest idea of how to solve our nations problems at this point, but what I can tell you is that I don't think the men and women we've elected know the answers either. Elected officials used to care. Or at lest we all perceived that they cared. I don't know if we were better or worse of 10, 20, 50, or 100 years ago, but I do know that Americans perceived that things were getting better. We made progress as a nation. We strived to be the best. We became a better country. Great strides were made in education, science, and civil rights. We were envied or despised, the world over, because we were the best, and everyone knew it. Who got us there? Our elected officials. Our statesmen and representatives.

The difference to me, is that those builders of our country, these powerful men and women of our past, were not politicians by nature.  They were farmers, actors, and doctors.  They were placed into politics, urged into running for office, by the people around them because of their previous successes in business, medicine, and education. They were the pillars of their communities first, their states second, and then lastly their country.  Now? Now it seems that people simply start as politicians. As if its a chosen profession like salesmen or mechanic. It's a course in college that anyone can take. I'm not saying that all politicians are the same. Romney was a successful businessmen. Obama a civil rights lawyer. But by and large, Americans don't relate to their elected officials anymore and have become disenfranchised with politics altogether.

I could go on and on but it basically boils down to this: I want Robert Redford from The Candidate to run for office and then I want Michael Douglas from The American President to run the country. I want the fairy tale. I want truth. I want change. I want to see it, know, and believe in it. I want Tom Selleck, Magnum PI himself, Jesse Stone, and Commisioner Frank Reagan all wrapped into one to care, run, and win. It has happened yet, and doesn't look like it will but at least we have President Bartlett and re-runs to fall back on.

A Run For Elected Office? Maybe. . .

So, out of the blue I get a Facebook message from a school friend of mine.  She has been involved in several community organizations in the past and I've literally known her for 20 years.  Not sure if she's been reading the blog or not but she sends me this message and it reads:

"Still waiting for you to run for office-you would be great for the community and have got what it takes, we'd love to help!"

Now, we don't talk a lot, but I did send her a message a month or so back asking her a few questions about a business idea I had.  I'm not sure if it was the business questions I had for her or if something sparked in her mind about me, but it certainly got my brain going, even if it was just for kicks.  After a little bit of thought and letting the idea roll around in my head, I politely messaged her back and let her know that although I was flattered, that I probably had to many skeletons in my closet to run for any type of elected office. Her response:

Bankruptcy, affairs, financial crimes, unpaid taxes--these are the things that keep you out of the running and I don't think apply to your closet. You have the most important piece of the puzzle, name and face recognition. If you want to think about it or explore the options locally or in the state legislature let me know!! Come on bro, do it for the children. . .

Well, I can certainly check off the first four items on the list.  None of those apply to me. Truth be told, it's always been something I've been interested in. From middle school on, I was always involved in school politics.  I was student council president my senior year of high school, and have held the highest position in every group I've ever been involved in; whether it was Boy Scouts, other school organizations or as a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity at WSU. I was a political science major in college before switching to secondary education, but my emphasis was in history, speech and debate. Politics, local office. .  .the idea has always been there.

For the last year, it seem like I've been in a rut.  If you read the blog regularly, you're probably at least a little bit familiar with my plight and droll of life in the suburbs.  One of the main reasons for writing the blog was to have an outlet for everyday occurrences that I saw, that either puzzled me or that I found comical. I suppose change can come about through writing, but it would seem much easier to make changes through action? Is running for elected office that action which can bring about change?

Another good friend of mine, whom I haven't seen in at least 15 years, but who I keep in touch with through email and social media, has also sent me a few messages lately urging me to get out there and find that outlet that seems to be missing in my life.  Is politics the answer?  City politics? State government? School board? maybe something else. I see a lot of problems in society, and I have to say that I have opinions one way or another on all of them.  I'm not sure my ideas are correct or even noteworthy, but maybe others would?

Food for thought. My brain is clicking now.  The process has begun.  What do you think?

WE SURVIVED!

Wow, that was a long weekend. Whew. I mean whew. Worked all day Saturday then busted to the pizza joint to grab the eats for my oldest kid's birthday party, then it was home to start what has become an annual ritual at the Jabara household.  The all girl birthday party sleep over. Between family and kids we had a full house of 25 people. It a picture perfect example of suburban life. Kids, parents, grandparents and friends. From the moment people started showing up until the last one fell asleep, it was non stop chaos, but in a good way. First up is pizza and Kool-aid, then get them washed up and send them downstairs to play. We get all of that cleaned up, then the kids are back up stairs to start the project. Cookie decorating (5 different shapes) with a variety of different types of sprinkles and several different colors of homemade icing. For every party there's always something new. Shoe decorating, colored sand in jars, canvas painting. It's like your neighbor's yard and it's always a competition to see who can do better or come up with the next best activity for a kids party. The wife came up with this and it went great. Every kid got to decorate 3 cookies, then they washed up again and went back down stairs. It's simply amazing how much stuff 8 year olds can get all over them selves.  I don't do the laundry because, well, I don't do the laundry, but it always seems never ending. Anyway, then it was back up stairs for presents and cake and ice cream. Whew, I'm exhausted already and we're only half way there.

We get done with the ceremonial opening of the presents and in my mind I'm telling myself that I'm going to need to get my kid another room just to store all this stuff. When did we become so intertwined with possessions as a society? If you don't have the right Barbie or American girl doll. . . .well. . . .we should just not talk of such things. The wife and I really wanted to put "please no presents" on the invitation, but then someone would bring one and then someone else would feel left out. The one thing our kid doesn't need is more stuff. So after presents are done the relatives and the kids who aren't staying the night are all gone.  Now it's just the 10 kids sleeping over (this thankfully counts my 2 as well) and my lady troop of trusty captains. My wife, my brother in laws girlfriend, and my wife's cousin's oldest kid (yeah the tree don't fork on her side) are locked in and ready to battle this all girl sleepover army. While I'm downstairs creating fort sleep area in the basement and getting the movie ready, my army is battling 7 and 8 year olds as each one gets her nails done and hair did! I've never been in the military before but i can only imagine what it would be like to peel potatoes all day long; it would be better then watching what they were doing upstairs. Daddy stays as far away from makeup, hair and nails as he can.  I know that I have two girls, but a guy has to have his boundaries right? Everyone is now all done up, and in their PJ's, so its now Mr. Popper's Penguin's time. 3 spilled drinks and 8 bags of popcorn later and they're ready for bed.

I think they finally all conked out around midnight which was good except they were back up again at 6:30am!!! Where do they get the energy? Does that make me old? I stay up late, and wake up early, but I'm always tired. These kids. . . sleep just doesn't faze them yet. It's like they all stashed coffee in their pillows and just slept with it all night. As soon as I hear them up and around, I grab my workout clothes, and as quick as I can, I'm out the door to go "work out". By workout, that means walk around the neighborhood long enough to make it seem like I did something.  All the while I was just getting out of the house for a while. 10 bright eyed and bushy tailed 8 year olds is to much for me to handle. By the time i get back, half have already been picked up.  The other half get picked up soon enough and with each parent who comes to the door to get their kid, I get a wink or a smile or a nod. A common signal of thanks and approval. An "atta boy", and a "thanks, I owe you one" from each grateful parent who got to drop their kid off for a free Saturday night out on the town.  They didn't say so, but I could tell a few of those parents had a pretty good time on their free night out.

That's what it's all about though right.  The wife and I watch 8 kids for the night, and at some point that favor should be returned. Right?  We should, by the covenant laws of our sub-division, be granted 8 free nights out on the town for every night we watch 8 kids? We dump our kids off and away we go.  The problem though, is that we haven't gotten that favor returned? Must have sucker written all over our forehead's. Maybe next year we forgo the sleepover and just go the pony route?  How hard can that be? A pony versus ten, 8 year olds?  I'll take pony raising for $500 any time.

Picks And A Party

So it's Friday and that usually means sports, except this weekend, where it's about everything but sports.  At some point, we'll really delve into the sports scene, but there's just too much going on this weekend.  From now until the end of the day on Sunday night, it's full on super dad time. I know everyone needs their sports picks for the weekend though, so let's get that out of the way, and then we'll move on to the important stuff.

 

College Football Picks:

 

Georgia Tech -14: sorry everyone but Miami is horrible and playing at GT, with the triple option will be two much for the Canes to handle.

 

Georgia -15: I like Georgia to win the SEC east and make a big run, and Vandy is in the same spot as Miami is in. Bad teams, who are worse on the road, don't do well and Vandy can't cover here.

 

Kansas State +15: Yeah i know they got waxed last year in Manhattan, but this is a new year and the KSU defense looks good.  OU is a great team, but haven't played anyone yet this year.  Take this game with caution, but still that's a lot of points. 

 

San Jose State +3: SJST is the road team here, but should be able to handle SDST. Might have a WTF in this situation.

 

NFL Games:

Tampa Bay +7: 7 is a lot of points in the NFL, and the Cowboys haven't impressed me.  Tampa Bay should be 2-0, but proceed with caution. 

 

San Fransisco -7: Until proven otherwise, they're the best team in the NFL and should be treated as such.

 

New Orleans -9: Opposite of SF, keep betting against KC until they prove they can cover.

 

Pittsburgh -4: Oakland is horrid. Nuff said.

 

The Weekend Game:

Big weekend plans. Big, big, weekend plans. I get off at 5:30 tonight, then it's off to the gym. Gotta work the arms for all the fawning super mom's on the block, and I  have to make sure I'm looking good for all the ladies coming over tomorrow. Also, I have to get the lawn mowed tonight and the house picked up.  Then it's back to work all day tomorrow before getting off at 5:30 again; then the fun starts.  After racing to the pizza shop tomorrow night to pick up food for 20, I have to get home and get cleaned up before the guests arrive.  By guests i mean up to 20 kids, ages 4-9, and mostly girls, who are coming over to our house for a birthday party.  My oldest daughter turned 8 yesterday which means we are officially into sleep over mode at the Jabara household. For all my buddies whose kids are coming, that means they get a free night with the spouse? Will they return the favor? Probably not. So the itinerary for the evening is as follows: pizza, cookie decorating, presents, cookie eating, popcorn and movie, crying, bed, more crying, and then hopefully we've gotten to the next morning. Things should be ok as long as the wife promises to hold my hand. I have 3 girls in the house on a regular basis, so what's another 10?

 

After all the kids are picked up, hopefully by 10:30, it's over to my brother's house for his son's birthday party at 11:30. Probably a few less people there, but still lot's of presents and hopefully more cake, cause my fat ass always needs cake. Then it's shuttling off the oldest to church classes at 1:00 and taking the youngest to get her "fish" because having just 1 fish in the house isn't fair. Pick the oldest up from church at 4:00 then home to get cleaned up for her birthday dinner with the grandparents at 6:00pm at Red Lobster. Yeah, I know the foods not great, but the kids seem to like it, and between the cheesy rolls and popcorn shrimp, they actually eat their food there.  It's her birthday and she'll get what she wants. Eat dinner, get home, relieve myself of dinner, then homework, baths, reading time, and finally bed. Like I said, no time for football this weekend, but that's ok. The kid only has 1 birthday a year, so might as well make it special each year. It's all worth it in the end.

 



Blah. . . Read At Your Own Risk.

Free day huh?  Write whatever I want to write about? Easier said then done as far as I'm concerned. I wanted to write. I wanted to have a great idea that I could expand upon, but I think great ideas are far and few between.  I think I came up with a really good idea on Monday night, sometime between beer 12 and 15, maybe on the way to or the way back from Kirby's Beer Store, but I'm not really sure. Part of that night is kind of a blur.  If I did have a great idea, and I told you about it Monday night, please don't steal it from me.  Hopefully the idea will come back to me again here soon and I can roll with it then. In the mean time I'll try and do my best, because great ideas don't grow on trees.

I think the main difference between those of us stuck out in the burbs, and the movers and shakers of the world, is the ability to make the dream come to fruition. Dreams and ideas are pretty similar.  Goals, plans, and the success of those goals and plans, the culmination of the dream, is something totally different.  When I was in high school and throughout college, I used to teach leadership to high school students.  It was all about dreams, goals, team building, success visions, and a variety of other aspects involved in reaching for the stars. I taught at camps in Colorado and New York. I taught on colleges campus', and in high school classrooms. For a long, long time, I believed what I was teaching. I still do, it just seems much harder to attain then it did. The older you get, the tougher life gets.  Looking back, high school, college: easy stuff. The friends I made at those camps, some of my best friends in the world to this day.  The kids, maybe we didn't change any lives forever, but maybe we made a difference, maybe we helped out just a little bit. Those were special times though, and eventually you just start to move on. The plan must eventually start to take effect.

Graduate college. Get your first "grown up" job. Marry your high school sweetheart. Move to a big city. Get a dog.  Have your first child. Come back home to the family business. Have a second child. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, and check. It's all going according to plan, but is the plan right? I joke about living in the burbs, and all the fun and games we have poking at "suburbanites", but in the end, I'm one of them. That's the whole point of the blog and the rant tonight. I live in suburbia with my wife, my two kids, and my mortgage. I love my wife. My kids, they drive me nuts every day, but I'd rather die before I ever let them get hurt in any way or ever let them down. Adults have to provide and protect, and as the man of the house, it's my job to make sure my family is ok at all times. But that's when the routine sets in, and once the routine sets in, well, that's when you start a blog to make fun of it. It's an outlet. A way to blow off steam. Today's just wasn't funny.

Booze, Balls, and Buffalo Wings. . . With a Side of Mustache

Blogging: I thought it would be easy. Boy was I wrong.   How could it be that hard though? Simply set aside some time each day, and type away at the computer. I've got lot's to say about a myriad of different topics, and this should be the perfect forum for it. If people like what i have to say, they can read along; if they don't then they don't have to read.  The best part is that either way, i get to write what i think and feel. The problem is that i haven't been writing consistently and I need to get my butt in gear. The last post was Sunday night and its already Wednesday. Where does the time go and why can't i find just a little bit more of it to share what's happened the last couple of days? The last few posts should have been on food, drink, or the world around me (politics, environment, philosophy, etc.). Today's topic is entertainment, but there doesn't seem to be to much out there right now. Lindsay Lohan gets in another car wreck, and Kappa Sigma loses one of its own to the chapter celestial in NFL films' Steve Sabol, but other then that its pretty bleak out there. I think I'll combine Monday and Tuesday's topic's into today's read by what can only be described as total debauchery Monday and Monday night.

So Monday afternoon was the 9th Annual Field House Golf tournament.  The Field House is one of our local college bars (of the two), and if you've never been there you should: it's small, it's unique to say the least, and its ours.  Its the first bar i snuck into when i was in college, and it's still the same one i belly up to at night when the old lady let's me off the leash for a few hours.  That being said, although neither the bar nor my house has gotten any farther away, i have gotten older, so making the trek into the city each night from the burbs seems to get longer and longer, and harder and harder to make. But i digress. I play in the tournament every year. The tournament is always for a good charity and it's always a fun time. I play with the same 3 guys every year. It's something we look forward to every year.  We see each other quite a bit, but this is a little different. For us it's an event, not a normal occurrence, and should be treated as such. We never win, but we have lot's of fun and this year was no different. You start drinking at noon, and you finish drinking when you can't drink any longer. I made it to about 1am this year, and some year it was.

Booze
So let's start with the first "B" of the day; booze. normally I'd beer snob it up for most special outings. A nice IPA or maybe a newly bottled Octoberfest? Not for this tournament. I'm off the leash, and It's round after round of the freshest and coldest name brand beer they can find. I'm a Miller Lite man myself, and they didn't let me down. There a $1 a can and we drink as many as they can hand out. The more you drink, the better looking the cart girls look. The more I drink, the better my left handed crap golf game tends to look.  And not to get off topic, but golf is a stupid game, designed by ridiculous, rich,  right-handed white people in order to. . . .enough of that.  When the tournaments over, we head back to the Field House for prizes and awards that we're certainly not going to win, and for more drinks. No beer switching allowed. It's weird, because in the burbs' every guy i know has a mini fridge filled with beer. Some exotic, some just regular ol' Bud Light, but every guy has a mini fridge. Why? Why is our beer either regulated to it's own fridge away from the kids' milk and juice boxes or the old lady's diet soda's? Either that or every guy in the burbs tries to out due the other guy with the largest mini fridge, or separate "beer only" garage fridge. We're all apes guys, and we're just trying to out pound our chests over the other guys. Beer fridges' is just another way of doing it. Anyway, we drank it all and it showed later on.

Balls

I touched on it a bit earlier, and i won't spend a lot of time on it, but golf is dumb. It's really dumb for us lefties. Growing up, I had no interest in the game. Never really learned it, but at some point, it just became something i was supposed to do. Live in the burbs' = golf. Not a lot. Not country club, Ty Webb/Judge Smails type of golfing. We're talking cut off shorts, hack away, curse, break clubs, drink beer, and pretend you know what you're doing golfing. I've gotten better each year, because I'm playing more and more. Get older, play more golf. From time to time, I get to call 4 hours away from home a "business trip" or "charity event" and it gets me a little leeway. This tournament would fall into the "charity event" category. We started off well this year to. Usually we hack away and try and finish before we're to drunk to drive a golf cart, but this year we came to play. 4 under after 5 holes and looking good. Then the wheels fell off. A few shots here's, a couple more beers there, then its goodbye golf shot and hello mister course warden. We managed to not get kicked off, but i think that's mainly because our cart was to fast and we were to slippery to be apprehended by said course warden. He's like 90 and were weren't going down without a fight. Suffice it to say, no prizes for us again this year. Maybe next year we'll really try. . . .who am i kidding right?

Buffalo Wings
So we've been drinking since noon and it's about 7pm at this point.  The tournament's over and we're all back at the watering hole for prizes. There's a hundred guys and gals packed into this bar and we've all got 7 good hours of liquid time in us.  They start handing out the prizes, but i pay no attention, all i can see is wings. Tables full of beautiful buffalo wings, and they look beautiful. They usually do BBQ beef and some beans and potato salad, which is nice, but it bears no resemblance to the glory that is the buffalo wing. Where beer is our wine in suburbia, wings are our bread, and i bow down to both. Every football game deserves them, and MNF on the big screen and a good round of golf down the hatch, it was time to feast. Parmesan garlic, Spicy Garlic, mild, medium, hot, and 3 mile island: they had it all. Guy after guy lined up, heaping plate after heaping plate of glorious wings. Talking stopped, gorging commenced, and there wasn't a safe arm in the house. Gallons of blue cheese and ranch, sopping up every tender morsel of fat and meat one could stomach. I ate what seemed like 20 and probably could have eaten 20 more, until and idea was hatched at the table. "Let's Leave", said a buddy of mine. To where? To do what i thought? "Let's go down the street to Kirby's and catch this band", he said. A plan was hatched.

Side Of Mustache'
First, let me say that everyone got home safely. Everyone love's having fun, but I'm a grown ass man with kids, a wife and a mortgage. I gots' responsibilities yo, and with all the fun we have, still have to get home in 1 piece. Second, the booze, balls, and buffalo wings all made for a really great time. I'm glad the wife is so understanding when i have days like this, but we look forward to the tournament every year and it was a lot of fun. Thanks to the Field House for putting it on. Third, a big shout out to my buddy Antimosity. He's a local musician here in Wichita and he's been holding it down for a while now. He's always good, but I've seen his show before and i grew up with the guy.  This however was a pleasant surprise. I'll set it up, then you'll get the rest. We walk a block or so down to Kiby's which is the 2nd of only two bars located near our college campus. It seats no more then 20 maximum, and even with the new patio they put on it, its as small and dive bar like as they get.  It's also a local and national institution.  If you start a band, and you're going to play somewhere, you start and finish at Kirby's. The rest is just talk, but Andy D, he was the pleasant surprise of the evening:

Life, It's a Hellava Drug

I know i missed yesterday, but it was a pretty busy day. Worked all day then had a fraternity poker game over at the chapter house.  The chapter is always a struggle and even though their trying, it just doesn't seem to be coming together.  Not that the alumni were helping out much; we had well over 20 rsvp's for the poker party and only around 10 guys showed up.  Oh well.  I put a lot of time and effort into the chapter, both as an active and as an alumni. I'm wasn't in charge of the poker party and didn't let the low numbers get me down.  I had a real good time playing card with the guys who did show up and caught up with some good brothers. As an added bonus, i won the poker tournament, so that was an easy extra chunk of change back in my pocket.

As for the recap of the rest of the week, its kind of all laid out there in each of my posts.  I think instead of using each day to recap something that just happened, that maybe I'll use whatever that days designation is a starting point to begin the subject and not necessarily something that just happened. Either way, since I've already talked about each day, i might as well focus on today. Today was football Sunday, but since the Chiefs suck, we decided to take the kids to the Kansas state fair.  It was the last day of the fair and the kids love to go.  Since the chiefs game was a blowout, we made a good effort with the kids to sow them a good time.  I don't know if you've ever been to a fair before, but i am sure most state fairs around the country are pretty much the same.  It's a great mix of city and country folk, and it is by far the best people watching there is.

For me, i have a routine.  Like everything else, from when i go to the mall, to going to the zoo, i pretty much have to do everything in the same order each time.  The fair is no different. We go in the same gate, do the same thing first and always finish up with the same thing at the end. We always start with the animals: pigs, cows, sheep, rabbits, birds. The kids love the animals and we love the smell? The best is the bird house. My wife is petrified of birds and its filled with pigeons, ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys. The kids have to go up and down each aisle, and there's the wife: arms at here side, keeping a keen eye on every bird in every cage making sure that none attack here. The other thing we can always count on when seeing the animals is that I'll always scare her in the bird house. This year was no exception and her scream and jump never gets old. This year's bonus while in the animal area: a baby cow being born. Absolutely discusting, but its the cycle of life and the kids loved it.  The more blood and goo for them the better.

Then its off to the other buildings, we go see the art entries from across the state, the prize winning vegetables and largest pumpkin, and the butter sculpture. I didn't really get this year's butter piece but its 1000 lbs of something and its all made of butter.  Only in Kansas. We ride the train around the fair, and then its off to do some fair style eating. They fry anything and everything at the fair and we tried to get a piece of all of it. This year's delicacies we enjoyed were roasted corn on the cob, a smoked turkey leg, fried pretzel niblets, and homemade, freshly squeezed cherry limeade.  My diets been going good but this ruined it all and i loved every bit of it. So we're done eating, filled to the brim, but if we don't get these kids to the midway for some rides, they'll have our heads.

This is where we get to the good stuff: the midway. Carney central. Rides and rides, and more rides. And on every side of the rides are games and games, and more games. It's the people though who are the real entertainment.  Like i said before, the state fair, at least in Kansas, truly brings people of all backgrounds together to create one large melting pot of sweat, smoke, tattoo's, and the gnarliest bits you've ever seen.  They had a special on the last day for the kids: it was all you can ride for $25 and we made sure the kids got our money's worth.  The best part was that every time the kids got on a ride, i got to watch the people. If i had a penny, not a nickel or a quarter, but a penny, for every missing tooth, badly drawn tattoo or pair of coochie cutter shorts, I'd be a billionaire. Not a millionaire, a billionaire. I should have been a dentist. I could set up shop at the state fair, work 1 week a year, and roll in the cash.

The kids rode the rides and when they finally got their fill, it was on to the games.  Their way over priced, you can't win at any of them, but if i didn't shell out at least 20 bucks, i would be the "worst" father ever, and the fair would have been a total let down in the eyes of my kids. After entry, foods, rides, and all the knick-knacks, I'm in for over a bill already, so what's another $20? Well, wouldn't you know. A cool $20 down the drain and along with all the pamphlets, magnets and crap the kids have already picked up, I've now got a giant blow up hammer and dolphin that both squeak and two freakin' goldfish. We haven't won a prize worth squat in years and now we hit the mother load. Its late and we have to get these kids to bed. We drive back and after i get done writing this, i have to make a middle of the night trip to Walmart for a fish tank cause according to one tooth willie, these fish won't make it through the night if i don't. After such a great time at the fair, and me being father of the year at this point, i can't have dead fish on my hands when the darlings wake up in the morning. Wish me luck, life, it's a helluva drug.

My Favorite Sport is. . .Sport

So, we're in week 2 of NFL football and week 3 of NCAA football.  MLB baseball is coming to a close with the playoffs beginning in just a little over 3 weeks, and before you know it, college basketball and the NBA will start up again.  With the summer winding down, so do my summer free days of fishing for trout, hiking in the mountains and camping in the woods. Pretty soon deer, turkey, pheasant and quail seasons will be upon us and the hunting will be abundant.  Fall is gearing up, and my favorite time of year is now.  There will be plenty of time later on to talk hunting and fishing, so I'd really like to concentrate on sports rather then activities for this entry. As I've said before, I don't really consider myself and athlete, but I like to watch sports like a motha. If it includes balls of any shape, I'm on it. I like sports so much that i know what that last sentence says and i still don't care. My favorite suburban sport? You guessed it, fantasy sports. From a movie that seems to get better and better the more times I watch it: Step Brothers.

Nancy: "So what have you been working on recenlty Dale?."

Dale: "I manage a baseball team."

Nancy: "Oh, little league?"

Dale: "Fantasy league."

It's that important, sometimes full time job. Between my baseball teams, basketball teams, football teams and myriad of tournament pick em's, knockout leagues, golf pools, and other tournament pools for everything from the NCAA tournament to the Kentucky Derby, living for sports via computer is my athletic activity for most of the year. For most of us in the burbs, old man softball D league, outside barbecue bags, and the occasional round of golf is athletic as we get.  I had a couple buddies who thought it would be a good time to get back in shape, so they decide to get involved in a YMCA flag football league.  Three of those guys ended up in the hospital after 1 game.

Get with the program guys. Once you're out of high school the glory years of leading your team to 4A regional greatness are behind you.  You may play a little inter murals in college, and you may dominate because you weren't good enough to get a college scholarship but you're still better then most of the 5 foot nothing guys trying to play basketball for their fraternity team. Once college is over you better recognize that the older you get the less your body has the ability to recuperate. Either that you or you continue on the path of actually playing sport and we all know how that ends: single and bellied up to the bar every night, because men's rec league  insert sport you shouldn't be playing just got over with. I could go on, but let me tell you, for all of the suburban dads out there, and you know I'm talking to you: fantasy sports is where it's at, and fantasy football is the king of them all.

Whether its a PPR league, straight snake pick'em, or the more complicated auction league, get involved. Find some friends and create a league, or join a national one for free.  Every site offers it and most offer it for free.  ESPN.com, Yahoosports.com, NFL.com: They all offer free fantasy leagues for those that want to play.  If you're new to sports in general or the wife has stolen so much of your manliness that you feel like a castrated church eunuch, fantasy sports offers you the opportunity to take back that which was rightfully yours. It offers you the chance to watch as much football as you can stand, and have a vested interest in each game.  It provides you the opportunity to cheer during every game, regardless of whether or not its your team, because you'll have players on every team. Draft nights are another free chip you get to place in the guy box of going out, because babe, you have to. You can't miss draft night. And if you gamble. . . .well, you're head just might explode at all of the oppurtunities fantasy football offers. No more church on Sunday mornings because you have to set your team before the games start at noon and you have research left to do. No more yard work on Sunday afternoon's, because your favorite team is playing, and every team is now your favorite team.

I'm the Thecarpetmunchers, Chieffantasykillers, and Chieftouchdownher. If you go check out my yahoo profile, its lined with imaginary trophies of third, second and first place imaginary tournament, regular season and playoff wins. I shit talk every week. I take names every game.  And this season, each of my teams opened up week 1 with a win. I can't hurt myself, and the wife thinks I'm making friends. It gives me a chance to see all the guys I never get to see, and a chance to show them them I'm still the best even though all my muscles and strength are gone. If you're not real familiar with fantasy sports and this didn't help, check out two things. 1) the video below. Nobody likes Hitler, but every time you put subtitles to it, its funny. fantasy sports is no exception and it shows how great and frustrating it can be. 2) watch the league on FX. It's great.  An entire show that revolves around 5 childhood friends who can still hang out and watch sports even if they can't play them anymore. It only has about 10 episodes each season, but it is absolutely one of the best shows on television.  See my t.v. list ,cause you know it made the list.

Running Because I Want To, Or Because I Have To?

You know what I'm doing after i get off work tonight? Going to the bar to watch the NFL game between the Packers and Bears? No. Going home to watch the NFL game while Thing 1 and Thing 2 pounce all over me because they haven't seen "Daddy" all day long? No. No, tonight i get to go to the gym. Why? Because I'm fat. Why else would i go to the gym? Now, I'm not morbidly obese, and i even lost 25 pounds in the last three months, to get back close to my college playing weight,  but you have to keep it off.  These new britches i got won't keep themselves sewed on by their lonesomes. I have to keep putting the work in. The only way i know how to keep the weight off is to either stop eating, and we know that's not going to happen (did i mention i had El Patio for lunch), or get my butt into the gym as much as possible.  For me that's Tuesday on my day off, Wednesday or Thursday night, Sunday morning and then usually one other time.  I try to get to the gym at least 4 times a week, for at least an hour to an hour and a half each time depending on what I'm doing.

When i go though, i go to a real gym.  The nasty, sweaty, meat smell filled, kind of gym. Where the women aren't allowed in except for the fact that it's now mandated by law. Where half the lights work and the water fountains taste like iron.  Where they don't have any fancy machines, and the only guys who work out there legs are the ones who are missing their arms: because they were ripped off from lifting to much weight. Where green's and blue's are dispensed from candy machines like skittles. Where if you're lucky, really lucky, there might be running water in showers, but you know its cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I go to a gym, not a spa. Not a club. Not a fitness center. I got to the school of hard knox.

Shit, who am I kidding.  I go to the YMCA, and i go looking for tits and ass.  I live in the burbs.  My wife doesn't let me have nudie mags, and with the exception of Skinemax, the Y's all i got. I'm not big, I'm not strong, and the YMCA is the perfect place to make sure i stay that way.  Lift a few weights, walk around.  Jog on a  treadmill, walk around. I have a routine to uphold. But the wife, the wife is messing with my routine. So the wife's gotten into "running" in the last few years.  At first i thought it was just a health fad.  Although she didn't need to, she wanted to lose a few lb's and running seemed like a good way to do it. She also enjoys going to the gym and if it makes her happy, more power to her. She doesn't have a lot of hobby's, none to be exact, so running is kind of a health/hobby/fitness/social kind of thing for her.  She's made some new friends, it's gotten her out of the house, and she's seems to be happier now then before. She's ran several 10k's, a few half-marathons, and is now training for a full marathon at the end of the year in Las Vegas. Good for her. As long as it doesn't interfere with my routine, we're all good.

Yet, like everything else, its now messing with my routine. This is my "stare at chicks because its kind of appropriate at the gym" time, not my work time. I ran cross country and wrestled in high school and have done enough running to last me a life time. But no, now I'm entered in this race in December also; a half marathon for me. Do you know how far that is? I can get to work and back and not drive that far let alone run. I'm on a daily 12 week schedule now.  As if i didn't already have enough routine in my life. I have a headband and armband and "running" shoes. I look like i walked out of a Dick's Sporting Goods photo shoot for weak ass regular people? Maybe it gets me in better shape, maybe i lose some more weight. Maybe i die. I'm 3 days into this training and its killing me. . . .literally feel like i haven't eaten or slept in weeks. . . wish me luck. . . .the Y's calling my name now.