Month: March 2008 (Page 1 of 2)

San Antonio Bound

March 30, 2008 / DB

Wow. I thought about posting just that one word and the picture, and leaving it at that. I don’t know that you ever apologize for getting the the Final Four, but little beyond the victory itself was worth celebrating about KU’s victory over Davidson in the Midwest Regional Final. For me, it was an unprecedented game.

Why unprecedented? I left the house with around 10:00 to play.

I’ve turned a few games off over the years, but never have I been so tense that I had to leave the house. At least not in March. So much for all of that zen basketball fan shit, at least on regional final day.

I made it through the first half ok. I figured Curry had a pretty solid half, we were starting to build some rhythm late in the half, and since Bill Self tends to make good halftime adjustments, I thought we would come out and create a little distance. We ran some good plays to start the half, but the shots remained short, the passes remained bad, and you could tell, like against UCLA last year, we were becoming our biggest enemies.

Then, came the fateful sequence. Jason Richards missed a free throw, it went off a Davidson player, all the KU players turned and walked the other way, but the ref said it was Davidson’s ball. I rewound that play five times and no one from KU either touched the ball or the Davidson player. After the TV timeout, Darnell Jackson got a rebound, was pushed from behind by a Davidson player, lost the ball out-of-bounds, and the same ref said the ball stayed. (Again, I rewound that play five times. Call me Zapruder.) Naturally, Bryant Barr nails a three and Davidson used a four-point possession to cut KU’s six-point lead to two. We kicked the ball away on the other end and I decided I just couldn’t take it. I grabbed my keys, got in the car, and started driving.

I couldn’t find my iPod, so I was forced to listen to the radio. I heard some Stones, some Bon Jovi, some Queen. I listened to Dee Dee Myers talk on NPR. I refused to either check the game on the radio or my phone. I figured if I can’t handle it, I can’t handle it. My plan was to drive until 7:30, then go home and check the score.

At 7:16 I get a text message. It’s from a Missouri fan. This can’t be good. I read it at a red light, “Ugly but it was a win! u had 2 b dying! San antonio awaits! JB” I must mention, although JB is a Mizzou fan first, she’s what we like to call a good egg and hopes all the KC area teams do well.

Relief. Happiness. Mostly relief. I headed home and was greeted by two happily screaming girls. S. had taken them to her dad & step-mom’s house to get them out of my way. S. had explained to M. what was going on, so as soon as I walked in, she said, “Dad, are you so happy that your team won?!?!” She was very excited for me. Apparently she had been breaking it down for C., telling her that I would be sad if my team had lost. Sad. Angry. Probably drunk.

So that helped improve my mood a lot.

I can’t say much about the game itself. Stephen Curry is obviously amazing, but I thought KU did a pretty good job on him. It seemed like he wore down over the game, when he usually got better. It was funny hearing the crowd groan when he missed his first shot.

I thought Davidson did a great job of interfering with KU’s offense, but KU, especially the big men, did an awful job of adjusting in the first half. The adjustments were there in the second half, but by then they were pressing and unable to take advantage.

I thought it was a little odd that both teams seemed tired early. A lot of guys bent over, grabbing their shorts midway through the first half. Especially surprising for KU, who slowed the pace late in the game Friday night.

And now we get a week of Roy Williams. I’ll talk more about this later, but I hope he whines as much this week as he did back in ’02 before KU played UNC in the preseason NIT. And I hope his whining wears off on his team the way it did then. For those of you who don’t remember, after complaining about how hard it was to play his alma mater, a very good KU team got plastered by a very young Carolina team. Four months later KU played for the title and UNC missed the tournament (to be fair, Sean May’s injury really hurt UNC that year).

For now, it’s time to enjoy this latest win and accomplishment for this great team. It’s some weight off of Bill Self and the players. I’ve got a funny feeling they’re going to be very loose next week.

I kept reminding myself today how lucky I am. This is the seventh Final Four for KU in my life (I don’t count ’74, I was too young). The 10th regional final. It would have sucked to lose to Davidson (I would have destroyed all the girls’ Cinderella stuff, I fear), but I’ve had it pretty good as a fan of KU over the years. It may have been ugly, but today was a pretty good day, too.

Now, do I even bother watching the end of the game?

Dad Rules

March 26, 2008 / DB

Gorgeous day today, so I was able to get the girls outside for a few hours. The neighbor kids also came out and eventually playground chalk made an appearance. 20 minutes later, C.’s face was completely covered in pink chalk, M.’s in blue. Hopefully the pictures turn out. Their normal Thursday morning bath came about 14 hours early.

S. got called into work unexpectedly tonight, so I had to scramble a bit to keep the girls occupied through the evening. After baths, dinner, and some general running around, I couldn’t stand turning the TV on to one of their shows. So, for some random reason, I decided to pop in my U2 Elevation tour DVD. Fantastic move. As soon as the lads launched into “Elevation,” both girls started jumping around the room. When I hopped up with them, they were in heaven. It was like their first concert! (I did have it turned up a little too loud.)

This bought me all kinds of time. I went through a few other up-tempo rockers, then sat down and skipped around to songs I like most. When I got to “Bad,” M. sat down by me, put her head on my chest, and watched with the appropriate amount of reverence for one of the greatest songs ever. At the end, when Bono is singing about desperation, isolation, etc., she looked at me and asked, “Is he saying celebration?” I figured it’s better for her to think that than learn that the song is really heroin addiction. That talk will come when she starts kindergarten.

I popped in Pearl Jam’s Touring Band 2000 disk for a few songs (“Corduroy” was a big hit), then ended with Neil Finn and Friends’ Seven Worlds Collide DVD. See, I started with the Beatles, which took, and am now moving deeper into daddy’s music catalog. Pretty soon, they’ll request my music instead of the Wiggles, Laurie Berkner, etc.

Brainwashing is easy, and fun.

Probably Not The Next Tiger

March 25, 2008 / DB

Like a lot of parents, I struggle with how and when to push my kids. To be honest, I don’t push much: if they want to do something, I let them do it. If they aren’t interested, I’m not going to force them to kick a soccer ball for two hours. But I do think a lot about how I’ll handle these situations as they get older and begin getting into activities. What happens if M. seems to be a good singer? Or if C. appears to be a swimming prodigy at age five? Trying to find the line between encouraging/supporting and pushing too hard can be difficult when your child shows aptitude and interest in something.

Anyway, Christie N. Forwarded me this article, which features my man Malcolm Gladwell, and I thought it was awesome and something other parents should read. I think it’s good for us all to remember that just because our kids are good at something when they’re six or 12 or 21 does not mean they’re destined for fame and fortune because of those skills.

Pizza Party

March 23, 2008 / DB

For now, I’m not going to talk about the NCAA tournament. I need to find the right tone so that I don’t anger the Woof Gods. I still have a few superstitions left.

I did want to quickly recap M.’s first trip to Chuck E. Cheese’s last week. You may recall that she was invited to a birthday party for a classmate in January, but the flu beat her down that day and we had to stay home.

This was another party for a classmate, and M. was way wound up for it. When we first got there, a couple of her friends scrambled up the stairway, I guess you would call it, to the tunnel system that is suspended from the ceiling. M. started to go after them, but thought better of it when she was halfway up, then started whining because she couldn’t figure out how to get down (If you’ve been to a kids’ play area, you know the kind of enclosed, staggered vertical section I’m talking about). Since there was no way for me to crawl in, I told her to calm down and slide on her belly, like she’s getting out of bed. She figured it out and got down, only to race back up when two more friends climbed up. This time she made it all the way up and into the tunnels. For those of you who haven’t been to a Chuck E. Cheese, this is basically a gerbil tunnel system for kids. It goes all over the place and has little windows here and there so they can look out and we can look in. M. doesn’t do well with heights or new things, so I was expecting more screaming and wondering how the hell I would get her out.

But she did great. She spent at least 15 minutes in there, crawling around. She even managed ok when some bigger kids got in.

She was a little too distracted by the videos and animatronic animals to eat her pizza, but enjoyed the cake. All the kids had blue icing smeared all over their faces. She got really excited when the Chuckster came out, but didn’t want anything to do with taking a picture with him.

After lunch, she played some games, although she’s still a little young for even the kid-friendly video games. She’s a little slow with Whack a Mole, but come on, she’s only three! She took two more runs in the tunnels and got cranky and lippy with me just as it was time to head home.

She had a lot of fun overall and did very well. I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would (I think as a parent you either love or hate the Chuck E. Cheese concept. I was a hater, I’ll admit).

And it was fun for me to hang out with some of the other parents. Funniest was M.’s little Japanese friend’s mother. The family moved here over the summer, and although the dad speaks very good English, mom is struggling. But, bless her heart, she tries really hard which I don’t know if I could do if I was put in Japan.

She came over and introduced herself as S’s mom and asked, “Are you M.’s mother, err, father?” Very sweet. She also told me that little S. is always telling her that M. is his best friend. Just don’t go telling me they’re playing doctor or anything like that.

Oh, and I have to admit, having grown up in Kansas City in the early 80s, I spent some time at Show Biz Pizza on Noland Road. I had the Show Biz song going through my head all day. I remember this much:
“You’ve never seen a place like Show Biz pizza place, we’ll serve you a pizza that’s second to none. So, come for the pizza, stay for the fun.”

Seriously, every good birthday party between 1980 and 1983 required a stop at Show Biz or Fun House pizza.

Madness

March 20, 2008 / DB

Some quick thoughts on the tournament before I head to Gymboree.

Regarding KU, I’m surprisingly zen about them. I’d love it if their fulfilled their potential and went deep; it would certainly be a lot of fun. But, if they lose early, I’m not going to let it ruin the season for me as a fan. I know that’s a familiar refrain around here these days, but I honestly believe it. Sunday’s win over Texas was such a joy to watch, that I can’t help but feel a lot of pride about this year’s team. I don’t want all of that to be ruined by what happens from here on out, as happened with the 97 & 98 teams. I’ll be bummed, but life will go on and this will still have been a great year.

That said, my Final Four is UCLA, KU, Texas, Tennessee, with UCLA beating KU in the final. I pray KU doesn’t face North Carolina in the national semis, because KU’s big men against Tyler Hansbrough and the refs means Tyler will shoot 57 free throws and Matt Kleinman will see significant playing time. (So much for zen!) I have Xavier in the Elite Eight, and Pittsburgh taking out Memphis. No other huge upsets or deep runs by lower seeded teams. Well, I have USC in the sweet sixteen, but I think a lot of people do. And doesn’t everyone have Davidson beating Gonzaga?

I was high on Purdue, until I saw Xavier was in their path. That’s a bad matchup for the young Boilermakers. I have IU out in the first round. And Butler got screwed with their low seed and won’t survive the first weekend. Butler was a team I did not want KU to play, and I think they deserve a much higher seed.

The ball is tipped in about an hour. It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Put On Your Rally Hats

March 18, 2008 / DB

The last time I attended a political rally was in 1992. I figured I was overdue, so I checked out Barack HUSSEIN Obama’s visit to Indianapolis Saturday. The Senator visited in advance of the May 6 Indiana primary, which given the closeness of the Democratic nomination race, is suddenly very important. Here are some observations and thoughts.

The event took place at a high school on the far west side of Indianapolis, near the airport, and was open only to people who had a ticket. I got one by being on the senator’s e-mail list. So nyah nyah nyah!

I ended up sitting by a woman in her late 40s, and since we had about two hours to kill, we talked a bit. Turned out she lives about three miles from me and is originally from St. Louis. We swapped stories about moving to Indianapolis, about her son and my daughters, and about what brought us to the event. Nice lady.

Just before Barack arrived, four African gentlemen took seats next to us. I know they were African because they mostly spoke French, and when they spoke English, they sounded like, well, West Africans. These guys were awesome. Think of when Prince Akeem goes to the Knicks game in <i>Coming to America</i>. At each applause line, all four jumped up, stomped their feet, and shouted, “YES!” They were feeling it!

Finally the Senator arrived and the place went crazy. The African fellows were really into the “Yes we can!” chant. I was seated about as far away from the stage as possible, although in the relatively small gym, I was probably 150 feet away. (Fuzziness in photo is from the distance and digital zoom.) It was interesting to see him in person after seeing him on TV so many times. Much of the stump speech was familiar to me. I always enjoy when politicians throw in lines for the local audience. As he was acknowledging the various labor unions present, he mentioned the boilermakers, which got a decidedly mixed response. He grinned, and said, “I was talking about the REAL boilermakers, but I know we have some Purdue folks here, too.” Pause for more mixed reaction. “But this is mostly IU country, right?” Huge cheers. I thought he was supposed to be a uniter!

After about a 15 minute speech, the floor opened up for a town hall style question session. I’ve heard often that he doesn’t do as well when he’s not working from a prepared text, and that was evident. It’s not he struggled, but you can see his mind working, making sure he’s hitting all his points. It’s also interesting to watch a politician answer a question by saying whatever he wants to say. That’s his job, after all. But I found myself thinking how a regular person would lose confidence at the end of such a response. “I don’t know if I answered your question or not,” is what many of us would say if we got away from the initial question. A politician, though, throws in an applause line and then moves on to the next question.

I went mostly to see him and be part of the event. I didn’t learn much that I didn’t already know. And given how sore my behind was from sitting on a wooden bench for 3.5 hours, you could say it was a monumental waste of time when I could have caught the highlights on the news. But I really wanted to be there. When you believe in a candidate, it’s easy to get swept up in the momentum of the campaign. I felt like it was important to be there, to show my support visibly. There’s an interesting energy at a political rally. You feel empowered. You feel a sense of community despite the wide diversity in the crowd. You wonder how anyone could think differently.

More than anything, I felt as though the rally was a refuge. I’m not living in a state where very many people share my mix of political views. Most Democrats here are rather conservative. I would characterize myself as a strong social liberal, which might as well make me a Marxist in Indiana (Which is ironic, since Marxism was extreme leftist economic policy, and I consider myself only slightly left of center on economic matters). I’m always reluctant to talk about politics outside a small group of friends and family who share my core beliefs. That isn’t because I prefer an echo chamber environment where my views are reinforced and validated, or because I can’t defend my views. Rather, it’s because I tend to see politics as akin to religion: if you believe strongly in something, it is deeply personal. While I have no problem lambasting conservative politicians and talking heads who are in the public eye, I do have a hard time arguing with friends, family, and other regular people who are on the opposite side of the political spectrum from me. I don’t want them telling me that I am wrong, when they know little about how I came to hold the beliefs I hold. So I certainly can’t feel comfortable criticizing their beliefs. Being around 2000 other people who shared at least a few core beliefs while hearing a man we believe can make our country a better place is tremendously empowering.

Leaving the rally, I was filled with an energy and excitement about the process. I’m not a bumper sticker person when it comes to politics, and I have a firm policy about not giving money to political candidates. But I’ve been thinking about making a small donation to the campaign after I get my next paycheck. As much as I liked Obama to being with, I like the fact that his campaign is largely fueled by small donors who are regular people like me. I figure I can sacrifice two albums on iTunes to make a tiny statement in support of what he’s doing.

Also, I saw a man at the rally who reminded me of Oscar Robertson, who is an Indianapolis native. He was the original Big O, you know. Oprah has endorsed Barack. Just think if Oscar, Oprah, and Obama were in the same room. I think we’d be a Greg Ostertag away from opening some kind of space-time portal.

Oh, one other tidbit. I was sitting right above the media area, so I could watch the row of TV cameras and mostly regional reporters working. Right in front of me though, was CNN’s <a href=”http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/malveaux.suzanne.html”>Suzanne Malveaux</a>. All I’ll say is I was surprised at how much I enjoyed watching her work.

Lost Art?

March 17, 2008 / DB

I was watching the Backyardigans with the girls today and wondered, do people outside of circuses walk on tightropes anymore? I’m talking about real tightropes, not metaphorical ones. Maybe it wasn’t as often as it seemed, but when I was little, back in the mid-70s, it seemed like some joker was walking across Niagara Falls or between the TwinTowers on a tight rope every other week.

Another Instant Classic

March 16, 2008 / DB

First off, I watched shockingly few hours of basketball during championship week. Part of that was because S. was on the day shift, so it was just me and the girls. By the time the games started each day, the girls had seen enough TV already, and I really needed to get them doing something active, rather than just switch to hoops. So, outside the KU games, I watched probably a total of an hour of basketball. Kids change everything.

As for Sunday, what a game. Sooner or later the national media is going to wake-up and realize that KU-Texas is as good a rivalry as any in the country. Perhaps not as heated as the more traditional rivalries based on geography and history, but since 2002 these teams have played a number of great games that went a long way towards determining conference champions, tournament champions, and NCAA seeds. Had Duke won Saturday, you know ESPN would have spent all Sunday morning touting one more Duke-UNC game. KU-Texas got a nice preview, but nothing approaching what the Carolina schools would have elicited.

I can’t imagine that there was a better half of basketball this year than the first half of the KU-UT game. Two really good teams knocking down everything, playing hard but clean, and showing the nation how good the Big 12 is.

I resolved at halftime to be happy with any outcome, because the game was so fun to watch. Things did, naturally, calm down a bit in the second half, but it was no less exciting. Teams trading runs, making adjustments (a really well-coached game on both sides), and finally KU putting up a fine defensive effort and hitting some shots to go with it to put the game away.

DJ Augustin might be my favorite player to watch in college. He’s so smooth, yet completely controls the game. Able to drill NBA threes and hit those crazy, floating runners. Surely he’ll declare for the draft.

For all Augustin did, Mario Chalmers did even more. He loves Big 12 title games. Keep to going, ‘Rio!

I had to contend with the girls during the game, and when things got really interesting late, luckily they decided to go in the front room and stare out the window for awhile. In the game’s final minute, as I was standing in front of the TV, they came back in. When I clapped, they clapped. When I cheered, they cheered. When I bent and put my hands on my knees, C. mimicked me and M. laid down and looked up at the TV through my legs. They love this game!

Fans of both schools should be excited after this game. It showed what each team is capable of when they focus and play hard. Texas’ depth will be an issue, but they should be playing deep into the tournament. Then again, I thought the same thing last year. KU just has to avoid the focus problems they’ve exhibited throughout the season, and even within games. If Darrell Arthur comes to play every night, Brandon Rush is looking for his shot, and the guards play team defense instead of gambling too much, KU is going to be very tough to beat. They’ve looked great the past two years in the title game. Sunday’s performance was probably their best of the three.

Looking at the brackets, I like KU’s. No Missouri Valley team in the first round, which is good. Quasi-home court going to Omaha. Georgetown is a tough Elite Eight match-up if KU makes it that far, but I’ll worry about that if it happens. Oh, and the potential Vanderbilt Sweet 16 game and K-State Elite Eight game would be interesting. In 1988, KU started in Nebraska (Lincoln that year), then went to Detroit and beat….Vandy and K-State. Whooooo, spooky!

If I had to pick a Final Four now, I’d pick UNC, KU, Texas, and UCLA. That may change by Thursday. I think Tennessee can knock off UNC, but I wonder about them tripping up before then. Memphis is tough to pick against, especially with Texas’ weak inside game. But UCLA’s bracket is a joke. Carolina has an easy ride, with the NCAA-approved rigged bracket keeping them in their home state through four rounds, but at least they have a decent team or two in their bracket. UCLA has no one to stop them, other than themselves. I was praying KU would get Duke as the #2. If they make it that far, Duke will be little more than a minor distraction to UCLA.

UCLA is the overall favorite. But I think KU is the best team. As I’ve said all along, though, I’m not going to let what happens over the next three weeks take away from the joy of the regular season. I figure KU has about a 20% chance of winning it all, which means the odds are well against them. I’ll be satisfied with a Final Four. I’ll be disappointed if they can’t get out of Omaha. If they end up somewhere between, well, it was a great season but it obviously wasn’t THE season. I’m going to enjoy the tournament and hope this group of players that I’ve loved watching this season has a little more magic to share with us.

Dancing In The Streets

March 12, 2008 / DB

That’s what is happening all over the Middle East this morning. Why? Because the terrorists have won again. Yes, Indiana’s 7th congressional district elected a Muslim – a MUSLIM! – to represent them in the US House of Representatives for the next ten months. It’s a well documented fact that every single Muslim in the world has the exact same world and political view (Muslims never, ever fight each other), so surely this means our enemies are taking over our government. Al Queda had extended its tentacles to just a few miles from my home. I woke up at 3 AM today and wondered who is looking out for me, who is answering the phone now that this travesty has occurred? Surely terrorists are pouring into the Indianapolis airport this morning so they can set up shop all over Marion county. If Barack is elected….well…we can kiss our American asses goodbye. Because he’s a Muslim, too. And his middle name is Hussein. HUSSEIN! *

(For those who don’t know me, this post is loaded with sarcasm. Think of Stephen Colbert, only less funny.)

A Night For Dads

March 11, 2008 / DB

Tonight was dads’ night at M.’s preschool. There’s nothing quite like spending an hour with a bunch of wound-up three and four year olds.

As with their Christmas program, M. had been letting details of what was going to happen tonight slip for a couple weeks. They’ve been diligently practicing songs and on occasion she would bust into one in front of me. So I kind of knew what was coming.

Anyway, things went down like this: We arrived, M. threw her coat on the ground and started hopping around with some of her friends. Her teacher came over and told me lots of good things about M. and her behavior in class. I asked her if she was sure she was talking about my three-year-old. (I tease!) As each other kid and dad came into class, M. would shout at me, “That’s (kid) and his/her daddy!” then go back to hopping, now and then adding two fingers to her head and saying, “Bunny ears!”

The teachers flipped the lights off, which is apparently how they get the kids’ attention, and asked that they pick up any toys that had been removed from their bins. Then we got to sit down and make leprechauns for St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t think I’ve used paste in 31 years. It comes in colors now, did you know that? After some cool work with the paste, construction paper, and orange fusili pasta (for the beard), it was story time. We all gathered around the teacher and heard a story about loving your dad (Timely!). Then, it was time for a special snack, which was sugar cookies with a cup of frosting and green sprinkles on the side. M. gave me a tiny little dab of icing and proceeded to eat the rest of it, straight rather than on the cookie, herself. Kid gets down to business.

Finally, it was performance time. The kids had three songs to perform for us. One was some kind of St. Patrick’s day song I couldn’t quite follow. The girls all had little tambourines and the boys got to wear green hats while they walked around in a circle. After that came a song about dancing with your daddy. And finally, a song about fingers and toes. It was a pretty good performance, complete with kids who clearly didn’t know/remember any of the words, kids who mouthed the words but didn’t actually sing, and kids who were over-singing every note. Oh, and M. decided to pull her dress up so everyone could see her tights, the underwear beneath it, and her belly button. Good times.

It was interesting to see M. interact with the other kids. She’s the youngest in her class and that is obvious just from seeing everyone line up together. A couple of the kids are a lot taller than her, looking more like five year olds, which suddenly makes her look very young to me. All the dads were obviously a distraction tonight, but I always think it would be fun to watch them in secret, to see how she treats others and is treated by others. She told us awhile back that one girl wasn’t her friend anymore because the girl kept bossing M. around and calling her a baby. That made S. sad. It made me a little sad, but it also made me start talking like a dad, “Toughen up, kid, that’s life.”

Dads are funny, too. A few knew each other, probably because they’re good Catholics (Unlike my wife!) and go to Mass each week. The rest of us just kind of stood around and watched the kids. When we sat down to do our crafts and eat our snacks, the three dads around our table all introduced ourselves and shared a little about our kids, but that was it. I imagine on Moms’ Night there is a lot more socializing.