I told you Spain was going to win! Never doubt my sports prognostications! Of course, Spain was one of the favorites going in, so it’s not like I picked some 50-1 darkhorse. They did make it interesting by dropping their opener, in shocking fashion to the Swiss, and then needing a win in their third game to avoid going home early. They never captured the flair they played with two summers ago.
Thank goodness, LeBron has made his decision and the world can get back to important things, like whether the economy will ever recover, what the hell to do in the Gulf of Mexico, and how soon Lady Gaga’s 15 minutes will run out. I don’t begrudge LeBron milking the process. He’s perhaps the most interesting free agent ever, and his move will affect the futures of more than just the teams he joins and leaves.
Seven years ago (June 27, 2003 to be exact) I launched the first version of TBB. I kicked things off with an epic, Bill Simmons-style NBA draft breakdown. In fact, if you want to read it for old time’s sake, here it is. For a few years it was my tradition to either keep a running diary of draft night, or do a breakdown the next day. But as we added more girls to the house and Ron Artest destroyed the Pacers and killed my interest in the NBA, I scaled back my efforts.
A disappointing weekend for Team USA. Another early defensive breakdown put the team behind early. They rallied after halftime and controlled the second half, but could only manage a Landon Donovan penalty to tie. Then, in overtime, another quick breakdown and Ghana was able to weather the storm and prevail 2–1 in 120+ minutes. There were quick charges that coach Bob Bradley should not return, as the early defensive errors are easiest to explain by blaming the coach.
OK, it wasn’t quite the Miracle on Ice, Part II, but Landon Donovan’s game-winning goal Wednesday was pretty freaking cool. We, unfortunately, had a previously scheduled engagement with the new cheetah exhibit at the Indianapolis Zoo. So, other than watching the brilliant opening ceremonies, when the US crowd nearly drowned out the PA system signing the national anthem, I was forced to follow the game on my iPhone from the zoo.
I forgot to mention that I ran my first 5K in over three years last Saturday. I had been “training”, and by training I mean running approximately once every 5-10 days, and was finally finding some fun in running again. It helped that L., unlike both of her sisters, loves to go for runs in the jogging stroller. In fact, if I time it right, she’ll often fall asleep along the way.
A very good read on how companies and their marketing departments produce loyal customers. I contend there’s more to it than just the branding push by companies, but it does help to explain why dorks like me are slaves to Apple (Or Nikon or Volkswagen or Nike or…) I’m glad my wife didn’t read anything along these lines before she let me buy my first Mac almost six years ago.
Last Friday M. attended a birthday party1 at one of the many local bounce places.2 After bouncing for awhile, then eating pizza, cake, and ice cream, the host mom handed out tokens for the arcade area to all the kids. While I was helping M. earn some tickets so she could get another cheap, plastic toy to take home, I noticed a Pop-a-Shot. Except this Pop-a-Shot didn’t look like the games I remembered.
It appears that the dust has settled, for the time being, in the great college conference realignment of 2010, so I can finally try to put some thoughts together. I’m not promising anything particularly well organized or original. Consider yourself warned. What a strange couple of weeks it has been. There were multiple times during that span in which I stopped reading any e-mails, message board posts, Tweets, etc. that had anything to do with what was going to happen to the Big 12.
Notice some changes around here? If you haven’t, you’re not paying very close attention. Why the changes? Read on, friends. Welcome to Phase 3 (or is it Phase 2?) of Del Boca Vista, errr. the development of TBB.1 To quickly refresh, over a year ago I took full control of the blog, moving it off of a hosted service to a domain and server space that I owned. I also dumped the easy blogging platforms2 for Wordpress, which offers me more control over the granular details of the blog.
Time for a girl update. A big event has not gotten its proper blog treatment: M.’s “graduation” from kindergarten. I use the quotation marks because A) kindergarten graduations are kind of silly to begin with and B) she’s not really done with kindergarten. Let’s get the event out of the way first. Her class put on a fine performance for family and friends. They sang songs, showed off artwork, recited their lines to a couple poems, and received diplomas.
I’ve lived in Indiana for nearly seven years now. In that time, I’ve been to three Notre Dame football games, an Indiana basketball game, a Purdue football game, a Colts (preseason) game, and a Pacers game. I’ve also watched high school basketball players like Josh McRoberts, Eric Gordon, Michael Conley, and Greg Oden. My Indiana sports resume had two glaring omissions, however. I’ve yet to go to a Butler game at Hinkle Fieldhouse, and I’ve never been to an Indianapolis 500.
They’ve got me. Every online retailer I’ve ever purchased a good or service from has me in their clutches. There is no escape. Each morning when I first check my e-mail, chances are there are at least three, and often as many as six, messages from various retailers offering up fantastic discounts on things I might like. The Gap. Banana Republic. Old Navy. Eddie Bauer. Borders. Amazon. The KU Bookstore.
So, not the greatest sports year at my noble alma mater. A series of fights between the football and basketball teams. A football coach forced out because of abusive behavior. A football team that fell apart, lost seven-straight, and pissed a chance at a division title away. A basketball player, who was already in the doghouse, decided to shoot his mouth off during the season. A stunning early loss in the NCAA tournament.
The school year is almost over, but it’s never too late for the teachers to ban items from the classroom. M.’s class has been overrun by the scourge of our times: Silly Bandz. For the non-parents, or parents of younger kids, Silly Bandz are basically colored rubber bands that have been molded to the shape of kid friendly objects: pets, dinosaurs, zoo animals, etc. Kids wear them as bracelets and trade them with friends and classmates.
I’m pleased to report that M. has improved her soccer game over the past few weeks. She’s still no Mia Hamm, but at least she’s doing some positive things during games. Tuesday night she even had an important milestone. Last weekend she mastered the concept of getting back on defense. Unlike her earlier attempts, she was racing back towards her own goal each time the opponent took possession, then trying to at least get in the way as the ball approached the net.
A few blog minor blog updates. At times (OK, quite often) I like to imagine that I have a huge number of regular readers. Dozens, hundreds perhaps. I like to fantasize that they check in regularly not just to get updates on the wacky things the girls are doing, but to see what else I’m reading and writing about. Thus, I like to believe that any time I make minor tweaks to the blog, lots of people all around the world are noticing and wondering about the meanings behind the changes.
I’ve refrained from writing about the whole Big 10 expansion / Big 12 dissolution thing until something actually happens. But with all the rumors this week, I figured it was time to tack a crack. 1200 words later, I wasn’t making a logical argument and hadn’t come close to completing my thoughts. So how about this: it will suck if Missouri and Nebraska go to the Big 10. I have no great love for the Big 12, since it’s always seemed more concerned with keeping Texas happy, but I do have love for all the Big 8 schools.
One of my (many) sisters-in-law completed her first half-marathon last weekend, running the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in atrocious conditions. Her accomplishment got me reminiscing about my own running milestones over the years. Completing the Chicago Marathon in 2001, a half-marathon in 2000, and my first triathlon in 1999. But my favorite was much further back than that. In the spring of my first-grade year, my parents separated for the first time.
I recently discovered the site How I Met Your Motherboard, which features stories of first computer experiences. Interestingly, one of the stories mirrors my own. Seems like perfect fodder for my own blog post, no? People occasionally ask me why I’m so nutty for Apple products. I think part of it is because of when I got my first Mac: just as I was leaving the corporate world, becoming a father, starting down the path as a stay-at-home parent, etc.