Dang it, I meant to start this earlier in the day but now my day is winding down and I want to head home. As I always say (and rarely live up to) I'll keep this one brief.
Congrats to the CSU Rams on a big win over Utah State on Saturday night. Beating Utah State might not sound like much but the Aggies of Utah State coulda woulda shoulda beat Auburn in their first game of the year. Unfortunately The Mountain decided not to show the game but based on what I read CSU forced four turnovers, the big one being a fumble recovery on a dropped punt on the Utah St. 15 yard line with 2:17 to play. CSU scored a TD and the two-point conversion to send the game to OT. In the second OT CSU scored a TD and extra point to put them up 7. After scoring on a 25 yard run, Utah St. decided to end the game on the next play by going for two. Aggie running back Robert Turbin, he of four TDs on the night, was stoned by the Rams defense and CSU left Logan with a W. Pete Thomas continued his struggles and averaged a pitiful 3.9 ypa. Something needs to change and hopefully before league play starts.
Easier game this week against San Jose State in Fort Collins for Homecoming. Rams 38 SJS 24
CU didn't fare as well in Columbus and lost to Ohio State 37-17 and now their road losing streak is at 19. They open up Pac 12 play on Saturday in Boulder against the Cougars of Washington St. I think CU will get a W this week in a shootout. CU 38 WSU 31
After dominating the game Denver still managed to lose to Tennessee by a score of 17-14. Of course the play everyone is talking about is the fourth and goal from the six inch line that Denver was not able to punch into the end zone. A field goal would have put them up 7 with just over 13 minutes to go in the game. Of course a TD would have put them up 11 and the game may have been out of reach for the Titans. After a terrible play action play call on first down the Broncos gave the ball to Willis McGahee three straight times and couldn't manage to get the two yards to paydirt.
After another week of fans begging for Tebow the Broncos head to Green Bay to play the Super Bowl champion Packers. The line is 13 (just like it was for Super Bowl 32) but I don't think Denver will be able to keep it that close. They will get some of their injured starters back but not the one that would help the most in Champ Bailey. Denver is in desperate need of a win in the next two games (@ GB and at home against SD) otherwise they will head into the bye week 1-4. If that's the case there may not be much choice but to start Tebow for the remainder of the season and get into draft mode. Sigh. It's looking like another season of "wait until next year" and it's only week 4.
Beautiful weather this weekend, have a great one!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Welcome to My Hammy
Once again I meant to update this on Monday while my football thoughts were fresh but work got in the way. It has a funny way of doing that. This post will be a short one because I just have too much work to do right now.
Let's start with the CSU-CU game. How pitiful did CSU look? The defense actually played pretty well considering their best two players are out but the offense was just terrible. Pete Thomas didn't complete as many passes as I thought he would although his yards per attempt were along the lines of my prediction. I was expecting an average of 4 ypa but he ended up at 5.6. That puts him at 6.2 for the season which is second to last in the conference. He looks just like Tim Tebow in the pocket which is not a good thing. I'm not referring to the Tim Tebow running out of the pocket but Tim Tebow when he decides to throw. Thomas, like Tebow, always seems to check down to the safe receiver and gain minimal yardage. Outside of a 34 yard completion to TE Crockett Gilmore his longest completion was 12 yards. 12 yards! WR Charles Lovett had a 23 yard touchdown completion on his only attempt of the game (and probably career.) At some point he needs to trust his arm and his receivers and throw the ball down field. I am sad to say I am still seeing no improvement in the team and I'm sure Coach Fairchild is a little nervous about his job...as he should be.
CSU 17 Utah St. 35
CU got a win last week (as mentioned above) and have the tough task of facing Ohio State in Columbus. I don't know much about the Buckeyes other than they have a bunch of suspended players and a new coach. That being said I still think they will be able to beat CU but I think it will be a close game.
CU 24 OSU 31
The Broncos game was a strange one. Already missing 4-5 of their starters Denver lost 2 more key players (Royal and Thomas) in the first quarter. Denver still played pretty well for the most part and managed to hold on by 2 points against a below average Bengals team. The defense had no pass rush at all other than a big play on the second to last play of the game but the game was beyond frustrating. After multiple big stops by the defense on third and shorts, the offense managed to come in and go three and out four times in the second half (and a 3 and fumble by Orton) when a couple of first downs would have allowed them to run out the clock. I'm not too optimistic about their chances in Tennessee this week and I think Chris Johnson will finally break out of his slump in a big way. If Denver loses this one they need to turn the calendar a couple times until they can find the next winnable game on the schedule. A road game in Miami might be their best chance in October otherwise we're looking at a game in KC on 11/13, a game in Minnesota on 12/4 or a home game against KC on 1/1. It looks like we're on track for 1 win/month which would put us at 5-11 for the season. Sigh.
Denver 13 Tennessee 27
I have always been skeptical when I hear that a player is out of a game due to a pulled hamstring. I mean come on, how bad can it be? Answer: it can be very very painful. As I was rounding first base on Tuesday night admiring my line drive down the third base line I heard a strange "pop" followed by a bolt of lightning in my leg. It turns out I suffered a grade 2 pulled hamstring. I can't image ever jogging again let alone jump, sprint, dash, cut, weave, or even walk without a limp. I long for the day when I can bend over and tie my shoe without a sharp pain in my leg. I know I'm a wimp and it will heal soon and could have been much worse but I will no longer roll my eyes when I hear a player is day-to-day with a pulled hamstring. Consider me month-to-month.
Have a great weekend!
Let's start with the CSU-CU game. How pitiful did CSU look? The defense actually played pretty well considering their best two players are out but the offense was just terrible. Pete Thomas didn't complete as many passes as I thought he would although his yards per attempt were along the lines of my prediction. I was expecting an average of 4 ypa but he ended up at 5.6. That puts him at 6.2 for the season which is second to last in the conference. He looks just like Tim Tebow in the pocket which is not a good thing. I'm not referring to the Tim Tebow running out of the pocket but Tim Tebow when he decides to throw. Thomas, like Tebow, always seems to check down to the safe receiver and gain minimal yardage. Outside of a 34 yard completion to TE Crockett Gilmore his longest completion was 12 yards. 12 yards! WR Charles Lovett had a 23 yard touchdown completion on his only attempt of the game (and probably career.) At some point he needs to trust his arm and his receivers and throw the ball down field. I am sad to say I am still seeing no improvement in the team and I'm sure Coach Fairchild is a little nervous about his job...as he should be.
CSU 17 Utah St. 35
CU got a win last week (as mentioned above) and have the tough task of facing Ohio State in Columbus. I don't know much about the Buckeyes other than they have a bunch of suspended players and a new coach. That being said I still think they will be able to beat CU but I think it will be a close game.
CU 24 OSU 31
The Broncos game was a strange one. Already missing 4-5 of their starters Denver lost 2 more key players (Royal and Thomas) in the first quarter. Denver still played pretty well for the most part and managed to hold on by 2 points against a below average Bengals team. The defense had no pass rush at all other than a big play on the second to last play of the game but the game was beyond frustrating. After multiple big stops by the defense on third and shorts, the offense managed to come in and go three and out four times in the second half (and a 3 and fumble by Orton) when a couple of first downs would have allowed them to run out the clock. I'm not too optimistic about their chances in Tennessee this week and I think Chris Johnson will finally break out of his slump in a big way. If Denver loses this one they need to turn the calendar a couple times until they can find the next winnable game on the schedule. A road game in Miami might be their best chance in October otherwise we're looking at a game in KC on 11/13, a game in Minnesota on 12/4 or a home game against KC on 1/1. It looks like we're on track for 1 win/month which would put us at 5-11 for the season. Sigh.
Denver 13 Tennessee 27
I have always been skeptical when I hear that a player is out of a game due to a pulled hamstring. I mean come on, how bad can it be? Answer: it can be very very painful. As I was rounding first base on Tuesday night admiring my line drive down the third base line I heard a strange "pop" followed by a bolt of lightning in my leg. It turns out I suffered a grade 2 pulled hamstring. I can't image ever jogging again let alone jump, sprint, dash, cut, weave, or even walk without a limp. I long for the day when I can bend over and tie my shoe without a sharp pain in my leg. I know I'm a wimp and it will heal soon and could have been much worse but I will no longer roll my eyes when I hear a player is day-to-day with a pulled hamstring. Consider me month-to-month.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, September 16, 2011
I'd give them all up for another foot.
Boy how time flies. I had every intention of updating my blog after every Broncos preseason game but life moves fast as you all know and here I am finally writing on September 16th. I don't have a lot of time right now so I'll try to hit the highlights.
I can't even remember now what we did in August but I do remember that we went to Seattle for Labor Day. Baby girl did wonderful although we robbed her of a few naps. We woke her up on Friday morning at 6:00am so we could head to the airport and she was awake the entire day. As we were on our way home from dinner that night we asked her if she was tired and her response was "no nap." In fact, just the other day she told Angie "I need a nap." You've got to love having a kid that puts themselves down for a nap.
I had a whole list of things to talk about after watching the disaster that was the Broncos game on Monday night. My boss was in town all week so I didn't get a chance to update my blog Tuesday morning which is probably a good thing. I have probably calmed down a bit since I went to bed mad at 12am Tuesday morning but there are still a few things I need to vent about. First of all, I bet my blog is probably in high demand after watching holding penalty after holding penalty. I think I saw first and twenty, first and fifteen more than I saw first and ten. I know it was the first game but is our offensive line really that bad/dumb that they don't know what holding is? Also, how bad were the last 24 seconds of the first half? Orton throws a idiotic interception and then we follow that up with a (just as idiotic) 15 yard penalty. Since when did we become the Raiders minor league team? Oakland would have run out the clock but the 15 yard penalty allowed them to take the chance of getting into field goal range and let Sebastian Janikowski taint Jason Elam's NFL record long field goal. Add to that the Broncos lost by...yup...three points.
One last rant regarding the Broncos. What happened to that defensive pass rush that looked so strong in the preseason. Apparently Denver's preseason opponents played their third string offensive lines because Denver couldn't manage to put any pressure on Jason Campbell. Not that Oakland needed to pass the ball when they could run at will. When you allow almost 5 yards per carry when you KNOW the offense is going to run the ball you have serious issues. I still think Denver will win this week but my preseason prediction of 7 wins is now down to 5.
Denver 24 Cincinnati 13
OK one last rant. I am in the Tebow camp. Not because I think he's a better QB than Orton but because I think the team responds to him and I think he actually cares. I also want to see what he can do so we know if we need to draft a QB next year. Actually, I think it's pretty clear that we do need to and will draft another QB but the question is how early in the draft.
**UPDATE** I'm a bit of an airhead apparently. The reason I brought up the worlds's favorite third string QB is because I was a little annoyed with the Denver fans on Monday night. Yes Orton was having a stinker of a game. Yes Tebow could have probably avoided a couple sacks. I'm not so sure the outcome of the game would have been any different but I'm not a big fan of our fans chanting "Tebow Tebow" during the game. Have a little class and support your starting QB for crying out loud. Maybe Tebow is the answer but let's let the coaches make the decision. Oh yeah, to the folks thinking about spending 10 grand on a billboard in LoDo asking for Tebow to be the starter. Save your money or give it to Tebow's charity. If Orton continues his poor play and we start 1-3 or 0-4, Tebow will be in soon enough.
CSU vs. CU this weekend. I'd love to say that the 2-0 Rams are going to crush, and basically end the season of, the 0-2 Buffs but I have not been impressed with the Rams. The loss of Mychal Sisson is devastating for the defense. I can see the Buffs running up and down the field over the Rams' defense while Pete Thomas completes 32 passes at 4 yards per completion in garbage time. I hate to say this but:
Buffs 38 Rams 20
I just heard an interview with Sonny Lubick and they asked him about the game CSU lost to CU 31 - 28 at Folsom Field after the Rams had the ball at the CU 1 foot line with 20 seconds to go. Instead of kicking the tying FG and sending the game to OT Sonny decided to go for it. He gave the ball to CU reject Marcus Houston who was promptly stoned at the goal line. I thought going for it was the right call but I hated the play call. Anyway, according to the story the team chaplain was trying to comfort Sonny after the game and said something about how he's still got his friends and family. According to Sonny, his response was "I'd give them all up for another foot."
Have a great weekend.
I can't even remember now what we did in August but I do remember that we went to Seattle for Labor Day. Baby girl did wonderful although we robbed her of a few naps. We woke her up on Friday morning at 6:00am so we could head to the airport and she was awake the entire day. As we were on our way home from dinner that night we asked her if she was tired and her response was "no nap." In fact, just the other day she told Angie "I need a nap." You've got to love having a kid that puts themselves down for a nap.
I had a whole list of things to talk about after watching the disaster that was the Broncos game on Monday night. My boss was in town all week so I didn't get a chance to update my blog Tuesday morning which is probably a good thing. I have probably calmed down a bit since I went to bed mad at 12am Tuesday morning but there are still a few things I need to vent about. First of all, I bet my blog is probably in high demand after watching holding penalty after holding penalty. I think I saw first and twenty, first and fifteen more than I saw first and ten. I know it was the first game but is our offensive line really that bad/dumb that they don't know what holding is? Also, how bad were the last 24 seconds of the first half? Orton throws a idiotic interception and then we follow that up with a (just as idiotic) 15 yard penalty. Since when did we become the Raiders minor league team? Oakland would have run out the clock but the 15 yard penalty allowed them to take the chance of getting into field goal range and let Sebastian Janikowski taint Jason Elam's NFL record long field goal. Add to that the Broncos lost by...yup...three points.
One last rant regarding the Broncos. What happened to that defensive pass rush that looked so strong in the preseason. Apparently Denver's preseason opponents played their third string offensive lines because Denver couldn't manage to put any pressure on Jason Campbell. Not that Oakland needed to pass the ball when they could run at will. When you allow almost 5 yards per carry when you KNOW the offense is going to run the ball you have serious issues. I still think Denver will win this week but my preseason prediction of 7 wins is now down to 5.
Denver 24 Cincinnati 13
OK one last rant. I am in the Tebow camp. Not because I think he's a better QB than Orton but because I think the team responds to him and I think he actually cares. I also want to see what he can do so we know if we need to draft a QB next year. Actually, I think it's pretty clear that we do need to and will draft another QB but the question is how early in the draft.
**UPDATE** I'm a bit of an airhead apparently. The reason I brought up the worlds's favorite third string QB is because I was a little annoyed with the Denver fans on Monday night. Yes Orton was having a stinker of a game. Yes Tebow could have probably avoided a couple sacks. I'm not so sure the outcome of the game would have been any different but I'm not a big fan of our fans chanting "Tebow Tebow" during the game. Have a little class and support your starting QB for crying out loud. Maybe Tebow is the answer but let's let the coaches make the decision. Oh yeah, to the folks thinking about spending 10 grand on a billboard in LoDo asking for Tebow to be the starter. Save your money or give it to Tebow's charity. If Orton continues his poor play and we start 1-3 or 0-4, Tebow will be in soon enough.
CSU vs. CU this weekend. I'd love to say that the 2-0 Rams are going to crush, and basically end the season of, the 0-2 Buffs but I have not been impressed with the Rams. The loss of Mychal Sisson is devastating for the defense. I can see the Buffs running up and down the field over the Rams' defense while Pete Thomas completes 32 passes at 4 yards per completion in garbage time. I hate to say this but:
Buffs 38 Rams 20
I just heard an interview with Sonny Lubick and they asked him about the game CSU lost to CU 31 - 28 at Folsom Field after the Rams had the ball at the CU 1 foot line with 20 seconds to go. Instead of kicking the tying FG and sending the game to OT Sonny decided to go for it. He gave the ball to CU reject Marcus Houston who was promptly stoned at the goal line. I thought going for it was the right call but I hated the play call. Anyway, according to the story the team chaplain was trying to comfort Sonny after the game and said something about how he's still got his friends and family. According to Sonny, his response was "I'd give them all up for another foot."
Have a great weekend.
Friday, July 29, 2011
I've been meaning to update my blog all week but I kept thinking I would wait until Kyle Orton was traded. It now looks like that line of thinking would have lead me to not update my blog until next season.
In shocking (to me) news the Miami Dolphins decided to sign free agent Matt Moore rather than trade for Orton. Matt Moore of the 22 career starts and 16 touchdowns against 17 interceptions over a guy that has averaged 20 TDs and 11 INTs over the past three years. Don't get me wrong, I wanted Miami to take Orton to free up cap space and clear the way for Tebow in Denver, not because I care about the Dolphins record this year. I'm also not saying that Denver will be better this year with Tebow as QB as compared to Orton. There is no way Denver is a playoff team with either QB so why not see what we have in Tebow. Worst case (or maybe best case) we end up with the worst record and draft Andrew Luck next year. It's only been a few days but I'm about as tired of all the trade talk as I was with Melo.
I am, however, very excited that the lockout is over and that we'll have pro football to watch this winter! I'm also pretty happy with the Willis McGahee signing (if it is really a done deal) because I'll be happy to have a running back that can get us into the end zone from a yard away, sorry Knowshon.
On Sunday afternoon Angie, baby girl, and I got back from a wonderful 10 day trip to Montana (more about it here.) I'm sorry to report that I did not exercise at all during the vacation and probably added on the Turner Ten. Similar to the Freshman Fifteen but done in 10 days rather than one full school year. Now that I'm back home I guess I need to pick up my running again. I recently bought the Nike+ sports kit and calibrated it on a one mile run last night. I'm trying to decide if I want to try running one mile every night or two miles every other night. I've been doing some reading online and most people seem to be of the opinion that if you don't run for at least 20 - 30 minutes you might as well not do it at all. I don't see the reasoning in this. I understand that you don't get to your target heart rate until you've been exercising for 20 minutes but how can people actually say you're better off not doing it at all? I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that are trying to be good and get some exercise that read these articles/blogs and decide that they might as well stay on the couch and not work out at all. In my opinion any exercise is good and I think it's great just to get off the couch, even if it's only for 10 minutes.
I'm not sure if Angie's parents read this blog but thanks for being great hosts! We had a great time and can't wait to see you again in October (if you can make it) or December.
In shocking (to me) news the Miami Dolphins decided to sign free agent Matt Moore rather than trade for Orton. Matt Moore of the 22 career starts and 16 touchdowns against 17 interceptions over a guy that has averaged 20 TDs and 11 INTs over the past three years. Don't get me wrong, I wanted Miami to take Orton to free up cap space and clear the way for Tebow in Denver, not because I care about the Dolphins record this year. I'm also not saying that Denver will be better this year with Tebow as QB as compared to Orton. There is no way Denver is a playoff team with either QB so why not see what we have in Tebow. Worst case (or maybe best case) we end up with the worst record and draft Andrew Luck next year. It's only been a few days but I'm about as tired of all the trade talk as I was with Melo.
I am, however, very excited that the lockout is over and that we'll have pro football to watch this winter! I'm also pretty happy with the Willis McGahee signing (if it is really a done deal) because I'll be happy to have a running back that can get us into the end zone from a yard away, sorry Knowshon.
On Sunday afternoon Angie, baby girl, and I got back from a wonderful 10 day trip to Montana (more about it here.) I'm sorry to report that I did not exercise at all during the vacation and probably added on the Turner Ten. Similar to the Freshman Fifteen but done in 10 days rather than one full school year. Now that I'm back home I guess I need to pick up my running again. I recently bought the Nike+ sports kit and calibrated it on a one mile run last night. I'm trying to decide if I want to try running one mile every night or two miles every other night. I've been doing some reading online and most people seem to be of the opinion that if you don't run for at least 20 - 30 minutes you might as well not do it at all. I don't see the reasoning in this. I understand that you don't get to your target heart rate until you've been exercising for 20 minutes but how can people actually say you're better off not doing it at all? I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that are trying to be good and get some exercise that read these articles/blogs and decide that they might as well stay on the couch and not work out at all. In my opinion any exercise is good and I think it's great just to get off the couch, even if it's only for 10 minutes.
I'm not sure if Angie's parents read this blog but thanks for being great hosts! We had a great time and can't wait to see you again in October (if you can make it) or December.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Marathon a Month
When I woke up on Tuesday morning (the day after my 4k) I found it very difficult to muster enough motivation to even pick a day to work out again. I figured that since I had been running every other day for a month, minus a two day break or two, I would easily be able to keep up the pace of running six to eight miles per week. Boy was I wrong. Even though I was planning to use Tuesday as an off day anyway I was happy when I got an email from a friend asking if I'd play on his softball team that night. I was happy because I knew I could use the excuse of playing softball as exercise and I could put off my day of running for another day (more on the softball game later.) I finally got on the treadmill Thursday night figuring I'd knock out 20 - 25 minutes no problem. I was a running expert by now right? Let me just say that I felt like I was going to die after the first 2 minutes of running. I ended up alternating two minutes of walking with four minutes of jogging (what is the line between jogging and running?) for a total of 26 minutes and it took all I had not to quit after 6 minutes. I'm not sure why I had such a rough time. Maybe it was what I had for supper, maybe it was a letdown after having a goal to train for. Whatever the reason I was pretty sure I was done with running.
Fast forward to yesterday afternoon when I got the itch to get some exercise so I jumped on the treadmill not sure what to expect. Amazing enough I felt great and, after one minute of walking, I ran/jogged for 20 minutes straight before finishing with two minutes of cool down walking. Color me confused. I'm interested to see what the next session is going to be like and I'm also interested to find out when it will be as we are leaving for Montana tomorrow night for vacation. I hope to get out a few times during vacation but if not I'll have to go at it strong when we get back because my new goal is...a marathon a month! OK, let me clarify what I mean. I'm not going to actually run 26.2 miles in one day every month but rather a total of 26.2 miles (or more) per month. While I was training for the 4k in June I ran 29.33 miles. I think I actually ran a bit more than than because I absolutely believe that treadmills are not accurate when it comes to distance. For example, to run an eight minute mile (as I averaged for the 4k) I would have to set the treadmill speed at 7.5. I'm not sure about you but if I set the treadmill to that speed I will be in a dead sprint and plain dead after two minutes. I recently bought a Nike+ sport kit so, once I get the shoelace sensor holder, I will see how accurate the treadmill really is.
Softball. The image that comes to my mind is a bunch of overweight, middle aged men drinking beer in a dugout arguing about who has to play the field. Not because they want to play but because they want to sit in the dugout, out of the sun, watching the other guys boot ground balls and pull hamstrings. Why, if this is the case, was I so nervous to sub for my friend's team on Tuesday night? Probably because I knew that the team would be made up of athletic guys in their mid 20's who still think they should have made the major leagues even though they didn't make their high school team because the coach had something against them. Don't get me wrong, my friend's team wasn't like that but I've played in enough leagues to know that other teams are like that. Teams that have full uniforms including stirrups and eye back, with full time base coaches and a stat keeper. Luckily the team we played against was at the same as us and were friendly. I was still nervous not wanting to look like a guy that hasn't played softball in three years. I played the field fine but my four ground balls (I did beat out the throw on three of the swinging bunts) left a lot to be desired. I always forget how patient you have to be at the plate and couldn't help but swing before the ball even had a chance to cross the plate. My legs were also SORE the next day. I guess my 4k training didn't prepare me for the sprinting around the bases and outfield as well as I thought it would. My arm and back were also sore from not throwing a ball for so long. Getting old is not fun.
T minus 26 hours until the vacation starts!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Firecracker 4k
Well, it's finally over. I just got back from running the firecracker 4k in Erie, CO with a time of 20 minutes and 13 seconds! I was hoping for 22 - 23 minutes so I'm very happy with my time. That comes out to an 8 minute 8 second mile and that includes a 40 second walk after 16 minutes. It helped that for once my run started with a downhill so I wasn't completely dead after the first 10 minutes. It was, however, rough to climb that hill at the end. I sure the fact that I was running with other people helped speed up my pace more than when I run alone.
Congrats to everyone that ran the race (not that any of them would ever find themselves reading this blog) and thanks to Angie and Lauren for coming down to watch and cheer me on!
Happy 4th!
Congrats to everyone that ran the race (not that any of them would ever find themselves reading this blog) and thanks to Angie and Lauren for coming down to watch and cheer me on!
Happy 4th!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
One day to go...
Well, tomorrow is the day I've been training for. The Firecracker 4k. Although I still have not yet run 2.5 miles without a walking break I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to beat my target time of 23 minutes. This week I was able to run for 16 minutes before taking a one minute walk break. Since most of my running has been outside I'm pretty happy with that because the places I've been running have been very hilly and it seems like there is always a steep incline off the bat to zap all my energy right away. Although I've wanted to start walking sooner I've been pretty good at getting to a mile and a half before my walk break. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. Obviously I'd like to make it the entire 2.48 miles without walking but I won't feel disappointed in myself if I have to walk for a minute or two.
I'll do an update Tuesday morning to let you know how I did. Happy Fourth of July!
I'll do an update Tuesday morning to let you know how I did. Happy Fourth of July!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Oh Yeah? Well Stake That!
Wow, two posts in the same month and it's only June 20th!
Congrats to the Dallas Mavericks for knocking off the Miami Heat. Thank goodness we didn't have to see LBJ hoist the championship trophy.
Congrats also to the Boston Bruins for beating the much hated Canucks of Vancouver. I've always wanted to see Vancouver. It's too bad the citizens had to burn it to the ground. Silly Canadians.
I was in Baltimore a couple weeks ago for a conference and was fortunate enough to go to a Baltimore Orioles game with some of Angie's DC family. I've wanted to see Camden Yards for awhile now and I wasn't disappointed. It has been a dream of mine for a long time to attend a game at every major league baseball park. I've been to Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles), Coors Field (Colorado Rockies), the Metrodome (Minnesota Twins), Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs), the old Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees), and Oakland Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland A's). For awhile I kept my ticket stubs as proof but somewhere along the line I threw most of them away. As I sit at my desk and look at my Orioles ticket I think I'm going to start over. Unless I can find some of those stubs I've only got 29 more to go!
I actually kept up on my 4k training while in Baltimore and it's a good thing too because I ate a lot of junk while I was there. My training is going pretty well and just today I went for a jog near my office and completed a 2.6 mile workout in 25 minutes and 27 seconds. That might not sound like a very good time but that includes 6 minutes of walking. I'm still alternating walking and jogging to build up my stamina. I feel like I'm doing pretty well and am hopefully on pace to be able to jog most (if not all) of the 4k by July 4th. I'd better be ready because I just registered! Gulp! I would be even further along had I not decided to try to cut my toe off. How did that happen? I'll tell you.
Just over a week ago Angie and I finally completed a task we have been talking about since we moved in; putting new trees in our back yard! We knew that, at some point, the empty lots behind our house would be filled with houses and our view would change from the playground to our neighbors' kitchens and living rooms. We put an Armstrong Maple along our back fence and three juniper trees along our east fence for added privacy. As we were putting in the tree stakes for our maple tree I decided to use some of my weight to my advantage. Each metal stake has two "wings" that stick out near the bottom. I wasn't sure what they were for so I assumed they were there to push on. I pushed with my foot a few times and didn't feel the stake move into the ground much so I put all of my body weight onto the wing. Bad idea. The metal wing sliced right through my shoe, my sock, and my skin. Luckily it didn't do any serious damage (I assumed since I could still move my toe) but it was bad enough that Angie thought I should get stitches. After having my toe numbed a few years ago I vowed to never let another needle touch my toe so I put a band aid on it, wrapped it in tape, and finished the job. After some moaning and groaning of course! My toe is mostly healed now although I'll probably have a nasty scar and my 4k training resumed after a six day break.
Back to work, I hope all the fathers out there had a nice Father's Day, I know I did.
Congrats to the Dallas Mavericks for knocking off the Miami Heat. Thank goodness we didn't have to see LBJ hoist the championship trophy.
Congrats also to the Boston Bruins for beating the much hated Canucks of Vancouver. I've always wanted to see Vancouver. It's too bad the citizens had to burn it to the ground. Silly Canadians.
I was in Baltimore a couple weeks ago for a conference and was fortunate enough to go to a Baltimore Orioles game with some of Angie's DC family. I've wanted to see Camden Yards for awhile now and I wasn't disappointed. It has been a dream of mine for a long time to attend a game at every major league baseball park. I've been to Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles), Coors Field (Colorado Rockies), the Metrodome (Minnesota Twins), Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs), the old Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees), and Oakland Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland A's). For awhile I kept my ticket stubs as proof but somewhere along the line I threw most of them away. As I sit at my desk and look at my Orioles ticket I think I'm going to start over. Unless I can find some of those stubs I've only got 29 more to go!
I actually kept up on my 4k training while in Baltimore and it's a good thing too because I ate a lot of junk while I was there. My training is going pretty well and just today I went for a jog near my office and completed a 2.6 mile workout in 25 minutes and 27 seconds. That might not sound like a very good time but that includes 6 minutes of walking. I'm still alternating walking and jogging to build up my stamina. I feel like I'm doing pretty well and am hopefully on pace to be able to jog most (if not all) of the 4k by July 4th. I'd better be ready because I just registered! Gulp! I would be even further along had I not decided to try to cut my toe off. How did that happen? I'll tell you.
Just over a week ago Angie and I finally completed a task we have been talking about since we moved in; putting new trees in our back yard! We knew that, at some point, the empty lots behind our house would be filled with houses and our view would change from the playground to our neighbors' kitchens and living rooms. We put an Armstrong Maple along our back fence and three juniper trees along our east fence for added privacy. As we were putting in the tree stakes for our maple tree I decided to use some of my weight to my advantage. Each metal stake has two "wings" that stick out near the bottom. I wasn't sure what they were for so I assumed they were there to push on. I pushed with my foot a few times and didn't feel the stake move into the ground much so I put all of my body weight onto the wing. Bad idea. The metal wing sliced right through my shoe, my sock, and my skin. Luckily it didn't do any serious damage (I assumed since I could still move my toe) but it was bad enough that Angie thought I should get stitches. After having my toe numbed a few years ago I vowed to never let another needle touch my toe so I put a band aid on it, wrapped it in tape, and finished the job. After some moaning and groaning of course! My toe is mostly healed now although I'll probably have a nasty scar and my 4k training resumed after a six day break.
Back to work, I hope all the fathers out there had a nice Father's Day, I know I did.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Qdoba to 4k
Wow, I can't believe it has been three and a half months since my last post. Sorry about that. A lot has happened since my last post so I'll try to summarize the major events in one sentence each (in no particular order.)
Nuggets finally traded Melo, made the playoffs, and then exited in the first round just like they did when Melo was here.
The Broncos had a pretty good draft and addressed some of the issues on the defensive side of the ball, now let's just hope there is a season.
The Rockies got off to the best start in the majors and just finished off the worst month in the majors and there is much panic at 20th and Blake.
My baby girl turned 2 and is as cute and as sweet as ever.
I turned 33 and Angie turned...29...and she is as cute and as sweet as ever.
The folks are still in Senegal and things seem to be going well for them although we still miss them like crazy.
Two weddings in April, one in MT and the other in MN, and the weather held up for the most part.
I think that about sums up the past few months, now I'll try to do a better job of updating in the future.
I have tentatively decided to do the Erie Firecracker 4k on July 4th. Until about 5 minutes ago I thought it was a 5k so now my training just got 1k easier! My idea was to start training on June 4th so I'd have exactly one month to get ready but I cheated and actually started today. I am starting off easy and combined walking and jogging (9 and 12 laps respectively) for 1.5 miles. There is a rec center by my office and it has a running track that says 14 laps = 1 mile but i'm not quit sure I believe it because I finished the 1.5 miles in just under 18 minutes. This means I could finish the 4k in 30 minutes with a lot of walking. Obviously my goal is to do it all without running and I think that, by July, I should be able to do it without any issues. I do not, however, plan to change my diet much so I'll continue with my Qdoba and sushi (not on the same day) lunches. I wouldn't want anyone to confuse me for a healthy person! Stay tuned for more updates as my training continues!
Nuggets finally traded Melo, made the playoffs, and then exited in the first round just like they did when Melo was here.
The Broncos had a pretty good draft and addressed some of the issues on the defensive side of the ball, now let's just hope there is a season.
The Rockies got off to the best start in the majors and just finished off the worst month in the majors and there is much panic at 20th and Blake.
My baby girl turned 2 and is as cute and as sweet as ever.
I turned 33 and Angie turned...29...and she is as cute and as sweet as ever.
The folks are still in Senegal and things seem to be going well for them although we still miss them like crazy.
Two weddings in April, one in MT and the other in MN, and the weather held up for the most part.
I think that about sums up the past few months, now I'll try to do a better job of updating in the future.
I have tentatively decided to do the Erie Firecracker 4k on July 4th. Until about 5 minutes ago I thought it was a 5k so now my training just got 1k easier! My idea was to start training on June 4th so I'd have exactly one month to get ready but I cheated and actually started today. I am starting off easy and combined walking and jogging (9 and 12 laps respectively) for 1.5 miles. There is a rec center by my office and it has a running track that says 14 laps = 1 mile but i'm not quit sure I believe it because I finished the 1.5 miles in just under 18 minutes. This means I could finish the 4k in 30 minutes with a lot of walking. Obviously my goal is to do it all without running and I think that, by July, I should be able to do it without any issues. I do not, however, plan to change my diet much so I'll continue with my Qdoba and sushi (not on the same day) lunches. I wouldn't want anyone to confuse me for a healthy person! Stay tuned for more updates as my training continues!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Let it snow, let it snow, let it....OUCH
Now that football season is over I'm finding it hard to find sports related topics to talk about although I'm not sure why as we still have NBA, NHL, and NCAA hoops going on (as Ryan pointed out in my last blog.)
I am so over all the drama surrounding Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets. Even though I'd like to keep Melo and Billups around (and get rid of JR, K-Mart, Birdman, and others) at this point I just want the Nuggets to get something out of Melo instead of letting him finish the season and move to New York in the off season. The more I watch of the Nuggets, however, I find myself wishing they would get rid of the entire team (keep Lawson and Afflalo) and start from scratch. Two games in a row now the No-guts have jumped to an early 15+ point lead only to lose the game due to poor shooting and even worse defense. These guys are no fun to watch and I can usually only make it 5 - 10 minutes before I start channel surfing.
Things aren't any better for the other Pepsi Center team as the Avs have now lost 8 games in a row after last night's 9 - 1 beat down at the hands of the Calgary Flames. There was at least something to cheer for when Peter Forsberg returned to the team but that lasted only 2 games and he is now officially retired. The team is in serious need of a goalie and some quality veterans although at this point in the season there is no reason to add payroll. Speaking of payroll, the Avs are second to last in the league (or right around there) in team payroll and are something like $15M under the salary cap. Apparently the Kroenke family spent all their money bringing Josh McDaniels to St. Louis that they don't have money to spend on the Avs.
I never thought I would say this but the local college hoops teams are actually the talk of the town right now. Tad Boyle and the CU Buffs had a very hot start to the Big 12 season by beating ranked teams Missouri and Kansas St. Although they have cooled off a bit of late (although a big win Saturday against Kansas St.) they still have the chance to win 20 games this year and potentially make the NCAA tourney.
Up in Fort Collins CSU is currently at 17-7 and, with a few more wins and a decent run in the MWC tourney, might find themselves in the NCAA tourney this year. I think they still need a signature win (still have games at #7 BYU and at #6 San Diego St.) but I've been very impressed with they way they have played this year.
OK enough sports, I need to add some reading in here for those non-sports fans *cough*Angie*cough* that read my blog. Although snow is far from my mind right now (currently 66 F in Erie) a few weeks ago I remembered why I hate shoveling snow. I've got nice boots and a warm coat so I don't mind the cold. I don't even mind the back pain because at least it means I'm actually working my back. The worst part of shoveling snow is the constant handle to the gut/crotch when the blade of the shovel hits the gap between sections of the driveway. I often get lazy when I shovel and decide that the best plan is just to push the snow as far as I can before I have to scoop and dump. Most of the time this involves crossing at least one gap in the driveway. I assume the position of shovel out in front of me with both hands on the handle and the handle pointing directly toward my gut area. It doesn't matter if it push up the driveway or down the driveway the blade of the shovel always seems to dip into the gap, stopping all forward momentum, all the while I walk into the handle. I usually look around to see how many neighbors were watching, tip the handle down a bit to free the blade, and continue to push until...I hit the next gap. Thank goodness I inherited a snow blower so my shoveling related injuries are at a minimum.
While I was happy to get the snow blower from my Dad I am sad that I got it because my folks moved to Senegal. I dropped them off at the airport on Saturday morning, said my goodbyes to them and Mike, Melissa, and family, and went home to feel sorry for myself. Luckily my sweet wife Angie decided to cheer me up with a dinner at Village Tavern and a movie. We went to see True Grit which I thought was very good and would recommend it. I miss you Mom, Dad, Mike, Melissa, and girls!
Thoughts and prayers to baby girl's newest friend and second cousin. We hope you and your folks are doing well and we can't wait to meet you!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The call
A lot has happened in the past week for the Denver Broncos. First, and most notably, Andrew Luck announced he would stay at Stanford for at least one more year. This, to me, was big news for the Broncos because there had been so much speculation whether or not John Elway (Stanford alumnus) would try to trade up to the first pick in the draft to grab Luck. Now that Luck is out of consideration it will be interesting to see what happens. My guess is that both Carolina (pick #1) and Denver will try to move back in the draft in order to pick up additional picks. I'm not sure whether or not this will happen, however, and there doesn't seem to be a consensus top pick so Denver might be stuck with the #2 pick (not that I mind.) I'm hoping for either Nick Fairley or Da'Quan Bowers.
A day after Luck's announcement that he would remain at Stanford Jim Harbaugh announced he would leave Stanford to take the head coaching job in San Francisco. Wow, as I'm writing this the Broncos have just announced John Fox as the new head coach! I was about to waste a bunch of space on this blog saying why John Fox is the answer and Rick Dennison isn't. Don't get me wrong, I like Rick Dennison and wouldn't mind to see him here as a coordinator but I still have memories of him being the special teams coach of Denver's average at best special teams units. Although it may have been nice if Fox was coming off of a year off to recharge, I think he was the best option out there. He doesn't need to be head coach/GM/master of everything. He can concentrate on being the head coach and, hopefully, bring some good assistants with him. He also has eight games of playoff experience, one Super Bowl appearance, and a history of turning around a losing franchise. I don't blame him in the least for Carolina's 2-14 this record this season. It seemed pretty clear the powers that be were happy with a losing season in order to get Andrew Luck. OOPS! The Silver Panther is now the Silver Bronco! Bring on the 2011 - 2012 season!
A couple weeks ago we decided to be nice and answer a quick telephone survey. Big mistake. Two nights ago they called again to tell us that we had been entered in a prize drawing and, here it comes, we won the prize! They said they would have a delivery man in the area the next night and asked if he could drop off the prize and would we fill out a brief questionnaire. Long story short we said OK and last night we were blessed to be visited by a VACUUM SALESMAN!!! Yes, apparently there are still traveling vacuum salesmen out there. Luckily Google had prepared us for the fact that we were in for a home demonstration of the Blue Max Air 2000! While it was an impressive vacuum we had no intention of buying it and I think the guy got that impression because near the end of his demo he promptly packed up the vacuum, gave us our prizes (more on that later), and booked it out the door. I even tried to lead him into giving us the price or the "I'll have to talk to my manager" and "my manager said I could take $500 off but now we're losing money" speeches but they never came. Maybe the fact that baby girl bonked her head and started crying helped him out the door. If that was the case, thank you baby girl, I love you!!! I looked up the price and it is well over $3000!
Oh, the prizes turned out to be the same prizes I "won" when I bought my car. $500 of free merchandise (you only have to pay the $500 in shipping!) and 3 day vacation where you have to sit through timeshare meetings 24-7. Lesson learned. This has been a public service announcement.
In case any of you have been on the edge of your seats waiting to see my beard pictures here you go. Enjoy. Please no comments about my multiple chins, power alleys, or gray hair. I blame it on global warming.
DAY 1
DAY 5
DAY 10
DAY 15
A day after Luck's announcement that he would remain at Stanford Jim Harbaugh announced he would leave Stanford to take the head coaching job in San Francisco. Wow, as I'm writing this the Broncos have just announced John Fox as the new head coach! I was about to waste a bunch of space on this blog saying why John Fox is the answer and Rick Dennison isn't. Don't get me wrong, I like Rick Dennison and wouldn't mind to see him here as a coordinator but I still have memories of him being the special teams coach of Denver's average at best special teams units. Although it may have been nice if Fox was coming off of a year off to recharge, I think he was the best option out there. He doesn't need to be head coach/GM/master of everything. He can concentrate on being the head coach and, hopefully, bring some good assistants with him. He also has eight games of playoff experience, one Super Bowl appearance, and a history of turning around a losing franchise. I don't blame him in the least for Carolina's 2-14 this record this season. It seemed pretty clear the powers that be were happy with a losing season in order to get Andrew Luck. OOPS! The Silver Panther is now the Silver Bronco! Bring on the 2011 - 2012 season!
A couple weeks ago we decided to be nice and answer a quick telephone survey. Big mistake. Two nights ago they called again to tell us that we had been entered in a prize drawing and, here it comes, we won the prize! They said they would have a delivery man in the area the next night and asked if he could drop off the prize and would we fill out a brief questionnaire. Long story short we said OK and last night we were blessed to be visited by a VACUUM SALESMAN!!! Yes, apparently there are still traveling vacuum salesmen out there. Luckily Google had prepared us for the fact that we were in for a home demonstration of the Blue Max Air 2000! While it was an impressive vacuum we had no intention of buying it and I think the guy got that impression because near the end of his demo he promptly packed up the vacuum, gave us our prizes (more on that later), and booked it out the door. I even tried to lead him into giving us the price or the "I'll have to talk to my manager" and "my manager said I could take $500 off but now we're losing money" speeches but they never came. Maybe the fact that baby girl bonked her head and started crying helped him out the door. If that was the case, thank you baby girl, I love you!!! I looked up the price and it is well over $3000!
Oh, the prizes turned out to be the same prizes I "won" when I bought my car. $500 of free merchandise (you only have to pay the $500 in shipping!) and 3 day vacation where you have to sit through timeshare meetings 24-7. Lesson learned. This has been a public service announcement.
In case any of you have been on the edge of your seats waiting to see my beard pictures here you go. Enjoy. Please no comments about my multiple chins, power alleys, or gray hair. I blame it on global warming.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Fear the Beard
What an exciting time to be a fan of the Denver Broncos. No, they aren't gearing up to play a playoff game this weekend but they did secure the #2 pick in the NFL draft and John Elway was just hired as the chief football executive. I just listed to his press conference and it sure pumped me up. Let's get the next season started already! Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting the Broncos to move from worst to first but hopefully they will start moving in the right direction. They kept Xanders as GM which I'm not 100% on board with but Elway sure threw McD under the bus for all the dumb personnel moves. Maybe Xanders isn't to blame for losing Cutler, Hillis, Marshall, etc. but I have my doubts.
Speaking of the draft, I've seen mock drafts (yes I'm already scouting out mock drafts) and a lot of them show Denver picking LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson. I don't know what to think about that. Denver's defense could have had Champ and Darrelle Revis as corners and it wouldn't matter when there is no pressure on the QB. I'm still thinking we need to bolster the defensive line and get a solid pass rusher. If, however, we could swing a trade for Albert Haynesworth and getting back a healthy Dumervil, now a stud cornerback is starting to sound better. It will be interesting to see what happens but the news that Carolina will absolutely take Andrew Luck with the first pick is good because we don't have to worry about drafting another QB in the first round and letting the top defensive players go to other teams.
I'm also interested to see who the Broncos get for a head coach. I'm still on board with talking to Marty Schottenheimer (yes that same Marty that the Broncos always beat but also that Marty with a 61% winning percentage) but I'm hearing Jim Fassel, Mike Mularkey, and Jim Harbaugh's names being thrown around. Fassel and Mularkey surprise me a bit because those guys are both offensive guys and we've been there and done that. Same for Harbaugh but he's the hot name right now although college coaches never seem to succeed in the NFL. Oh and San Francisco, PLEASE hire McD because I'd love to see him trade Crabtree, Gore, and Willis and ruin that franchise.
About a week ago I decided that I want to see what I look like with a beard. Actually, I'm really interested to see if it comes in brown or grey. Angie has been taking pictures of me every day so I can see the progress (or lack thereof.) Pictures will be posted soon...stay tuned!
How things change when you get older and even more so when you have a kid (or kids.) As everyone knows last Friday was New Year's Eve. It never used to be hard to stay up until midnight to watch the ball drop and, most times, the party was just getting started. As you grow older you find yourself having to drink a lot of caffeine or play games to trick your mind/body into staying up late. Some of us (ahem *Dad* ahem) even resort to napping from 10 until 11:55. This past week I didn't even make it to New York's celebration. I should say that Angie and I have been trying to fight off a nasty hybrid cold that baby girl brought home from day care, although she seems to be doing fine thank you (and amoxicillin) very much, but we couldn't make it until 10. What's the big deal anyway? There will be another one in 360 days.
I've talked to many friends that recommend "The King's Speech." Go see it.
I've heard from a few people that "Little Fockers" is filthy and not appropriate for kids/early teens despite the PG-13 rating. I say wait for DVD and after the kids are in bed.
Little girl got "Despicable Me" for Christmas and she LOVES it. As soon as she gets home from day care (heck as soon as she wakes up in the morning) she starts saying "Meat! Meat!" which means "Me" which means "Despicable Me." I wish they had a version that looped the movie non-stop so we didn't have to keep messing with the remote control to start it over. That being said I like the movie too and recommend it for kids and adults.
My Mom is retiring this week so she can prepare for her move to Senegal. Congrats Mom but we're sure going to miss you guys.
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