Reflections on the decade - part one

The last time I posted anything on my blog, I was on the 5th week of my six week sabbatical. That was more than four months ago. I could use the proverbial “I’ve been too busy” as my excuse but frankly it’s just been more about being lazy and uninspired.

Last night I didn't sleep very well and as I was trying to get back to sleep, I started reflecting on the past decade for some reason. Lots of random memories started popping in my head and I soon realized getting back to sleep would be a futile effort.

So with the ‘inspiration’ back, I just have to overcome the laziness and be consistent about posting between now and the end of the year.

Even though this first reflection is sports-related, there wont be many reflections about sports. Given the mediocre teams that I root for, that obviously shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

October 20, 2005 - The Houston Astros win their first (and only) NL pennant

Here it was the night of game 6 of the National League Championship Series, perhaps the biggest and best moment ever for Astros’ fans and I’m at a dinner in San Francisco with a dozen reporters talking about AMD’s latest channel strategy. Normally I enjoy being at these type of work activities but I have to say, as the dinner went on, I found myself looking at my blackberry more and more.

I did go into the evening with the mindset that I wasn’t going to get distracted by the game. I was still so distraught over what had happened in game 5, that I was convinced the Astros were a cursed franchise and had no shot at winning the series. In case folks don’t remember, the Astros were up three games to one in the best of seven series and it appeared the Astros would clinch the NL pennant at Minute Maid Park in Houston with a game 5 victory. However, a 3-run homerun by Albert Pujols in the top of the ninth on a hanging slider from Brad Lidge gave the Cardinals a come from behind win. It also sent the series back to St. Louis with the Astros still up 3-2 in the series but the momentum was now in favor of the Cardinals.

That game I was able to watch on TV and sat there in stunned silence when Pujols hit his bomb. It was very similar to the feelings I had after a certain Houston Oilers playoff game in Buffalo back in 1993 or the 1997 Rose Bowl. To say it felt like a kick in the gut was an understatement.

I felt like there was no chance, even with Roy Oswalt on the mound, that the Astros were going to get a game 6 win. I obviously underestimated the mental fortitude of the team. When I saw the final score (6-1) come across my blackberry (Tricia was sending me pitch by pitch notes over that last inning) I didn’t know what to think or how to feel. It was a day I never thought would happen and here I was working and needing to restrain my emotions.

I was ultimately able to watch the game thanks to the DVR but it was a moment I desperately wanted to see live, one I had waited my whole life to see. The fact that I wasn’t able to enjoy the moment live was compounded by the fact that the Astros got swept in the World Series. No live moments of euphoria to enjoy there, that’s for sure.

Now as I think back to that evening, it was further reinforcement that I was at a point in my life that required me to be a responsible adult. It helped me realize that no moment as a sports fan could replace the joy and satisfaction of being a provider for my family.

Sabbatical blog - day 31; Rants and Randomness

• Less than 2 weeks left for us here in Breckenridge. We leave Aug. 14. I go back to work on Aug. 17 and officially begin my sabbatical detox program
• Monday was a nice relaxing day here for us. First day in a couple of weeks we didn't do a whole lot. Tricia had the show "The View" on TV yesterday morning. How that show is still on TV is beyond me. The collection of personalities they have on that show are very uninteresting.
• Yesterday we hooked up with the Prairie family and rented a pontoon boat and floated around Lake Dillon for a couple of hours. What a fun and relaxing time it was. While the water was too cold for anyone to swim in, it was an amazing setting and atmosphere. I enjoyed it more than any boating trip I've ever been on in Lake Travis. Nothing beats a lake settled in among mountains and pine trees.

• Things I'm tired of hearing about and won't seem to go away include Cash for Clunkers, Plaxico Burress, athletes who Twitter, Jon and Kate, Michael Jackson, North Korea and health care reform.
• I am extremely blessed to have a great job and good health insurance. But, I know many are not so fortunate and I feel like there do need to be changes to our flawed system. I just hope that our lawmakers take their time to make changes that are responsible and don't result in abuses to the system while creating more efficiencies for those with urgent needs.
  
• Since I'm around my kids all day now, I'm paying closer attention to some of the things they watch on TV. I'm convinced that SpongeBob Squarepants represents more than half of Nickelodeon's programming.
• ESPN likes to make a big deal about Sportscenter being in Los Angeles now instead of Bristol, CT. Can someone please explain why I should care what city they broadcast from?
• Astros started playing real teams over the past week and have been exposed for the house of cards that they are. Sure glad they ignored my advice and stood pat at the trade deadline and didn't try and go after any mid-level prospects for their barren farm system. Should bode well for the future. Particularly this season which will end in a fourth place finish and probably 10 games below .500.
• 31 more days until the Sun Devils kick off against that powerhouse Idaho State in Tempe, here is how the Pac-10 media is predicting ASU to finish. Here's a hint, it's not in first place. I'm absolutely blown away by the fact that USC was voted first place. Those writers really went out on a limb with that pick. Kudos to the four writers who didn't give USC first place votes. Note to Pac-10 reporters, Mark Sanchez is now with the NY Jets. Pete Carroll wouldn't have been so whiney about Sanchez leaving early if he had a good option at QB.
  

• Longhorn fans, nice non-conference schedule you have - Louisiana-Monroe, at Wyoming, vs. UTEP, vs. UCF. Sorry you weren't able to squeeze your annual barnburner with Rice in this season.
  
• I still can't get used to hearing the following: "Arizona Cardinals, the defending NFC champs."
  

Movies I've seen for first time over the past week include;

• An Everlasting Piece, a very funny Irish comedy. Not a new movie, I believe it was made in 2000 but it's worth checking out;
  
• Chariots of Fire, seriously, had never seen it before. Thought it was just ok.
  
• Observe and Report which had like maybe two funny scenes in it and the rest was really bad;
  
• I Love You, Man. Very funny with a great soundtrack featuring songs from Spoon, Vampire Weekend and Rush.
  

Sabbatical blog - day 23; my first "fourteener"

I had no clue what I was getting myself into today when my friend Neil and I decided we would hike up to the top of Quandary Peak which is 14,265 feet at its highest point. I went to one web site, read about it and it said it was about a 3 hour roundtrip hike. Yeah, not so much. At least not for a rookie hiker such as myself. It took me 3 and a half hours to get to the top.

Still quite the fool at this point that we were almost there

I figured once we made it past the treeline, we were probably halfway there. Nope, not even close as downward hikers let us know. The 'fun' was just getting started as we began the rocky climb on our way to the summit. It was about this time when I started asking what I had gotten myself into as the pauses became more and more frequent. I kept reminding myself that this was indeed a marathon and not a sprint and took the advice of some OU Sooners we ran into on the way up (also first-timers) who gave us the simple advice of setting small goals for ourselves as we climbed.

Mama and baby mountain goat looked a lot less tired than me at this point

Once we made it to the ridgeline before the final pitch, which was probably still another 1000 feet and pretty steep, we were telling ourselves that we could do this. We started the final pitch, which was even more rocky than what we experienced prior to the ridgeline, and soon found ourselves stopping every 40 or 50 steps. We stopped asking the people coming down how much further we had to go, as it had become a bit demoralizing. As we kept going up, I had lost sight of the summit and kept finding myself looking at false summits. I wised up and stopped looking up.

At this point we're at 13,000+ feet, which is the part where the air really starts feeling thin. I had honestly thought about throwing in the towel here, but as I was resting, some dude was coming down and told me we only had about 700 feet to go. That was all the motivation I needed. I made up mind then that I wasn't giving up and I was getting to the top no matter how long it took me.

About 30 minutes later, I was there. Probably one of the most rewarding things I've ever done because the view from the top was amazing. The pictures I took don't do it justice. It was also some of the most powerful wind gusts I have ever experienced. When I was standing taking pictures, I thought I was going to be blown off the mountain.

My favorite pic from the top

The way down took about two hours and my legs felt like jello coming down the rocky terrain until we hit the treeline. As we were descending and wondering when we would hit the trailhead, I kept thinking there's no way we just hiked up all of this. Also, one other interesting highlight from the way down, a few snowflakes fell upon us. First time I've ever seen snow fall in July.

As I write this blog, I'm sore, tired but feeling good that I didn't give up.

Sabbatical blog - day 17: Rants and randomness

• Had a couple of great hikes with the Prairie family the past few days. Wasn't quite the energy burner for my kids that I had hoped for because they were still as hyper and antagonistic toward each other as ever. However, everyone had fun and that's what it's all about.
• Only thing I think I'm missing about Austin right now is that the Astros' games are not broadcast out here. Why does FSN assume everyone in Colorado wants to watch the Rockies? I mean I know Austin is the exception because everyone there DOES want to watch the 'stros. Who wouldn't?
• I'm not buying into the Astros as a possible NL Central champ or playoff team. Still feels like smoke and mirrors to me or a by-product of playing in a division full of under-achieving teams (see Chicago Cubs.) I'm still advocating for building for the future and trading for tier one prospects if anyone is willing to deal with the Astros.
  
• I am skeptical and I'm not a believer yet in this team, even after their sweep of the Cards this week. Now, that being said, it doesn't mean I'm not rooting for them or would be disappointed if they made the post-season, but the foundation for the future they currently have in place does not make me feel good about the next few years
• Saw "Bruno" yesterday afternoon. It sucked. It sucked really bad. Felt like Cohen was trying too hard to be over the top. "Borat" was over the top too, but it felt more natural.
  
• Finished "Salem's Lot" this past weekend and have now moved on to "The Stand". "Salem's Lot" was entertaining but predictable. Somewhat anti-climatic and didn't create much suspense.
• Below are some recent pics from here in Breck

If there's a fallen tree anywhere in Breckenridge, you can bet that these three troublemakers will find it

You don't even know how money I am

• Had awesome crepes at this place tonight

Sabbatical blog - days 10 -13; Only four weeks left in Breckenridge :(

Well, I failed to journal via this blog everyday during my sabbatical like I had originally hoped. Seems like every time there's some downtime to write, I decide to read or Clancy pulls me into playing Wii with him.

As of yesterday, we only have four weeks left here in Breckenridge. I guess I should not say "only" but given how fast our first week went by, it kind of feels justified. Needless to say, I'm not really missing Austin a whole lot right now and it seems like I have spent the last few days trying to figure out how to stay here past August 14 :). I'm pretty sure there's a critical mass of influential folks here in Breckenridge who are primed to start writing about microprocessors and servers and would be well-served by having an experienced PR guy here locally.

What's been going on here in the past four days?

• Wednesday we celebrated Tricia's birthday in style at Beaver Creek. As you can see by the picture, I spared no expense and bought her as many $1 PBRs as she could handle.
  

• Friday we hit the Alpine slide. A few years ago, we had done the Alpine slide in Steamboat Springs. That one is now officially lame after we did the one here in Breck. The kids had a blast not only on the slide but riding up on the chairlift. I'm still convinced that riding on a chairlift is one of the most peaceful and relaxing things to do and is even better in the summer.

• Today we said goodbye to my mom, brother Pete and his family. Not only were we sad to see them leave, but we also are even more sad they have to venture back to the 110+ degree temps in AZ.
  
• Also today, we ventured to the Breckenridge Beer Festival which is put on by my new favorite radio station. I will probably do another blog post that lists all the songs I heard on it that day and you'll see why it's now my favorite. The Beer Fest was a lot of fun. Tasted some good micro brews and heard some great live music. Check out the band Oakhurst if you're into bluegrass.
• Finished the evening off with some softball and baseball practice with the kids. Pretty sure we would not have been doing that at 7 pm if we were in Austin right now.
• 671 unread emails on my blackberry as of 10:40 pm MST.
  

Sabbatical blog - day nine; elevation exhaustion kicking in

Lots going on today again. We drove up to Blue Lake on what was probably the bumpiest road our mini-van has ever been on. We did a little bit of hiking up there. We were up above the tree line so it was very windy and a bit chilly. My kids had a blast climbing on the rocks and seemed to show no fear climbing up a steep slope. I think the dog enjoyed it as well and she did her best to drag me down the mountain.


Around 3pm this afternoon I hit the proverbial wall. I had taken the kids to the pool at the rec center and came home around 4:30. Next thing I know it's 5:45 and Tricia is waking me up for dinner. For the past couple of days I had been feeling good here and not too tired but this afternoon it all hit me. Perhaps I should hit Starbucks at 3 from now on, but then again, I'm on freaking sabbatical, I should have no reservations about taking naps. However, I don't always have the final say on that matter...

I did manage to catch some of the All-star game tonight. I just can't get over how bad the NL is when it comes this annual event. Then again, why should I care if NL has home field advantage for the World Series because when the Astros storm through the second half of the season and roll into the World Series, it's all academic at that point regardless of where they are playing.

Sabbatical blog - day eight; Props to Southwest Airlines

Busy but enjoyable day here in Breckenridge. Trying to figure out how to convince my employer to build an outpost here. We have one in Fort Collins, so it's only logical that our Colorado footprint should expand. Seems like there's a lot of untapped talent here in Breck and with this whole recession thing, I'm sure commercial real estate is a steal right now.

Chandler slept in this morning until just before eight and didn't even try waking me up today (thanks sweetie) after she got up. I got out of bed and found her just lying on the bed with with our dog who seemed to have mellowed out a bit after a nervous couple of days.

We got a hike in this morning. Found a trail right off of Tiger Road not far from where we're staying. I figured I would be the one to get tired and throw in the towel early but it was my daughter the triathlete who wanted to call it quits after a couple of miles. Guess she needs to ease her way into it :).

This afternoon we headed off to Denver to pick up Tricia and Clancy. My friend Mike picked them up at the airport and Chandler, Addie and I met them at Mike's house. I hadn't seen Mike in about 8 years so it was good to catch up with him and meet his wife for the first time.

After dinner with Mike and his wife Janet, we had some interesting family drama on the way back from Denver. As we're driving along I-70 west, Clancy realizes that his Nintendo DS is not in his backpack and thinks he left it on the plane. We also quickly learn that his DVDs and iPod is not there either. Both Tricia and I had left stuff on planes in the past and never saw it again. We expected this situation to be no different. As we drove, Tricia managed to get in touch with Southwest Airlines lost and found at DIA.

While I'm not a big fan of flying Southwest, they do seem to do customer service very well, but the very fact that SWA had a lost and found at the airport was a shock to me. Most other airlines rely on aiport personnel to handle lost and found. Still I expected no love in this case. I was dead wrong. Some either very honest employee of passenger turned the items in and they will be shipped to us tomorrow.

Tonight, my son is sleeping peacefully in his bed knowing that he will once again be able to play Lego Indiana Jones on his Nintendo DS. Thank you Southwest Airlines. Oh and you got my family here safely as well. Thanks for that too.

Sabbatical blog - day seven

Our first full day in Breckenridge today was a busy and eventful one. Chandler tried to get me out of bed at 5:30 but I was not having any of it. I managed to talk her into going back to bed so I could snag a couple more hours of sleep.

Not to rub it in too much for my friends in Texas, but we spent a bunch of time OUTSIDE today. It was an unfamiliar and strange feeling. I think I spent more time outside today than I have in the past month. We walked around town a lot, walked the dog a few times and did things like throw pebbles in the river and it was a great time.

Our dog had an interesting afternoon. I won't go into the details of what happened but let's just say she learned that she cannot fly. She had a good scare, but she seems to be ok.

Chandler had a great time hanging out with the Prairie kids tonight. She eats it up being around younger kids who for some odd reason think she's pretty cool. I'm hoping she's exhausted tonight to where she will sleep past 5:30 tomorrow morning.

Looking forward to spending more time outdoors tomorrow. Hoping I can convince Chandler to go hiking with me. Actually she doesn't have a choice ;-).

Sabbatical blog - day six; Road trip edition part deux

At about 9:15 pm MST, Chandler, Addie and I arrived at our home in Breckenridge for the next five weeks. We started our day on the road in Lubbock at 9 am CST. It was a long, hard day of driving but well worth it when we arrived to sub-60 degree temperatures.

Overall the drive today was smooth and seemed to go by pretty fast once we finally got out of Texas. While Austin is a great place to live, being so 'deep in the heart' of Texas makes it challenging to take road trips out of Texas because it takes so long to get out of the state. If you have ever traveled cross country on I-10, you know what I mean. West Texas, while a relatively easy drive because it's so flat, is a mentally taxing drive. Seemed like the hardest stretch today was the first one from Lubbock to Amarillo, about 115 miles.

New Mexico was a quick 100ish mile drive. The "Safety Corridor" during the middle of the stretch was interesting, not sure if it actually achieves what they're trying to do by making drivers turn on their lights and drop their speed by 5 MPH. Seems like it's just a reason for cops to write tickets.

Colorado was moving along quickly until the rain hit in Colorado Springs which resulted in a couple of accidents turning I-25 into a parking lot for about an hour. But if you take the whole trip into account, that was really our only slowdown.

The place here in Breck is great. The pictures on the Web do not do it justice. It has already exceeded my expectations. Much bigger than I thought it would be and is about 3 miles from downtown Breck. Looking forward to getting settled in tomorrow, exploring a bit and breathing in some of the mountain air. Looking forward even more to the rest of my family getting here on Monday afternoon.

In non-road trip related news, apparently the Astros can't handle the pressure for more than a day of being a .500 ball club. They got some stellar pitching in giving 13 runs to baseball's worst team.

Sabbatical blog - day five; Road trip edition

Chandler, our dog Addie and myself embarked on our road trip to Breckenridge this afternoon. We drove for about 5.5 hours to get to Lubbock at 8:30 tonight. Tomorrow will be a much longer day, probably 10-12 hours but should get us into Breck late that night. Not much really to say today other than it was a long day. A few observations from our drive to Lubbock:

* If you're looking for a show goat, there's a whole herd of them outside of Goldthwaite, TX

* Brownwood, TX does not want any boll weevils in their neck of the woods and have a big sign alerting you to this fact when you enter city limits.

* Saw more Dairy Queens in a three hour stretch than any other fast food restaurant. Seven DQs. Only in Texas.

* Lots of oil pumps and wind mills once you get on to Highway 84 on the way to Lubbock.

Thats it for me tonight.

Sabbatical blog - day four: One more day of Texas heat

Another scorcher today here in Central Texas, so much so that I chose not to venture out of the house at all from 1:30 until after 6 pm when we went to dinner at Rudy's. Good news, at least for my daughter Chandler, our dog Addie and myself is that we hit the road for Breckenridge tomorrow afternoon. Tricia and our son Clancy unfortunately have a few more days of this incarcerating weather.

In the ten years we have lived in the Austin area, this is by far the hottest summer we have experienced here. What's interesting is that I lived a good part of my life in the Phoenix and I never seemed to be bothered too much by consistent 100+ degree days during the summer. I can remember playing golf during the hottest part of the afternoon and the occasional pick-up basketball game. Now bear in mind I was about 15 years younger then, but my point is that I've become a real wimp about the heat here in Texas, irregardless of how old I am. Also, spare me the dry heat stuff. I don't care how dry it is, when it's 110 or 115, it's just miserable. You can stick your head in an oven and that is a dry heat as well. Ok, enough whining about the weather.

Despite the heat, sabbatical still rocks. I just thank the good Lord every day for AC and ceiling fans.

Spent a lot of time getting the kid's entertainment issues sorted out prior to the trip. Burned a lot of DVDs and converted several video files to MP4 format for their iPods. Hit the Dig Pub in Cedar Park here tonight for a beer with a friend. The Dig Pub has Golden Monkey on draft which is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Other experiences from today:

Miguel Tejada ruined my evening

But Lance Berkman and the Astros' bullpen helped pick things up a bit

"The Maestro" was on tonight. Do not call him Bob Cobb and don't put the balm on. Who told you to put the balm on? Oh, and there's nothing available in Tuscany if you're looking to rent there.

Had the best Flauta I've hever had at the Iron Cactus at lunch

Sabbatical blog - day three

Another miserably hot day here in central Texas. Even the weathermen sound sincerely bummed out by this heat wave. They have nothing positive whatsoever to spin about the heat. I was reading local weather dude Jim Spencer's blog (because you have time to do such things when on sabbatical) and the best he could offer up was no sign of hope in our forecast in the third week of July. Luckily for me and my family, Breckenridge is right around the corner.

My key sabbatical learning for the day today was that I found out you can get bit by a cricket. I'm 37 years old and did not know until talking to the dude at Petco today that you could get bit by a cricket. In fact, some people are actually allergic to cricket bites. Had I not been on sabbatical and in Petco today getting stuff for our dog on our upcoming roadtrip, I may have gone through life not knowing this crucial piece of information. How did this conversation come about? There were two big tubs full of crickets by the check out stand. Apparently people buy them for reptile food.

Before Petco, we dropped the Ciena off for its pre-roadtrip check-up at Bearden Automotive, btw, if you live in Austin and have a toyota, I highly recommend these guys. Had another Starbucks date with my wife this morning AND a lunch date at Daily Grill. Shockingly, Tricia doesn't seem to be sick of me yet. Spent most of the afternoon getting ready for roadtrip and determining how much stuff that we can cram into our van. I chose to do this at about 3 in the afternoon today, right when the heat index was probably well over 110. Not the best call on my part.

Did catch some of the Astros game this afternoon. I saw something you dont see very often from the Astros, a complete game shutout by their starting pitcher. Wa-Rod was dealing today, but then again, the glorified triple-A team that is the Pirates, can make some of the most mediocre pitchers look like top-line starters. However, 9 innings of shutout ball and 11 Ks at Minute Maid Park is still a decent accomplishment no matter who the Astros are playing.

By some miracle, the Astros are only one game under .500 and still in the race in what appears to be the most 'competitive' (although some may choose to call it the weakest) division in baseball, the NL Central. Yet, despite the Astros playing pretty well the last few weeks, I still think they need to move some of their most tradeable players for prospects now.

Other interesting things I read today:

Lenny Dykstra filed for bankruptcy. I watched a piece on him on HBO's Real Sports last week where he delivered a profanity-laced denial about his financial troubles from his soon-to-be foreclosed on mansion.

"Moneyball" author Michael Lewis wrote this insightful article for Vanity Fair about AIG.

Sabbatical day 3 in the books. Good night everyone.

Sabbatical blog - day two

A day not much unlike yesterday but difference is I'm quickly starting to comprehend the overwhelming sense of freedom that I have right now. It has been much easier to disconnect from work stuff than I originally thought it would.

Kids were at a camp from 9-1 today, so Tricia and I had some good couple time. Actually got to go and sit down at Starbucks with my wife AND have lunch with her. I can't remember the last time we did that and I'm hoping we get to do it again tomorrow. Like Seinfeld says, "love the day date."

I have the road trip to Breckenridge pretty much mapped out. Leaving Friday around 1ish after kids get out of camp. Going to drive to Lubbock and stay there Friday night and hit the road again Saturday morning and endeavor to get there on Saturday night. You never fully comprehend how big Texas is until you have to drive out of it.

Took the kids to the pool again today. No drama this go around so they got to stay longer :). It was wicked hot out there today and I forgot to bring ice water. Won't make that mistake again.

Saw the movie "Public Enemies" tonight at the Drafthouse with Drew. I would give it a '6' on scale of 1-10. Felt less like a "Miami Vice" episode than some of Michael Mann's past movies. Much fewer slow motion scenes and no Eurotrash instrumentals weaved in throughout.

Hit the Dig Pub in Cedar Park for some draft Guinness after the movie. Was good to catch up with Drew and hear how nice and cool it will be in Breckenridge. After that I made an 11:30 pm run to the grocery store to get milk which was not a total waste because "Crazy Life" by Toad the Wet Sprocket was playing over the intercom when I got there.

I wouldn't call it the most productive day in the world, but it did not suck either :).

Sabbatical blog - day one

Today is the official start of my six week sabbatical. One of the things I'm committing to do is to journal everyday via my blog.

Actually slept until 9 this morning (thanks Tricia :)) and had something for breakfast I had not had for years -- a bowl of cereal. Typically on a weekday, I will eat my breakfast (usually a banana or a granola bar or whatever I decide to get at Starbucks) on the way to work or scarf down some yogurt before I head out the door. I remembered today that I really like cereal. Thirty minutes into my journey of self-discovery on my sabbatical and I've already learned something. Productive day so far.

I did manage to tie off on my one outstanding work item -- submitting my expense report from last week's trip to the Bay Area.

Overall, it was kind of a rough day with the kids, they were wound up all day and were either in bounce off the wall mode or busy trying to get under the other one's skin. Lunch was at Chik-fil-a and then off to Barnes and Noble. Of all the books I've read, I've never read a Stephen King novel. Figured sabbatical was best time for some 'firsts'. Going with "Salem's Lot" for this first go around.

Got home from bookstore around 2ish and figured it was time to get nutty and mow the lawn in the middle of the afternoon. Considering there was a little cloud cover today, it wasn't completely unbearable but the humidity was pretty intense. After the lawn, decided to take the kids for a dip in the bathwater, errrrr neighborhood pool. Hardly anyone was there and Tricia chalked that up to the water being too warm. Hard to argue with that one. The water has to be about 85-90 degrees given the weather here of late. Our trip to the pool was short-lived however because I had limited tolerance for the usual sibling drama that happens with my kids when they're at the pool. I don't think we lasted 45 minutes.

Overall, a pretty low-key day. Did some road trip planning for Colorado, grilled some flank steak for dinner, watched the Astros notch a rare NL Central win against the Pirates to widen that gap between 5th and 6th place teams and played Rainbow Six on PSP.

Day one of the sabbatical in the books and it was great. I can get used to this.

Dont wait for July Ed

The worst thing that could have happened to the Astros this season was that playoff tease they pulled last season. It gave the Astros management a false hope that they had a team that could be competitive with a tweak here or there.

There's not much good to say about the 2009 Astros nearly two months into the season. I havent been able to watch many games this season but the ones I have seen have been uninspiring to say the least.

You know how the optimistic fan is always able to justify nearly every loss by their team and think that after every win, it's the win that's going to turn things around? Yeah, so this year I'm not that guy. Really.

I've accepted that this team is not just old, because sometimes, even old teams can win. It's a team full of old guys who really aren't playing for much more than a paycheck. Richard Justice had a blog last week where he described the Astros clubhouse as a "toxic" environment. Since I've never had the opportunity to step into the Astros clubhouse, I have no idea whether or not that's true but there seems to be only one guy on the team that seems to be playing with heart and energy right now and that's Hunter Pence.

So Astros GM Ed Wade, since I know you read my blog religiously, don't be the optimistic fan I referenced above and think that you have something here that will kick it into gear come July. Accept reality and make your trades now instead of the July trade deadline when you won't get maximum value for any of these guys.

As for Astros owner Drayton McLane, I know you just started reading my blog, so my advice for you is eat some contracts if that's what it takes to get other teams to take a Miguel Tejada or Jose Valverde off your hands.

So before I ask you to consider my not-so-radical proposals, here are the untouchable/untradeable players:

• Lance Berkman - yes, he's on the decline but I don't think the Astros would get fair value for him, plus I believe he's a 5 and 10 player which means he could and probably would veto any trade.
• Carlos Lee - Even with good numbers, no one is going to take his contract on unless DM will eat some of it, which he won't. Plus he has a no-trade clause.
• Kaz Matsucky - Even if DM ate some of the contract, no one probably has any use for this light-hitting 2B with limited range. Signing of Kaz is definitely not one of Ed's finer moments.
• Hunter Pence - He's young and good. Can't say that much about many other Astros.
• Michael Bourn - He has actually started playing like the guy the Astros thought they were getting in the Lidge deal. He's getting on base and stealing plenty of them. Plus he's a stud centerfielder.

Roy Oswalt - He is off to a slow start, but he has started slow the past couple of seasons and finished strong. Trade him to the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have the one of the most stocked farm systems in baseball. Top Rangers exec Nolan Ryan knows Roy and what he's getting with him. A great pitcher who happens to be locked up for a couple more seasons. The Rangers are in first place right now but the Angels are getting healthy again and have more pitching than the Rangers. Go for it Nolan, call Ed and make him an offer for Roy he can't refuse.

Pudge Rodriguez - He's been effective this season as a bottom of the line-up hitter and can still throw guys out. Any team with an already strong lineup who needs a good catcher should take a look. Plus he's working for cheap. In my opinion, he would be a good fit for Tampa and its young pitching staff. Just look at the impact he has had on Wandy Rodriguez who has suddenly become the Astros ace.

Miguel Tejada - TRADE HIM NOW! Eat some of his contract if you have to because he's hitting pretty well right now and his value will never be higher. Ed may be able to squeeze a half-decent prospect for him. The Red Sox have plenty and they could use someone other than Julio Lugo. In fact, I bet Papi would start hitting again if Miggy were there.

Jose Valverde - As soon as this dude is healthy, send Mr. Entertainment on his way. The Cubbies could use some bullpen help. Perhaps the Phillies, I've noticed their former Astros closer is struggling a bit, why not add another.

With the exception of Oswalt, the players these guys will probably fetch are not going to put the Astros farm system on the road to recovery from some bad drafts but it should be a step in the right direction.

Rants and Randomness - Mother's Day edition

• With all of the quality journalists out there now looking for work, why do some sites, particularly ones that have some credibility, find it necessary to publish the inaccuracies of an irrational individual.
  
• Watching "Scrubs" finale right now. I'm really going to miss this show. Not a big fan of spin-offs, but can Janitor please be considered for one? Glad to see "the penny" made its way into the final episode. Lots of sitcoms never really end strong, the "Cheers" finale stands out in my mind. Kudos to ABC for resurrecting Scrubs for one last season after NBC's half-hearted attempt last year.
• I have yet to do a full blog post on the Astros this season. Why? Because I'm trying hard to make sure this blog stays family friendly. I started this blog a couple of summers ago to use it as an outlet to vent about the Astros and in their current summer of sub .500 mediocrity, it would seem that I should be vent/blogging a lot. Trying to determine if this means that I just don't care anymore or I've just reached a point of accepting low expectations with the team.
  
• BUT, I really wonder what is going on with Lance Berkman. Confidence? Too busy planning his career after baseball? OR, perhaps his wrist really is hurting and perhaps this is how he hurt it:
• My new favorite singer: Glen Hansard. I saw the movie "Once" that he starred in and won Academy Award for best song. Very simple, well-done movie with great music. Check out "When your mind's made up" and "Say it to me now." I never realized until recently that he played Outspan in one of my favorite all-time movies, "The Commitments."
  
• I really wish Tim Floyd would have taken the U of Tucson hoops job
• With all of the real journalists out of work, I find it sad that some credible web sites find it necessary to give freelance gigs to someone so irrational and biased. Particularly when they say things like AMD killed true 64-bit computing. That should tell you everything you need to know about this individual.
  
• My son and I saw Star Trek this afternoon. I loved it. I do think however that based on the current season of "Lost" and now Star Trek that JJ Abrams does have quite the fascination with building stories around time travel.
  
• Manny using performance enhancers ... yawn. Given that the Astros consistently made the playoffs during the steroid era, I'm advocating that baseball start looking the other way on it again.
  
• The way my namesake has been pitching this year, I'm thinking I may not be traveling to NYC anytime soon unless I can under a fake name. Maybe I can change my name to another MLBer when I'm in NYC. Johan Santana seems to be pitching well for the Mets, maybe I'll go with that one.
• Cover 3 is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Austin to eat.
  
• So the Dallas Cowboys spent less (4 million) on their indoor practice bubble than the Sun Devils (8 million) did.
  
• Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful wife Tricia. Her patience with not only my children but her moody husband is nothing short of incredible. She was definitely worth "waiting" for.
  
• Happy Mother's Day to my mother-in-law Patty. I'm so thankful for the values she instilled in Tricia that have helped her be the mother she is today.
• And of course, happy Mother's Day to my mom. Her unwavering faith and commitment to keeping her family together is why she will always be my hero. I love you mom, continue to stay strong.
  
• 
  

Looking back on my first year at AMD

On my work blog site, AMD Unprocessed, I recently posted the first of a multi-part blog that looks back on my experience with launching the first legitimate competitive product to Intel in the volume server business, the AMD Opteron processor. It's been six years since the launch and I thought it would be good for people to understand the industry dynamics and challenges we faced at that time. You can find the blog here.

About my dad

Last Friday, my dad, Paul Hughes, finally found peace. Monday night was his memorial service where I read the following:

He was a father in every sense of the word. He showed me what unconditional love was and he expected nothing in return. When his sons had broken hearts, so did he. When we were full of joy, so was he. There was no such thing as a small accomplishment for us, everything was significant and noteworthy and he would not hesitate to brag on us. He would constantly tell us how proud he was of us, for what seemed like the things that ordinary people do – being a father, being a good husband, being a provider.

Even when we messed up, there was never judging or “I told you so’s.” He just wanted to help us figure out how to fix it. Sometimes I know my dad didn’t approve of some the decisions I would make but even if he disagreed with them, he would keep it to himself and was always an encourager first.

He knew how to strike that balance of being a father and a buddy to his sons. He was always up for the “guy” movie or just hanging out and watching some stupid TV – Seinfeld, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond- and somehow, it always seemed funnier when I was watching it with my dad.

Not long after I graduated from college, I had this wild idea that I wanted to move to Alabama and get my master’s degree in sports management. Not once did dad question my decision because I think he just knew that it was something I needed to do. I only ended up living in Alabama for about 6 months and the best part of living out there was the road trip out there with my dad. To this day, that remains one of my fondest memories of my dad – our road trip together from Phoenix to Alabama. 24+ hours in a car with my dad, it didn't get much better than that for me.

It wasn’t until I was older that I truly appreciated how much of a counselor my dad was and how God used him in so many ways to touch the lives of others. Things in his life that could be considered negatives, he was able to use those to witness to others about the love and compassion of Christ.

There was a time where it seemed like the phone would never stop ringing as there were many people who sought his counsel and guidance. He was the ultimate listener and while he never spoke much to my brother or me about his past, he wouldn’t hesitate to share it with others who needed to hear how God could truly change a person’s heart.

Toward the end, I know that was ultimately part of what he struggled with ... the helper didn't want to be helped.

He also recognized how blessed he truly was and that the skills he had learned, were truly a gift from God and he wanted to use them to help others. Whether it was the medical missions to Mexico and South America or the late night cries for help from random people that needed to be answered, he responded without question. While he may have taken the gifts for granted at times, he could also discern what the Holy Spirit was calling him to do like no one I had ever seen before.

He showed me that you could be a flawed and imperfect person and God would always love you and never turn His back on you

He taught me to use history as a guide for trusting in the Lord during challenging times.

There was a time that I always talked to my dad once or twice a week. Best time was always when I was on my way home from work during my long commutes. More often than not, I’d finish that conversation in a much better place than I was before it started. Unfortunately over these past couple of years, those calls had become less frequent. Now I know that I will be able to talk to him every day. Having two fathers up there is definitely not a bad thing.

Best song lyric I heard today

From "Caves" by Jack's Mannequin:

Windows leading to the past
Think it's time I broke some glass
Get this history off my mind

Thinking about Ed Wade's biggest moves as Astros' GM

Richard Justice's latest column had me pondering Ed Wade's most high profile moves thus far as Astros' GM:

• Traded Brad Lidge for Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary and some minor leaguer named Costanzo (insert obligatory Seinfeld reference here) who was promptly shipped out in another Wade deal. While Bourn did play some solid defense in centerfield and showed good speed on the basepaths (when he was on base) his batting average was in the low .200s all season in 2008. Now, this spring he is looking up at the Mendoza line with a sparking .184 average. Read something recently where Wade could have traded Lidge last year to the Indians for Cliff Lee. You may have heard of him - he was 22-3 last season and won the Cy Young. Now in full disclosure, I supported Lidge getting traded. He needed a change of scenery but it sure seems like Wade could have gotten more return on that one.
  
• Miguel Tejada for Troy Patton, Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Dennis Sarfate and Costanzo. Great move - giving up two of our best young pitching prospects (Albers and Patton) for a guy who lied to Congress about steroid use. You could make the argument that this one has probably worked out about equal for both sides thus far. Albers and Scott were key contributors for the O's last season while Patton was injured all year. The Astros got more offense out of the SS position than they have since Dickie Thon was there 20+ years ago. This one falls into the "win now" category but given the Astros' outlook for this season, this one probably won't ultimately look good on the track record for Wade.
  
• Signing Kaz Matsui, or as my colleague who roots for the Mets appropriately labeled him, Kaz Matsucky. What was it last season - 3 trips to the DL? What is he batting this spring? .059? Don't most guys get sent to minor league camp if they are hitting like that four weeks into spring training?? Given the bargains out in the free agent market right now, I'm guessing the Astros could have gotten a starting pitcher or a couple of decent relievers for the $5 million they are paying Kaz this season.
  

Rants and Randomness - Sunday evening edition

• The Astros are 1-14-2 in spring training games this year. I'm sorry but one win in 17 games is just plain bad. I don't care if these are irrelevant games, it's freaking 1-14-2! Feels like a bad vibe before the regular season even gets started;
• Go do a search on Twitter for #batterylife. Lots of interesting discussion going on around notebook battery life as a result of this blog and now this article;
• Digging all the rain here in Austin these past few days although I am bummed that my daughter's softball games were canceled this weekend. I had a great time coaching first base at her tourney last weekend.
  
• Favorite new band - We Are Scientists. I really like bands that make songs that all don't sound the same. These guys are all over the place. Check out "Lethal Enforcer." Who does it sound like? I think blend of Roxy Music and Talk Talk.
• Will post a blog on ASU hoops in a day or two. Many thoughts on last night's Pac-10 tourney championship loss to USC, you can see some of them here on PFN. From a bigger picture standpoint, I hate that not having a Pac-10 hoops title is one more thing U of Tucson fans can hold over us. Much like how we hold it over them that they have never been to a Rose Bowl;
• Devils are sixth seed against eleventh seeded Temple. They are in the tourney with probably their best team since 1995 when they made the sweet 16. More on that later;
• It's not even worth ranting about the fact that Tucson made tourney with their 63 RPI and mediocre record;
  
• Rest in TV drama peace Bill Buchanan, it was nice knowing you. Given that we saw Jack crying over his dead body, I'm sure he won't come back to life like Tony Almeda did .... I think;
• Still the best season of '24' since season 3;
• About a quarter of the way through season 2 of Battlestar Galactica. Loving it more and more each episode;
• Another couple of signs my 8-year old daughter is quickly growing up too fast - rode her bike to school by herself last week and doesn't like when I ask her if she has to go "potty." Apparently I'm supposed to only say "bathroom" from now on.
  
• If you like Dr. Beardface' on Scrubs, then you'll love this well done montage;
• Trying to get into the World Baseball Classic but I just don't care yet.
  
• Happy 40th Anniversary mom and dad

Rants and randomness - Monday night edition

• Watched '24' tonight. This season continues to make up for the debacle that was season 6. Favorite line from tonight's show, "if you ever pull a gun on me again, you'd better be prepared to use it."
• Devils won their fourth in a row over Tucson City College in hoops. Great game, although the Devils almost blew it at the end. Big lead during second half evaporated quickly and Tucson eventually took the lead. Devils found a way to win. I've always been told by sportscasters and other industry watchers that "good teams find a way to win." Does that mean the Devils are now officially a "good team" or is Tucson just that bad of a team? I'm inclined to say it's a little of both.
  
• I'm still laughing at this excerpt from Jim Rome's radio show last Friday it's travel tips for Tucson citizens traveling up to Tempe for last night's ASU-Tucson game.
  

• I saw "Slumdog Millionaire" a few weeks ago. I thought it was a good movie, but I just don't get all the hype around it. Personally I liked "The Reader" better, although I was surprised to see Winslet beat out Streep for Best Actress. Also, thought Frank Langella (Frost-Nixon) or Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) should have won Best Actor.
• I have not talked to anyone who likes the new U2 song "Get on your boots"
• Favorite song in my ipod rotation these days is "Bixby Canyon Bridge" by Death Cab for Cutie
• Band I recently stumbled across that I really like is The Myriad. Check out "Perfect Obligation"
• They had chicken fried steak in our work cafeteria today. I passed.

"This is my office, not some misguided recreation room"

Catching up on Flight of the Conchords today. Saw the best one yet. If you haven't watched this show ever, start with this episode (season 2, episode 4.) The storyline in this one is Murray, who is the funniest character on the show in my opinion, decides he wants to be the band's friend as well as their manager.

Bring the heat

Today Chandler Bess had her first softball practice. New team, new coach and it will be her last season in coach pitch. I'm really proud of how she has continued to improve each season. She seems more and more confident out on the field and genuinely looks like she is having fun out there. One of the coaches on her team this season was a coach on her team last season, Coach James.

I'm really glad Coach James was there tonight because he picked up on something when Chandler was hitting that I never would have. When Chandler started off, she was swinging and missing at everything which is not normal for her. After about 6 or 7 pitches, James told the coach to throw the ball harder. He told the coach who was pitching that he pitched to her last season and she likes it fast. Sure enough, she starting hitting line drives all over the field.

Sometimes it's the little things other people can pick up on that make all the difference. I wonder how this season would have progressed for Chandler at the plate had James not pointed out how to pitch to her? I'm sure it would have ultimately been fine but I'm really appreciative of the fact that Coach James was there tonight. In fact, I'm also really glad that there are good people like Coach James in our league who take the time to help coach my daughter and actually pay attention to the little things.

Why University of Tucson alums should be banned from the NBA (or any other professional sports league)

With the firing of head coach Terry Porter today after about 50 games, I embark on a long overdue rant on the Suns. Below is an excerpt from the Suns' 2008-09 media guide with some of my commentary in bold integrated into it:

"On June 30, 2004, Robert Sarver, a banking and real estate executive, AND a University of Tucson graduate, purchased the club from Jerry Colangelo after Colangelo set into motion a plan to ensure the team’s legacy by seeking out a new owner who shared his vision and commitment to both the game of basketball and community. That "commitment" was put into action when Sarver wanted to save a few million and chose not to re-sign Joe Johnson. An injured Johnson was unable to play in the conference finals against the Spurs that year and probably was the reason the Suns fell short in that series.

In the four seasons since Sarver, an Arizona native (did I mention that he graduated from Tucson), took ownership of the Suns, Phoenix has won 50 or more games each season and enjoyed the winningest four-year period in the franchise’s proud history (232 victories). Yes, the Suns did indeed win a lot of games during the regular season under the guidance of head coach Mike D'Antoni and thanks to a couple of MVP seasons from Steve Nash. The key thing is that under D'Antoni, the team was competitive, exciting to watch and was one of the top seeds in the Western Conference every season. The span includes two 60-plus win seasons (franchise-record tying 62 in 2004-05 and 61 in 2006-07) and three Pacific Division titles. Over the last four seasons, the Suns have complied (sic) a 232-96 (.707) regular season record, which trails only the Dallas Mavericks (236-92, .720) and San Antonio Spurs (236-92, .720) for the NBA’s best record in that stretch." So what was D'Antoni's reward for the team's best four year stretch ever? Sarver and fellow Tucson alum Steve Kerr pushed him out the door. Granted, D'Antoni was not officially fired but the Tucson Terrible Two made it clear he wasn't welcome back.

In addition to letting Joe Johnson leave, pushing D'Antoni out the door, Sarver also made it clear that he wanted to erase the Jerry Colangelo influence from the Suns franchise. Colangelo is the guy who most recently helped resurrect USA Basketball, you know, those guys who won gold medals this past summer in Beijing. His first step in scrubbing the franchise of Colangelo's influence was to nudge 2005 NBA Executive of the Year Bryan Colangelo to leave during the 2006 season for the Toronto Raptors:

From February 26, 2006 USA Today:

Bryan Colangelo's relationship with Sarver soured amid reports that the two men had been unable to come to terms on an extension of Colangelo's contract. Sarver said Colangelo had to go through an "adjustment" in dealing with a new boss who wasn't his father.

Brilliant move Wildcat, kick the reigning NBA Executive of the Year to the curb. Oh btw, Colangelo won the award again in 2007 with Toronto. Look, I know Sarver paid a few hundred million for the franchise and it's his team, he can do what he wants with it and hire who he wants to run it, but at some point, common sense should come into play.

Unfortunately Sarver brought his boy Kerr, who prior to joining the Suns as GM, had as much NBA front office experience as I do. That would be zilch in case anyone is keeping track. Now he did have a nice 15-year NBA career, which is 15 more years than I played in the NBA, but bringing in a rookie GM with no front office experience to call the shots for one of the best teams in the league? Really? Again, there's that lack of common sense thing again. Oh, and he let Kerr work from San Diego during his first year at the helm. Yeah, don't bother building chemistry with your coach or anything sensible like that.

Here are Kerr's moves during his tenure that have led to the Suns playing at the mediocre levels you see today.

• Shawn Marion for Shaq. Full disclosure here, I fully supported trading Marion. The guy was a malcontent and he didn't want to be in Phoenix anymore. However, I'm pretty sure he could have scored better than the Diesel and his overweight and overpaid self.
  
• Not supporting Mike D'Antoni and letting him go to New York. A team most league watchers feel is overachieving this season, largely due in part to D'Antoni's run and gun system.
  
• Terry Porter. Guy was fired today after four and half months. That one speaks for itself.
  
• Trading Boris Diaw and Raja Bell to Charlotte for Jason Richardson. Bell was the best defender the Suns had but apparently he didn't fit in Terry Porter's system which emphasized what? Oh yeah, defense. He's been such an upstanding citizen thus far for the Suns, he recently earned himself a day off.
  

Yes folks, life on Planet Orange kind of sucks right now. All of this drama with Porter getting canned and rumors of Amare Stoudamire and Shaq getting traded happened during what was supposed to be a great weekend for Suns fans in Phoenix as they hosted the NBA All-Star activities.

Fortunately, Phoenicians didn't have to travel far to watch good hometown hoops as the Sun Devils swept the SoCal schools this past weekend and are back in the Top 15. This of course means they will promptly lose and drop like a rock again.

Know thy enemy

Ok, maybe enemy is too harsh of a term, I'll go with competitive colleague when referring to folks over on the Intel PR team who I have always had a healthy respect for during my time at AMD.

Recently I started following a few of my competitive colleagues from Intel on Twitter including Intel's social media strategist, Michael Brito. Last Friday, Michael posted a blog on finding and following friends from competitors on Twitter or other social media channels. I found it to be an interesting read, not only because it mentioned your's truly but also because it forced yet another reflection (they seem to be a daily happening) on how social media continues to change the role of the PR professional.

I've only been on Twitter for about 3 weeks but I have found it already to be an invaluable tool. In the case of my competitive colleagues, following them enables me to stay on top of the vast amounts of news they issue. As far as the press, bloggers and other industry-watchers, it has helped my team and I develop all kinds of new ideas for blogs or other campaigns that are geared toward the dynamic social media environment.

I really need to rant on the Suns and the Astros...

...but the Sun Devil hoops team keeps bringing me joy. No Pac-10 had swept UCLA in a season series over the past 3 seasons, until last night when the Devils dropped the Bruins 74-67.

Some may say "big deal" as the Pac-10 and UCLA are down this year but I really don't care. People who haven't followed this program cannot appreciate the ineptitude that Sun Devil nation has endured over the past 30 years with respect to our hoops team.

I can't ever remember a time when ASU fielded a basketball team that could probably hang or beat any team in the country right now with maybe the exception of Duke and UNC. Most teams who turn the ball over 17 times, like the Devils did last night, particularly against a Top 10 team, are probably going to get buried. Also, to see them do it on a nationally televised ESPN game in front of a packed house at WFA and then to watch the students storm the court, frankly I got a little choked up. It's kind of that same feeling I get when I know that a dual-core server I bought back in 2006 would be easily refreshed with quad- or six-core processors in 2009 without any chipset or board changes (sorry, shameless work-related self-promotion.)

Back to the Sun Devils, hopefully they helped hoops fans in the Valley forget for the weekend about how awful the Suns are and helped remind all of Arizona (and the Pac-10) that you have officially now seen a changing of the guard in Arizona college hoops. Sorry Tucson, as Lute goes, so goes your program.

Rants and randomness

• A-rod alledgedly used steroids in 2003. Yawn. I'm so ready for the media to turn the page on steroids in baseball. Dont they have better things to focus on such as why Bud Selig gets paid $18 million per year for overseeing a league full of juicers?
• I will say this about Selig, whether this is his doing or not, I for one am glad there seems to be some new blood in the World Series each year and we have some decent parity in baseball.
• My son is going is wearing his YMCA hoops jersey from last summer to bed tonight. Not sure what that's all about.
  
• Favorite song in my ipod this week is "Sometime around midnight" by the Airborne Toxic Event. Check out awesome performance from last month on Letterman show.
  
• Sun Devil hoops swept the Oregon schools this weekend. Unfortunately so did Tucson which diminishes the achievement. At least the Devils got back on track after their lost weekend against the Washington schools. Nice game from Harden in Eugene against Oregon and Jamelle McMillan stepped up for injured Derek Glasser. Hope that is a sign of things to come from the sophomore and he didn't play well just because the Portland Trailblazers coach was in attendance.
  
• Survived my long weekend as a single dad. Wasn't too bad. Kids were pretty good for the most part. It did suck being away from Tricia on our anniversary. 11 years in the books as of yesterday.
  
• Someone asked me today at church if I thought the Cardinals were a one-hit wonder. My initial reaction is I think they are. Until the organization proves that they are willing to step up and keep the nucleus together. Both offensive and defensive coordinators are gone, Boldin says his relationship with team is not fixable and Warner is on the fence about coming back. With that kind of activity already in the first week post-Superbowl, initial indicators are a quick slipslide back into mediocrity. I want to be an optimist, I really do, but as long as Bidwell family remains in charge, I'm afraid I have to err on the side of pessimism. Funny how you haven't heard a peep out of the Steelers this week.
  
• If this year's version of the Cardinals were a computing platform, I'm pretty sure they would be AMD's "Dragon" platform. You have the QB (Warner) who despite not being the overall raw performance leader, gets outstanding results and is the right fit for the team. Oh and he was the 15th highest paid QB in the league. You surround him with all-pro receivers and a good enough running back and offensive line and you have the NFC champs. Think of this way: Warner = Phenom II, Fitzgerald and Boldin = Radeon HD 4870 X2 and strong core of RBs are the 790 GX chipset. Hey, I have to figure out some way to get mileage out of my post-graduate sports management schooling.
  
• Took the kids to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop yesterday. Didn't suck that bad. Kind of like Home Alone in a mall.
  
• I'm so disgusted by the play of the Phoenix Suns and the direction of the organization, I foresee a much longer rant on them this week. Sad that the All-Star game will be in Phoenix too and the fans there can't get excited about the home team.
  
• I'm trying really really really hard to get excited about the Astros this season.
  

The Lost Weekend...

It's the morning after the weekend in which will probably go down as one of the most memorable and yet forgettable ones for sports fans in Phoenix.

First and foremost, there is the Cardinals. What can you say, it was one of the best and worst Superbowls ever if you were a Cards fan. The range of emotions that myself and other Cards (and probably Steeler fans) experienced in those final 15 minutes were turbulent to say the least. Right after the game was over, I really wanted to lay this one all on the refs, but frankly, the Cards were their own worst enemy and plagued themselves with numerous mistakes and missed tackling. Despite, all that, they were still in a position to win the game when many teams may have folded. The loss stings and it hurts, but as Deadspin's Will Leitch put it, it's a good hurt.

For me personally, I was glad to have been able to be in Phoenix during the Cards Superbowl weekend. To ride that roller coaster together with friends (thanks Goodell family for hosting) who all have the same rooting passion, that's one of the things I will always remember about the Cards first Superbowl.

Now, on to the Suns, who really aren't even worth writing about given how awful they are right now. Friends, this is what happens when you let U of Tucson alums take control of an NBA franchise. Robert Sarver and Steve Kerr have managed to take the franchise from the league's elite to riding on a bullet-train to Clipperland. Nice job against Chachi and the woeful Bulls at home this weekend.

As for the Sun Devil hoopsters, I'm trying to stay optimistic that their back to back home losses to the state of Washington was their low-point of the season and they will get back to playing the smart, somewhat mistake-free ball they were playing earlier in the season. I've always felt Herb Sendek was one of the smartest coaches in the Pac-10, but he was outcoached by Bennett and Romar these last two games.

Two steps back

Not even going to give the Sun Devils hoopsters credit for taking one forward with their previous wins over UCLA and Tucson. Regardless of whether or not they have Superbowl fever, you just dont lose at home if you are truly a Top 15 team, much less lose by 10. Apparently entering the week as the top-ranked team in the Pac-10 was too much for the Herbivores to handle.

I didnt get to watch the game last night as Fox Sports chose to show a team from Tucson that had lost three Pac-10 games in a row and barely beat some scrubs from University of Houston recently. Apparently Washington State (who I now believe is probably the best team in the country) has some freshman son of a former NBAer that dropped 28 points on the Devils. The Devils have a sophomore who has a dad that played AND now coaches in the NBA as well as the best player in the country this side of Hansborough. Doesn't that automatically make the Devils better on paper?

Please drop-kick the doggies from Washington on Saturday and prove to me Devils that you are not a paper tiger.