Thoughts on my family and my life as a tortured Sun Devil and Astros' fan

Opening Day blog 2010: Bitter, party of one, your aging and overpaid team is ready

2010-04-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

Before I go into my Astros' opening day rant, I do have to briefly lavish praise on to the Sun Devil baseball squad. They lost their first game of the season Friday night, 6-5 at Oregon after starting 24-0. All this despite having its coach shown the door just a few months before the season started. They rebounded from the initial loss and are now 25-1. Will the overachieving squad be able to keep this pace up? Since I don't follow NCAA baseball closely enough until post season, I wont try and guess. I sure hope however that there's a role for interim coach Tim Esmay after the season is over.

Moving on to the Astros, the unbridled optimism I generally have going into opening day is non-existent this season. Really, I'm trying to muster some type of positive outlook about this year's version of the former Rainbow Warriors, but this is best I can do:

Phil's glass-half full outlook:

Roy Oswalt is back in his 2005 form and gets a promise from owner Drayton McLane for a new backhoe if he wins the Cy Young.

Lance Berkman is suddenly tearing up the plate from the right side and successfully gets his option for 2011 picked up with a clause that says he can open up a Cracker Barrel franchise in Minute Maid Park if he steals 5 bases in 2010.

Kaz Matsui in his walk year is playing through his litany of nagging injuries. There will be a heroic moment at the end of game where he comes in to hit a game-winning bloop single despite the fact that his anal fissures have returned with a vengeance.

Carlos Lee, gets in-season Lipo surgery in May and successfully lobbies management to move to Centerfield and arm wrestles the rights away from Berkman for the "Big Puma" nick name.

Team goes on a bit of a run in June, solidly in 3rd place by all-star break and 8 games behind first place Cardinals. Because of this mid-season success, the Astros feel like they are one bat away from winning it all. The struggling Dodgers are able to unload Manny Ramirez on to the Astros and it only cost them five prospects and a promise to bench Manny when the Astros and Dodgers meet in September. Rush order put in on Astros' doo-rags for Manny's debut.

Team within two games of the first place Cards, until: Carlos Lee takes Manny to Houston staple James Coney Island. World Hot dog eating champ Kobiyashi happens to be there and challenges both players to an eating contest. Both players go missing for 3 days and wind up on DL with undisclosed dietary issues.

Oswalt sensing he is on a sinking ship demands a trade to the Atlanta Braves. McLane reluctantly agrees but only if the Braves will give him the rights to Dale Murphy and Biff Pocoroba.

Berkman steals his 5th base and opens his Cracker Barrel at MMP. Enough said.
Astros go on to lose 17 of 18 to finish the season. Despite the final day of the season being "Dale Murphy day" the team sees a record-low home attendance of 4287. Dale Murphy wasn’t able to make it.

Team finishes 71-91.

Reflections on the decade - part one

2009-12-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

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

2009-08-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

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"

2009-07-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

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 :(

2009-07-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-24T08:23:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-23T21:01:00.000-08:00

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"

2009-02-21T14:42:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-20T22:27:00.000-08:00

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)

2009-02-16T21:33:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-02-13T06:45:00.000-08:00

...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

2009-02-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-02-02T07:11:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

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.

Clancy bustin' a move at his Xmas program

2008-12-14T18:19:00.001-08:00

The title says it all. Fear not grandparents, I will post the a version with the boy actually singing later this week.

Clancy (5yrs) reads his first book

2008-10-15T06:36:00.001-07:00

Clancy read his first book to us last night. It was really exciting to see how much he has learned in Kindergarten in just a short time. I think we made him read it three times last night, once for mommy, once for daddy and once for the camera.

A Padawan no more

2008-07-20T11:56:00.001-07:00

During our trip to Disneyland, Clancy was selected to participate in the Jedi Academy show. I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of the visit for him. He takes after his dad in his love of Star Wars movies and I will never forget him running up to me after he was done and giving me a big extra-long hug. I'm pretty sure that was his way of expressing to me that only I understand how cool this all was for him.

Clancy's First Basketball Game (and basket)

2008-06-21T09:47:00.001-07:00

Here is a clip from Clancy's first-ever basketball game. Practice last Tuesday was the first time he had actually even shot or dribbled a basktball.

I managed to catch his first basket on video, although I didnt get as good of a shot as I would have liked since I was trying to coach him from the bench as you can probably hear. I'm the one shouting "dribble Clancy!"

Oh, and much to my dismay, Clancy's team is called the Wildcats. I guess Sun Devils hasn't quite caught on as a popular youth team name yet.

Prayers for Rags

2008-06-11T06:12:00.000-07:00

When Tricia and I lived in Maryland in the late 90s, we were both new to the area. Typically when you move somewhere and don't know many people, your first friends there tend to be people that you work closely with, assuming you can stand to be around them. This was the case with Tricia's job at the University of Maryland sports information office. One of the people we became friends with was a guy named Mark Ragonese, aka "Rags." Rags was one of the most stand-up, genuine people I've ever had the opportunity to meet and get to know.

Yesterday we found out that Rags was in a horrible accident this past weekend. Below is the information regarding the accident and Rag's condition. If anyone sees this post, please keep Rags in your prayers. He has a long road ahead of him, but we're extremely thankful he is still with us and because of who he is, we are confident that he can overcome the obstacles that lay ahead of him. Also, you can visit here to see how Rags is progressing or make a donation.

From Mark's wife Erika:

The accident happend while Mark was setting up for a running race on Sunday, June 8th (Ironically, the race was the Survivor 7 Mile Run, an event created to raise awareness and funds to assist survivors of catastrophic injuries get back to an active lifestyle.)

Mark was on a box truck unloading 8 ft wooden tables-- something he has done approximately 20 weekends a year for the past 10 years. The three-person crew was working together, two on the ground placing tables in their proper location and Mark on the truck handing them down. The two helpers had just taken their load of tables when the 8-10 tables fell on top of Mark. Although no one actually saw the tables fall, it is thought that he was knocked to the ground by the following tables and hit his head in such a way that caused the injury.

Emergency services were called immediately and an ambulance was on the scene within 15 minutes. Mark was taken directly to University of Maryland Shock Trauma, the best hospital in the WORLD (literally) for his type of injury.

Mark broke several vertebrae in his neck and injured his spinal cord. Doctors have performed two surgeries to "fuse" the bones in his neck together so that the spine will have a clear pathway that will cause no further damage to the spine and aid in its recovery.

Since the accident, Mark has had no feeling in his legs or arms. He is alert and aware and lights up when his friends and family come to visit. He is still sedated and has a ventilation tube in this throat to assist him in breathing while they performed the surgeries and he recovers from the initial trauma. Because of the tube, he is unable to talk out-loud but can converse through whispers, lip-reading, and facial expressions. Once he has regained the strength to fill his lungs to capacity on his own, they will remove the tube.

It is too early to tell the eventual outcome of the injuries. Everyone knows the importance and sensitivity of the spinal cord. Regardless, Mark will have a long road ahead of him. He will begin Rehabilitation almost immediately and a lot will be learned in the coming days and weeks.

Those of you who know Mark know his strong will and dedication and his undying love for his family and friends. It is this strength and desire that we hope and pray will drive Mark through recovery.

Astros Stink so it's Lego Indiana Jones Time

2008-06-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

The Astros had another stellar offensive outing tonight so it was time to sit down with Clancy and play the new Lego Indiana Jones game on the Wii. We played a couple of levels tonight and I'm officially hooked. We still play the Lego Star Wars game regularly but I have a feeling that one will take a backseat for a few weeks. They need to keep cranking out more of these Lego-themed games. Apparently there is a Lego Batman one due out in the Fall. Btw, I did enjoy the new movie despite what others are saying. The ending is a be hokey but otherwise it was an entertaining moving and it was fun to be able to take the kiddos to see it as well.

I really don't know what to say about the Astros other than the run they had in early May was great to watch and fun while it lasted. Sad thing is that the pitching hasn't been horrible and has kept them in games which is rather unexpected. I have to think at some point the bats will wake up. But hey, it's early June and the team is above .500. If someone told me before the season started that they would be above .500 at this point, I would have been shocked.

While I'm bouncing around on this post, a belated congratulations to the Sun Devil softball squad and their impressive run to the national championship. Hopefully the Sun Devil baseball team can keep it going against Fresno State this weekend.

Buzzsaw, thy name is Berkman

2008-05-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

I pity any pitcher in the National League right now who has to face Lance Berkman. To say the guy is on fire is an insult to him. I am completely in awe of what the Big Puma has been doing with the bat of late. It's like he's trying to make up for his sub-par performance last season in a two week period this season. The Astros web site has a nice story on the stats he has been rolling up of late including 19 hits in his last 25 ABs. That is just sick. Since Cecil Cooper wised up and put Berkman into the fourth spot in the batting order on April 19, Berkman has 9 HRs and 24 RBI. He was batting .295 coming into that game and is now batting .382.

Oh, and since April 19 when Coop tweaked his line-up, the Astros are 13-6. Ironically enough, the Astros lost that day but thankfully Coop stuck with it.

A look at the players that Ed Wade cut loose from the Astros in the off-season:

Luke Scott - 1HR, 10 RBI, .267, 27Ks
Matt Albers - 2-1, 2.39 ERA, 13Ks in 26.1 innings
Dennis Sarfate - 2-1, 4.02 ERA, 17Ks in 15.2 innings
Adam Everett - 0 HR, 2 RBI, .196
Mike Lamb - 0 HR, 13 RBI, .235
Chris Burke, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .137
Chad Qualls, 0-4, 2.75 ERA, 20Ks in 19.2 innings, 1 SV (has been charged with three losses in last four games)
Trever Miller, 0-0, 5.23 ERA, 10Ks in 10.1 innings

Right now, the only one or two guys I'd say the Astros miss are probably Matt Albers and Chad Qualls as both of those guys could help shore up our sometimes shaky bullpen.

Not Sure Where She Got Those Genes From

2008-05-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

Today Chandler Bess did her first Triathlon and finished THIRD in her age group and finished in the Top 50 overall among kids up to age 10 (she's 8.) Given that her mother and I have never 3done a triathlon, nor have we ever had a desire to do one, we're scratching our heads as to where she gets these athletic genes she will sometimes display. She did great considering right as she was lining up to get in the pool, I had to remind her this was a race (which she didn't know) and that she could pass up other swimmers in her lane.

Here are some pictures from the morning's event.

Trying hard here to contain her excitement

Trying Hard Not to be one of THOSE Parents

2008-05-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

Last night, Clancy had a t-ball game out at the Leander-Cedar Park complex. Because this was a make-up game from Saturday's rain-out, they played on the field where Chandler normally plays her softball games. We were sitting in the bleachers next to our friends Gary and Krista and made the comment to them about how the fans aren't quite as intense at this field during t-ball as they are during the coach pitch games that Chandler plays in. After we got home from the game, I thought back to that comment and felt a bit convicted about how I might be contributing to some of that intensity that occurs during those games.

I look back at the tournament Chandler's team (the Red Raiders) played in out at Oak Hill last weekend and something that happened at the end of the first game. The Red Raiders went into the bottom of the inning tied with one out and a runner on third. The batter hit the ball off of her foot but it still rolled out far enough out in front of homeplate to give the runner on third time to score the winning run. The ball should have been called a foul ball since it hit her foot. As the runner was crossing the plate, I was standing by the first base side and yelled (quite loudly) towards the umpire "that was a foul ball, it hit her foot." You should have seen the look the first base coach from the opposing team shot me. Not that it mattered what I said, the ump wasn't going to change his call.

This is where I get a bit dumber, as I was helping Chandler gather up her equipment, I proceeded to tell her how her team got "homered" by the local Oak Hill umpire ... not once, but a few times. Never once did I tell her, "you guys played really hard, it was a tough loss, but if you keep playing hard, you will win some of those close games." The last thing I want to do is instill a mentality in her that it's someone else's fault everytime her team loses a game. I guess the good thing is that Chandler typically ignores about 99 percent of what I say.

The bottom line is that youth sports, 7/8 year old girls softball or any other, is increasingly becoming more of a parent showcase rather than a venue for the kids to have fun. I've got to do a better job making sure I'm not evolving into one of THOSE parents.

A Tale of Two Cities

2008-04-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

Interesting night for me as a fan. I have lived most of my life in two cities - Phoenix and Houston. I grew up an Astros fan and while I lived in Phoenix, there was no pro baseball team so my passion for Astros baseball continued to grow after I moved there, along with the associated misery (see 1986 NLCS) that goes with rooting for the Astros. When I moved to Phoenix, I was not much of an NBA fan but slowly became a Suns fan thanks to Walter Davis, Kevin Johnson, Tom Chambers and Sir Charles.

So tonight I spent the evening catching up on email and writing press releases while watching the Suns implode in the final two minutes against Spurs to lose in game 5 of their FIRST ROUND series, ending the Phoenix season. Then I flipped over to the Astros game and watched them close out a 6-4 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The irony for me personally continues to be that the one Houston sports team (yes, I was a die-hard Oilers fan) I was not much of a fan of, the Houston Rockets, were the ones who eliminated the Suns two years in a row in the mid-90s. Those Rocket teams would go onto win back-t0-back championships.

Anyhow, a rough night for Phoenix sports fans who root for the home teams. While in Houston, their basketball team gets to live another day after silencing the Jazz and the Astros snapped their three-game skid. A rare good day for Houston sports fans. Basketball season is officially over for me now. Houston, you have my full attention once again.

Awful Day for my Teams

2008-04-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

As a sports fan, Saturday was about as bad as it gets for me. First, the Suns lose in double OT after having led for pretty much the entire time in regulation against the Spurs. Given that I live in Austin, I'm up here in psuedo-Spurs country since San Antonio is 90 minutes away and so I'm forced to deal with Spurs media and fans.

It only gets worse from there, I couldn't even finish watching the Astros' game last night as they have just become a very pathetic display out on the field. They lose 3-2 after getting shelled the previous night 11-5 by a worn-out Rockies team that had played 22 innings the night before. All of this on the Astros' homefield.

All of this was capped off by the ASU baseball team continuing their downward spiral and getting shelled by Oregon State yet again, 12-3. ASU is ranked 3rd in the country right now but after getting beat twice at home, there's a high likelihood they will fall out of the top 10.

Oh well, at least the ASU football team was able to beat themselves in the Maroon and Gold game. Note to Dennis Erickson, please consider an open competition for the starting QB spot going into training camp.

What a shame

2008-04-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

Shawn Chacon unexpectedly pitches 8 very strong shutout innings and exits the game with a three run lead. Chacon has definitely been a pleasant surprise for the team as he has had three very solid outings in three starts this season. And as much as Chacon has been a pleasant surprise, Astros' closer Jose Valverde has been an alarming train wreck of a closer.

I don't question Cooper for bringing in Valverde to close the game out, nearly every manager in the league would have done the same thing. However, after blowing the lead by giving up four in the ninth against the Phillies, the question now becomes is how long does Coop continue to have Valverde be his closer?

Over the gut-wrenching past two seasons of Lidge closing out games, the Astros always had some decent options in Qualls and Wheeler. This year they really have no one who can step into that role. The only guy I can potentially see doing it is Brocail who has been a career middle-relief guy.

Not that they're asking me, but I'm going to offer up my suggestion on this one anyhow: move Valverde into a set-up role, ship the disappointing Oscar Villareal to Round Rock and call up Fernando Nieve and have him try closing. The guy has great stuff (when healthy) and he seems like the type of guy who is more suited toward letting it fly for an inning or two rather than trying to stretch it for 5 or 6.

Someone took their Deca Durabolin tonight

2008-04-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

The Astros' biggest off-season acquisition and accused steroid user Miguel Tejada made a big impression on the locals in Houston tonight after he went yard to the opposite field for a walk-off two-run shot in the ninth to beat the rival Cardinals, 5-3. This came on the heels of Miggy making a great play to mercifully end a forgetful top of the ninth for new Astros' closer Jose Valverde (btw, Brad Lidge notched his first save for the Phillies today) who continues to be a win scavenger. No Astros' starter has a win yet, but all of them with the exception Oswalt should have one if not for the 2008 version of the Texaco bullpen.

The Astros are 3-5 now and if the bullpen were pitching well, they'd probably be 5-3 or at least .500 and Wandy and Backe would have a win each. I guess all those things D-backs' fans told me about Valverde are true and his 46 saves in 2007 were a bit of a mirage if you look behind the numbers.

Feels like 2000 again

2008-03-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

I know spring training is a horrible indicator of how a team will perform in the regular season but I just don't have a good vibe at all about the Astros this season. For the past 10 or so seasons I have had some optimism going into the regular season that they were capable of contending. Not this season. Usually I'm fired up about the opening game and getting to watch them in action for the first time. Again, not this season. That being said, I will still of course watch them nearly every chance I get. I may be down on them right now, but I will still cheer hard.

I could see this season being a lot like the 2000 season where we were consistently all hit and no pitch. 2000 was the season where our supposed ace Jose Lima got freaked out by the short fences in the newly opened Enron Field and suddenly found himself in Detroit by mid-season. The only difference between now and then is that everyone still thought we had a chance to contend after winning the division in 1999 for the third straight season. This season you'd be hard-pressed to find a publication that has the Astros picked higher than fourth place.

I heard Lima is still pitching somewhere in the Mexican pro leagues. Maybe he's ready to redeem himself. The Astros are so desperate for pitching, you never know...

Chandler and Clancy's first ABs in 2008

2008-03-24T15:04:00.001-07:00

Video highlights of Chandler and Clancy's at-bats from their first couple of games in 2008.

A busy Easter Weekend

2008-03-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

After flying back from London on Friday and basically not sleeping for about 22 hours (I can't sleep on planes to save my life) thanks to delays as we connected in Chicago. A word of advice to anyone ever traveling internationally and you have to connect through Chicago, avoid checking your bags at all costs. It took a freaking hour and a half for me to get through customs, pick up my bag and then re-check it. I've done this going through Dallas before and it was a much smoother experience. Anyhow, I managed to get about five hours of sleep in on Friday night before getting up for 8 a.m. t-ball early Saturday morning.

Clancy's Red Sox scored their first win of the season thanks to his buddy Graylan who made 3 unassisted outs at second base in one inning. The key to winning in LCP 5 and 6 year old league is to have at least one inning where you get 3 outs. If you can do this and the other team cannot, you're golden.

After that it was swim team for Chandler, a quick lunch at Texadelphia then back at the ballpark for Chandler's game at 1. Chandler's Red Raiders picked up their first win of the season and are now 1-2. We're quickly realizing how stacked and well-coached Chandler's fall team was. However, the 11-10 win over the Cougars was huge and the team seems to be getting better each game. I will have some video highlights of their first games in another post.

After a futile attempt to nap after the game, it was soon time to eat, play some lego Star Wars with the boy and then dye some Easter eggs.

After a morning Easter egg hunt in the backyard on Sunday, it was time for church. At the last minute we decided to shake things up a bit and go to lunch first and hopefully avoid the C&E enhanced church crowds by going to the 12:30 service. Good thing we still ended up getting there about 30 minutes early because the place filled up quickly. I'll spare you any rants I have on C's and E's because at the end of the day, it's all about spreading the gospel, no matter how many times a year people come to church.

Below is a picture I took on my one morning of downtime in Europe last week when I wasn't in a conference room. It's from the Cathedral de Barcelona, He is risen!

Now it's off to go mow the lawn. Happy Easter everyone.

Pics from Europe trip - Day 1

2008-03-16T00:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Barcelona. I left Austin on Sunday at around 3:30 central and after stops in DFW and London Gatwick, I arrived in Barcelona around 12:20 p.m. local time. Here are some pics which are basically from my hotel. Hope to have more up of some of the local architecture tomorrow if work schedule permits.

This is the view from one side of the hotel of the city

This is the view of the Meditterranean Sea from my hotel room

Kaz and Kevin's common bond

2008-03-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

One of the newest Astros, second baseman Kaz Matsui will miss two weeks this spring as he undergoes a surgical procedure you can read about here.

As I was reading that story, I couldn't stop thinking about the episode from the first season of The Office (American version) entitled "Health Care," where Dwight was tasked with selecting the office's new health benefits plan. When reviewing a list of ailments that were to be covered under the new plan, Kevin the accountant confirmed that Kaz's condition is a truly a real one.

Dwight: Who wrote this, this hysterical one? Anal fissures.

Kevin: That's a real thing

Dwight: Yeah, but no one here has it

Kevin: (under his breath) Someone has it

Yes Kevin, someone surely does have it. Between this, a pending indictment for our new shortstop and the brilliant pitching we've had thus far in the spring, it's shaping up to be quite a battle for fourth place between us and the Reds.

Devils bubble about to burst?

2008-03-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

The week leading up to the NCAA tourney selection is always an interesting one. So much speculation about who is in, debates about conferences, strength of schedules and of course the much scrutinized RPI.

I've been getting angry this week listening to some of the talking heads on ESPN and other outlets who are saying the Devils wont be dancing and that Tucson might be because of their high RPI and strength of schedule. Additionally, San Diego's win over a very overrated Gonzaga team in the WCC tourney, gives them an automatic bid which means three WCC teams are likely in, thus further hurting the Pac-10's chances for six or seven teams.

Where am I going with this? Basically if Tucson gets in and ASU doesn't, the NCAA is sending a message - schedule the best teams you can, lose to them, beat no one currently ranked in the RPI top 25 (non-conference) and finish below .500 in your conference and you're in.

Play a questionable non-conference schedule but beat the one top 10 opponent you played and finish at .500 in the second-best conference in the nation ... and sweep your fellow bubble team, you're out.

Yeah, that seems logical to me.

Devils SHOULD be dancing; Astros pitchers are happy

2008-03-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

The Sun Devils hoops squad closed out the 2007-08 regular season tonight in Corvallis, OR against the Oregon State Beavers with a 77-64 victory. Congrats Beavers on being the first team to go 0-18 in Pac-10 history. I'm sure A.C. Green, Gary Payton and all of your alums are beaming with pride over your season. That will teach you to hire one of Lute's assistants as your head coach. Ok, I'll stop kicking now Beaver fans.

Back to the Devils. Frankly, last year's Devils looked pretty similar to this year's Beaver squad and only a couple of late-season wins kept the Devils out of the conference history books. The Devils made such an impression on everyone last season that the pundits really went out on a limb and picked the Devils to finish 9th in the conference before the season started. Well I hope those same pundits go ahead and eat their proverbial crow by casting their vote for Herb Sendek as Pac-10 2008 Coach of the Year.

All indications say that the Devils should get into the NCAA Tournament. The Devils finished 9-9 in what many have labeled as the best conference in the nation. That ties them for 5th place with Oregon and puts them ahead of the 8-10 University of Tucson who will likely need to win the Pac-10 tourney outright to get into the NCAAs. Enjoy your first NIT appearance since the 1980s kitty fans.

On to the Astros. Really the only thing I have been able to observe this spring is that their pitchers seemed to be "happy" about getting shelled. Twice in the last week, I have seen stories by the Houston Chronicle's kiss-up beat reporters that characterize Astros' pitchers as being "pleased" or "happy" with their lackluster outings. Here are a couple of examples of what I'm referring to:

"Although he would have liked better results, Woody Williams was pleased with the way he felt after giving up five runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings today against the Cleveland Indians."

"Overall today was what I was looking for," Chacon said. He apparently was "looking" to give up two runs in three innings.

Really glad to see these guys setting the bar so high and having tremendous confidence that our offense can put up a 10-spot or more every game.

Speaking of the offense, Miggy Tejada is batting .200 with one RBI this spring. Nice. I guess that potential indictment isn't weighing heavily on him at all.

Stinky Ride

2008-03-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

I just spent an hour in this cab coming from JFK airport into the city and if the combination of smoke and body odor really bother you, then stay away from cab number 7E88. I've been in stinky cabs before, but this one is by far the worst I've ever been in. I felt sick the entire time.

It seems like in most places in the U.S., people cannot smoke in their offices, why should cab drivers be any different?

Yes, I am one of those people who whine about the smell of smoke and not ashamed to admit it. I'm the guy who always supports those no smoking laws and will continue to do so. And while I'm glad that NYC is a smoke-free city as far as restaurants and other indoor public places go, the one thing I never look forward to in this city is walking the streets having to walk past all those smokers who can't smoke indoors. Yeah I know I can't have it both ways.

Clancy's 5th Birthday Video

2008-02-16T19:08:00.001-08:00

I'm about three weeks overdue in posting this. It's video highlights from Clancy's 5th birthday party at Crenshaw Gym.

Somewhere in Middle America

2008-02-15T18:22:00.001-08:00

Work took me to Omaha, Nebraska for the first time in my life this week. Unfortunately I can't seem to shake that Counting Crows song, "Omaha" from continuously running thru my head. However, that is pretty much the most positive thing I can say about my trip to Omaha. That and the guy I saw in the airport with probably the coolest mullet I have ever seen. Truly business in the front and party in the back. Really wishing at that moment I had a camera phone.

I still don't get why the College World Series is played there every year but the people who attend it always seem to have a great time. It's the flattest place I've ever been, it's cold and windy and there are hardly any Starbucks there. Luckily it was a quick trip.

Not nearly as much fun as the trip Tricia and I took last week to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Most couples probably would have gone to some tropical location but not us, we're just not warm weather beach types. We took off to the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington ... in February. The weather was a bit chilly and rainy at times, but frankly it didn't bother us at all, we were just enjoying the scenery and hanging out sans kids.

This is right outside the Friday Harbor House where we stayed. Highly recommend it if you're ever in Friday Harbor. Good romantic getaway type spot, wouldn't necessarily call it kid friendly however. Below is the hotel and a couple of shots of the town from vantage point of the Ferry we came in on.

Devils Split in Bay Area

2008-01-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

It's never a good situation when your big man gets his fourth foul with 17:25 to play in the game. It's even worse when you're going up against a front line that has twin seven footers. Devils's center Jeff Pendergraph had to sit when he was called for a VERY questionable offensive foul early in the second half and from that point forward it was all Stanford.

The lack of an aggressive big man in the middle made it very difficult for James Harden to penetrate the lane and do what he's been doing over the last 10 games -- scoring at will. Stanford was able to collapse on Harden every time and rendered him ineffective offensively in the second half. On the other end of the court, ASU had no answer for Brooke Lopez who scored easily on Eric Boateng every time he was fed the ball in the post. I'm starting to see why Duke wasn't too broken up over Boateng transferring after his freshman season.

While the loss to Stanford was disappointing, a split in the Bay area speaks to the progress the Devils are making in hoops. Their biggest challenge right now is depth and as the season wears on, that will probably be their glaring weakness. Which begs the question, what happened to Christian Polk? The guy was the closest thing we had to a consistent outside threat last season and now he doesn't even see the court. He must have ticked Sendek off pretty bad.

Kevin O'Neill Can't Burst My Bubble

2008-01-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

"He (James Harden) did a great job,'' Arizona interim head coach Kevin O'Neill said. "He initiates contact. The guy is going to be a high draft pick, if I were to guess. I thought our guys did a decent job on him a couple of times.''

Plant all the thoughts in Harden's head that you want O'Neill, but it still doesn't change the fact that we finally beat U of Tucson for the first time in 12 tries. This was a big monkey to get off the team's back and will hopefully go a long way in building some momentum for a program that has long underachieved.

I still see the Devils as a .500 team in conference when all is said and done this season, but who knows, maybe Harden is one of those special players this program has been waiting on for a long time that can carry the team to some unexpected heights.

Devil hoops hitting their stride

2008-01-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

I was able to watch the Devils play Oregon State today on FSN. Great game if you're a Sun Devils' fan. It has been a while since a Sun Devil hoops team was this much fun to watch. You probably have to go back to the early Frieder days with Jamal Faulkner, Stevin Smith, Lynn Collins and Mario Bennett for a Devils team that was competitive and fun to watch.

The Devils definitely play some solid interior defense thanks to the zone but if a team gets hot from the outside, it can be exploited. However, going into the season, everyone knew the Devils would play solid D. It was the offense that was a question. James Harden living up to the hype has helped address any concerns about the offense. He makes everyone around him better.

Wednesday night's game against Tucson should be interesting. I'm sure they will be a little ticked off coming into the game after losing to Oregon, a team ASU beat last Thursday. Either way, the rivalry should at least be a bit more competitive than it has been in the past. Also, the proof is there that the program is progressing - the win over Xavier and quick conference start represent a huge improvement over last season.

Unrelated note - nice going Erickson in nabbing Gerrell Robinson away from the Irish. Looks like we're on our way to having a Top 25 recruiting class.

Kirk Herbstreit hates ASU and the Pac-10

2008-01-03T22:34:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe "hate" is a bit extreme, but if anyone watched ESPN's Holiday Bowl broadcast, it's hard not to walk away thinking that Herbstreit, one of ESPN's top college football analysts, has some bias against the Pac-10 and ASU.

I've had a week now to get over the thrashing the Longhorns put on the Devils. Unfortunately, this loss has some long-term ramifications for me personally. Living in the Austin area and working with several Longhorn alums, it will be a while before I can talk trash against the Longhorns. I will continue to proudly wear the maroon and gold but do so knowing that every time I do, some random Longhorn fan will be quick to remind me of their pinnacle moment from what was ultimately an underachieving 2007 Texas football season for them.

Before ranting further on the broadcast of the game, here are some of my other random observations:

How does an offensive line with the experience that ASU's had (three grad students starting) have such awful pass protection. I have always heard from people who know much more about football than I do that talent is a critical piece, chemistry on the offensive line is equally important. This line has played together for a few years now so it would seem chemistry should not be an issue. That means there was either a lack of talent/depth on the O-line or....
Horrible O-line schemes and coaching. The Washington State game in early October was really the first game I can remember where our pass protection weaknesses were exploited and continued to get worse throughout the remainder of the season. Why didn't the coaching staff ever adjust? Would it kill them to use an H-back or plug one of our linebackers in at fullback to block?
I really hope Erickson makes the QB competition wide-open come spring practice. Rudy should assume nothing, hopefully he will mature a bit more during the off-season. Danny Sullivan showed some poise in his few series but keep in mind the game was pretty much over by that point, but he did at least make it somewhat interesting, cutting the score to 10 with a few minutes left.
If Kyle Williams can play well more consistently than he did this season, the Devils should have one of the top two receiving corps in the Pac-10. Seemed like the WRs were bailing Rudy out time and time again. A stark contrast from last season. This group of receivers definitely matured a lot over last season.

Now about the broadcast. I was really fired up going into this season that ESPN was going to start broadcasting Pac-10 games and we wouldn't have to continually endure the high school quality broadcasts on FSN. Unfortunately after having to listen to Herbstreit and his ongoing bias toward the Big 10, consistently picking against ASU and then his apparent lies about Rudy Carpenter's trash talking during the Holiday Bowl broadcast, I was actually missing Petros Papadakis.

Note to ESPN, just because Bob Davie's kid is a walk-on at ASU, it doesn't mean you have to make the guy your second string sideline reporter since he happens to be at the game.

Favorite Music from 2007

2007-12-28T22:08:00.000-08:00

As the year winds down I've seen a lot of "best of" lists when it comes to music from 2007. These lists are obviously comprised of songs and/or albums that were released in 2007.

This of course got me thinking about what my personal favorites from the year were. However, I soon realized that most of the new music I started listening to consistently in 2007 didn't necessarily come out during the year, but was new to me. In some cases it was 20+ years old. The following is not in any particular order and in some cases is not a specific song or album but rather an artist.

1. "Beyond the Neighbourhood" - Athlete
This was one of the few ones on my list that came out this past year. Their album "Tourist" still remains one of my overall favorites.

2. Badly Drawn Boy - I can remember hearing the song "You were right" a few years ago but never knew who sang it. I came across it when I was on Hype Machine one day and ended up checking out a lot of other BDB songs. All good stuff. BDB did have an album come out in 2007 called "Born in the UK" but "Have You Fed the Fish" is the by far his best in my opinion.

3. "Sundress" - Ben Kweller
This is one of those cases where I liked this particular song a lot, listened to it over and over. Unfortunately I could never really get into any of his other stuff.

4. Joy Division
I had always been a big New Order fan but could never really get into their precursor band Joy Division other than the song their probably most well-known for, "Love will Tear us Apart." Then I watched the movie "Control" in November which is a biopic on the late Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division. The movie itself was pretty good but it of course feature a huge dose of Joy Division songs. After watching the movie, Joy Division became a regular on my workout playlist. I could listen to "Transmission" over and over again.

5. "Mockingbird" - Derek Webb
I love the way Derek sings about his faith and puts it the context of everyday issues. He isn't the most subtle guy with respect to how he feels about something, just check out these lyrics to "A King and a Kingdom" - there are two great lies that i’ve heard:“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican

6. "Mr. Lemons" - Glen Phillips
Although I continue to be a huge fan of the former Toad the Wet Sprocket lead singer, when this album first came out in mid-2006, it really didn't do much for me. Then there was a few days of brutal commutes a couple of months back that I was listening to nothing but GP and the Mr. Lemon's songs really spoke to me. The lyrics to most of the songs had a very spiritual undertone to them, particularly "Everything but you" and "Thank You."

7. "Nothing Left to Lose" - Mat Kearney
The title song hooked me on this album. Took a little while before I could appreciate it but the strong lyrics did it for me. Kearney is one of the best Christian songwriters I have heard in a while.

8. "We were dead before the ship sank" - Modest Mouse
I could listen to "Dashboard" over and over again. Former Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr joined the group for this one and put these guys over the top in my opinion.

9. "Boxer" - The National
One of those artists I constantly heard thanks to satellite radio. Never got tired of hearing "Start a War."

10. The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Great band out of Chicago but you would think they're from Ireland. Kind of have a bit of Chieftains sound to them.

11. "Our Ill Wills" - Shout Out Louds
Everytime I hear their lead singer, it makes me want to watch Austin Powers Goldmember. Lead singer sings with a heavy dutch/scandanavian accent, but it's not so bad that you can't understand what he's saying.

Tis the Season for Texas Christmas Fun

2007-12-17T23:23:00.000-08:00

We got our Christmas buzz on this weekend when we headed up to the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, the self-proclaimed "Christmas Capital" of Texas. I'll take their word for it given there are tens of thousands of towns in Texas and I really don't feel like trying to substantiate the claim.

The weekend had very much a Christmas feel to it as a cold front blew in on Saturday morning and there was a biting wind all day that made it feel like it was in the 20s with the wind chill. I'm sure all of our friends in the midwest and northeast yawn at that one but hey, we've been in Texas for eight years now, our tolerance for cold weather stops when the temperature drops below 50.

After the requisite picture in front of a really big Christmas tree in the town square, the kids turned their attention to Frosty.After tormenting Frosty, a Santa Claus on stilts and an elf, we took a carriage ride for more small town Christmas fun.
After being outside for more than 30 minutes, we determined that we were far colder than we should have been (at least Tricia and I were, the children were of course unphased by it all) and we headed over to the Gaylord (insert "Meet the Parents" movie reference here) Texan Hotel for an indoor winter wonderland. I looked long and hard at every Target in the great Austin area for this decoration and could not find it, apparently it's one of a kind.

We thought we could warm up by going inside but that typically doesn't happen when you decide to check out ice sculpture exhibits. For some reason, 9 degrees is the magic number to keep ice from melting indoors. I'm guessing with all those cooling units working 24/7 to keep the million-plus pounds of ice frozen, achieving carbon-neutrality is a bit challenging for the hotel.

Amen!

We got back in time on Sunday to enjoy the neighborhood holiday party. Unfortunately our HOA couldn't secure one of those cool throne-like chairs the mall Santas get to sit in all day. The park bench was the best we could offer. I'm pretty sure we ended up with a non-union Santa as a result.

Chandler pondered her numerous requests and Clancy and crew figured there was strength in numbers.
While the weekend had its challenges - seven plus hours in the car, a restless night's sleep at the hotel, some lengthy waits and the typical angst that results from our kids spending lots of time around each other, it was a fun time and I wouldn't hesistate to do it again!

Extreme Team Makeover: Ed Wade Style

2007-12-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

With the trade of Chris Burke, Chad Qualls and Juan Gutierrez for D-backs closer Jose Valverde, this is now officially Ed Wade's team. The guy has guts, that's for sure. While I still think he gave up too much for Tejada (I'm not even going to get into the steroid issue this post,) it was the type of shake things up trade this franchise needed. This team was not going to win next season with some minor tweaks.

I still don't know if this team is good enough to win a weak division, I still think Wade needs to go out and get one more decent starting pitcher. The idea of going into the season with Woody Williams, Brandon Backe, Wandy Rodriguez and Chris Sampson as the guys throwing when Oswalt doesn't is a bit unsettling for me right now. Woody showed us last season he has nothing left, Backe and Sampson have had arm troubles and Wandy was erratic. I have concerns about the bullpen as well after Valverde and Brocail. However, if everyone stays relatively healthy, there's no reason this team shouldn't contend with the lineup they have in place now.

Here's my wild (and wishful) thought of the day: Roger Clemens has a Texas-sized ego, I'm almost certain the guy thinks he has something to prove following the Mitchell report. Why not extend some overtures toward him for a May/June return. Perhaps he will give the team the hometown discount circa 2004 season.

Pac=10 Co-Champion = trip to Holiday Bowl

2007-12-02T22:03:00.000-08:00

So here's my rant:

ASU is co-champions of the Pac-10. They are co-champs of what could arguably be the 2nd or 3rd toughest conference in college football. If Oregon has a healthy Dennis Dixon, I'd say we're tied with the Big-12 for 2nd.
Hawaii - congrats on going undefeated with your 137th ranked strength-of-schedule (according to Sagarin.) Spare me the whining about how no good non-conference teams want to come and play you. I hope you guys go to the Orange Bowl and thump Kansas (89th-ranked schedule) but you'll have to do better than you did against the LAST PLACE team in the Pac-10. ASU's strength of schedule according to Sagarin's computer model - 29th.
West Virginia - a 28-point favorite against Pitt loses, costs itself a spot in the National Championship and because of the stupid BCS conference tie-ins, the Fiesta Bowl is forced to take them.
Speaking of conference tie-ins - the Rose Bowl people should be ashamed of themselves. Congrats on picking a team with three losses who will get thumped by USC, maybe even worse than ASU did. Here you have the flexibility to set up a great match-up with another, more deserving team like maybe West Virginia, but you feel compelled to keep that Pac-10 vs. Big 10 tradition alive. Get over Rose Bowl committee, Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler don't coach in the Big-10 anymore. The Big-10 is awful and overrated.
It's a complete travesty that Ohio State is playing for the national championship .... again.
Then again, had the Devils taken care of business in just one of the games against Oregon or USC, then all of the above are moot points. Sigh.

Living in the Austin area, I get Longhorn football shoved down my throat pretty consistently. I accept it, it's part of being a sports fan in the home of the biggest university in Texas. It doesn't mean I have to like it however.

This is where I see a silver lining in all of this. My bitterness about ASU not playing in a BCS game is somewhat off-set by the fact that ASU will take on the Longhorns in San Diego. If ASU wins this game (and there's no reason they shouldn't) I get to throw this in the face of my fellow co-workers, neighbors, parishioners and anyone else who rides the burnt orange bandwagon for the next year.

My note on last night's win over Tucson is simply this: Chris McGaha is a freaking stud. It's a shame the guy hasn't scored a TD yet this year.

Diving Catch By Chris McGaha in Arizona vs. Arizona State

2007-12-02T20:40:00.001-08:00

My Favorite ASU-U of Tucson Memory

2007-11-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

As Saturday's Territorial Cup match-up approaches, the Bob Young of the AZ Republic had a blog about the Top 10 Territorial Cup moments. He put as number 1 John Jefferson's TD catch in the 1975 game that led to an ASU win. Given that I was four at the time, living in Houston and had no clue who ASU was, that one obviously doesn't mean a lot to me.

It was easy to remember however which one was my top one - the 1991 ASU 37-14 win where we snapped Tucson's 8-0-1 streak against us. To this day I still say that it is the absolute best football game I have ever been to and really ignited my passion for Sun Devil football. Sitting in the student section with some friends, a couple of whom were dating gals from U of Tucson that made the un-wise choice to sit with us.

It wasn't the competitiveness that made it special, it was the thrill of being there when the streak was snapped. ASU was in control the entire game and we just wanted to see them keep scoring and run it up and take out 9 years of frustration on the kitties. ASU was going nowhere that season, this was their bowl game and coach Larry Marmie was canned soon after. None of that matter, the streak was over and I was there to take in the moment. We stormed the field after the game, tore down the goalposts which subsequently fell apart and we carried pieces up to the top of the stadium. It was an amazing night.

I guess my other favorite one would be Kevin Galbreath's 51-yard TD run in the Devils' 7-6 victory in Tucson the next season. It was against the "Desert Swarm" Kitties that had been leading the nation in scoring defense at the time. Overall, it was a boring game but an exciting play and the Sun Devil D made it stick in a game we had no business winning.

0 for 2

2007-11-24T09:20:00.000-08:00

Two games on the national stage against the other top teams in the Pac-10 (I'm omitting Cal because they are just not that good) and ASU both times gets embarrassed. The Oregon game was excusable. Rudy had the bad thumb and Dennis Dixon was playing out of his head. Getting thumped by USC at home by 20 is not. Talent gap aside, there's no excuse for the poor tackling and overall shoddy defense displayed on Thanksgiving. How many times can one defense bite on a simple play action, naked bootleg? USC is getting a lot of credit for their recruiting prowess and getting their swagger back as to why they put on the clinic they did the other night but frankly some of that is attributable to ASU just not executing like they should.

Now on to the University of Tucson where I'm sure the Stoops brothers are sitting around inventing new blitz packages to throw at the Devils sorry excuse for an offensive line. I was a bit worried after Thursday night that the Devils would not be motivated for the Kitties but then I saw this quote from Erickson this morning:

"This game has nothing to do with the BCS, nothing to do with bowls, nothing to do with anything," coach Dennis Erickson said Friday. "Winning this game is more important than any bowl game. It's the University of Arizona. It's the most important game of the year."

Glad to see DE is publicly acknowledging the importance of this game. I just hope his team is better prepared to play this time around. This one also has the potential to get ugly real quick. If this team finishes 9-3 with a loss to Tucson, all the good things that happened during this season will be overshadowed by the last two weeks.

Brian McLaren was in Austin this week

2007-11-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

And I'm really bummed I didn't know about it beforehand. The Austin-American Statesman had a story about his visit to do a book signing and talk with local Christians of all denominations.

When Tricia and I lived in Maryland we attended Cedar Ridge Community Church where Brian was the senior pastor. He is an amazing teacher and his sermons (although I am hesitant to label them as such) always spoke to me. He always knew just how to take scripture and relate it to contemporary and pop culture. I'll never forget the one from Easter 1999 where he was talking about how Christ's disciples were feeling on the day he died and he closed it by playing a song from one of our favorite singers David Wilcox called "Show the Way."

I have read one of his books, "Finding Faith" and the one referenced in the article sounds like one I will want to check out. Also, I had no idea he was named to Time's 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in the Country. He definitely sticks out among some of the others on the list like Chuck Colson and James Dobson.

Thoughts on "The Mayflower"

2007-11-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

Given that Thanksgiving is next week, it's timely that I finally finished reading Nathaniel Philbrick's "The Mayflower." Given Philbrick's background in Maritime history, I thought it would focus more on the period of time leading up to the Mayflower's departure from England and the voyage itself. Instead, that didn't even encompass a third of the book. In fact, it seemed like half the book was focused on King Philip's War and the events leading up to it.

After having read Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" a few years ago, I knew going into it the guy had what it takes to turn a historical narrative into a readable story. I wouldn't quite put him at the level of Stephen Ambrose yet, but he's pretty close.

Here are some of my quick takeaways:

The Pilgrims' desire to have the freedom to practice their religion was discussed at length in the beginning but was only touched upon briefly throughout the rest of the book.
I never realized the original destination of the Mayflower was the Hudson River.
Philbrick portrays Myles Standish's unprovoked raid of the Wessagussett Indian settlement as having "irraparably damaged the human ecology of the (plymouth) region."
King Philip's War was a bloody one that resulted in more colonist deaths than was ever discussed in my college Colonial history courses.
King Philip's War may have dragged on much longer if not for the heroics of Benjamin Church. While there were probably many other aspects of this Indian vs. Colonists nearly two year battle that were not captured in the book, Philbrick focused on Church's battles and his pursuit and ultimate capture of Philip. Philbrick portrays him, he's very much the type of hero someone could probably develop a screenplay around. Primarily because of his trust in the Native Americans and willingness to form alliances with them at a time when other colonists refused to and would kill any and all they came in contact with.

Overall, the book was extremely informative without going into the extreme details that some historical narratives tend to do. Check it out if you're looking for a good Thanksgiving read.

Saturday at the Rose Bowl

2007-11-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

Sitting in the DFW airport right now waiting for my connection back to Austin having flown in from L.A. earlier today -- I was supposed to be home by now, but the 3:40 flight got canceled. DFW remains the scourge of all U.S. air travel IMO.

However, I would be even more miserable right now had the Devils blown it yesterday. They are either just real lucky or a good team that is able to overcome their mistakes. I like to think it's the latter but frankly it's probably a combination of both and the fact that UCLA is just not very good and Karl Dorrell is doing his best Dirk Koetter impersonation, circa 2006 season. He has clearly lost his team and they are just playing out the string. He may even have the dubious distinction of the being the only coach to lose to Notre Dame this season when it's all said and done.

Rose Bowl was a great place to watch a game and their were more ASU fans there than I would have ever guessed. Local alum group said they had a record turnout for their tailgate party. The good news is we escaped with a win at the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1996, won with a quarterback who had a bad throwing thumb, we're 9-1 and have a nearly two weeks to prep for USC on Thanksgiving in Tempe. Here's hoping Erickson gives Rudy at least a week off to rest that thumb.

Look about halfway up the section, I'm the one in the Gold

Ed Wade Appears to Have a Plan

2007-11-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

Whether or not the trading of Brad Lidge for some unproven players works out, I commend Ed Wade for having the guts to do what his predecessor never did. Brad Lidge was never going to be a successful closer in Houston. Everyone around baseball knew he still had killer stuff but just needed a change of scenery. Unfortunately Wade's predecessor had hang ups about trading homegrown Astros players while they still had some trade value (see Morgan Ensberg.)

What I like most about this deal is Wade appears to have a plan and vision for how this team should look next season. He knew there was a hole in CF and he addressed it. He apparently feels like Chris Burke is not the solution at 2B and is making overtures toward free-agents who he think can be. With Pupura there never seemed to be any plan for how to address needs on the team. He stuck with his homegrown boys such as Ensberg and Lane and they let him down.

The next logical move would seem to be a package of Burke and possibly Luke Scott for some pitching. Both players are young and still have trade value. Keep taking risks Ed, this team needs to change. Good luck to you Lidge, I truly do admire heart and the way you never shied away from the challenge of taking the ball night after night when things were going bad.

Random Thoughts from the Oregon Loss

2007-11-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

Nine sacks is unacceptable. The O-line definitely deserves much of the blame for this one, but Rudy must quit holding on to the ball so long or else needs to learn how to throw it away effectively. There were a couple of times where the tailback would be in open in the backfield and Rudy didn't even look him off.
With Dixon going out of the game in Q4, the Devils had an opportunity to rally but turning the ball over twice in the quarter makes that a bit challenging.
Either Oregon's offense is that good or our defense was just that bad in Q1.
Stewart ran all over the ASU defense like no one has this year, particularly in Q3. I'm sure a couple of more have ran for more yards but some of those runs by Stewart were killers.
What the heck happened clock management-wise at the end of first half? We had momentum going our way at that point and to not get any points set the tone for the second half.
Dixon looked like a Heisman candidate in Q1 but wasn't overly impressive after that.
We clearly missed Ryan Torain that game. Particularly at the goal line in Q1 and the 4th and 1 attempt in Q3.
The Devils national title hopes are probably finished but Rose Bowl hopes shouldn't be. As has been proven week after week, anything can happen this season. Oregon's remaining schedule would indicate that they probably won't lose a game. But they still have their in-state rival to play and have to travel to AZ to play the suddenly hot University of Tucson.
I have no idea what to expect from UCLA next weekend. They are a team that is reeling with a lame duck coach. I wouldn't be surprised if UCLA fans are actually pulling for the team to lose to help seal the deal on Dorrell being ousted. Based on the past two weeks, his team doesn't appear to be rallying around him.

I'm Enjoying it While I Can

2007-10-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

Continuing on from my earlier post regarding the rest of the nation taking notice of Sun Devil football, here's some sound bites from others outside of the state of Arizona:

"But with 14 starters back from last year's 7-6 disappointment, Erickson has instilled a belief system that has made ASU this week's talk of the nation. How much did the players believe in the coach who turned around Idaho, Washington State and Oregon State, and won two national titles at Miami (Fla.)? Not one player has quit or transferred." The Denver Post

"Conventional wisdom said Dennis Erickson would get Arizona State to play with physicality and toughness. Conventional wisdom also said the Larry Brown of college football wouldn't achieve greatness this quickly." FoxSports.com

Even Tucson is smart enough to know a good thing when they see it:

Things we cannot ignore about Arizona State, after rallying past California:

The Sun Devils are more persistent than ants. They have trailed Colorado 14-0, Oregon State 19-0 and California 13-0. But they've outscored opponents 153-29 in the second half . . . Freshman Thomas Weber has not missed a college field goal yet, hitting all 15 . The Tucson Citizen

"Staying in the Pac-10, the undefeated Arizona State Sun Devils have given up more than 20 points just once this season, thanks in large part to the play of underrated senior OLB Robert James. Standing just 5-foot-11, 228 pounds, James covers a lot of ground, is a sure tackler and has excelled in pass coverage." Mel Kiper, ESPN

Oregon sports information David Williford took a break from calling security to send along a note from his colleague Mark Brand at Arizona State. Brand says the only way for reporters to talk to Erickson will be on tomorrow's Pac-10 teleconference. Why? "He has had over 60 interview requests in the past nine days and I have him booked solid for the next three weeks." The Oregonian

So what does all this mean? Absolutely nothing but after 10 years of not being talked about nationally to any large extent, it's nice to get some national spotlight shining on the program. Even if we lose to Oregon this weekend, I'm going enjoy reading about my Devils in something other than the Arizona Republic this week.

Nation Taking Notice of the Devils

2007-10-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

In addition to the reporter in Alabama who keeps voting ASU number one in the AP poll, others are finally starting to take notice of ASU football. Ivan Maisel wrote this story for ESPN and this picture was running on the ESPN homepage tonight.
Haven't seen this much love for ASU football since the '96 squad and their run. Don't blow it boys, you have a rare near sell-out this weekend for a game not against the University of Tucson and it's prime-time recruiting season with a coaching staff that actually knows how to recruit. The result of Saturday night's game against Cal will have an impact beyond this season.

Chandler Cracks Up

2007-10-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it was the fact that she was overwhelmed with excitement for this weekend's Cal-ASU match-up or just the fact that she's a silly 7-year old, but nevertheless Chandler took a spill from the bar swing pictured below.

She landed awkwardly on her arm and the result was a five hour visit to the emergency room and this picture.

The doc said there is a "subtle" crack somewhere in those bones. Guess they have a special class on finding cracks at med school because I can't see it anywhere. But I saw the swelling and that was good enough for me.

The end result is Chandler gets to wear the multi-color cast she is proudly displaying here for the next three weeks.

Torain is out, but that's ok ... I think.

2007-10-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

Sun Devil football is taking the weekend off to reflect on their 7-0 start and how it means nothing more than the fact that they are now eligible to play in the Las Vegas Bowl. Hopefully Erickson will have the team more ready to play coming out of bye weeks than his predecessor did. In his last three seasons, Dirk Koetter was 0-3 coming out of mid-season bye weeks.

The Devils bad news of the week was the loss of leading rusher Ryan Torain for the season. Fortunately for ASU, RB was probably the position where we have the most depth with Keegan Herring and Dimitri Nance ready to step in and fill the void. This isn't like what would happen if we lost Carpenter at QB for the season. However, neither one of these guys brings to the table the wear you down style of running that Torain delivered, at least not what I've seen from either of them thus far, both are speed guys. Truth be told, it was always Torain who got the ball in the 4th quarter when the wearing down was needed and we frankly don't know what either Herring or Nance can do in similar situation.

Nance and Herring will be playing for the starting spot next season, so let's hope the competitive spirit shines through and they both step up.

Good luck in the NFL RT.

Favorite lyric I heard today

2007-10-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

From Mat Kearney's What's a boy to do?

"Funny which words stick around 20 years down when you’re driving alone"

Devils Still Undefeated; Number 8 in first BCS ranking

2007-10-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

The Devils took care of business Saturday night against Washington and have now officially beat all the teams they were supposed to beat. After their upcoming bye week, the soft part of their schedule officially ends.

The match-up with Cal on Oct. 27 was supposed to be a premiere match-up of undefeated teams but unfortunately Cal did not deliver on their part of the bargain. Sure their starting QB was hurt but legit top 5 teams are supposed to overcome those type of things against weaker competition, particularly on their home field. Way to screw up an opportunity to be number 1 Cal and hand the top spot to an overrated and undeserving Ohio State. People want to say ASU is overrated because we haven't beaten anyone yet, but Ohio State has beaten an even more unimpressive schedule of nobodies.

I'm trying to be realistic about ASU. Here's my realistic prediction -- 3-2 over the next five games with wins against Cal, UCLA and U of A with losses to Oregon and USC. 10-2 record results in trip to Holiday Bowl.

Drama Queens Win!!

2007-10-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

Chandler's softball team played FIVE games today over a span of about 12 hours - 8 am to 8 pm. They went 4-1 over those games and won their championship game 12-5.

Chandler had a great day at the plate and knocked in the winning run in the semi-final game.

It was a long day for everyone in addition to the players. Clancy was a trooper all day, as were we the parents who endured hard bleachers, lots of dust, a few questionable calls and no diet soda or popcorn at the concession stand. I'm pretty sure Chandler had a good time and winning the championship made it that much more special for her, I truly do think she will remember this day for a long time. I know Tricia and I will.

Congrats sweetie! Mommy and daddy are proud of you.

LCP Softball tourney

2007-10-13T13:24:00.001-07:00

Chandler's team is 2-1 at the Leander-Cedar Park softball tournament today. As of this posting, they have to win one more game to make the championship!

Chandler has been hitting the ball well today and caught two pop flies in the first inning of the second game.

Pundit Predictions on ASU - UW game tonight

2007-10-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

I always like to humor myself and read the scouting reports and predictions on ASU football games in not only The Arizona Republic but also the local paper(s) of the school they are playing that day. It's always interesting to compare and contrast the perceptions of the teams.

Oddly enough in this case, all three papers (The Arizona Republic, Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer) have ASU winning and all have the Sun Devils scoring 31 points. In my opinion, this is not a good sign for ASU.

Here are their predictions:
Arizona Republic
Seattle Times
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Another Blow to the Recording Industry

2007-10-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

Following in the footsteps of Derek Webb, Radiohead is selling their latest album via the Priceline approach of the customer naming their price to buy it. Given the publicity they have gotten already, even if they average $3 bucks a download, I'm pretty sure they will make money and the record companies will not see a dime of it. Plus, I'm sure Radiohead will clean up when they go on tour. Particularly considering what people are willing to shell out to see Hannah Montana.

Suddenly the Pac 10 conference is up for grabs

2007-10-06T22:52:00.000-07:00

Now that Stanford has pulled off the upset of the year -- apologies to Appalachian State, aka the "other" ASU -- the Pac-10 has a wide-open football race.

There are now only three unbeaten teams in conference play - Cal, UCLA and ASU. Cal clearly is the favorite now and may very well be the number two team in the country on Sunday. If ASU takes care of business next week against Washington in Tempe and Cal does the same against Oregon State and UCLA, all eyes will be on the Cal-ASU match-up on Oct 27. Will Corso and the ESPN gameday crew possibly make a trip down to Tempe?

I'm probably getting way too ahead of myself here. If ASU plays like they did today against Washington State, they wont beat UW. This is a good Huskie squad Ty Willingham has and they have something to prove after barely losing to USC last week.

ASU was lucky to leave Pullman with their 23-20 win. If anyone watched the game (my condolences for enduring the torture that is the FSN broadcast crew of Barry Tompkins and Petros Papadakis) you repeatedly saw the non-TD call that went against the Cougars in the first half. If that catch is ruled a TD, like it probably should have been, then ASU probably doesn't win the game.

I think the officiating crew tried to make it up to the Cougs with a bogus roughing the kicker call against ASU in the 3rd quarter but even that went ASU's way. Justin Tryon ran an interception back for TD on the very next play. Btw JT, that taunting crap you pulled on the run into the end zone was completely bush.

It wasn't pretty, but the Sun Devils are 6-0 and escaped a hostile environment with a 'W'. In the end, that's all that matters. Also the fact that Bill Doba got his words shoved down his throat was quite refreshing to see. Being on the wrong end of a comparison to UofA is not something Sun Devil nation takes lightly and if Doba is still with the Cougs next season when they visit Tempe, I'm sure he will be reminded of it over and over again.

Friday night sugar rush

2007-10-06T09:56:00.001-07:00

Chandler and Clancy got to frost their Halloween cookies Friday night. Hard to believe that Halloween is only a few weeks away, particularly since it is still 90 degrees here in Austin.

If you watch Clancy toward the end, you will clearly be able to see the effects of being tired and having licked the frosting knife repeatedly.

We were the lucky ones

2007-10-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Craig Biggio played his last major league baseball game on Sunday. While the Astros won the game, it was the emotion of Bidge's 20-year career ending, all as a member of the Astros' organization, that will be remembered most about the day.

As expected, Richard Justice penned a great column in Sunday's Houston Chronicle to celebrate and reflect on the significance of Bidge being an Astro his entire career. In the lead paragraph he wrote:
Craig Biggio once said he was fortunate to be able to play his entire major league career with one team. Truth be told, we were the lucky ones.

Amen. I know I was lucky to have spent half of my Astro rooting life being able to follow this guy's career. While watching the game on Sunday, I interrupted Clancy's current Star Wars' adventure and picked him up into my arms and had him watch Bidge's final at-bat of his career with me. I was shocked that my four year old son actually paid attention and listened to me tell him about how Bidge was the best player ever to put on an Astros' uniform and how if he continues his little league career he should always pretend to be Bidge.

Bidge ended up grounding out at to Chipper Jones in his last AB, but trust me when I say it was the most emotional groundout you will ever see when you look at Bidge's face and constant ovation he was given by the Astros' fans. For me personally, watching that moment unfold with my son is one I'll never forget.

In what was considered an awful season from a standings and results standpoint, the Astros still managed to draw more than 3 million fans. Drayton can personally thank Bidge and his quest for 3000 and eventual retirement announcement for those numbers. Frankly, credit must be given to the Astros' marketing department which milked the Bidge retirement tour for everything they could.

I will miss you Bidge and so will baseball for that matter, not just the Astros. I truly hope you are involved with the Astros in some way, shape or form moving forward.

See images from the day here.

Finally time to win in California?

2007-09-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

The last time the Arizona State football team won a Pac-10 game in California;

Google was just another search engine
Bill Clinton was president
Baseball fans still enjoyed watching Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire play and we all thought they were just naturally strong guys
The Bone Collector was the Number 1 movie in America
RIM had just introduced the BlackBerry to the market
There were no iPods
Napster was all the rage
I had no kids

November 6, 1999 was the last time Sun Devil football won a conference game in the state of California. That was a 26-16 win over USC, well before they were the USC we all despise today. Future NFLers shined in that game with Todd Heap scoring a TD and more than 100 yards receiving and JR Redmond racked up more that 150 all-purpose yards.

The last time they won at all in California was 2002 when they escaped San Diego State with a 39-28 win. Thanks Koetter for preparing the boys to show up in California. In case anyone is interested, Koetter was 1-12 in California during his time at ASU.

Clearly Saturday's game against Stanford is a big one beyond the obvious reasons of staying undefeated, beating a team they should beat and continuing to climb the rankings. Getting a conference win in California will truly represent the changing of the guard for the program and will go a long way in demonstrating to the locals who need to fill the stadium that ASU is for real.

On paper Stanford doesn't look great, but this is a team that gave Oregon all they could handle last weekend and they have a fiery up and coming coach in Jim Harbaugh. Should be a good one and the first close game from start to finish ASU has played in thus far in 2007.

Really good article in PR Week

2007-09-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

This guy quoted in here seems particularly sharp.

Astros sweep AAA team; Biggio lovefest begins

2007-09-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

The Astros finished off their roadtrip with a sweep of the Reds and some of their best future prospects with a 4-3 win Thursday night.

After this roadtrip, which was a rare winning one at 5-2, my biggest question is what does the future hold for the Astros and Brad Lidge? He blew a save this past weekend in St. Louis and nearly blew two more in Cincy.

I'm sure the Astros will say he is their closer, no question about it. However, I'm hoping with a new G.M. on board, he's looking at contingency plans. Hopefully, some of the challenges Lidge had in the late season are attributable to his knee problems which are supposedly going to be addressed with off-season surgery. I'm just curious why they didn't shut the guy down sooner, let him have his surgery and give him that much longer to recover and be stronger for the 2008 season. These games mean nothing.

The Astros wrap up this most forgettable season with three games at MMP against the Braves. All three games are soldout as fans come to say goodbye to the greatest Astro ever, Craig Biggio. Also, Bidge is schedule to start Saturday's game at catcher for the first time since the 1991 season. The games mean nothing to the rest of the world, but to Astros fans who have watched the guy play since 1988, they mean everything.

Channeling Jake

2007-09-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Arizona Republic reporter Jeff Metcalfe said it best when he led off his story on ASU's 44-32 win over Oregon State by saying that Rudy Carpenter was "channeling Jake Plummer" during the game.

Because the game was not televised ANYWHERE I unfortunately have no video to back up my point, all I have is the firsthand accounts from my buddy Steve who was one of the few fans who happened to make it to the game (I will give the locals one more chance to step up and show up before I rant on them.)

On more than one occasion Steve shot me a text from the game that exclaimed that he just seen the most amazing play ever from Rudy. Sigh. No YouTube highlights, no nothing for rabid Sun Devil fan forced to track the game in Texas. Anyhow, the point is, Rudy is becoming quite the escape artist in the tradition of Jake the Snake. Hopefully he can do it minus all the INTs Jake used to throw.

Despite my not being able to see any of the game, the Devils won thanks to a great defense and clutch plays from Rudy. Don't look now but we're 4-0 and ranked. AND, all games will be televised from this point on.

Astros and Cards in Sept used to mean something

2007-09-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

I'm sure when the MLB schedule-makers had the Astros travel to St. Louis for a 4 game series against the Cardinals, they probably thought they were enabling some good pennant race drama. Alas, this September, all this series represents is a showcase of potential future starters for both teams. In the case of the Astros, the three being watched closely are JR Towles, Josh Anderson and Cody Ransom.

Nevertheless, watching the bits and pieces of this series have been a painful reminder of the fact that the Astros are playing irrelevant baseball in September for the first time in the past seven seasons. All compounded by the fast that the irrelevant baseball they have been playing is just plain bad baseball. Outside of the 18 run explosion the other night, there has not been a whole lot to even be encouraged about for next season.

Oh btw, they lost 7-4 tonight to the Cards.

A week's worth of runs in one game

2007-09-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

That's pretty much what the Astros did Thursday night against the Cards with their 18-1 win. More impressive was the performance by rookie catcher JR Towles. Towles with 4-4, HR and 8 RBIs. The 8 RBIs was an Astros' rookie record.

Now let's put the win in perspective:

The Cardinals are a beaten team. The Rick Ankiel HGH thing seems to have taken the wind out of their sails.
No Albert Pujols in the lineup. Granted, Pujols doesn't pitch, but the guy is a game-changer.
It's September, stats in Sept. are meaningless in my opinion. Particularly when it's essentially a lot of minor leaguers up against minor leaguers, which was the case with the Cards-Astros game last night.

But hey, there hasn't been much positive Astros' news to get excited about, so I will take it.

Don't Make Eye Contact

2007-09-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

This is what I'm always told to do whenever I'm walking the streets of San Francisco and pass what seems to be an endless stream of panhandlers. San Francisco by far has one of the largest populations of panhandler and homeless types in comparison to the other big cities I have spent time in. They are also the most aggressive in SF.

One time I was on a business trip a few years ago, we decided to have a late-night breakfast at one of the all-night diners there and we were seated close to the door and it seemed that every five minutes someone was coming in off the street asking us for money. Of course the restaurant staff told us to not make eye contact or acknowledge them and they would go away.

I was reading my Daily Heartlight email today and it posed this question;

Is there a time to ignore the professional "panhandler" who continues to live irresponsibly by taking advantage of well-intentioned people?

This is one that I have continually struggled with over the years. Phil Ware provides some good examples from the New Testament of times when Christ discerned it was the right time to walk away from those in need.

Do I still feel like there is no right or wrong answer here? Absolutely. However, it was a good and somewhat simple reminder for me to pray for wisdom and discernment every day when it comes to helping others. James 4:17 leaves little room for interpretation;

And when a person knows how to do good, but does not do good, then he is sinning.

How Refreshing...

2007-09-13T00:31:00.000-07:00

Now that I have had a chance to take a breath from some of my work activities, I finally was able to digest some of the coverage of the Sun Devils 33-14 win over Colorado on Saturday night.

While the score may not indicate it, it was probably one of the more uglier lopsided wins I have ever seen. The Devils were penalized 12 times for 136 yards. Eight of those penalties were of the personal foul variety. Having watched the game I would say that only six of those were legit. However, even if it were only one personal foul, it's one too many.

While Tricia likes to remind me that this type of play is indicative of Erickson-coached squads, she still cant forget the drubbing his Oregon State team laid on Notre Dame at the Fiesta Bowl in 2001, I have to say that it was refreshing to read DE's post-game comments:

Erickson said his team's 12 penalties were "embarrassing" and "ridiculous." "There's no excuse for that. It's not going to happen ever again or they're not going to play. The discipline part of the penalties really bothers me. That's the most disappointing thing of the game."

I'm pretty sure if Koetter was still coaching the team, we'd be hearing about how the Devils played a great game against an underrated Colorado team coached by his buddy and that the Devils were lucky to have won. Followed by some statement about how the Devils need to practice better.

Nevertheless, I do hope the discipline factor does improve next week against San Diego St. If you cant improve your discipline against the Aztecs, well then we could be in for a long season.

"hey you, in the maroon, how's your jumper?"

Pics from my visit to LucasFilms

2007-09-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

As a long-time Star Wars geek, it was quite a thrill for me to visit the LucasFilm campus in San Francisco last night as my company hosted a launch event there.

Here are some of the pics, hope you enjoy them Clancy-boy!

Why now Drayton?

2007-08-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

I really don't get why Drayton pulled the trigger on kicking Garner and Purpura to the curb now as opposed to back in June or early July when it was clear the team was going nowhere. If you're serious about giving Cecil Cooper a real audition as manager, he needs more than just over a month.

I'm traveling today in San Francisco and trying to digest all the Astros' news of the day but unfortunately I am once again dealing with a very slow hotel Internet connection. An example of this slow connection is the fact that I have been trying to send a 4 MB file via email to a colleague in Germany for more than three hours. This proves my theory once again that if you have to pay more than ten dollars for an Internet connection, you can pretty much guarantee it will be brutally slow. Take note of this if you're ever staying at the Westin Market St. in SF.

I will probably have more to say on the Astros latest moves later this week but for now, I'll say good luck Cecil.

Word to Drayton, please don't let Tal Smith talk you into hiring his kid as GM.

Erickson - Koetter comparisons starting to come out

2007-08-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

When there is a transition in coaches and coaching staff, players who played for the previous regime are naturally asked to compare the differences between the two coaches. I've started to notice it's happening more frequently with the Sun Devils as they continue with practices and draw closer to the first game on Sept. 1. Here's the most recent example from from Zach Krula in today's AZ Republic:

The 23-year-old said of the new staff: "There's nothing they're doing that I don't like. They're able to separate work from play a lot better. "I just felt I was never able to let my guard down (with some on former coach Dirk Koetter's staff). If I was going to talk to some person, it had to be about football. I couldn't just talk to them about the movie I saw - or really insert anything here. There is a certain time when you can't talk to these guys about that, because it's business. But there's always that time when you can talk to them about anything else. More than anything, that's what I appreciate from this staff the most. They're not really trying to be a parent at all points in time."
Well Zach, I'm glad you have some new buddies, now let's see if you can stay healthy for a full season. He continued on to say:
The Sun Devils' practices are shorter under Erickson. The point is to be fast and physical without getting pounded. "I feel we get more out of them, and I also feel they're almost easier somehow, which really doesn't make sense to me," Krula said.

I do hope this one is true. One of the complaints you continually heard from Koetter and some of the players last year were about bad practices. Clearly this was reflected in their gameday play if last year is any indication.

Keller gets nod at Nebraska

2007-08-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

Following up to my post earlier this week, Sam Keller was indeed named starting QB at Nebraska, a year after having the same position given to him then taken away at ASU.

Bob Young of the AZ Republic has an interesting take on the comments Sam made after he was named the starter for the Huskers.

"So if we were in Ganz's cleats, we wouldn't do anything hasty. Stick by the phone for a couple of days. And if Callahan doesn't pull a Dirk, you can always call Mike Stoops in Tucson or something."

Back in the days of the Sam and Rudy lovefest

Sam and Rudy; One year later

2007-08-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

It struck me today that we're a few days away from the one-year anniversary of when former ASU football coach Dirk Koetter made what would ultimately be a season-defining decision for his 2006 squad when he took the starting QB role away from senior Sam Keller and handed the reins to sophomore Rudy Carpenter. This of course after he had named Keller the starting QB just a day earlier. As everyone who follows ASU football knows, this decision would be the beginning of the end for Koetter who was given his walking papers after the season ended.

It is interesting that the AZ Republic has not come out with a story on what really drove DK's decision. Perhaps we'll see something in a few days or next weekend before the first game on Sept. 1.

I also plan to do a little reading on whether or not Keller is being challenged at all for the starting spot at Nebraska. Had heard initially that he wasn't a clear-cut favorite.

If you're ever hungry in Boston...

2007-08-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

... I recommend Tavern on the Water, particularly if you're looking for a low-key, casual place to eat . Great food and great views.

I don't however recommend the Royal Sonesta Hotel. Bad Internet connectivity and customer service. Only redeeming feature was the nice view of the Charles River I had from my room.

And so begins the "Astros are back in it" chatter...

2007-08-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

Never mind the fact that they are 12 games under .500, the Astros completed a sweep of the Cubs and Astro-killer Carlos Zambrano tonight with an 8-2 win. They are now 8.5 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central with with 48 games to play.

I'll go on record now as saying they have NO shot. I don't care what has happened the last 3 years and the incredible runs they made, this is a different team with a very mediocre pitching staff and inconsistent offense. Last three seasons we had Clemens, Pettite and Oswalt at the top of the rotation and a much stronger bullpen. Now it's Oswalt, Woody and Wanda at the top of the rotation with erratic pitching from Qualls and Lidge in the pen.

But hey, at minimum I'd love to see them build on something for 2008.

Devils in pads; Astros win first two against Cubs

2007-08-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

ASU football training has swung into gear with their first practice in pads yesterday. I feel for you boys, two-a-days in pads in Tempe. I often wonder if these practices help build up their stamina or wear them down and catch up with them as the season goes on. It would be nice to see them build an indoor practice facility to find out if it does have a long-term effect.

I'm still not sure what to think about this year's squad. The vibe from the players and Erickson is positive right now. However, the vibe from DK was positive a couple of days into training camp last year as well. We will know a lot more about this team after their first two games against San Jose State (coached by former U of Tucson coach Dick Tomey,) winners of the New Mexico Bowl last season, and an improved Colorado squad.

On the baseball front, Wandy "I only throw strikes at Minute Maid" Rodriguez and free agent bust of the year Woody Williams pitched the Astros past the Soriano-less Cubs to win a landmark two games in a row.

Roy O goes up against Carlos Zambrano who owns the Astros with his arm and his bat. I'm pretty sure the guy is hitting something like .400 against us with a couple of dingers for his career. Oh well, it's always nice to win 2 out of 3.

Eric Bruntlett hates Round Rock

2007-08-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

Or at least never wants to visit there again as a member of the Express. It is going to be real interesting to see what the team does when Pence comes back from his injury in a few weeks. My guess is that you don't see Pence back until September anyhow and at that point rosters will have expanded. However, if Pence is back before the end of August, Bruntlett or Lane will be the obvious choices.

It shouldn't be EB as he is playing some of the best ball I have ever seen him play. Sparkling defensive plays in the field and now some clutch hitting. Last night he robs one of the many obscure Marlin hitters of an HR with a leaping catching at the centerfield wall. Oh by the way, it was only his second time in CF this year. The night before he comes up with a clutch tw0-run double in the sixth inning to put the Astros up for good in the game.

Now you have Lane hitting the ball hard again like he did in 2005 which muddies the Astros OF picture even more. There's not enough ABs for these guys right now. It's clear Purpura needs to try and get something for Lamb and Loretta so they can start opening up playing time for guys like Lane and Luke Scott and begin building something going into 2008.