Clancy (5yrs) reads his first book

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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