Coach Saban - Too Much Time In Miami??

The University of Alabama has had another player arrested. Coach Saban, what is going on? Did you spend too much time in Miami? Your team is acting more like "THE U" instead the "Crimson Tide."

It is time to bring the players into the gym and explain they are student athletes not work release criminals. They have a responsibility to the University and thier team.

Winning is very important. However, it should not be achived by putting the University on the path to becoming the training ground for future Baltimore Ravens. Being a football player at the University of Alabama does not put you above the law.

Coach Saban, you are the team leader. You need to set the tone. If your captain is getting in trouble then you need to set the example.

Look Who's Coming to my Neighborhood

Taste of the South comes to the Mid-West! Thank you Chick-fil-a!!!! I am your biggest fan of your sandwiches, slaw, milk shakes, nuggets, biscuits, and service. I have traveled many miles out of the way to purchase your famous sweet tea. Since I didn't enter the contest for biggest fan I will accept second place....but it is a really close second.

My children have been counting down the days with your banner on the front of the store that is opening in 3 days. We are all so excited!

Did I mention how much my family loves your free standing units with a play place? We are already planning to make a visit as soon as the unit opens.

Welcome to the neighborhood. We are glad to have you in the area.

Eat Mooore Chicken! We love the cows!

Blast From the Past - Anniversary of the Miracle on Ice

Where were you in 1980? Do you remember when Al Michaels called the greatest Olympic hockey game on t.v. against the Russians. Do you Believe in Miracles? I have and I do!

As a Hockey player I knew the importance of the game. A number of years earlier in school I actually got to wear Coach Jack Riley's medal he won as the US coach that had last beaten the Russians in the 1960 Olympics.

Today, is the 28th anniversary of the U.S. hockey team's Miracle on Ice in one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympic history, the underdog U.S. hockey team, made up of college players, defeated the four-time defending gold-medal winning Soviet team at the XIII Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York.



God Bless the Late Coach Herb Brooks and his team. They gave our country one of the greatest sports moments just when we needed it.

Copernicus birthday - Father of Modern Astronomy - Born Today

On February 19, 1473, Nicolaus Copernicus is born in Torun, a city in north-central Poland. The father of modern astronomy, he was the first modern European scientist to propose that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun. He proposed the heliocentric (Sun Centered) system versus the convention of the day that the Earth was the center of the Universe.

Imagine what Stars Wars would have been like without Copernicus. We would also not have my favorite Space Joke. What do Star Trek and Toilet paper have in common? They both have a never ending mission, to circle Uranus to looking for Klingons! (Yes, gross dad humor!)

Happy 535th Birthday.

Today is the SuperBowl of NASCAR

Gentlemen, start your engines. A whole new season of NASCAR is running today with the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Great American Race is on.

Where other sports spend the whole season waiting for the big race. NASCAR finds a time between the end of football and before the start of March Madness in Basketball to launch the monster race.

I know a gentlemen in Alabama who waits for this event all year long. He has followed the teams, the cars, the sponsors, and the race conditions. This is his biggest weekend of the year, behing his anniversary, the birth of his daughter, and the birthday of his lovely wife. But, I can tell you all of that is a very close second.

I can't wait to see who wins. Dale Earnhart, "Junior" came to a company meeting with his new sponsor, AMP. I would like to see him do well with his new team.

Let's see who can hold on to survive the race.

Whining Over - Repairs Begin

Okay, put away the Cheese & Crackers, the Whining is over!. Time to do some repair work and upgrades.

Blog Edits Gone Wrong

Friday evening seemed to be going well. Busy Dad was getting things done, spending time with the family, preparing for work, doing a little self development time, and a quick stop by the blog for an update. (Think of the sound of a needle scratching across a record; for the chronologically unadvanced, similar to the CD not playing correctly) It is like the universe skipped a beat.

First the post didn't really save. Then the movement of blog elements when horribly wrong. The blogs I like to read went bye-bye. Of course I didn't discover this immediately. Trying to multi-task I had a couple things going on at the same time. (This is a recipe for disaster!)

Second, the spell check isn’t working on Blogspot.com. Well, I have a long list of current and former teachers who can already attest to my lack of skill with the written and spoken English language. Not having spell check exposes my faulty keyboard to ridicule. You know. Because it must be the keyboard spelling all those words wrong, not really, it is the loose nut behind it.

Finally, maybe I wasn’t on top of my game posting while trying to edit the blog. Back to the multi-tasking thing! Anyway, I will fix the blog over the weekend, check in with my fellow bloggers that I enjoy reading and work to discover some new blogging horizons.

Two Shopping Days Until Valentine's Day

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is a gentle reminder that Valentine's Day is two days from now. Don't forget those cards and gifts.

Even if she says," I really don't need anything," don't fall for it. She really doesn't mean it.

So, shop early and often.

This is Amore!

Weather Delays the Soccer Debut of Princess Dabba

An ice storm came through our area last night. This was welcomed by the older siblings that were let out of school for the day. Our youngest member of the family saw the inclement weather as an inconvenient extension to delay her soccer debut.

Isn't it interesting how people see one situation with such different points of view.

It appears the soccer debut of Princes Dabba will have to wait until next Monday evening. I can tell you there was some serious practice put in today in the house.

Soccer, Soccer, Soccer - It's Spring Time

Let the games begin. More appropriately let the practices begin. Three of our four kids will be participating in soccer this spring season.

And the inaugural season for the youngest has finally arrived! Princes Dabba, who has been going to soccer practices since the stork delivered her to the sidelines, has her first practice on Monday evening!!!!! We have tried on the shoes, the shin guards, and tested the water bottle, at least two or three time times. We have even had to read Froggy Plays Soccer. " You can kick it, knee it or head it, but you can't use your hands." She is so ready!

The Minister of Plain is ready. He has played for five seasons (fall and spring) and filled in for someone last spring. So, he is on it. He has been practicing kicks and preparing his moves on the X-Box 360. He has assured me it makes him mentally tough to practice. (That gets points in my book for creative though process.)

Queen of Chocolate loves her competitive team. She scored 5 goals the other night in a practice game, work out, and try out. It went very well. She will be practicing a couple of times a week and traveling to some tournaments. She started walking, running, and jogging and practicing her ball handling skills again. She is getting all of the long arms and legs going in the same direction and can boom shots toward the goal. I know a couple of seasons ago I wasn't a big fan of standing in front of the goal before so I am sure there will be a few bumps and bruises for the opposing goalies if they get there.

Thank goodness football on television doesn't have the yellow card. But, I am in training also. I am making sure I can explain the definition of offside and adhere to the "play well with others concept". At least while coaching you can talk. Being a soccer parent is tough.

So the crew could be coming to soccer field near you. There will be weekly updates! You have been warned.

Music Night with the Spouse

Okay, I'm not sure if this qualifies as an electronic date or just the activities of two adults doing a stroll down memory lane.

Friday evening started out with a simple question. Do you remember who sings a particular song? Lieber, who usually knows all there is to know about music, except the words to some songs, asked the question. Well, let's look it up on the computer. Lieber on one computer and me on another.

We spent the next few hours trying to figure out who the band was that Lieber asked the original question about. She went to Loudfusion.com, and checked Wal-Mart.com, and I went to Yahoo Music Jukebox to start the hunt to determine the mystery song and who was the mystery artist.

This started an electronic version of hey, check out this album. Maybe it is from this band. Oh! Do you remember this song? It was alot of fun to play the snippet of the song that plays on the service. We also purchased a number of songs to listen to in the car or on the MP3 player that we haven't listen to in a long time.

There was the air guitar and drum solo of RUSH, the fun of "If I had a Million Dollars by the Bare Naked Ladies. We laughed about some Barry Manilow tunes (These were the spouses). Styx, Brothers Johnson, Loverboy, Men At Work, REO Speedwagen, Queen, Babyface, Ozzy, Seals & Crofts, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Semisonic, Earth Wind and Fire, and some number of one hit wonders. This review of band, dance, country, went on for hours. We would talk about the music, where we lived, and what we were doing. We would laugh about the time of life, the words, and the social occasions that we first remember hearing the music.

The kids in the house heard the music and wondered what we were listening to. A couple of songs they though were original to Disney movies or were original to a more recent artist. Kids! (Okay, at this point I started to feel a little old, like my parents.) It was fun to hear and funny to experience at the same time. When my son believed that Babyface wrote the James Taylor songs.

We had a great time. Then the discovery came with the Steve Miller Band, Jungle Love. This didn't really end the musical quest. Then we started to see what other music we had not heard recently or had allowed to drift to the back of our memory banks.

Lieber and I had a great evening and rediscovered some cool music and some not so cool. I encourage you to take your significant other on a musical computer dual.

A side benefit of the music time; I can't wait for the ride to work on Monday. My fellow drivers on the highway may be treated to some great music, some fabulous air band, and vehicular dance moves!

Time for a Bloggy Makeover

This is a great possibility to support a new start up business and to get a makeover for your blog. Use the link below to go to see Doodlebug Designs. Follow the requested information link to enter. Doodlebug Designs will select a winner on February 22nd.
Maybe Doodlebug Designs can make our sites look cooler. Go see them today.

It is the Giants - Winners of Super Bowl XLII

What a great Super Bowl! I know I watched until the very end.

Congratulations to the New York Football Giants, The G-Men, pulled off the most improbable run in NFL history! To be the lowest seated team in the play-offs to not only make it to the SuperBowl, but, to win it. Man what a game!

It was wonderful to see the play of the defense what a job executing the plan. The defense was incredible. "The Big Blue Wrecking Crew", Strahan, Mitchell, Umenyoria, Pierce, Tuck, Cofield, Wilson, and all the names I can't remember as I type. They put it on the line right from the start of the game. What a performance. I know the Partiots line has to be wondering where all of those blitzes came from.

The Giants offense put it together when the game was on the line. Manning to Burress! I love to watch Brandon Jacobs and Branshaw run, Kevin Boss and Burress catch, and Eli running the offense.

After all the stuff the talking heads put on Eli Manning talking about his confidence, his play, his manner in front of the cameras. The retractions should start early and often to mention the last four minutes of the game. The awarding of the Most Valuable Player for the Super Bowl makes all of that tough work rewarding. What a performance.

The coaching staff of the Giants put one together. Coach Spag on the defense. What a game.

Kids will begin eating Double Stuff OREO's all over the country. (The Double Stuff Racing League). It wasn't a sports drink. These must work, both guys in the ad won the Super Bowl and the MVP.

To all the New England Patriots fans, my congratulations, on the season. I'm sure it is disappointing with all of the pressure. That is a very impressive collection of talent. It was a great Super Bowl. It sure was exciting.

Let's have a little celebration of football.

I sure am looking forward to next season!

It is SuperBowl XLII Sunday - Live from Glendale, AZ

Well, Glendale Arizona is the center of the Football universe today. That is because today is SuperBowl Sunday! The New York Football Giants are playing the New England Patriots in the forty-second version of the National Football League Championship game.

Plenty of subplots during the game. Tom Brandy against Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin versus Bill Belechick, A season of perfection versus the persuit of the ring. I am hoping this is a close game that is worth watching. As a football fan I like it close and not a blow out.

This is also the Sunday when some of the coolest advertisements in televisions are previewed. Some of the ads that are run during the game become part of the language of the country. Remember the Bud Light frogs, the Monster.com ads with the kids that talked about being downsized or a yes man, the horses for Budweiser playing football, and the WAAAASSSSSSUPPPP! Let's hope there are no wardrobe malfunctions this year. I really do enjoy the ads.

Enjoy your Superbowl Sunday. My daughter, Boodles, would rather watch the cake decorating contests on Home and Garden television. She does want to be a baker so this is her version of the highest level of competition.

Enjoy the Game. This is the last real game until next season, Go Giants!

A Day of Rememberance -

Today is the 5th Anniversary of the Columbia Disaster when we lost 7 brave astronauts who were minutes from landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is also a day after NASA paid tribute and remembers them and the other 10 astronauts who have perished in our quest for space. The crews of the Space Shuttle Challenger, January 28, 1986 and Apollo 1, January 27, 1967, who also were lost to tragedy. Such fine people working on behalf of science, exploration, discovery, and the pursuit of a dream.

Columbia exploded and broke apart on re-entry into the atmosphere due to faulty heat shield tiles, damaged days before at thier launch, on February 1, 2003.

Columbia Crew:
Rick Husband, Col.,USAF
William McCool, Cdr.,USN
Michael P. Anderson, Ltc., USAF
Ilan Ramon, Col., IAF
Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D.
David Brown, M.D., Capt., USN
Laurel S. Clark, M.D., Cdr., USN

Challenger and her crew were killed when the O-rings failed 73 seconds after launch and exploded, on that cold January day back in 1986.

Challenger Crew:
Francis Scobee, USAF
Michael J. Smith, USN
Judith A. Resnik, Ph.D.
Ellison S. Onizuka, USAF
Ronald E. McNair, Ph.D.
Gregory B. Jarvis, USAF
Christa McAuliffe

The Apollo One crew were killed, January 27, 1967, in a fire while practicing for thier upcoming mission.
Apollo One Crew:
Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ltc., USAF
Edward H. White, Ltc., USA
Roger B. Chaffee, Lt. Cmdr., USN

In the words of President Ronald Reagan, delivered to the Challenger families, "we will bid you goodbye, but we will never forget you."