NateWadman.com

Cardinals Blame the Phone?

2011-10-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

This year has been an interesting year to be a Cardinal fan. It started in February when Pujols announced he would not negotiate a contract extension once Spring Training started. Then Adam Wainwright got hurt leaving the Cards without their best pitcher. After a season of struggling and losing the Central Division to Milwaukee, they got hot in September. Using some help from the Phillies, they eeked into the Wild Card and the playoffs. A Game 5 1-0 win in Philadelphia and a meltdown by Milwaukee put St. Louis in the World Series. Then, we have Pujols hitting 3 homeruns in Game 3 only to be followed by a loss in Game 5 because the phone doesn't work? What could possibly be next?

Updates

2011-10-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I need to blog here more, but just haven't been motivated. I guess I've been playing too much with Google+. In any case, I'll try to post more here, but with it just being a portal, don't expect too much.

As for news, well, I updated to iOS 5 on my iPad and iPod Touch. That was more of a pain than it needed to be. My music, books and podcasts wouldn't show up no matter what I did. When I tried closing the active apps, music closed, synced and updated. Oh well.

Jordan Pacheco BROKEN BAT two run home run! 7-8-2011

2011-07-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

I've seen a lot of things in my time at the ballpark, but this one ranks right up there as one of the strangest:

Back To Firefox

2011-07-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I started having Flash issues with Google Chrome. Google couldn't seem to figure them out and since I have to work with Flash based websites, off to Firefox I went. I thought the stay would be short until Chrome got things sorted out. Well, Firefox has improved greatly since I left a year or so ago. The extensions are more what I like and the speed is now better than Chrome, at least on the pages I need. So, until Firefox fails (again) it looks like I'm back.

Dubious Quality: Babies

2011-06-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite blogs and well, he just explained coaches perfectly to his son:

Dubious Quality: Babies:

"'Remember how you asked me what it was like to care for a baby, and I told you it was really tough, because all babies could do when they needed to communicate something was cry? So a baby might need food, or its diaper changed, or need to be held, but all it can do is cry, and you have to figure out what the crying means?'

'I remember that,' he said.

'Well, lots of coaches are just like that,' I said, 'because when they need to communicate something--'

'They yell!' Eli said."

Chip

2011-06-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night, I got one of those emails you don't want to get. It was news that Chip, whom I had officiated football together had died.

There isn't a lot I want to say here. He was a good official, but more importantly he was a GREAT guy. I will miss him, especially when the striped shirts come out of the closet this fall.

National Anthems

2011-06-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Trust me when I say, I've heard my share of national anthems. I go to many sporting events, in many roles, and hear many renditions of both the U.S. and Canadian anthems. Most are forgettable moments on the way to the game and that's okay. I've heard many a kids' group sing off key the "Star Spangled Banner" only to receive a solid ovation at the end. After all, the crowd could sing along and it's not about the quality of the singer, is it?

While watching last night's Stanley Cup Game 1 in Vancouver, this anthem tradition became on of my new favorites:

Why is it one my favorites? One reason. It's all about the song. The crowd is not only able to sing along, they are required to in the middle to make it work. Okay, "required" might not be the right word, but it's that middle part where the singer hands the song over to the crowd which makes it powerful.

Compare the Vancouver "O' Canada" to the Los Angeles version of "Star Spangled Banner" from 1983:

The L.A. version might make a better single or concert, but for my money, the Vancouver one makes the better anthem before a sporting event.

Umpiring 2011

2011-05-31T15:54:00.000-07:00

With the All-Star Game last night, I finished my 24th season (1988-present) umpiring. Yes, it's only May 31st, but with Simon at home and frankly a waning interest in umpiring summer ball, it looks like I'm done for the year. In the great scheme of things, 2011 wasn't a year I really want to extend any way.

Yes, I was selected to work the 3A State Championship Series Finals, but like my season, nothing is as it appears. Did you notice I was selected, but never said I worked the game? Well, when there's a double-elimination tournament, there could be an "if" game. Well, that was the game I was assigned and after driving to Greeley, it didn't happen. Now the real question is whether I'll be paid for leaving the house at 7am and getting home around 4pm. Yes, I didn't work a game, but please don't think my time is free!

2011 also featured three different incidents where fans and coaches approached my crews in the parking lot. It's bad enough we have to change in and out of our uniform in the parking lot, the least we can ask is folks leave us alone to do so. I guess it's asking too much though. My favorite was the coach who approached us to argue a call after the game in the parking lot and was surprised I argued back to him. Yeah, I don't have any pants on at the moment, but it doesn't mean I'll sit back and take your crap. ...And this guy calls himself a Varsity coach? Good grief. Argue the call on the field and then let it go.

I guess the good news is it's over and we can move on. I can sit back and play with my kids and enjoy baseball from the stands.

Why Simon?

2011-05-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

Many of you are likely stumbling here after I shared pictures of Simon. Well, as I write this, Simon is about a week from being born, but I suppose I can tell you how we can up with the name Simon Lucas Wadman.

Let's start with a little philosophy. Shelly and I came to a few conclusions while naming Lydia and Zoe. First, our goal was to come up names which are unique without being weird. For example, one of the names which came up was Abigail. Shelly liked it, but I found too many girls around us with that name. While Lydia and Zoe, along with Simon are names you've likely heard of, odds are, you haven't met more than one or two. We also wanted to have first names which are biblical and family middle names. Yes, we pushed it some with Zoe (Greek for "life" as used often in the New Testament), but that was our goal.

Simon was a name we had as a backup when Lydia and Zoe were born, along with Mikah. Simon was a name I really liked and promoted, as it was a common biblical name which wasn't being used much in society today. However, when Lydia and Zoe were born, I thought it was over. Then, when we found out Shelly was pregnant, it was Shelly who resurrected the name. Well, it was my first choice last time, and nothing had really changed with me, so that was pretty easy. Yes, there are a couple of drawbacks. However, if my son grows up to be geeky and like to play games, it will likely be because of his father and not an animated chipmunk or memory games. If you really want to reach, you could come up with a cranky critic, but I would guess my son won't even care about him.

The name Lucas came from our nephew who was killed in a car accident in January, 2008 while visiting Memphis, TN. Lucas was 2 years old when it happened, so we really didn't get to know him too well. The name was something Shelly really wanted and the family agreed. If his name had been Nebuchadnezzer or Denkinger, I would have objected, but "Lucas" seemed like a perfectly normal middle name which honored our family.

Before being born, Simon also went by a couple of other names. The first being a dot on a wood stake at church. We were asked to write our family on the stake as part of a building project. Being we hadn't told anyone about Shelly's pregnancy, but his membership in the family was real, we represented him with a dot. Also, before we knew the gender and had decided on the name Simon, we called him Al, as in Shelly et. Al.

Zoe & Dad's Day

2011-04-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a day Zoe and I spent together and will likely not forget. Lydia and Shelly have been not feeling well, and after spending Saturday with them, Zoe didn't want to spend Sunday "around sick people". So, I decided to spend the day with Zoe.

We started easy enough by going to church, going out to brunch and then to the grocery store. Outside of going to brunch, there wasn't much different about the day so far. After that, we were going to the Sky Sox game. Again, outside of the fact it was just the two of us, there wasn't much different about the day. Then, it started to be special.

I have seen Fred Eyer drawing caricatures at the Sky Sox games for the last few years. It's not anything I really thought about doing before Zoe started asking this season. Hey, it isn't that expensive and it was something special for the two of us to do, so why not? I kinda like the way it turned out. Zoe, however, loved it! So, last night, I got a frame and will hang it either in her bedroom or playroom.

But the fun of the ball game isn't over yet. Yes, the Sox won 12-2 and the weather was a bit chilly. It was 50 cent hotdog day, so Zoe, in addition to brunch downed a couple of dogs. Wow, that kid can eat right now! Then, at the end of the 7th inning, Zoe got a ball from the Tucson catcher. Again, there's nothing really new for Zoe to get a ball at the game, but it is the first ball she's received this year. After the game, they let the kids club run the bases, so off she running with a huge smile.

So, the day was a great day. Then, about 8:15, Zoe lost another tooth. It was a tough one, so this is what she looked like right after losing it:

A couple of minutes later, she had calmed down and her pretty "Okie" smile was back, less one tooth:

...and thus ended one of the best days I've had with Zoe. Based on how she went to bed, she was exhausted, but didn't want it to end. Dad's still exhausted...

Update: Lydia went to the doctor today and is slowly getting better. Shelly, well, she should feel better May 3rd, at the latest. :-)

Baseball's Back!!!

2011-03-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

In honor of Opening Day 2011, here's a classic:

The April Fool's Birthday

2011-03-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm going to see if this works. After my birthday last month, I got several notes on my Facebook page. As I predicted, many of them were from folks I hadn't heard from since my last birthday. So, I've gone into Facebook and changed my birthday to April 1st. (The date just seemed appropriate!) Let's see how many of my friends wish me a happy birthday again, two months later!

Baseball Etiquette

2011-02-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

Here's a great list of baseball etiquette when attending games this year. Follow these 16 rules and the folks around you will appreciate it. My favorite of the 16 is the one quoted below.

ManFridge’s Baseball Etiquette Reminders | Pitchers Hit Eighth :: An Unofficial St. Louis Cardinals baseball blog:

"Always keep in mind that there are kids around you at baseball games. The basic rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t do or say anything that you wouldn’t want put on YouTube for your co-workers and family members to see over and over again. "

"New" Picture

2011-02-13T20:39:00.000-08:00

Being the picture I've been using for site which request it is now 3 years old, I've decided to update to a newer one. This one was taken in August. I suppose it's okay to update every three years, right?

Swimming, Hockey and Snow

2011-02-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

Today was a very full day in the Wadman family. This morning Zoe started swimming lessons. Of course, if Zoe is taking lessons, Lydia has to swim too, and this time she convinced Shelly to go as well. So, after an hour or so, I drove home with three tired girls. However, that wasn't going to be the end of the day. Not by a long shot.

For the past few weeks, the girls and I have been looking forward to going to the Avalanche game. Before the game, Lydia and I checked out some highlights from Paul Stastny. Then, it was off to the game. I wish I could say great things about the game. It was a dud. The Ducks beat the Avs 3-0. We didn't even get to hear the horn for a goal. Oh well, it was time to head home.

To make a very long story short, 2 1/2 hours later, we walked in the house. You see, it was snowing and extremely icy on the trip home. We even saw an SUV going the other direction slide into the guard rail. The girls did very well listening to their music. However, with the exciting day wearing very thin, it's good we got home when we did.

After coming home, Zoe decided to get online and see what a real Avalanche was. She learned it was snow sliding down a mountain. Sometimes, I'm very impressed about what the kids can learn online.

The Big Red !

2011-01-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

Now that we are a week into the semester, my busy time of year is starting to calm down. However, I've discovered something new which will irritate me during this time of year. That's right, it's the big red ! in my email. I guess it means "High Importance". The problem is I'm finding it's used way too often, and most of the time, incorrectly.

If folks wouldn't use it so much, it's doubtful it would bother me. The problem is in one day I got 20 emails with the red !. That's right 20. Are there really 20 urgent emails in a day while working at a college? Well, let me tell you, only 2 of these emails were urgent. The rest of them were asking for content to be copied or enrollments fixed before classes even began. Most were things I could have done a week earlier if the sender had been planning ahead.

So, the next time you send an email with the red !, just think, is this really something which must be done right away? If so, please consider calling.

Blyleven and Alomar Elected to Hall of Fame

2011-01-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

Growing up, Bert Blyleven was as close as I had to a baseball hero. His curve ball was as nasty as any I've seen and I worked to throw one like him. After 14 years of waiting, I'm happy to see him in the Hall of Fame.

Add to that, Roberto Alomar was on the team of my youth, the Toronto Blue Jays when they won the World Series.

It's a good year for the Hall of Fame in my book.

Alomar and Blyleven Elected to Hall of Fame - NYTimes.com

Save the Syllable

2011-01-04T08:10:00.000-08:00

I brought this up last year as well on Facebook, but after hearing it on two separate podcasts in the last two days, I couldn't help but bring it up again. How do you say the current year? I'm convinced it should be "Twenty, eleven". However, you still hear people saying "Two thousand, eleven". The latter has one more syllable and really doesn't match what we did for the last several centuries. (The folks saying "Two thousand AND eleven" are even more inefficient.) After all, the Berlin Wall fell in "Nineteen, eighty-nine", not "One thousand, nine hundred, eighty-nine".

So, save the syllable and enjoy your 2011!

New (Old) Year's Resolution

2011-01-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

I'm usually not one for New Year's resolutions, but this year, I'm going to bring an old one back. I'm going to read one book a month. Not listen on my iPod, but with my eyes on paper read a book a month.

This is the same resolution I made in 2002 and kept reading until 2008 when I took this job. After looking at a computer screen all day, I just couldn't get myself to focus on a book. That's when I took up audiobooks. I still love audiobooks and podcasts, but my I can feel my reading speed getting slower, so it seems like a good thing to do.

Don't expect me to be reading "War and Peace" anytime soon though. I'm going to start with lighter books I enjoy. I don't want to burn myself out on any heavy stuff. So, I'm going to start with a baseball book by Joe Torre and then move onto a novel I picked up at the airport last summer. Seems like a good way to start. Besides, it may give me something more to blog about...

Level 85!

2010-12-31T19:40:00.000-08:00

I know I should be putting something of value looking back at 2010, but it's just another date on the calendar. So, I thought I should put up the screenprint of 85. :-)

Level 80!

2010-12-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

I know the game is now 6 years old, and I'm probably the last geek to care enough to get my first WoW character to Level 80, but I did it! I'm sure you either have done it many times or you don't care, so I will spare you too many details, but I will pass on some of my notes.

In late April, I started with a Human Priest. It was my second character, but after playing a warlock and not enjoying it, I was encouraged to play with some guys from CCCOnline as a healer. So, why not a priest? Looking back, playing a priest made my job of getting to 80 pretty tough. The positive, I found I enjoyed playing a healer despite some of the roadblocks.

The biggest roadblock? The game is huge. I'm talking about a vocabulary learning curve I wasn't prepared for. DPS, buff, toon, vanilla, ICC, aggro, QQ...the list is too long to post here. I remember one time in a dungeon, a warlock says, "priest is ss". Did he just insult me? What did I do? (He didn't insult me. He was letting me know I could rez, (resurrect) automatically after dying and then bring the rest of the group back.)

I had (and am having) fun though. And more importantly, the game has fit into my life, not the other way around. I hear horror stories of people playing to the point of it bothering their lives. My wife is happy. I still went to ballgames all summer and officiated this fall. And no, I'm not taking time off next week for the expansion. That can come after work or on the weekend. The only thing which has really dropped for me is other video games. I just don't seem to care about them at the moment.

Football

2010-11-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight marks the end of my second season officiating football. I started last year after one of the guys I umpire baseball with talked me into it. I've enjoyed it, but let me tell you it's a very different experience from working baseball. For me, baseball is now just a matter of reacting to the play. I don't have to think most games about rules or where I need to be to make the call. Football, I still very much have to work at.

My long term goal in football is to be good enough to work any game in the state. (In baseball, I reached this goal in 2003.) I don't need to be assigned to any specific game, I just want to be good enough to work it if called upon. Trust me, I'm not there yet. However, this year I did make some progress.

Last year, I was worried about standing in the right place, looking in the right place and knowing the basics of the rules. This year, I had that down, so it was time to move onto more philosophy. When does a penalty need to be called and when should it be avoided? How much should I be supporting and relying on my crew? How can I best communicate with coaches without causing bigger issues? In all, I think I've done pretty well moving forward. In truth no official ever masters philosophy, but the more they work at them, the better they become.

My favorite game of the year? It probably has to be Palmer Ridge/Discovery Canyon game about midway through the season. It was high scoring and the winning touchdown crossed with less than 30 seconds to go. Nothing better than working a close game where the officials weren't the difference.

The worst game of the year? Let's see, I called an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in each of my last two games. One was on a coach who simply would not let a call go and the second on a player for taunting. This wasn't how I envisioned ending the season. However, I think a C squad game on the south end of town takes the cake. We had a group of parents actually start to yell at an injured player. Comments like "This isn't soccer. Get him off the field!" really don't belong in high school football. Of course, the officials took a great deal of grief from the same parents. For a sloppy early/midseason C squad game, we were lucky to actually play the game.

The best thing I'll take away from the 2010 though was working with Chip and Dan. We weren't on the "A" crew, but that didn't mean we didn't work hard and it sure didn't stop us from having fun. I worked about 25 games this year and all but three had one of these two guys with me. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses. It sure made the experience a whole lot of fun!

"Al"

2010-10-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't heard, Shelly and I are expecting our third child in May. Yes, it's only one. I guess we are getting lazy in our old age. On the other hand, both of us are happy it's just one.

In any case, we are jokingly calling the kid "Al" as in "Shelly et. Al." Of course, the way Shelly's stomach has been feeling, I think we could also take "Al" from "Alien". Just to be clear, we are not going to name the child "Al". However, until we find out in December if we are getting a boy, we are holding off any serious name conversations. Even if we get a boy, it won't be "Al".

So, was Al planned? Well, sorta. You see, we had been trying for the last few years for a third, but had pretty well determined it wasn't going to happen. In fact, I had been to the doctor and received a referral to make sure no more were going to happen. However, I had some stomach issues to deal with first, and before I could get to the doc, well Al happened. So, we are thrilled Al will be joining our family, but still a little surprised.

Sky Sox 2010 In Review

2010-09-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

Today marked the end of the 2010 Sky Sox season. While it likely won't be a season I remember much of on my deathbed, every baseball season has it's special moments. Here are some I remember:

Lydia and Zoe run the bases.

This season was the first the girls wanted to run the bases after Sunday games. So, we enrolled them in the kids club and they ran a few times. It was special for Shelly and me to watch them grow. One day, they'll be too old to do this. Again, it will be connected to baseball!

Father's Day catch on the field.

One of the special days of the year. We didn't watch the game that day (I can't remember why), but that doesn't really matter does it? I got to play catch with my daughters on the field where we watch the pros play so often.

Lydia's fandom of Mike McCoy

While Zoe had her favorites, none rivaled the zeal with which Lydia rooted for journeyman Mike McCoy. One week after seeing McCoy play for the Blue Jays in Denver, she got to get his autograph in Colorado Springs.

Moundball

While I had played the game (Wikipedia Page) in college with some friends, I had forgotten of it's existence until a trip to Albuquerque last year. After explaining it to some friends who sit around us, we decided to give it a try in early July. It was a hit. While Shelly was the big winner today, I feel like everyone who played won. (Except that dumb umpire who threw it into the ground!) I just wonder how well it will work in the cold of April and May.

So, while the Sky Sox weren't very good on the field, it was definitely a fun summer. And now we watch the big leaguers finish up and then it's winter until it all starts again in April.

My Facebook Rant

2010-08-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

Facebook isn't the only site on the Internet. If you are only going to Facebook, it's like going on vacation and only seeing the hotel pool. It's nice, but there's so much more to see and do.
Don't believe everything you read on Facebook. I know your friends wouldn't forward that rumor about Facebook charging $5 per user before checking it out, but did you?
I don't care about your cow, hit squad or Bejeweled score. If I did, I'd install the application and play with you.
I know it's my birthday and I know I haven't heard from you since last year's birthday. Do you really think I'm moved by your "Happy Birthday" message on my wall? (What if I changed my birthday to the same day next month? Would I get another message from you?)
Don't write your status updates in code. My personal favorite is writing your family members with their letters. "J is such a good husband. He bought me flowers!" Uh, did you notice that "Married to John Doe" on the left side of the screen? You aren't fooling anyone.
If you are worried about privacy, you should worry about your friends. All it takes is one friend to scrape and publish all of your information. If you have 1000 friends, who are you are you really trying to be private from anyway?
Facebook will change the look and feel of the site from time to time. Signing a petition isn't going to change it back.
If you change your profile picture more than once a week, I begin to think you're schizophrenic. Who are you again?
The "It's Monday/Friday" status posts. Really? My computer tells me this on the screen in case I had forgotten. What makes this Monday/Friday different from any other?
If all you are going to talk about is politics (occasional posts are fine), perhaps you should consider creating a fan page, or even better start a political blog. After all, there aren't enough political blogs on the Internet.

The Big Burn

2010-08-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

While we were on vacation, I was listening to a book The Big Burn which documents the rise of the US Forest Service and their first big wildfire. The book was enjoyable. However, after returning from the beach this was the view of our hotel:

Fear not, everything turned out fine. We hung out at TGIFridays for awhile and then wandered over to another restaurant by the hotel. A few hours later, we got in and nothing was touched.

Needless to say though, it was a bit strange. While I finished the book, in all of its gory details, I can honestly say I don't want to read about any more wild fires.

I'm Still Here

2010-08-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

It's been about a month since I posted, but I'm still here. Look for upcoming posts on:

Fire on Vacation aka "The Big Burn"
WoW Progress
Sky Sox Updates
Football Season's Starting
Move to Android Phones
School's Coming Back...

Then again, if I don't start posting more often, it might be Christmas before I get caught up. :-)

15 Most Important Books?

2010-07-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

I really don't want this blog to turn into a book review site, but it seems like the only time I have anything to write about is when I finish a book. Tuesday, I finished The Baseball Codes. It was a light read about the unwritten rules of baseball. Interesting, but not something I'll remember in 6 months.

However, Tuesday another thing happened. I was challenged by an adjunct English instructor to come up with my 15 most important books. Not the best. Not the most interesting. Not even my 15 favorite. The 15 most important books. I'll have to work on that one...

7 Events Which Made America America

2010-07-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

After the long book, which was I Am Charlotte Simmons, this was a quick read. Unfortunately, after the first chapter, it wasn't really worth even that time.

I don't like to read overtly political books. If you want to blindly follow a doctrine, that's fine with me, but you aren't going to convince me in such a book. The first chapter of 7 Events... was a good start. It went through how Martin Van Buren consolidated local and national politics and promoted the funding of party newspapers. The papers were the political instruments of the parties. Thus, when you picked up the paper, you knew it was biased and you were looking for that view. (Think turning on MSNBC or FoxNews on a week night. There's no news here, but rather commentary.) I found it very interesting how this change came into being and how it affected the years preceding the Civil War.

Then, the book fell apart. How is Eisenhower's heart attack such a major event? Yes, we are now looking at health. How is that bad? You still can decide how you eat. Reagan's handling of Lebanon? Really? Every post WWII President has made moves like this. Truman and Eisenhower had Korea which still hasn't been solved; Kennedy started in Vietnam which lead through Johnson to Nixon and Ford. Carter couldn't figure out Iran and his Mideast peace treaty didn't hold. Bush Sr. had Panama; Clinton had Bosnia and George W. Bush had Iraq. They all have had messes. I know Lebanon showed U.S. weakness, but that's not the main reason for radical Islam.

I Am Charlotte Simmons

2010-07-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

I read this book a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. Having a deal on Audible, I decided to listed to the audio book again.

Again, this is a good book exposing college life in America. Yes, it's crude at times, but so is life on campus. I think a lot of parents think college is some time just like sending their kids to camp. Fact is, you have young people with little life experience are exposed to drugs, alcohol, sex, peer pressure, academic pressure and financial constraints. With this is a massive amounts of free time in an "educational" environment. Yes, college age adults need to be exposed to the world, but if you keep them insulated from the world until age 18, they aren't going to be prepared to handle any of this.

The main character, comes through alright, but has many tribulations along the way. The only thing that ultimately gets her through is knowing "I am Charlotte Simmons" and what she believes and stands for, while still enjoying life.

Baseball Idols

2010-06-23T05:33:00.000-07:00

Last season, each of the girls picked out a Sky Sox player as their favorite. For Zoe, it was Eric Young Jr. and for Lydia it was Mike McCoy. Both have kept their favorites, but as is common in baseball, players get hurt while others change teams. Zoe is having to wait while Young recovers from a broken bone. Lydia on the other hand has had a much more interesting journey following Mike McCoy.

McCoy was released by the Rockies in the off-season and signed with Toronto. He then had a great spring, making the Blue Jays out of spring training. So, for their first game at Coors Field, we bought them tickets to see the Blue Jays June 12th. McCoy came in late in the game as a pinch runner and stayed in at third base before being left on-deck as the game ended. Lydia was thrilled to see McCoy in the big leagues.

If that's where the story ended, it would have been special enough. After all, the Blue Jays have only twice ever even played in Denver. However, last Friday McCoy got bad news. This same news excited Lydia. McCoy had been sent down to Las Vegas, and his first game was to be in...[wait for it]... Colorado Springs.

That game was last night. Before the game, we met Mike McCoy as he walked down to the field and got an autograph on a ball. Later in the game, McCoy hit a homerun and led Las Vegas to a win. Lydia was thrilled beyond belief. The whole night I felt was ironic. McCoy looked tired and "down" despite his quality play. After all, he had experienced a pretty major professional setback. On the other hand, my daughter got to experience her baseball idol one more time. I guess that's the way baseball (or most other celebrity) idols work.

The Fortunate Pilgrim

2010-06-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

I'm making an effort to keep notes on the books I finish. However, The Fortunate Pilgrim isn't the best book to start with. Mario Puzo's first effort is no where as good as The Godfather or The Sicilian, but shows signs of a start.

It's the story of an Italian family adjusting to life in America. Have you heard this before? Puzo's later work should be your focus in this genre.

Creating Portal

2010-06-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

Last semester, I was posting to three blogs and only in rarely occasions did the readers of any of the three interact. That's where this blog comes into being. It's not a blog I'm going to feel I have to update every day, week or even month. I'll take that as I go. What I'm really doing is giving people in all areas of life a place to interact with me.