Pour us a road, we’ll both drink and drive

Sometimes, we’re so counterproductive in our society, it’s a wonder we get anything accomplished. Hell, look at government as a good example! Seriously though, if we used just a slice of common sense, we might actually get to the other side of the road and go, “Huh, if I had known it was that easy, I would’ve done that a long time ago!”

The reason I’m mentioning this is that last night, I took a friends brother who is in town for the week to my favorite hockey bar to watch Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals while my friend was busy with a previous commitment. After I arrived home from work, changed and was heading out the door, my brother walked in and asked where I was headed, so I mentioned it to him and asked if he wanted to join us. Now I know my brother is only 19 years old, but he has been in this bar before, not with me, but with some other people that know the owners, so I figured we’d be ok.

We get to the bar, find some seats and get ready to sit down, but the bartender spotted us as we were walking in and asked to see everyone’s ID. First off, um, hello? I have a beard and some grayish hair; I think I can pass for 21! Second, I mentioned that my brother wasn’t 21, but we brought him so he could be our designated driver, which I thought would be a logical excuse. It wasn’t likely that he’d be drinking; however, the law in Texas says that he can’t be in there, but then, it also says this:

In Houston, Texas, beer many not be purchased after midnight on Sunday, but can be purchased anytime on Monday...which happens to begin right after midnight on Sunday! So it's illegal to buy it when it’s legal to buy it?

I digress.

This left us with two options, pick up some beer, go back to the house and watch the game, or I drive my brother home and come back. He said it was ok if I took him home and I mentioned option 1, but he said he was cool with going home, so I drove him back there and headed back to the bar to hang out with my friends’ brother.

This brings about non-logical point number two: I know have to waste gas to drive my brother home. This is really not the time to be wasting energy resources! If we let him stay at the bar, I can drink a little more and have a safe, reliable driver waiting to take me home AND only use one trip’s worth of gas. This is opposed to the two trip’s worth of gas I had to use to take him home and then try not to drink too much so I could be a responsible driver for myself. Does that make sense to anyone? Sober driver and less gas used, or slightly intoxicated driver and more gas used, which sounds better?

On a side note, my brother is not a big hockey fan because he grew up in the south, whereas I grew up in the north. He has watched a number of games at home with me during the playoffs, but he’s just not a big fan in general. My friends’ brother on the other hand…anyway.

Needless to say, tomorrow night, we’re staying in to watch the game.

We are the champions

The college I went to for the first three semesters after high school holds a special place in my heart. I met all of my best friends there. All my boys in NYC lived within 75 feet of my dorm room freshman year. However, one of the main reasons I went there was that it is a well known, Division-III hockey school. I felt that I could play at that level and I felt that this school was close enough to home for my parents to come watch, but far enough away for me to be away from my parents!

Long story short, I wound up not playing hockey there. I never even tried out. I did know a bunch of people on the team and I went to many games, enjoying the atmosphere and reveling in the rivalries.

This past weekend, the Oswego State Lakers won their first D-III National Championship and I cannot describe how great it felt to hear about their triumph.

http://www.oswego.edu/athletics/news_story.html?id=2547_0_6_0_C

If the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility

As I mentioned in the comments from my previous post, I wanted to talk about the sanctuary I found when I started sailing with my dad.

I’ve always loved the water. I think part of it is due to growing up so close to Lake Erie, part of it because I am drawn to its peacefulness and part of it just inherit in me because of I’m a Pisces. The serenity I feel when I’m on the boat is indescribable. All of my thoughts and worries disappear. However, it did not start out this way. When I was younger, whenever I was on the boat, I would get seasick. When I started racing, because I had responsibilities, my mind did not have time to worry about getting sick and I found that I rarely had that nauseous feeling.

Anyway, back to finding peace on the water. Every Wednesday, from the May through mid-September, we would race for about 2 hours, but it was the 30-45 minutes prior to the race when I would completely lose myself. During that time, while heading away from the dock, I would begin to set up the sails. We would head up the channel and slip by the people hanging out on the waterfront on a hot summer night. Once the sails were set and we only had time to kill, I would sit with my back against the mast, facing the bow, away from everyone else on the boat. It was there that I could lose everything in my head.

Staring out over the water, watching the other boats sail by, listening to the seagulls overhead and watching the people on the shore enjoy the summer night, I could let myself go. The troubles of the day, the troubles of life slipped overboard into the water.

It’s very difficult to describe how I would feel for that 30 minutes, other than it was very spiritual for me. These moments were the few times when I was at peace with myself and to tie this together with my comments, I found that my sanctuary was on the bow of that boat, leaning against the mast and soaking in the atmosphere.

I'm on the football team

With the recent college bowl games occurring nightly for the past 2 weeks, there has been a lot made of the issue that the bowl games bring in millions of dollars for each school, and that college players give up a lot to play football, yet with all that money coming in, they aren’t paid to play. I watched a few interviews on ESPN and I thought, “You’re getting a free education and room and board!” Moreover, many of the stars on these teams will continue on to the pro level where they can make more money in a few years than an average person with a four-year degree will probably make in their lifetime. Of course, don’t forget that while the athletes are making their millions after graduating with a free degree, if they graduate at all, the rest of us will have to pay back our student loans while working an entry/low-to-mid-level job making a fraction of what their signing bonus was.

Don’t give me this crap about how they should be paid to play. They have even more of a choice than everyone else has; play sports and get a free education or don’t play sports and work a real job like the rest of the world.

The bigger problem here is that the sponsors for the bowl games and the networks have ramped up the prices for everything so they can afford to dish out these multimillion-dollar awards to the teams who represent their products in the “Tostitos Fiesta Bowl”, the “Nokia Sugar Bowl”, the “Chik-Fil-A Bowl” or the “Rose Bowl presented by Citi.” It’s obscene how much money universities get for playing a game. The driving force for a school should not be how much money they can make by developing a quality athletic program, it should be how many quality individuals can their education department turn out year after year. This is among the many reasons our education system is backwards and our kids priorities are so screwed up.

I'm here for my sanity, sanity! I am here for you.

Recently, many of the hits I’ve received have been from people searching for answers to a question I once faced – and despised – “The study habits of Joe Student.”

I’m very curious as to exactly what you were looking for because I know how serious the college takes plagiarism. Also, many of the visits have been for a decent length of time, such as the one person who spent 18 HOURS reading my posts. It’s tough to get your homework done when you’re reading blogs online! Shame, shame! Just kidding. Obviously, I’ve been where you are, so I know how idiotic that question is and how hard it is to concentrate when you think the question is stupid and useless. What I can tell you is that I answered the question with about 250 words of bullshit and got 23/30 points. My asswipe instructor wrote some comment that if I had simplified my thought process, I could’ve received the other seven points. What. Ever. The question was stupid then and I stand by my answer a year later.

All that being said, one year later, I received my two-year degree in business and my 3.63 GPA never really missed those seven points.

Since you’re here, and not doing your homework, why not let me know what you think of the Joe Student question? It’s only fair since I’ve told you what I thought of it.

In other news, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year everyone. You would’ve thought with the 14 hours I sat on the couch and watched Bowl games on Monday (yes, I picked Boise State over OU!), I could’ve done that earlier. Nonetheless, it’s now been said.

With 2006 out of the way, I am looking forward to a new start in ’07 and with that, I am going to attempt to spend some more time sharing my pearls of wisdom. Enjoy!

Well, you don't know what we can find. Why don't you come with me little girl, on a magic carpet ride.

I cannot believe it’s already the last full week of October! Where has the time gone? I swear, if I don’t catch up on sleep soon, I’m just going to have to take a week vacation for that purpose alone! Anyway, come along for the ride and see what’s going on with me:

A) I have 2 weeks left of school and then I’m off until January. Yay! Except that the last 2-3 weeks is always the hardest part. I have 7 Supreme Court cases to brief in one class and a 3000 word paper to write in the other class on a subject that I don’t completely understand. I know, I know, this all sounds like fun to you – well it isn’t! In addition to all of this…

B) I am in a wedding this upcoming weekend, which means from Thursday to Saturday, I am booked solid with events to get drunk at (hence, not much schoolwork is getting finished).

C) Hockey season started both for me personally and in the NHL. Since my beloved Buffalo Sabres are red hot right now (8-0 to start the season), I am trying to listen to the games via the internet while doing homework. For my personal hockey seasons, Sunday’s and Wednesday’s are now lost for 3-4 hours while I go work out some stress. This is great, but again, not much homework is being done.

D) After last hockey season ended for me around the end of August, I took about 3 weeks off to let my body heal. Now that I am back playing, my body is even sorer and I am contemplating actually going to the doctor to see how bad it is. My body is pretty beat up and I’ve only played in five games since the end of September. My right knee has a shooting pain the day after a game and both shoulders/rotator cuffs hurt for about 2 days after. This is worrisome because I had RC problems in my right shoulder when I was 16 and I am hoping I don’t have to go through that again! My back is usually stiff now, the joints in my hips always hold some level of pain and my right elbow has a constant twinge in it as well. I am worried that he is going to tell me to take time off from hockey and there is just no way I could survive without it. If anyone has a health tip to get me through this, feel free to let me know!

E) Work has been keeping me quite busy. I have found some intermittent time to do my regular blog surfing/reading, but none to do any of my own posts. I’ve been arriving at work relatively close to on time, which is a significant step up from last year at this time when I couldn’t get to work before 10am! I have been shoveling food down my face during my ½ hour lunch breaks and getting right back to work. Then most nights, I am leaving well after my scheduled time – and once again, the homework problem! My paychecks have been nice, with all the OT I’m accumulating and it’s a good thing I have more money now because…

F) I have a girlfriend! I just adore her and I enjoy taking her places, getting dinner with her, lying on the couch with her and just staring at her because she is just so damned cute! She looks a lot like Amy Smart, but with shorter hair. Her personality suits mine perfectly and we have had a lot of fun in the past 2 months. So much so that I invited her to come to NYC with me in - see the “Trip to NYC” Clock, in my sidebar, below the Quote of the Day. Anyway, the extra money I’ve gained working OT and that my brother is now here splitting the bills with me, has all gone to the "girlfriend fund". It’s all good though, she makes me very happy, so it’s worth it! However, that’s right, you know it’s coming…the homework is not being done promptly and I tend to stay up really late now...for some reason (hint, hint).

Now, is anyone still wondering why I haven’t posted in a while? Yea, I didn’t think so.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Anyone who comes here knows that I don’t update on a regular basis. Last month, I only posted twice and one of those was only a link to something else. The reason for this lack of production is that I’ve actually had to be productive at work, but more on that later. Aside from work, while school has been going really well and my grades are good, however, it has been taking a lot of time to finish assignments. Nevertheless, I am now in my last 2 classes before I finish my Associates degree and then I’m taking 2 months off until January before I start on my Bachelor’s. I suppose that’s good news!

Now as for work, two weeks ago, two of our attorneys left to start their own firm and then last week another attorney left to start a new job at another firm. Needless to say, this has caused a serious amount of overload for everyone else, including me. My job is to make sure all of the files are transferred to other attorneys so none of them fall between the cracks. So far, so good, but getting the principal partner to reassign everything in between all of his regularly scheduled work has been a daunting task.

In addition to this, I am working with someone we hired to market the firm better. We are changing the face of the firm, changing the “brand”, hopefully for the better. I was assigned the task of designing a cover sheet to go on presentations for when we meet with potential clients. I have no background in graphic design or in marketing. I do know how to put a good PowerPoint presentation together, something I’ve learned from my classes, but I’m not sure how that really translates to this situation. On Friday, I presented 3 different designs, two of which I was not very pleased with and the other one was good, but I knew it needed something. After discussing and tweaking it with this marketing person, we presented it and it was very well received. I have to admit, I was pleased with the results myself and it was also extremely nice to have some of my work recognized while not worrying about taking the brunt of the dissent, since I was not the principal on this project. For a few minutes, I actually enjoyed my job and if you’ve read previous posts about the dislike I have for my job you’ll understand why this next issue is huge…

I’m putting looking for a job on the back burner for now. The job I wrote about two posts ago that I really wanted never called and I know the position has been filled, so my thinking is that I finish the Associates degree, and then try to find a job after the New Year’s. Plus, if I stay till next year, I’ll see a bonus check, which I could certainly use!

Ok, and the last thing that has changed or will change my life drastically is that in 2 weeks, my brother, who turns 19 next week, will be moving down here to live with me. I’ll have to be the big brother that I haven’t had to be so far and I’ll have to live with someone for the first time since being married over 6 years ago. The biggest positive for me will be the financial situation. After consistently racking up debt month after month, I’ll finally be able to start paying down debt…do I have to tell you how excited I am about that? I didn’t think so.

Lastly, I went on fantastic date Saturday night and I really like this girl, so maybe all that extra money will be spent elsewhere…but at least I wouldn’t mind spending it on someone other than me :)

Oh yea two more things…(1) On Friday I celebrted on year of keeping this blog, 104 posts in 365 days, eh, not great, but I'm going to try to to do better. (2) The NHL hockey season starts one month from today. Game. On.

Money, it’s a crime. Share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie.

In this day and age, I have the utmost respect for an athlete who says, “I don’t want to play anywhere else, I only want to be a (whatever team they play for).” Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for superstars to play for multiple teams throughout their careers thanks to free agency and salary caps.

In this case, I admire Jeff Bagwell’s attitude for only wanting to play for the Houston Astros and not wanting to take a trade to the American League so he can be a DH for the remainder of his career. See, Bagwell has been very injured in the last few seasons, missing 115 games last year alone. The Astros contend he can’t play baseball anymore and will be filing an insurance claim on him, by no later the January 31st, to recoup some $15 million of the $17 million owed to him on his contract. He says he can play and plans to report to spring training as scheduled to prove the Astros wrong and earn his spot on the team. As noted in the article, he feels the team is showing him very little respect in exchange for the loyalty he has shown them and doesn’t think their relationship can ever be repaired.

For the most part, I have to agree with him. However, the question remains, can he come to spring training, work out, play and do all the things he used to do and sustain it for the long season of baseball? This is what the Astros are stuck wondering and don’t want to be forced into paying for a broken player when they could’ve saved that money, or spend it on 5 younger guys to groom and develop for the long haul.

I have a solution for both sides:

As I said, I admire Jeff Bagwell for his loyalty and hard work, but at this point in your life, paying you $17 million dollars seems a bit much. The Astros need to get their heads out of their asses and realize Jeff Bagwell has been the cornerstone of this franchise for over a decade now and he deserves a fair shot at playing baseball as much as anyone else.

Jeff Bagwell, humbly and graciously offer to restructure your contract. Yes, the Astros have shown you less respect than you deserve from them, but if you are serious about wanting to stay a Houston Astro and about wanting to play baseball this season, I think this is the only fair way for this to happen is for you to do this. It offers the Astros the out they are looking for if you are injured, but at the same time, you will be paid more than a fair wage for your services. $17 million per year breaks down to roughly $105K per game. Why not say, for every game you start and play a minimum number of innings, you’ll receive $110K. For any game you appear in (pinch-hitter/runner/defensive replacement), you’ll receive $30K or some other number, whatever. This only seems fair to me and as a fan, who is basically one of the many people paying your salary, I think you should do this. It’s important for me to know that when you put on that uniform, you can play to the best of your abilities and that your employer, the Houston Astros know that they are getting their money’s worth from you as well.

Where you are thats where I want to be and through your eyes are all the things I want to see. In the night you're my dreams, you’re everything to me.

RIP
"The Great Mom"

She takes you places your heart cannot go during the winter (& summer!) up in Buffalo

This day has been filled with memories. This morning I was searching the web and wound up on a site that was talking about Buffalo and its lack of revitalization on the East Side. There were pictures of buildings that I recognized and streets were mentioned that I haven’t driven down in years. From the gist of what was being talked about, I gathered that someone is trying to build up those neighborhoods, but just because you build it, doesn’t mean people will come. It’s a catch-22. If you put nice, new homes in a neighborhood, the area will clean itself up and nice, new business will follow. Or is it vice versa? Well, this is not for me to ponder because I don’t live there anymore, but I thought I would mention it as something to think about.

Then my father and his email and the nostalgia he brought up about his old boat. I remember being on that boat, as he said, swimming off the stern, bucket wars in the hot August sun and as I got older, the moonlight sails to Point Abino the weekend of the Queen City Regatta and Mayor’s Cup. I remember duct tape sheets and having a race called due to lack of wind while we were 50 yards from the finish – way ahead of our nearest competition. I keep close in my mind leaning against the mast as we motored out of the channel to get ready for our Wednesday night races and preparing myself for the job ahead; setting the bag, setting the pole, jibing the chute, getting my 175 lb. frame off the bow as quickly as possible because it slows us down. I also remember being face down on the bow while setting the bag in 10 foot waves and every time we came out of a swell, a wave would crash on top of me; the whole time I’m thinking, ‘one hand for the boat, one hand for yourself’, but loving every damned minute of it. I too will miss the Getaway, but I haven’t been on her since ’99, so she doesn’t hold any recent memories for me. Dad offered her to me, but I have neither the time nor the money to take her off his hands; but oh, how I would love one more sail.

I always defend Buffalo when people criticize it, whether it’s because of the snowstorms or its sports teams, Buffalo is a very special place - home. I am often asked if I would ever return and my answer has always been the same since the day I left in ’99, “If the financial situation was better and other situations could work out, I would move back in a heartbeat." I don’t mind the snow; it’s better than running from a hurricane! I love the summers. 85 degrees and sunny almost every day is hard to beat and it’s certainly better than 105 and humid. The south doesn’t even know what fall foliage is and the area surrounding Buffalo is second to none when it comes to that. I love the architecture downtown and my dad does such a great job telling different stories about how this building was such and such and now it’s just a piece of history. Buffalo was a big part of the industrial revolution and has a huge part in American history around the turn of the 19th Century. I grew up a stone’s throw from the Erie Canal and learned about its rich history while in school. It’s close enough to Toronto to make a day trip up there and be in a world-renowned city that has a culture like no other. It’s close enough to the middle of nowhere to get lost in the country for a day and still make it home for a late dinner. You can get anywhere you need to be in 20 minutes. It’s a piece of my heart that just doesn’t die. It doesn’t matter how many times people put it down or I hear about all the economic disasters happening, I will always think of Buffalo as my home.

Wishful thinking/A change is gonna come

Time for a Change, by (my father) in Buffalo, NY:

"Two things in life are always certain, death & taxes!" That's what we're told from when we were very young. The known and the unknown, you can count on that. Owning the same boat for many years gives one the sense of security and familiarity of knowing what you have and what to expect. I owned my Cal 25, Quick Getaway for some 23 years. Looking back on those years, I've single-handed all over Lake Erie, raced in just about every event in the area and had a ball doing it. I've got boxes of trophies, plaques, bowls, and plates or as my wife calls it, "a service for 12". It's safe, comfortable, easy to sail, and quick…what more could you want? It's fun, but the challenge is gone. We need new challenges to keep us moving forward. That's why after all the happy years with the Getaway it is time to move on. I need new challenges, I need to challenge my crew and that's the only way to get better. Fast is fun, faster is funner!

Moving on is tough, all those memories. It's like a first car, first house or first love. Contentment wasn't enough anymore. Sorry old Cal. I'll miss the simplicity of your rig, the feel on the helm and the years we spent together. I remember all too well when we spent that thunderstorm together in Presque Isle State Park. Anchored deep into the corner of the marina with lightning all around and the glow from the oil lamp flickering while I tried to read amongst the thunder claps. Or the time we got caught in a storm coming back from Dunkirk with waves as high as the top of the mast. We went through it together ol' Cal, survived it and arrived back home safe and sound.

My kids grew up on that boat. We'd swim off the stern when the wind died and had bucket wars in the August heat. When they got older they'd race with us and were great additions to the usual crew. Those are fond memories. Then there are the regattas with the crew. We knew what sail combinations to use, where to set the cars and who was doing what. We've seen this movie before! After years together, we knew the dance steps by heart, not a word was needed, we knew what came next. You've been good to us, I won't forget you; you'll always have a place at my table with the service for 12! The next owner will be very lucky indeed, in a well found boat with hundreds of safe miles under her keel, of that I am sure. It was with very mixed emotions the day I wrote the listing for my own boat. Parting is sweet sorrow.

I'm driving to Michigan this weekend to pick up my Beneteau Farr 25. It's new, fast and challenging, just what the doctor ordered. I'm up for the challenges ahead. I'm excited for the new adventure; a new chapter is about to begin. If the weather holds, we'll drop her in the water for a test sail before winter. To be continued…..

I couldn't have said it any better Dad.

Sorry seems to the hardest word

Would everyone please stop paying attention to Terrell Owens now? Please, for the love of Pete, stop paying him ANY attention! He won’t be playing anymore this year and if we’re lucky, EVER AGAIN!! Good grief! This boy (I am using the term “boy” because he is a spoiled, self-centered, egomaniac who has yet to grow up) only wants attention and every time he does something, he gets it. The media just keeps on feeding him. When he got kicked out of training cap earlier this year, the media followed him to his house. What does he do? He goes out in his driveway and starts working out – for the media – because they paid attention. When are they going to learn that this is just feeding fuel to the fire that is Terrell Owens? That fire got so hot, they had to douse him for the rest of the season and sit his sorry ass down. Is it hurting the Eagles? Sure it is and don’t let the Eagles fool you into thinking otherwise. T.O is an amazing athlete and football player, but his physical abilities are largely overshadowed by his verbal stupidity. I swear on how much I love chicken wings that if I have to hear about T.O. for the rest of the season and that includes his dumb-ass Right-Guard Power Stripe commercial, I am going to have to take someone down and it might just be T. freakin’ O. himself. He is driving me crazy – and I don’t even like the Eagles, I just feel sorry for them.

There was a great rant on Craigslist during training camp and I think everyone should read it because it is hilarious and true beyond words. I encourage everyone to read it and laugh their heads off.

All the way to heaven...

The Houston Astros are going to the world series.

I have seen things that you will never see

I would hope that people had noticed that I did not post anything for almost a week, but I can dream, right? I was sans internet access this past week as I was on vacation. I will have a lot to post from those vacation days where I did some writing, so keep checking back in the next 24 hours or so.

I would also guess that you’ve noticed the posts directed at the Houston Astros attempts to go to their first World Series in 43 years. Well, my vacation week started last Sunday with me sitting at that marathon, historic, record-breaking/setting, series-clinching win over the Atlanta Braves about 20 feet from the left field foul pole. I saw that Luke Scott’s drive was in fact foul by a mere 6 inches or so. I saw Roger Clemens in the performance of his career. I was one piece of an historic, memorable day that will be burned into my mind for years to come. I have posted pictures of my ticket next these words as validation to any skeptics who think I was not there and I am only repeating the things I watched on TV.

Got a ticket to ride?

Is it me, or is it just backwards to charge $45 for a standing room only ticket? Isn't it painful enough to have to stand for 3 - 3 1/2 hours, pay $7 for a beer that isn't all that cold and $5.50 for a Hot Dog that isn't that hot? Oh wait, this is the World Freakin' Series we're talkin about!!!

At the good 'ole hockey game

The rush is back. Go Sabres!

Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all - a moment in the sun

Is that Post-Season baseball I smell? I think it is!! Go ‘Stros!!

Put me in coach, I'm ready to play, today. Look at me, I can be, centerfield.

Going to a baseball game is usually a joyful experience for me, especially at this time of the year and the fact that we are currently leading the Wild Card race makes every game exciting: except today. I don’t know what it was about today’s game, but the atmosphere inside the ballpark was very “dead”. I even made this comment to my friend whom I went with and we both said afterwards that it was a boring game, not because we lost, in fact, we won today, but because there was barely, if any, buzz, aside from a handful of moments. The announced attendance was around 35,000, but it definitely seemed as though there were numerous empty seats to contradict that number. The fans only got loud after we scored or if an important pitch needed to be made, which was pretty rare since our pitcher was really shutting the other team down. Otherwise, there was no buzz in the air, which is something I’ve grown accustomed to and I tend to expect when attending any sports event. The other thing that confuses me is that we had a lot of opportunities for atmosphere to emerge and grow. We left 12 men on base and had the bases loaded twice, I think. That usually gets the crowd into the game and it did for those moments, but soon after the end of our mini-rally, the crowd went back to whatever was holding their attention, which certainly wasn’t the baseball game.

I have only one theory for this rare occasion: Sunday afternoon baseball games are days for families to bring their kids to the ballpark and have a family day. We saw plenty of kids with their parents and many of them were very young, as was the case 2 rows down from us where the one child was around a year to 14 months old and the other child looked less than a month old. Don’tget me wrong, I could care less how people spend their dollars and if they want to bring their kids to the ballpark I think It’s great, but those people aren’t paying attention to the game because their kids are too young to have the attention span to sit for 3 hours and watch a baseball game and the parents, consequently, have to spend the majority of time occupying their kids attention, which then detracts their attention from the game. So, maybe out of the 35K that attended today’s game, let’s say 35% are the parents of or are the kids, which is roughly 12,250 people. Those 12,250 people aren’t taking the necessary interest in the game to help generate excitement and only 22,750 remain to carry the energy. Of those people, I would guess 5-10% will be occupied with watching other people’s kids or making faces at the babies. It has also become apparent to me that when at the ballpark, people cannot stay in their seats for all 9 innings and tend to wander the hallways, whether it be for food, restroom or just to stretch their legs. Let’s assume this is another 2%. Now we are down to a little over 50% of the announced attendance actually in their seats and cheering at the appropriate times.

You’ve probably guessed that I don’t have kids, but I do have a 3 year old nephew and I know his attention span is very short. I spend all of 25 seconds on the phone with him before he gives it back to my sister and says “later!” When I do have kids, I will probably bring them to sporting events while they are still at that uninterested age and all of this will just be me ranting while I’m currently on the other side of the ball. In the meantime, we’re in a playoff race and I’d like to feel like it while I’m enjoying a well-pitched game with my friend. Going to this game was actually a little bit of a downer and we won! I went to a game last month that we lost poorly and there was a lot more excitement than today. It’s just weird, that’s all I’m really saying. I want encourage bringing your kids to the ballpark. In my eyes, any show of support for your local team is a positive and spending time with your family is doubly important and it is really special when you can mix the two together. Just remember to scream a little now and then to let us folks who are paying attention to the game that you’re here and that you’re going to help us scream and shout our team to victory. Go ‘stros!