Ballgame Number 7 - Florida Marlins vs LA Dodgers

Last night, Abbey, Matt and I went the Marlins-Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium in LA. All week I have been hearing from Chris Duncan, Matt, all the Matt Bayless band about how bad of an idea it was to go to a Dodgers game on Saturday night. They all swore up an down to make sure we wore blue, to not sit in the bleachers, to follow the crowd and not stray from the pack, and one even suggested I bring a gun. Anyways, I did not think my safety was that much in danger (maybe because I was wearing blue) but it definitely was a new experience.

• I think this was the oldest ballpark I have been in all year. It was cool to come to Dodger Stadium, but it was a pretty boring park.
• The Dodger dogs are all they're cracked up to be. They were good. The garlic fries were not.
  
• The Dodger fans are the most passionate fans I have seen all year. The place would erupt if a Dodger even stole a base.
• We did buy tickets from a scalper, which turned out to be a good decision. We sat in the second bowl for half the price of a box office ticket.
  
• The place was 80% full, probably the most fans at a game I have seen all year with maybe the exception of the Rangers-Yankees.
• The Marlins hit three home runs, all of which the ball landed back on the field after a fan threw the ball back. On the second home run, it was all in one motion - the fan catching it. winding up and throwing it back - with it almost reaching the infield.
• I will agree about not sitting in the bleachers. Those guys were crazy. I felt bad for the security guard constantly trying to get the beach balls.
  
• Derek Lowe still pitched well, but was not as good as two weeks ago when we say him in Tampa Bay.
• Hanley Ramirez, the Marlins lead-off batter, is stinkin' fast.
  
• Although he bats sixth and has an average of .273, Nomar Garciaparra is the the fan favorite.
  

Ballgame Number 6 - LA Dodgers at Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Abbey and I were down in Florida about two weeks ago visiting my parents and while we were there we all went to the Devil Rays game. Anybody who know anything about baseball knows the Devil Rays are horrible (always have been) and could be considered a minor league team. Anyways, we had a blast and if I lived anywhere near Tampa Bay I would be the biggest Devil Rays fan there is. Here are my observations from the game:

• This was the most fan friendly interactive stadium I think I have ever been to. On the lower level out in the outfield they have numerous exhibits/stations for free that you could go to whether it was looking at an actual locker room, batting cages, or the Ted Williams museum.
• Though the Devil Rays are bad, they are doing some awesome things to attract fans to the stadium. Parking for the first 7,500 cars is free! This just blew my mind. Also, everyone who came received a free program, a free small Devil Rays cooler, and a Dale Earnhardt lanyard.
  
• I like the dome. It was built in 1990 designed specifically for baseball. But the nice fact is no matter if it is raining outside or if the temperate is 100 (which it gets to in central Florida) baseball can still be played.
• If the Devil Rays could play defense the could win some more ballgames. Numerous times did I see a catchable ball that was simply missed.
• First time in my life I have seen back-to-back triples.
  
• Nomar Garciparra did not play, but that did not stop the fans from holding up a blanket in the upper deck reading, "NO MAR ROIDS" My wife got a laugh out the sign. Maybe if Nomar had kept taking steroids when he was with the Cubs he wouldn't have been injured for the whole time he was in Chicago.
• Derek Lowe is a great sinker ball pitcher.
  
• If I lived around Tampa Bay I would have season tickets.
  

Day 7 - Friday - Influence

Friday wrapped up an incredible week at CIY Summer Conference at Chapman University.

Friday morning, Doug Aldridge's sermon was right on. One of the quotes/examples he used was from the life of Jim Elliot. There was a prayer that Jim Elliot prayed, which was to not be a mile marker on the road of other people's lives, but to be a fork in the road where people have to make a choice after encountering him.

The dodgeball tournament was the first dodgeball tournament played on field turf. The tennis courts were being used, so everyone played in the end zone of the football field. The tournament was almost won by the same group of guys who won the basketball tournament. The crazy thing about that is they are from a smaller church (their group size was 27) and almost beat all the team from CCV, which brought 400. My favorite team name was "B&E" which stood for absolutely nothing. You ask them what it means and they rattle off 6 different names (ie. bacon and eggs, breaking and entering).

Like I have said before, this was one of the most stress-free weeks I have been apart of the last 6 years at CIY, with only one minor discipline issue involving play dough and pool table. But even that I don't think was any CIY kids. To top off the week, the semi-truck door was shut at 11.25pm, and nothing but praise for Matt Foreman for leading the team and getting it done.

Day 6 - Thursday - Isolation

It is always exciting to see who you will reconnect with at CIY Summer Conference. Last night I was able to talk to Nathan Alcorn, one of interns from last summer, for about 30 minutes about his current internship at CCV and about what he is going to do after he graduates after this year. Nathan has a great heart and him and I are similar in many ways.

Abbey sat and talked tonight to the youth minister of Central Christian Church in Portales, NM, Josh McVey for long time after dinner. They had gone to Ozark Christian College at the same time and are actually friends on MySpace, but had no idea they would be here at conference. The first encounter was kinda like, " I know you," "Yeah, I know you too - Josh?".

Also, one of the other leaders of Christ's Church of the Valley, Luke Wright, was a bible college camp team member when Abbey and I were interns at Summer Conference 4 years ago. It just makes you think of who you meet today and the relationships you form, who knows when you will reconnect in the future.

Today during free time every church bolted for the beach, and so did our staff. We went to California Pizza Kitchen and Matt, Ben, Travis and I rode our bikes to beach from Chapman University. There is a great trail/mini road that runs for about 12 miles and dumps directly into Huntington Beach.

At the beach, CCV baptized a large number of kids and while this was going on, an amazing thing happened. A guy was walking by, he just graduated high school and was at the beach on vacation, he saw what was going on and ran out to the group and wanted to be baptized also. He has accepted Jesus into his heart, and for the last couple of months he knew he needed to be baptized, but did not know a pastor to do it. After the youth ministers talked to him, he was also baptized. What an amazing story.

During the night session, Dusty Frizzell delivered the sermon and it was a powerful site to see the students praying and erasing their own hurts and the hurts of others off the isolation booth walls.

Day 5 - Wednesday - Injured

The theme of day 5 CIY Summer Conference is Injured. In the morning session, Doug Aldridge, a professor at Ozark Christian College gave a great message. He talked about David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel, but one the interesting things he showed us was - if you look at the chapter titles before and after David's sin in 2 Samuel 11, you can see there was a turning point. The first half of the book is about the rise and the second half (until the last two chapters) is on the downward slope. When Doug began, he showed us that "one day" and one sin or bad decision can leave us injured and down the wrong path. He concluded by showing us that "one day" and one decision can turn us back along the right path. When we are injured, healing does not start with the person that injured you, but instead it starts with you and often starts with you saying the words "I'm sorry."

Today was also the day of the Compassion/AIDS in Africa session. What a powerful session and the impact it is leaving on students. Abbey, my wife, talked to a young girl after who has had someone close to her (I think it was a family member) die because of the AIDS virus.

Today during free time, Ben, Travis and I made our way to another local bike shop and then back to REI. At REI, we were walking out, and I decided to ride my bike back to campus. It was about 8-10 miles, but I had no idea where I was going. I knew I need to go north, but the parts of LA you are suppose to drive through with your doors locked - I rode my bike through them not having a clue what I was doing. 45 minutes later I was back at the dorm. I did feel a little like Michael Bluth off Arrested Development riding his bike all over Orange County.

In the night session, students are asked to go and write their injuries on large plexiglass. After the night was over, Kevin had all the staff stay in the auditorium and pray for the hurts. We then got back together and discussed the injuries that stood out to each of us the most. To me the most reoccurring theme and hurt was abandonment and betrayal. There were many about relationships with their parents, and the one that got a hold of me was, "My mother and knowing that I was a mistake." This stood out to me because of someone I used to work with who has an amazing testimony about how he was supposed to be aborted and he was a "mistake."

Day 4 - Tuesday - Identity

Day 4 of CIY Summer Conference at California One. The staff is obsessed with Jamba Juice. This cult following is led by our production manager Matt Foreman, who had Jamba Juice 3 separate times today. A few of the guys woke up and left at 6:30 am to go get Jamba. I am also guilty, I have had it twice today. It also didn't help we had an unlimited number of buy one get one free coupons.

Score one for the underdogs! Today we held our 3-on-3 basketball tournament which had about 20 different teams. This week there is a church of 400 and another of 100 from Arizona. For two days all we heard was how this team or that team from the large churches was going to win. The team that won the tournament was from a group of 27 that took a 15 hour train ride to get here.

The staff did beat the band in basketball and I did take another trip to REI, this time for Ben Platt to buy some additions to his bike.

The theme today was Identity, which seems to be very powerful and very clear. Doug Aldridge spoke in the morning and Chris Duncan spoke at night, both delivering great sermons. My highlight of the day was during Chris's sermon looking over and there are two security guard from the college listening to every word.

Day 3 - Monday

Day 3 of CIY Summer Conference California 1 was unlike any other Monday of Conference I have been apart of in the last 6 years. Because there are 4 churches attending the week, and two of those churches are already on campus, registration consisted of the leader of each group calling me when they arrived and then I would take care of giving them all the information they needed. No large set-up, and the staff did not have to be at registration all day. The staff was able to relax and it definitely put everyone in a "stress free" mode.

Flagstaff and CCV, the two churches that arrived early, both went to Huntington Beach for the day. The other two churches arrived around noon. Central Christian Church from Portales, NM did something I don't think I had ever heard of before. From New Mexico, they took a 15 hour train ride to Los Angeles and then took the city buses to Chapman University. Josh, their leader, said the train was not too bad, the crazy part was the pubic bus system in Los Angeles. I can only imagine the experience that must have been. Christ Church of the Valley from Prescott, AZ left at 6am and arrived shortly after lunch.

The rest of the day consisted of an REI trip, where I bought some new toys for my bike and making sure everything was ready to go for 1st session. Matt Bayless and his band did an incredible job. Kevin did a great job with the sermon that night. He talked about how God is always pursuing us. God is always speaking into our lives, but do we ever stop to listen? Romans 5:8, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" was the scripture reference Kevin used to tie together the night. No matter what we have done, Christ gave his life to save us. God is pursing you.

Day 2 - Sunday

Day 2 of CIY Summer Conference California 1 for our staff consisted of setting up, more setting up, and finally finishing setting up. We have such a hard working team (interns and tech staff) and everyone knows their jobs, so everything gets done quickly.

Two of the churches arrived early for conference which officially begins on Monday. Christ's Church of Flagstaff arrived Sat night and spent Sunday at Knott's Berry Farm, America's 1st Theme Park. Supposedly this place is cooler that Disneyland. Probably because I have never lived out west, when I hear "Knott's Berry Farm" I think you will go and spend a day picking blueberries off bushes and then at the end you get some good jam/jelly. The other church, Christ's Church of the Valley, arrived shortly after lunch and played a game called "Campus Commando". This is a game designed to get the students familiar with the campus. They primarily are dressed in black, camo, and a few of them wear ski masks. Great idea, but when the same church played this game last year, they forgot to let the campus security know they were doing it, and you can just imagine the mess they created.

Our staff enjoyed In-n-out again and also went to The Block later that night.

That night for church, Kevin Greer, the director of the week, began by asking everyone the questions of "What is one thing you love? Who do you love? Who is one person in your life that has help you grow spiritually?" He talked about getting deeper with your walk and also said a quote from A.W. Tozer that went something like, "No matter whether you are spiritually deep or spiritually shallow, neither will stay hidden for very long." One of the things Kevin has asked our staff to do, is during every encounter time, that our staff would also take their personal quiet time also every morning. The meetings and our tasks can all happen after that. This is one of the first times our staff has been asked by the director to take the quiet time at the same time as the students. Kevin is an amazing teacher and truly cares about making disciples.

Day 1 of California 1

We began our travel for CA1 Summer Conference of CIY today. Day 1 was an extremely long day . For Kevin Greer, the director of the week, his day started by waking up before 3.30 am Central Time. Kevin, Abbey and I flew out of Tulsa at 8.00 so he had an extremely early morning. Abbey and I were fortunate to drive down to Tulsa the night before and stay with her parents.

We made it into Orange County about 11.00 am West Coast time and one piece of advice I learned yesterday - renting a car the weekend before July 4 can be an annoying, long process. Although we already had a reservation, everyone was disorganized and had no idea what they were doing.

Anyways, then we got some In-N-Out for lunch, meeting in the afternoon, quick nap, and then some stinkin good BBQ. We ate at Lucille's BBQ, located only out west and it was some of the best BBQ I have had in a long time. A Jamba Juice run, and then all of our interns arrived about 9pm and then the semi truck arrived about midnight. Load in at 8am in the morning.

The good new is that one of the churches has already arrived, and another church is arriving on Sunday. Both churches account for almost 95% of the people coming, so it will be nice for them and for us for them to receive all of materials they need before Monday.

Sunday will be a long day of set-up, but Matt Foreman, our production manager, will be in charge meaning there is nothing to worry about.

My First Love

Last night I was able to reunite with my first love. My mom, Abbey and I went to Sonny's BBQ for dinner. For those you who don't know, Sonny's BBQ is a chain restaurant all throughout the South. I grew up on Sonny's in Pensacola and also worked at one for a summer and a few Christmas Breaks.

This trip to Sonny's was different from any other I have experienced. Sonny's is redesigning all their stores to make them a little more "nicer." All the new stores (and eventually the old), will have a full bar, a redesigned dining area, and an outdoor dining area. You can see some pictures of the redesign on their website. Also, they have added some more menu items. I tried the pulled chicken for the first time last night.

I know everyone has their opinion on the best bbq, but for pulled pork and beef, Sonny's is hard to beat. If you have never been to a Sonny's, you are missing out.

Seattle and Portland

Two weeks ago Abbey and I got to go to Portland and Seattle for a few days. The purpose of the trip was to meet with some youth ministers and tell them about CIY's jr. high program Believe. We flew into Portland late on Monday night, drove up to Seattle and had lunch with 14 guys from the area at an amazing restaurant on Tuesday.

After that Abbey and I went to downtown Seattle and went to the Original Starbucks, Pike Place Market, REI, the original Kavu store, and the Space Needle. That night we attended my fourth major league game of the year, the Baltimore Orioles vs. the Seattle Mariners.

The next day Abbey and I went hiking at Snoqualmie Falls and then drove down to Portland and had a great dinner at a restaurant downtown. We went to Powell's books and then called it a night.

One the last day, Abbey went and dropped me off at Abundant Life Church (where the lunch was being held), and she went to the mall. The luncheon, set entirely up by Randy Gay, the youth minister, was well attended and I received a ton of feedback about the last couple years of Believe. That is one of my favorite things about meeting with the leaders is finding out what we did right, what we did wrong, what we need to do better. Also, the food, prepared by the church, was amazing as well.

Anyways, I have attached the slide show at the top of some of the pictures from the trip.

Ballgame Number 5 - Cardinals vs. Royals

Last week, Abbey and I went up to Kansas City with our friends Eric and Torrie to watch the Cardinals play the Royals. Eric works with me at CIY, primarily with the Superstart program. Eric is a big Cardinals fan and although I do consider myself a Royals fan, I am a without a doubt an anti-Cardinals fan. Fortunately the Royals showed up and scored more runs than they probably did in the month of May. We had a great time. Anyways, here are my observations:

• When you buy tickets from a scalper make sure you look at your tickets before you actually give them cash. The scalper said, "I got 2 and 2. I got 2 and 2 together." It was actually two together and then one single ticket and one single ticket.
• I came within a few rows of a foul ball. I have caught a few balls during batting practice of a major league game, but this was probably the closest I have come to catching a ball during a game.
• This was probably the fullest I have ever seen Kauffman Stadium. I have been to about 10 Royals home games, and I think the only time fans show up is when the Cardinals are in town.
• There were probably more Royals fans than Cardinals fans, but not by many.
• A scalper will say whatever he can to get you to buy his tickets. At first he made it clear that the game was sold out (which it was not - not even close) and we would not be able to get tickets anywhere else. Then the next line (trying to sell us on the 2 and 2 together) was that all you need is the ticket and then you would be able to sit anywhere because there won't be that many people in the lower section.
• The Royals raise their prices on tickets, parking, etc. when the Cardinals come to town. I guess they know these are the three games a year that people come to.
• The Cardinals looked bad. The Cardinals looked old. You wonder how long Edmonds and Rolen will be around.
  
• I know this is the only game I have seen the Royals in person this year, but they actually looked like a baseball team. They hit the ball.
• Alex Gordon, the Royals next top prospect, didn't start the season too hot but looked like he could hit and did well in the game.
  
• The Royals need to put my on salary and take me to all their games. In my lifetime I have seen the Royals play 8 times against the Rangers (2), Red Sox, Athletics, and Cardinals (4). The Royals have won 7 times. Give me a contract.
  
• QuikTrip is amazing. The hot dogs are better at QT than they are at the stadium. You need to try their new Coffee Cappuccino Frozen Milkshake drinks.
  

The Dip by Seth Godin

I recently finished the new book by Seth Godin, The Dip. It is a very short book which could be read in one sitting. I have read a few of Seth Godin's other books, and this one was similar but also very different.

This book had one main theme, a very simple theme and point, and was consistent on the main point.

The Dip tells us that whatever we do, we need to be the best in the world. If what you are working on right now is not helping you (or your company) to become the best in the world in your field, you need to quit it immediately.

Godin describes the actual dip as, "The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery. A long slog that's actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path. The Dip is the long stretch between beginner's luck and real accomplishment."

What he says in nothing ground breaking, but it is articulated in a very good way, and also a great reminder of where you want to be long term.

The one thing that stands out and I will remember is that no matter what you do strive and work toward being the best in the world. An example he uses is from the section The Biggest Mistake They Made in School:
"Just about everything you learned in school about life is wrong, but the wrongest thing might very well be this: Being well rounded is the secret to success.
When you came home from school with two As, a B+, and three Bs, you were doing just fine. Imagine the poor kid who had an A+ and four Cs. Boy, was he in trouble.
Fast forward a few decades from those school days, and think about the decisions you make today--about which doctor to pick, which restaurant to visit, or which accountant to hire. How often do you hope that your accountant is a safe driver and a decent golfer?
In a free market, we reward the exceptional."

Kelly Pickler sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

It is a Cubs tradition that a celebrity sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch of Cubs home games since Harry Caray died about 9 years ago. On Tuesday night, Kelly Pickler was the lucky winner. Watch below, and notice she says "popcorn and cracker jack" instead of the traditional "peanuts and cracker jack".

Ballgame Number 4 - Baltimore Orioles vs. Seattle Mariners

Last week I was up in Seattle/Portland talking to youth ministers about the Portland Believe event coming up in October. Being the smart guy I am, I looked at the Mariners schedule before the trip was planned and found a home game to go to. This was the first game that I have been able to go to with my wife this year. Here are my thoughts about the game in the great Northwest.

• Safeco Field was probably the nicest stadium I have been to all year. It is only a few years old and you can tell they put some money into the stadium.

• Granted it was the Orioles, but there was a significant low number of fans at the game. Maybe this had something to do with it being a little cold or the threat of rain (though they have a roof), but I think there still should have been more fans there.

• I know Ichiro is the big star for the Mariners, but this was the most cross cultural group of fans I have seen.

• Though there were not that many fans, they were the most supportive fans as far as apparel goes I have seen all year. Everyone was wearing a hat or shirt to support the home team.

• Only in Seattle do I get to decide between clam chowder in a bread bowl or sushi (I could have got an "Ichiroll" for my in park meal. I chose the chowder in a bread bowl.

• The bullpen was stinkin cool. You could walk up to a chain link fence by the bullpen and literally be 5 feet away from the pitcher warming up.

• We bought a $3 program (not an official program, but a team program right outside the stadium) and it was one of the funniest things I have read all year. You would have thought the person writing the player bios hates the team. I read three all of them ripping apart their own team. Examples - Mike Hargrove, Manager - "We're pretty shocked to still be writing Mike Hargrove profiles for another season." Richie Sexton, 1st base - "For an annual salary exceeding $15 million, the Mariners and their fans deserve so much more. C'mon Richie, start earning your money!" and my favorite, Jeff Weaver, pitcher - "If he never throws another pitch for the Seattle Mariners, he'll go down in history as the worst player to ever play for the franchise."

• The closing of the roof was pretty cool. The game started out outside, but with the threat of rain, about the 4th inning, they closed the roof. The entire process took about 7-10 minutes.

• Another cool feature at Safeco, was that you could order food via text message and have it delivered to your seat. There were fliers that had instructions and corresponding codes to each food item. You texted what you wanted and waited for additional instructions. We did not try it out, but having it available was still pretty cool.

• Tip for the game: Get early for parking. We parked a few blocks away at a "non-official" parking lot and paid $5. We arrived about 30-45 minutes before game time. As we were leaving the stadium we saw that the same sign had been changed $15.
  

Ballgame Number 3

Ballgame Number 3 of the year. A few weeks ago Josh, Krystle and I were down in Arlington, TX to look at the venue for the Texas Believe in the fall. No other way to plan a trip then to look at the baseball schedule and see when the Yankees are in town. So we drove down from Joplin timing it so that we would hit Arlington about game time.

I think this was the first time in my life I have seen the Yankees play. I have not been to a ton of American League games, but now I can say I saw the Bronx Bombers. Also, this was the closest I have ever got in my life to seeing a no-hitter. The Yankees carried a no-hitter into the 8 inning and then gave up a hit. It was also the first win for Phil Hughes for the Yankees. Phil Hughes has been regarded as "The Next Great Yankee Pitcher." Anyways, here are the observations from the game:

- All Texas Police Officers have to wear Cowboy hats.

- There are more Yankee fans in Texas than there are Ranger fans.

- Don't take your kids to a game and go sit in the bleachers during a blow-out.

- Alex Rodriguez really is that good.

- Starbucks is taking over - they were giving out free samples when you came in, and there was a location inside the stadium.

- The Rangers are horrible.

- Yankee fans need to go back to New York and stay there.

How did my bag arrive before me?

On my last flight I was flying home to Joplin, MO from Jacksonville, FL. On the flight down to Florida, I carried my bag on the plane with me. Why I didn't care them with me on the way back I have no idea.

I knew when I landed in Joplin at 3:25 pm on Friday there was a chance my bag would not be there. I flew from Jacksonville to Atlanta to Kansas City to Joplin and only had about a 30 minute layover in Atlanta. When there was no bag at the huge Joplin airport, I figured it was because my bag got lost in Atlanta. Though slightly annoying, my house is 4 minutes away and there was nothing in the bag I needed immediately.

After the bag ladies threw the bags out of the roll up garage door (seriously) and I didn't see my bag, they told me to go the counter. I go to the US Airways counter and the other lady looks at me like they have never lost a bag before. Before looking anywhere for my bag, she gives me a paper to fill out. I hand her the filled out form and ask if there is anything else I can do. "Well, here is the US Airways number - you can call that in a little bit and they might be able to help you." I had two phone numbers on the bag and one of the phone numbers was my cell phone which was dead - no big deal right, surely they will call both phones?

I waited until noon the next day (almost 24 hours later) to call the US Airways number, and they gave me the phone number the the US Airways baggage claim. I call the US Airways baggage claim but because I don't have a claim number (I never received this information from the lady behind the counter) and because my first flight was on Delta and because of some "baggage claim agreement" , I needed to file a claim with Delta also. They were so kind to give me the Delta number. I call Delta, they give me the number for Delta baggage claim. I call Delta baggage claim and after about 10 minutes I find out they can't help me because of the baggage claim agreement." I kindly let Carlos know that I don't care about any "baggage claim agreement" I just wanted to talk to someone who would help me find my bag. The only thing he could tell me to do was to go back to the airport.

Fortunately, I live close to the airport, but when I arrived there was no one at the US Airways counter because there wasn't a flight coming in for another couple of hours. So, I would need to come back. Why did I not carry on my bag? One of the rental car workers I think felt bad for me , and told me they would call the security officer in the barn. She did say though that if he was mowing, he would not hear the phone. This just keeps getting better. My luck, he wasn't mowing at that moment, he came out and what do you know but my bag was behind the counter.

I get in the car, pull out my charger, plug in my phone, and there was a message. It was from US Airways. Thanks US Airways for calling only one of the two numbers written on the bag. But this is the real twist. The message was at 2:43 pm on Friday. That means that my bag was in Joplin 45 minutes before my flight landed. That means my bag was behind the counter when I filled out the sheet that apparently lacked a "claim number." She didn't even look for a bag.

Now my question is, if my bag arrived at 2:43pm, why couldn't I have arrived at 2.43pm?

Ballgame Number 2

A few weeks ago the Believe team was able to see the Atlanta Braves take on the Washington Nationals (and watch John Smoltz pitch). This past Sunday I enjoyed my second Major League game of the season. Josh, Krystle and I were driving down from Indianapolis to Gatlinburg, TN and what better way to enjoy a pit stop than to go to a baseball game.

Let me first say that I have never been a big fan of the town of Cincinnati - every time I am there it just seems cold and bitter. Not that the game changed my opinion about Cincy, but it was nice to actually enjoy the town for at least one day in my life.

The Philadelphia Phillies were in town and it was a beautiful day in Cincy to enjoy a ballgame. Below I have listed my observations of the ballpark, the teams and players, attending a baseball game in general and so on. Hopefully there will be many more games this season to come.

- Picking up tickets at will call was about the easiest thing I have ever done. There were kiosks (like at an airport) - you walk up, scan your credit cards and out pops your tickets. Stupid easy.

- You can get Skyline Chili at the ballpark.

- Bringing young children to a baseball game can be a bad idea. I felt so bad for Tommy (the boy in the row behind us) because he couldn't do anything right. My favorite was when he asked his mom for some water and she snapped back, "I drank it all!" Poor Tommy.

- Obtain seats where you can see the large scoreboard. It will make the game much more enjoyable.

- The Lemon Ice is good, but man is it sour!

- You don't help your team's chances when you give up 2 runs before your teammates even gets to bat.

- If you want to make a lot of money, go get some coolers, fill them with ice and bottled water you bought from Wal-Mart, stand on the sidewalk after a game and sell them for $1. It will seem like a steal after everyone have been paying $4 a bottle inside the park.

- The Reds are bad, but they can still beat the Cubs.

Opening Day Predictions

As far as I can tell, this is the first time in human history that three important dates happened on the same day. Palm Sunday, April Fools Day, and Opening Day of Baseball.

This year, like every other year of my life, I plan to get more into baseball than the year before. I also plan to attend as many games as humanly possible without losing my job, wife, house, etc.

With the excitement of the upcoming season, here are my fearless predictions:

• The Royals will be one of the hottest teams in baseball until mid may when they realize they are not suppose to be this good...they get rid of their up and coming franchise player (ex. Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon) and finish last in their division.
  
• The St. Louis Cardinals will finish 23-139 (this is more of a hope/prayer).
• Barry Bonds will break Hank Aaron's record at home in San Francisco after sitting out a 8 game road trip because everyone outside of the Bay Area knows he cheated.
• Mark Prior and Kerry Wood will be on the disabled list 12 times.
• Sammy Sosa comes back with a fury and sets the single season home run record even after being drug tested everyday for the last two months of the season.
• Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals manager, will be arrested for drunk driving (oh wait, this already happened during spring training).
• The Yankees will spend a lot of money, the will make the playoffs, ARod will all of a sudden strike out every time, make lots of errors and they will lose before the World Series (this is almost a guarantee - it happens every year).
• The Cubs will beat the Indians in 5 games in the World Series. (Hey, it’s April, no games have been played yet, and there is still at least 3 weeks before the Cubs can be statistically eliminated)

Bad Dancing

I will cheer for Florida in the tournament and they will be the team that I want to win, but in no way do I support this horrible example of dancing. Not that I could do any better, but Joakim Noah is annoying.

Diamonds are forever..maybe

For all of you who are done with Valentine's Day...enjoy yourself.

He finally wins the big one

For those of you living in a hole, Peyton Manning and Colts got the monkey off of their back by defeating the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl 29-17 in Miami on Sunday.

There are two interesting stories that have surfaced in the last day or two about a man named Peyton Manning. One of them is confirmed the other is not.

#1 - "Going to Disney World!"
I heard this story on the radio, but have been unable to find it in print.
After every major professional championship event, Disney World somehow gets the most prominent player/MVP to say that the next thing they are going to do is "Go to Disney World!" The first time I every remember seeing this was when the Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Orel Hershier beat the Oakland A's in the World Series. He was on top of his teammates shoulders and he was going to the Magic Kingdom next. Other have included John Elway, Barry Bonds, Magic Johnson.
Well, after the Super Bowl, Disney approached Peyton Manning about saying the famous line. He asked how much was the payout, Disney replied with $30,000. Not a bad check for saying one line if you ask me. Peyton, (also known as King of Endorsements), said no, but he would do if for 1 million dollars. Disney passed, and had the real MVP of the game (Dominic Rhodes) and the coach, Tony Dungy, saying the famous line.
I know Peyton is good, but asking for a million dollars?

#2 - Losing a bet
Back in 7th grade, I lost a bet (have not idea what it was about) and had to shave my head. When the Twins beat the Braves in the World Series, my dad had to wear a Twins tie to work. If Ohio State had beaten the Florida Gators Robert Pierre would have to wear a Speedo at a pool party. I am glad Florida won on so many levels.
Now let me bring you to a vow that happened over the Super Bowl. I can only guess how much alcohol was consumed when this man agreed to do what he did (It is fitting this happened in a bar). Scott Weise, a die-hard Chicago Bears fan, will officially change his name to Peyton Manning because of the outcome of the game. Peyton Manning was MVP of the Super Bowl. Scott works at Staples. I know about being a true fan, but changing your name, when is it too much?

Jeep Dealership --> You win this round

Jeep Dealership wins round one. Hopefully this will be the last round.

A few weeks ago I received a coupon in the mail for an oil change, tires balanced and rotated and a brakes inspection from the Jeep Dealership (at Continental Auto Mall) for my wife's 2002 Jeep Cherokee. It actually wasn't a bad price for all that was included (usually there is no way in the world I would go to the dealership to pay their astronomical prices) and I love coupons, so we decided to take them up on their offer. Never again. It is a scam.

I scheduled my appointment, took the Jeep in and waited. The clerk/salesman (you will see why he has both titles in my eyes) comes out to the waiting area and lets me know the results of the brake inspection. Basically he informs me that my front brakes need to be replaced. But he does it in a way where I feel as though I could run off the road or into the back of a semi-truck if I don't get them replaced immediately. I had no problems with any of my brakes before he looked at it! So of course with the pressure on, instead of saying "No thanks" and going to someone else that won't drain my bank account, I cave to to the pressure and let them install the brakes. About 2 minutes later, after I come to my senses, I regret my decision.

This is not the first time I have been suckered with a vehicle scam. I will never take my car to the Firestone in Joplin after their little scam on my Explorer two years ago.

I really regretted my decision when I wrote the check. I felt like I had just written a check in response to an e-mail to get the Prince of Nigeria's treasure over to America.

Piece of advice - if the dealership tells you that you need to fix something, go to someone else get a second opinion and let them install it for a fraction of the price.

Yes, the Jeep Dealership won that round. I am a moron. And Continetial Auto Mall --> get a new jingle.

Make the process as hard as possible

This past week I received a notice in the mail letting me know that I needed to renew my tags for my vehicle. No big deal, right? WRONG. This was one of the most annoying and not customer friendly processes I have dealt with in a long time.

On the notice to renew in big bold letters - "Three Easy Ways to Renew!" Man were they lying. The first was by mail, the second was online, and the third was in person. I was somewhat skeptical already about it being easy, so I thought I would choose the path of least resistance and go in person. This way I could know I got it done, get my sticker for my tag and go home.

I showed up to office, handed over my form and asked who I needed to make the check out to. She takes a look at the form and then looks at me, "Do you have your insurance form?"
"It is in my car, I will go get it."
"Do you have your car inspection form?"
Because I have owned my car less than a year, it was inspected last year - surely I didn't have to go again this year. Oh no, because my car is a '99 I have to get it inspected every odd year from here on out. But the inspection is not the last thing I need.

I also need to go get a personal property tax receipt. The wonderful lady at the DMV then informs me of the process to get the receipt. Here you go (kinda like choose your own adventure):
- Go to the Jasper County Courthouse. If you have already paid go to room 107 for a receipt, if you have not paid go to room 207.
- I had not paid, so 207 here I come. I stand in line for a while, make it to the counter, tell the lady my name, she looks something up on a computer, takes a scratch piece of paper, scribbles down about 7 numbers and then tells me to go to room 107.
- In room 107, I wait in another line, hand the scrap piece of paper to a guy who goes and looks something else up on a computer.
- Now I write my check to the County Collector. I ask who to make it out to (expecting "Jasper County Collector") and I make the check out to "Steve Holt." I know he is the County Collector, but it would make me feel (1) safer, (2) like I am not living in redneck Missouri, and (3) nobody could embezzle money if I could make it out to something official, instead of an individual.
Now I have my receipt, next is the inspection.

Please is whatever business you are in, please make the process as stinkin' hard as you can for the consumer.

Rivalry Game

On Tuesday Night, the University of Alabama came to The Plains at Auburn for a basketball game. Auburn upset the number 12 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 81-57. This is worthy of a blog post for two reasons: (1) Auburn is rarely if ever good at basketball and because of this has lost to Alabama the last 7 times they have played and (2) you cannot explain this heated rivalry in words.

As far as the actual team that Auburn puts on the court to play, they are young, they are fast, and they are not very smart. They love to run and they love to take bad shots. But if you run faster than your opponent you will get shots close to the basket.

I absolutely love how much Alabama is hated in Auburn. There were two chants that were consistent throughout the night, "Overrated!" (Which clearly Alabama is); and "Bring on Saban!" (in accordance with Alabama's new football coach Nick Saban). The other spectacle I loved was students painted their chest orange and had a dark navy hand print square in their chest. This is to symbolize the last five times that these two teams have meet on the football field in the Iron Bowl - where Auburn has won the last five.

WAR EAGLE - BEAT BAMA!

Ice in Southern California

I can only shake my head. I want to laugh but I know they are serious. On Sunday our Believe crew left Pomona, CA to drive back to Joplin, MO. On our way out of town we had to drop our truck drivers off at The Fairplex (our venue), and on the way I saw something I don't I have ever seen before.

Let me preface this: When we left there had been no rain or precipitation in the area for quite sometime. There was frost on the ground, and any ice on road had come from gutters.

I saw two large flashing signs reading, "ICE! CAUTION ICE AHEAD!" Not that big a deal - everyone across the nation would put out signs if there was ice. But then I saw it. There were 4 different cop cars at three different spots blocking small (and I mean very small) patches of ice on the road. When I say small, I mean 2 x 2. I mean smaller than my suitcase. The cops weren't just blocking these patches of ice, they were closing lanes to do it!

I can not claim I am from the Midwest (I will claim to be a Floridian till I die) but by living in Missouri the last 3 years and Tennessee the 4 before that you would not believe the difference the way people react to ice compared to California. People from Missouri and Oklahoma have an understanding of what to do when the snow/ice gets bad.

I also do agree that Southern California gets this way about every time the Bears win a playoff game, but I also know that cops in Pomona probably have something better to do with tax dollars that block off a patch of ice. Go catch some bad guys.

Our speaker, Nate Head, had his flight cancelled because LAX (only one of the largest airports this side of the world) because they did not have any deicer. How would like to be the 16-year-old sophomore working at Home Depot when you received that order? Nate said people were freaking out not knowing what to do because of the weather.

By no means do I consider myself to be an expert driving in/on ice, I am just amazed when something happens out of the ordinary to people, how they react as if the sky was falling is something to just sit back and watch.

I can say all of this after driving on 3 inches of ice up a hill with a trailer to get to our hotel last night in Oklahoma City.

I caught a shark

Over the Christmas break, I was able to spend a week with my parents down in Clearwater, FL. They live on the beach and you can walk out their back door onto the sand.

The second day I was there, my dad and I went fishing out in the ocean (we waded out about 50 feet) and although we did not catch much (my dad only caught one catfish), I did catch something I had never caught before in my life. I caught a shark.

It was a bonnethead shark (see picture) about 2 feet in length. Because we were standing out in the water, and the closest camera was back the condo, I am sad to say that I do not have a picture of "my shark." I will say though it was pretty stinkin' exciting.