Father of Six

X’s and O’s NFL notes
The NFL is changing the Overtime rules. There has been a lot of grumbling that the loser of the OT coin flip never gets the chance to possess the ball, hence an inordinate amount of importance in winning the coin toss.

The new rule states. “Both teams must have the opportunity to possess the ball once during the extra period, unless the team that receives the opening kickoff scores a touchdown on its initial possession, in which case it is the winner.”

“If the team that possesses the ball first scores a field goal on its initial possession, the other team shall have the opportunity to possess the ball. If that team scores a touchdown on its possession, it is the winner. If the score is tied after both teams have a possession, the team next scoring by any method shall be the winner.”

“If the score is tied at the end of a 15-minute overtime period, or if the overtime period’s initial possession has not ended, another overtime period will begin, and play will continue until a score is made, regardless of how many 15-minute periods are necessary.”

As of now, this rule will take effect in next season’s post-season only, with the prospect of being passed for the regular season when NFL owners meet in Dallas in May.

Glad I could pass along this information.

Ex Libris What am I reading?
Still working on “The Infinity of Lists,” by Umberto Eco.

In the chapter entitled, “The Ineffable,” Eco draws attention to a list of demons, taken from the “Legemeton Clavicula Salomonis (1641), from Pseudomonarchia daemonum by John Weyer (1501-1588), which appeared in the appendices of various editions of his Praestigiss daemonum (1563), from Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire infernal (1812), and from other texts on demonology.

Just being able to research and then put together this list, Umberto Eco earns my vote as the smartest man on the planet!

Among those on this list of demons are: Amy, Furfur, Leonardo, Murmur, Otis, Phoenix, Tap, Vine, and Wall. Not sure I’d be afraid of a demon with any one of those names.

Otis, my man.

Adult cartoons Seasonal Sport – Hockey
In a matter of a few weeks, I’ve fallen completely in love with hockey again. It’s such a great game, and the fans are so passionate. I’ve started following several Montreal Canadiens fans on Twitter and have had the opportunity to engage in brief conversations during recent games. The regular season is almost over and I’m following the race to the Stanley Cup playoffs with keen interest. There are only a handful of games left, so next week the “2nd Season” starts.

I won’t say combo platter. What did I cook this week?
From Judith Jones’ “The Pleasures of Cooking for One,” I made Lemony Scaloppini of Pork, with jasmine rice, and steamed asparagus. This meal was prepared in honor of Eric’s birthday.

First Down Upcoming Sporting Event – Soccer
I would consider professional soccer in England as the class of the world. You can make arguments about the caliber of leagues in Spain and France, but really, England is the epitome of the sport.

In England, there are five levels, or leagues – from the top English Premier League to the bottom English Conference.

The most compelling thing about the structure of the leagues is the promotion and regulation aspect. In simplistic terms the idea is that winning one of the top three positions in each league earns a team promotion to the next higher league. Finishing in the bottom three positions gets a team relegated to the next lower league.

My team, the Leicester City Foxes, is currently in a position to make the playoffs to earn promotion from the level two league into the Premiership. The cool thing about this is that if they make it up, then they’ll be on the Fox Soccer Channel, and I’ll actually get a chance to see them play, something I’ve never had the chance to do.

Time Out What did one of my 6 kids do this week that I found remarkable?
By the time this is posted, it will be my son Eric’s 26th birthday. As mentioned above, he and his girlfriend came over for dinner to celebrate.

Happy Birthday, bud.

Second and Short Cycling
The Criterium International race was this past weekend in Corsica. It marked the season’s first time where Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong competed in the same event.

In Stage 1, Contador was dropped by the leaders to finish 1:12 minutes down while Armstrong fared even worse, crossing the line 4:51 minutes behind. Stage 2 was unremarkable for both, finishing in the middle of the group. Stage 3 was the 7.7k time trial. Contador finished 2nd in 9:52. Armstrong finished 15th, in 10:08. That’s a pretty decent improvement from Armstrong, and as the spring progresses, we need to watch his mountain and time trial efforts to see if he’ll have any chance of seriously competing with Contador in July’s Tour de France.

OctoEchos What music I’m listening to, why and do I like it? Or just music.
I listen to the fantastic New Orleans radio station WWOZ. On a recent blues show, the DJ featured a guy named Colin Lake playing acoustic solo blues and his style was described as “freestyle lap-slide guitar.” I bought his EP “In On time” and have been enjoying both the guitar playing and Mr. Lake’s soulful vocals.

(Don’t worry, Dad, I put a copy of the CD in the mail to you on Monday.)

Man Coverage Pick One Person
Ryan Leaf is an “irresponsible dillweed.” That’s what Peter King, senior NFL writer at Sports Illustrated, called him.

You may recall that Leaf was selected as the second overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft after Peyton Manning, and many scouts predicted he would be a better pro than Manning.

Leaf’s four-year career was marked by injuries, poor relations with teammates, the media, and poor performance. He is widely regarded as one of the biggest busts in NFL and professional sports history. That alone would earn the dillweed remark.

It was reported on March 25th that Leaf plead guilty to seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of delivery of a simulated controlled substance in exchange for 10 years of probation. What sits wrongly with me about this case is that while Leaf was an assistant coach at West Texas A&M he broke into the apartment of a football player, a player that Leaf personally coached, and stole Hydrocodone that had been prescribed in treatment of an injury.

Journalists shouldn’t resort to name calling, but I agree with King, Leaf is a dillweed.

Halftime What exercise did I get this week and how it correlates to a future challenge?
Week 11 of my triathlon training had a few bumps. I got two really great swims in and two decent bike rides. But we had an epic snowstorm mid-week that interrupted my training and I lost out on the run days.

I’m feeling good about where I am with swimming and cycling. And running continues to be my doom.

Third and Long Local Teams
Poor DU.

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) scored a 2-1 upset win over Denver at the 2010 NCAA East Regional. RIT net minder Jared DeMichiel was the big difference in this game, making 39 saves as DU outshot RIT, 40-25.

DU’s season ends on a sour note losing its third consecutive game overall and third straight in the NCAA tournament since last claiming the national title in 2005.

Scramble What outdoors activity have I been up to this week?
The pedometer challenge is over. Here are the final results:

1 Guy A 321,097
2 Guy B 264,328
3 Me 244,134
4 Guy D 192,375
5 Guy F 184,389

Meanwhile, I rode my bike 16 miles on Sunday along the Platte River Trail. I got two flats and had supplies on board to fix them both.

Upon Further Review What sport sucks?
I know NASCAR is big money, and I don’t even consider it a worthy event to debate, in terms of sport or non-sport. But you are all a bunch of pansies if you think it’s ok to postpone one of your races because it’s raining.

Too dangerous? Man, I’d pay money to watch a car race in the rain.

The probability of crashes when it’s raining has to rise exponentially.

Isn’t that the primary reason y’all watch NASCAR? Because you hope there is a really cool and horrific crash?

I mean, otherwise, you’re just watching grown men drive around in a circle.

Special Teams What does my real job have me doing?
Compromising. An issue kept coming up over and over from a customer and he wouldn’t let it go. A compromise of sorts was reached which my boss says “keeps our process pure and puts the responsibility on the program if they so choose.” I don’t like a compromise that deviates from law. If the law is bad, change it.

4th and … forget about it Who should retire?
It bothers me that some professional athletes sign one-day contracts with teams so that they can officially retire as “Packers” or “Celtics,” or “Royals.”

Through the course of a professional athlete’s career, he or she starts, and becomes famous and valuable while playing for a “first team.”

Then big money opportunities come along and they decide to leave teams, or the teams determine that the player isn’t worth what they think they are. Players leave the first teams and move on to play for the “Buccaneers,” or “Bucks,” or “Pirates,” for a king’s ransom.

They age, and the second team cuts them, or doesn’t want to re-sign them.

Melancholy sets in, along with a sense of nostalgia, and they get their agent to get the original team to agree to a one-day, no-cost contract so the player can retire with the same team they broke in with.

Hey, mister disingenuous, if you wanted to permanently attach yourself to the original team, the team that gave you the opportunity to be successful, then you should have never left them in the first place.

Greed.

Lagniappe Something extra
I can’t find the right place for this commentary, and it might not even belong here at all. In all honesty, I really don’t like ending this week’s installment this way – on an angry and disturbed note. But I think I want to voice my opinion anyway.

If you’re Catholic, don’t turn your back on this.

Former Pope John Paul II is under consideration for sainthood.

As I understand the process, it takes two miracles for a person to become a saint. The Vatican must confirm that one miracle has occurred due to the intercession of a person, and in doing so this gets you beautified. A second miracle is needed for you to be declared a saint. As a reminder, a miracle is an unexpected event attributed to divine intervention.

It really is none of my business, but not only is it shameful that this process is under consideration amidst the pedophilic episode rife throughout the Roman Catholic Church; I find it very humorous that the miracle submitted in support of JPII’s beatification is under scrutiny and even doubt. (Gasp!)

The case of the miracle is this: The inexplicable cure of a young French nun from Parkinson’s disease. The nun, who suffered from the same disease that ravaged John Paul for years, had prayed to him for relief and one morning two months after John Paul died, woke up completely cured. Can you say misdiagnosis?

You know what would have been a real miracle? The answered prayers of all those children who offered up, “God, please don’t let this happen to me.”

You know who needs to be “beautified and sainted?” Neda Agha-Soltan, the young Iranian woman murdered in the streets of Tehran for taking part in a stance against injustice and tyranny.

Do not paint as righteous some dude who headed the world’s largest sanctioned pedophilic organization for more than 25 years.

With power comes corruption.

Bastards.

X’s and O’s NFL notes
There is a lot of talk about proposed overtime rules changes for the NFL post season at the owners meetings this week. It’s all speculative at this point, so I’ll save my thoughts until it actually happens.

What got me to thinking even more recently was the leak of the closely guarded Wonderlic Test scores from the NFL Scouting Combine. The Wonderlic tests intelligence in a 50-question test that is conducted within a 12-minute time frame. Of the quarterbacks at the combine, Sam Bradford scored the highest, with a 36. Jimmy Clausen scored a 23 and Tim Tebow scored a 22.

While it is impressive to score above 25 in this test, I don’t really think there is much to the test if you are trying to determine future success as an NFL QB. I mean, I heard that Brett Favre got a 15 and Dan Marino got a 13.

Vince Young scored a 6 on the Wonderlic. Then they gave the test to him again after they told him to take it seriously. He got a 15 the second time.

Boomer Sooner, and Hook ‘em Down. For life.

Ex Libris What am I reading?
Still working on “The Infinity of Lists,” by Umberto Eco.

Adult cartoons Seasonal Sport – Hockey
Did you happen to hear about the injury to Calgary Flames Center, Damon Langkow in Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Wild?

News reports all stated that he was taken off on a stretcher after he took a puck to the back of his neck. I watched it live and then saw numerous replays. It wasn’t the puck to the back of his neck that was the problem.

As Langkow was checked from behind, his teammate unleashed a wicked slap shot. The puck was headed right for Langkow’s face. The momentum of the check allowed Langkow to tuck is chin to his chest, and the puck struck him in the back of the neck. He landed on the ice head first, and the tuck position was really exaggerated by the force of the landing. He could have snapped his neck.

The good news is that stayed overnight at a St. Paul hospital, is undergoing further tests, and he can move all his limbs. Good luck.

I won’t say combo platter. What did I cook this week?
Another Dutch Oven experiment, this time a simple pork roast with potatoes, carrots and onions. It was a no brainer. Unless I’m going to bake a cake or make a pizza, I think I’ll get off the Dutch oven kick for a while.

First Down Upcoming Sporting Event – Soccer
There are 80 days to go before the start of the 2010 World Cup.

England and the USA are competing in the same group of round robin play. The top two teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals. Slovenia and Algeria round out Group C. The head to head match between England and the USA is June 12th.

I’m sure soccer fans on both sides of the Atlantic have that date circled.

Time Out What did one of my 6 kids do this week that I found remarkable?
Brittany went to the Melting Pot for dinner. The Melting Pot is a fondue place and perhaps the best dining experiences I’ve ever had have been there. I like it that my kids go there of their own volition, and are just as enthralled by the place as I am.

Second and Short Cycling
Lance Armstrong was due to ride Milan-San Remo last Saturday, perhaps to help RadioShack secure a place in the Giro d’Italia, but he pulled out less than 24 hours before the start. The team said in a press release that he was suffering from acute gastroenteritis.

And RadioShack didn’t get invited to the Giro.

Lance’s next scheduled race is this weekends Criterium International. At this race, Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong will go against each other for the first time since last year’s Tour de France. There is an individual time trial in this three day event.

OctoEchos What music I’m listening to, why and do I like it? Or just music.
I usually listen to classical music during my commute to and from work, and have for almost 30 years. I’ve listened to the same station, KVOD for that entire time as well.

When I first started listening to KVOD, the station was co-owned by Gene Amole. Long-time residents of Denver will recall Gene as a columnist for the Rocky Mountain News and worked on local television as well. Gene served as the morning DJ and he would start his 6am set each day with a recording of a Tomaso Albinoni baroque style concerto for oboe. Some days he would play the entire piece, on others he would only play a few measures, especially if there was urgent news to deliver. Either way, the song would get stuck in my head. And it rocked.

Nowadays, the morning shift at KVOD is manned by Mr. David Rutherford. I suppose in a fashion to honor of the late Gene Amole, Rutherford starts each 6am set with the “Sunrise Serenade.” He always introduces the piece with a little background about the composer, or context in which the piece was written, or the effect the piece might have on you. It’s a fantastic 5-10 minutes that I look forward to each work day.

On Monday past, the Sunrise Serenade selection was “Sospiri Op.70,” composed by Edward Elgar, and performed by The New Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli conducting. Sospiri is an Italian word meaning “sighs.” It was a beautiful sigh.

Man Coverage Pick One Guy
Ever wonder what motivates a guy to make the choices and decisions he makes?
Why a guy would toss aside a successful and critically acclaimed career in film?
A guy who had roles or starred in some 25 films?
A guy nominated for and winner of Golden Globe and Academy Awards?
A guy with a Grammy Award for his contribution to a soundtrack?
A guy like Joaquin Phoenix?

Yeah, me either.

Halftime What exercise did I get this week and how it correlates to a future challenge?
I know some will scoff at me for this confession, but I have trained 23 consecutive days now. I have some very rational justification for this plan and performance. Ask me. Last week was three days of running for 40 minutes each day, two swims at 1500 and 2000 yards, and two indoor trainer sessions for cycling. Inclement weather (by my standards) has kept me confined to the treadmill and spin bike. I need to get outdoors soon.

Third and Long Local Teams
DU didn’t bring their “A” game to the WCHA Final Five Tournament, and got smoked by North Dakota in the semi-finals, and then Wisconsin took them to the woodshed in the consolation game. The two losses cost them in the polls, as they are now the #2 ranked team in the country. Regardless of the poor showing, DU was awarded one of the four #1 seeds in the NCAA Division I tournament. DU opens the East Regional play this Friday afternoon, against #4 seed and former Division II and III powerhouse, Rochester Institute of Technology.

Scramble What outdoors activity have I been up to this week?
I’m sitting pretty in the middle of the pack for the pedometer challenge. I managed to click over 20,000 steps one day last week. Then I spent the next two days pounding the Aleve. I won’t win this challenge, but I’m happy I won’t finish last. Final day of recording is this Friday.

Upon Further Review What sport sucks?
At some point, I suppose it will be necessary to define “sport.” Right now, I can think of activities like darts, billiards, and bowling as “games.” These are games just like marbles and tops are games. If you make the claim that anything shown on ESPN is a sport, then the National Spelling Bee and the World Series of Poker are sports. Just go away. Now.

Special Teams What does my real job have me doing?
Another round of clarification and writing position papers. This time, I wrote an ironclad defense of a process and service that my team owns, and addressed it to several Vice Presidents and Directors. The responses? Silence. That’s what ironclad suggests.

4th and an eternity Who should retire?
Kevin Costner. Besides the fact that he delivers his lines about as well as a self-lobotomized imbecile, get a load of this: Costner sings in a country rock band called “Kevin Costner and Modern West.” I guess he founded the band with the encouragement of his wife.

Please, no.

But maybe, just maybe, there are higher powers at work here. In one of those random acts of nature often passed off as supernatural intervention, in August of last year at something called the Big Valley Jamboree in Alberta, Canada, Costner and his band were about to take the stage when a severe thunderstorm struck and caused the stage to collapse.

Hallelujah! Can I getta amen?

Lagniappe Something extra
It’s been the home to a wide variety of events, including Slidell Little Theatre (SLT) performances, carnival balls, dance recitals, holiday parties and trade shows. It has been the venue for high school dances and graduation parties. But this month, the Slidell Municipal Auditorium will close its doors for the last time.

The auditorium was substantially damaged by the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Demolition of the auditorium is anticipated to begin next month and the replacement facility is scheduled to open in 2011.

I know that my dad acted in his first play with SLT’s production of, Of Mice and Men, at the Auditorium.
I know that I was part of the children’s cast (and Paul too?) in SLT’s productions of The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, and Damn Yankees at the Auditorium.
I know my brother played the role of King Arthur in Camelot, the Slidell High Class of 1974’s Senior play at the Auditorium.
I think my sister was part of the Camellia Court presentation and ball at the Auditorium.
I know I attended several Jr. High and High School dances at the Auditorium.

It’ll be gone soon.

But we all have memories.

X’s and O’s NFL Business news and notes
The Cleveland Browns traded former 1st Round draft pick, Quarterback Brady Quinn to the Denver Broncos. Who is excited? Not me. It seems to me that Quinn is interested more in body building than learning to be a NFL starting QB. And he went to Notre Dame. No thanks. (As an aside, the trade for Irish Quinn, means the Donks will most likely release Shorthorn Chris Simms. Bye-bye Chrissy. OU hero Roy Williams still loves you.)

Ex Libris What am I reading, why, and do I like it?
“The Infinity of Lists,” by Umberto Eco. A reference inside the book states that it “is published in conjunction with the exhibition, The Infinity of Lists, presented by the Musée du Louvre, Paris,” as organized by the author. In the introduction, Eco states that the Louvre invited him to organize a seriers of events on a subject of his choice. He chose lists. The collection of lists include Hesiod’s list of the children of gods and Rabelais’ list of things used to wipe one’s bum. This will take me a considerable amount of time to read, and I think it is well worth my undertaking.

Adult cartoons Seasonal Sport – Hockey general
I’ve watched with interest this past week as I’ve learned to enjoy my NHL Center Ice subscription. I find myself more interested in watching the Canadian teams – Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver – than any other divisional or conference race. I’ve made it a point to watch some leading goal scorers this week too. Guys like Steven Stamkos on the Tampa Bay Lightning and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals are pretty exciting.

I won’t say combo platter What did I cook this week?
Dutch Oven Chicken. I bought a whole cut up chicken, mixed in an onion, some carrots, potatoes, green beans, chicken broth and red cooking wine, along with some herbs and spices – marjoram, bay leaf, cinnamon, and clove – and put it in the dutch oven on the stove top. Cooked it for a little over an hour. It was awesome.

First Down Upcoming Sporting Event – Soccer
England’s cup squad took a blow this week, as David Beckham is almost assuredly out of the side after suffering a torn Achilles tendon. Or did it? While Beckham was hoping to become the first player in England’s storied history to play in four World Cup’s, I wasn’t convinced that he’d make the final roster, given that he hasn’t been starting in International matches for a while now. Now who will take all of those free kicks?

Time Out What did one of my 6 kids do this week that I found remarkable?
Danielle went to San Francisco this weekend. For fun. I know that at some point in every parent’s career, you recognize that your children are adults and will be doing adult things. And this has been true, not only of Danielle, but Eric and Brittany too. Manda and Becca’s time will be right around the corner. But still, when Danielle was off to SF this weekend, I thought to myself a couple of times – Damn, seems like just yesterday she was out on the porch in nothing but a diaper, dunking her hair in a puddle of rain water.

Second and Short Cycling
Don’t look now, but Alberto Contador is making some early season noise. He just won the seven stage Paris-Nice race. He won the fourth stage, in a fashion that should remind everyone that he is the worlds’s best climber. This guy is scary good.

OctoEchos What music I’m listening to, why and do I like it? Or just music.
Jimi Hendrix, Valleys of Neptune. Nearly 40 years after his death, Jimi Hendrix is still releasing new records. The album is well put together. It sounds like a collection of completed thoughts and ideas.The music is good. It’s evident to me that Hendrix loved the blues. It’s also evident to me that bassist Noel Redding played better on non-blues tracks. There is even a new highly produced video of one of the tracks, ‘Bleeding Heart’, from this new release. And ‘Bleeding Heart’ grooves on it’s own. I like it, and the recording is in heavy rotation for me.

Man Coverage Pick One Guy
Ahem. Did you know that the Catholic church employ’s someone as their chief exorcist? Father Gabriele Amorth has been the Vatican’s chief exorcist for 25 years and has recently published a book, “Memoirs of an Exorcist.” Amorth says the recent sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church confirm that “the Devil is at work” inside the Vatican! I read in a Times of London article that Amorth has handled 70,000 cases of demonic possession, including some with “cardinals who do not believe in Jesus, and bishops who are linked to the Demon.” The last sentence of the Times piece reads, “He is the president of honour of the Association of Exorcists.” Someone probably beat me to it, but I’m wondering if the Association of Exorcists has a Twitter account and a Facebook page.

Somewhere, (hell, perhaps?) Richard Pryor is working on a new routine.

And … I … am … incredulous.

Halftime What exercise did I get this week and how it correlates to a future challenge?
The Sprint Triathlon is now 12 weeks away. I had three good workouts last week in my swimming training. I did 1500 yards straight without stopping, and then a tough 2000 yard interval workout. I went biking two days, including some tempo riding on the Platte River Trail. Running will still be my great nemesis. This weeks effort had me running two days at the 3 minute run to 1 minute walk ratio for 35 minutes.

Third and Long Local Teams
#1 DU won their opening playoff series, two games to none against Michigan Tech. Now they are on to the WCHA Final five in St. Paul, MN. They play on Friday, and will take on the winner of Thursday’s game between #4 North Dakota and #5 Minnesota Duluth.

Scramble What outdoors activity have I been up to this week?
After one full week of the company sponsored pedometer challenge I find myself in third place, 10,724 steps from the first place guy, and 2,911 steps from the second place guy. Not to worry, boys and girls. After the first weekend of this challenge, I was more than 20,000 behind the first place guy. I’ve closed the gap. I’ve been averaging almost 12,800 steps per day. The event goes on for another 11 days.

Upon Further Review What sport sucks?
Basketball. It’s like the circus. Who can jump the highest, with the added degree of difficulty of trying to place a ball through a hoop? Don’t get me started on palming the ball or the concept of carrying the ball. And traveling? Keep this rule about Traveling in mind if you insist on watching a game – “A player who receives the ball while he is progressing must release the ball to start his dribble before his second step.” Who wants to watch a dunk-a-thon anyway? And shut up already about your brackets.

Special Teams What does my real job have me doing?
Winning. My team and I scored major points last week, and that has carried over to Monday of this week. We are getting great publicity, and taking advantage of invitations to key meetings. People across the company are talking about the things we are doing, and it’s all positive. I need to keep the pressure on.

4th and impossible Who should retire
Here is a Chris Chelios update: Atlanta called him up from the minors and he has played in their last three games, all losses. A note from the Yahoo sports pages has the following quote on the March 11th game – “D Chris Chelios played 13:14 in his debut with the Thrashers and managed one shot on goal in the team’s 2-1 loss to Columbus. Chelios was a factor in both Columbus goals. The first goal deflected into the net off his stick, and the second goal was the result of Chelios’s ill-timed challenge at the Columbus blue line.” Nice work, innit? Are you telling me that Atlanta doesn’t have a young defensemen in the minors that could get some good NHL experience (and help the Thrashers evaluate them at the big league level) for the last 15 games of the season? Atlanta is sitting at 67 points, five points behind in the race for the 8th and final playoff spot. And they’ve lost six games in a row. With decisions like the one to sign and play Chelios, Atlanta deserves to suck.

Lagniappe Something extra
Here’s a little story about, Ivanhoe, the novel written in 1819 by Sir Walter Scott. Ivanhoe is a tale of medieval times about one of the remaining Saxon families of nobility at a time when the English aristocracy was decidedly Norman. The story is set in 1194, as many of the Crusaders were still returning to Europe. The quality of character that Scott gave to the man from Locksley, Robin Hood, in Ivanhoe helped shape the modern image of the “steal from the rich and give to the poor” outlaw.

There is a 35 mile circular walk around the northwestern area of Leicestershire, England named the Ivanhoe Way. The name ‘Ivanhoe’ has been linked to the north west of Leicestershire, as it is said that Sir Walter Scott chose the castle at Ashby de la Zouch and the surrounding countryside as one of the settings used in his novel.

For your bit of something extra this week, have a peek at the map below of the route of the Ivanhoe Way, and tell me if you see anything remarkable. The blue dots show the rough route of Ivanhoe Way.

I don’t have a really good lead in for this post. The one thing that occurs to me each February/March is a hibernation of sorts. So these things and this formula are what I’ve been thinking about. Draw whatever conclusions you will.

X’s and O’s – NFL Business news and notes
The free agency season began in the NFL. The signing I’ve found most intriguing so far was Chester Taylor leaving the Vikings for the in-division rival Bears. I see the Vikes losing about 100 carries and 45 receptions a year. That’s a good sized dent from a reliable back, and a good 3rd down back at that. This might be more about what the Vikes lose, rather than what the Bears gain. Plus, Taylor better not get any designs about my homeboy Matt Forte’s starting job.

Ex Libris – What am I reading, why, and do I like it?
Triathlete Magazine’s Guide to Finishing Your First Triathlon, by T. J. Murray. At various times in my life, I have no doubts that I could have completed a sprint to Olympic distance triathlon. I’ve just never felt compelled to actually enter one. Until now. I picked up a copy of this book to serve as a framework for my preparation. I like the book well enough, but I’m finding that I’ve been writing my own training plan based on my own fitness and experience.

Adult Cartoons – Seasonal Sports
Hockey. There was a free NHL Center Ice last weekend on my cable provider. I watched it all, from Friday evening through Sunday evening. It was compelling enough that I took them up on the discounted remaining season offer and bought the subscription. I have Stanley Cup fever.

I Won’t Say Combo Platter – What did I cook this week?
Thanksgiving. Several times each year, Tami likes to have a full Thanksgiving meal prepared. Works for me, because it allows me to try or perfect my turkey recipes. I stumbled on a new one this weekend, from Alton Brown of Food Network fame, and it was a winner. Here is a hint for all of you who are in charge of turkey preparation at various holiday events: brine the bird. Trust me.

First Down – On an upcoming sporting event – Soccer
The FIFA World Cup Starts soon. There are eight groups of four teams in the final tournament, set to begin round one play in South Africa on June 11th. Looks like Group G, comprised of Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea, is considered the “Group of Death,” which refers to the toughest World Cup group with the strongest teams, thusly making advancement to the second round precarious.

Time Out – What did one of my 6 kids do this week that I found remarkable?
Manda and Becca got jobs at the local Fox & the Hound. Becca is a hostess, and Manda is a waitress. Both seem to like the work. This is remarkable because Becca was the first to gain employment, and then in turn, referred Manda to them.

Second and Short – Cycling
So the professional bicycling season is well underway in Europe. Lance Armstrong is racing, having just finished 7th in the Vuelta de Murcia. He entered the event as a training competition. These early season races are important to follow, if only to gauge how one’s fitness is coming. In the most telling stage of the five day event, Armstrong finished 7th, at 1:18 back in the individual time trial, behind the likes of Bradley Wiggins, Denis Menchov, and Andreas Kloden. I read nothing into that performance, but will be filing it away in the memory banks for retrieval after his next competitive time trial.

OctoEchos – What music I’m listening to, why and do I like it? Or just music.
I found a new music store to visit. Second Spin. It carries a massive inventory of used CD’s and DVD’s. I spent an hour in there browsing and came away with two Maceo Parker discs, and one each from Ahmad Jamal, Grant Green, and The O’Jays. The five discs cost me about $30. What a treasure trove that place is.

Man Coverage – Pick One Guy
Michael Owen – striker for Manchester United. I’ve enjoyed following Michael Owen’s career since he made a big splash at the 1998 World Cup. He’s had the injury bug and really hasn’t been fully healthy since his days with Liverpool. Disaster struck again for Owen in Man U’s Carling Cup final victory over Aston Villa last Sunday. He popped a hamstring again, and this one will require surgery. Poor lad.

Halftime – What exercise did I get this week and how it correlates to a future challenge?
Have I mentioned that I’m training for a sprint distance triathlon? That’s a 500 yard swim, followed by a 12 mile bike ride, and finishing up with a 5k run. Last week, I cycled four times, swam twice, and ran twice in what I would call my acclimation and base-building phase. The event is June 5th, so I am 13 weeks out.

Third and Long – Local Teams
Did you know that the Denver University (DU) Pioneers Men’s Hockey team is ranked number one in the country? Did you know that DU just concluded the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) regular season by winning the league championship?
The WCHA playoffs start this Friday (March 12th) and DU faces off against Michigan Tech. One more note: DU is a NCAA Men’s Hockey 7-time National Champion – 1958, ’60, ’61, ’68, ’69, 2004, and ’05.

Scramble – What outdoors activity have I been up to this week?
So the company I work for decided to give out free pedometers and access to a website that tracks your walking activity and other fitness activities. It’s a neat little tool, and the website encourages you to challenge your co-workers to set periods of performance goals, and have you compete against one another. My group of five guys decided to give the challenge thing a try. The goal is to walk the most steps from March 5th through March 26th. I decided to set a daily target of 10,000 steps for myself, and then adjust based on what the competition was doing. After three days of reporting, I find myself in 3rd place, a full 20,000 steps behind the first place guy. Apparently I need to adjust my target a little higher.

Upon Further Review – What sport sucks?
Golf sucks. I can’t say it any better than this guy, and as a couple of people remarked, watching it on TV just might be worse than playing it.

Special Teams – What does my real job have me doing?
A lot of baby sitting, and soothing the savage beasts. I’ve spent the past three to four business days educating people about what my team does, and defending my larger organization while being the least tenured leader in the group. I feel like I might have created a few enemies in the past week, but on principle, I think I can be proud of myself.

4th and … – Who should retire
Chris Chelios. I’ll admit it; there are probably some people who love Chris Chelios. Me? Give me a break. He played for Wisconsin – a rival in the WCHA for DU. He played for the Detroit Red Wings when Scotty Bowman terrorized the NHL’s Western Conference, and in particular, Marc Crawford. I have strong suspicions that Chelios was the reason USA Hockey flamed out in the Nagano, Japan Olympics, and then melted down and tore up a hotel, rock star style. He is still playing minor league hockey at age 48, and the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL (really, there is a NHL team in Atlanta? he asked incredulously) signed him to a contract on March 2nd, “just in case.” In case of what? C’mon son, retire and go open a restaurant somewhere.

Lagniappe – Something extra
I bought tickets to see the Gipsy Kings on July 9th at the Red Rocks Amphitheater. We’ll be sitting in the 14th row, center stage. I hope it doesn’t rain.

That’s all, folks. Have fun.