Anxiety and Panic In A Random U.S. State

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Many years ago, I was a finalist for a higher ed marketing job at an out-of-state university. It was a mad dash to leave work in middle of the day, fight Myrtle Beach traffic, and make it to the airport on time. Once I finally arrived at the airport the pressure didn’t let up as I had to sprint across the parking lot, navigate the check-in line, and make it through security. Needless to say, I barely made my flight.

I arrived at my destination that night and checked into my hotel. My interview was the next day so I had some time to relax after a very hectic 12 hours. Despite some interview jitters, I slept well that night.

The university I interviewed at was about 90 minutes from the airport I landed at. The drive to the university (which was GORGEOUS) was pretty relaxing after the hectic late morning/afternoon. The drive back the next day? The exact opposite of relaxing….read on to find out why.

The next morning, something dawned on me as I ate a minimal breakfast that corresponded to the nerves I had in my belly. My keys were missing. I figured they were somewhere in my hotel room as I had carelessly thrown my stuff on the bed when I checked in the previous night. Surely they were somewhere on the floor, under my duffel bag, or on top of the other bed. I looked for a few minutes but I had to head out for my all-day interview.

Make no mistake about it, when I left the hotel I was a little concerned. On a morning where I should have only been battling interview stress I was now also entertaining the stress of what would happen if I couldn’t find my keys.

Once I started my interview itinerary, I was able to forget about my lost keys to a degree. However, whenever I would have a couple moments between sessions, my mind would go right back to where they could be. As the morning went on and the interview went well, I started to build some confidence. “Those keys were probably right in front of you. You will find them once you get back to the room.”

Because the hotel was actually on the campus (such a cool concept!), I was able to return to my room in the middle of the day during a break and do a quick search. Nothing. I was really starting to get nervous now.

The second half of the day went well but once I finished my culminating presentation to the university’s marketing and communications department, I wasn’t worried about an ensuing job offer. Rather, I just wanted to find my keys. Back in my hotel room I turned it over trying to find them. When my man-made tornado search yielded no results I checked the hotel’s lost and found. When that turned up empty I walked to the student center that I had visited the night before and checked their lost and found. Nothing again.

Mind you, I didn’t need my keys that night to leave the state and get home. My rental car key was in my pocket and you obviously don’t need a key to board an airplane. But something just felt so deflating about losing my house/car/work keys in a random state. I thought about all the work that would have to be done to replace and re-key. What would I tell my current employer…Sorry, I lost my office key 1,500 miles away while interviewing for a different job?

After the final room search and the lost and found inquiries turned up empty, I had to face a sobering truth: I wasn’t returning to Myrtle Beach with my keys.

Upon leaving town I had dinner with the hiring committee chair. I actually disclosed to him that I lost my keys. He was supportive and cautioned me not to stress too much. After dinner I called Sidney and let her know about my dilemma. I was more distraught over the keys than I was pleased with how the day went.

Before jumping in my car to drive the 90 minutes from the college campus to the airport, I did one more fruitless “tracing of my steps” between the hotel and student center. This put me way behind schedule and it was another nerve-wracking drive to the airport as I was once again in jeopardy of missing my flight.

Thankfully I made it just in time (once again) to catch my scheduled flight. After the frantic dance of turning in my rental car, checking in, passing through security, and getting to my gate, I finally had the chance to relax for a few moments once I slumped into my seat on the plane.

That’s when I saw it. I looked down at my phone to see that I had a text notification from my wife. I opened it up to see a photo of my car in the Myrtle Beach Airport parking lot. The image showed a note placed on my dash. In scribbled handwriting it said:

You left the car running. The keys were brought to the police office. Locate any airport police officer to get your keys back. 🤦🏻‍♂️

This was the actual note that was left inside my car. After all the searching I did on the college campus, my keys had actually never left Myrtle Beach.

I was so frantic and so rushed upon my hasty arrival that I just grabbed my duffel bag and laptop and made a run for it without giving a second thought to turning off my car. I wouldn’t have the presence of mind to realize I didn’t have my keys any longer until the next day when I was on the other side of the country. By that time, I had just assumed I lost them on the college campus.

Yeah, it was a stressful trip.

I got my keys and I also got the job a couple days later. I declined the position, figuring my self-inflicted shit show was an omen to stay away from that particular state. I think I made the right choice.

Honestly, what spurned this whole story is an unshakeable feeling I now get. Many times when I catch the bus to work via the Jefferson Park & Ride, I find myself sprinting from my car to avoid missing it. As the bus rolls out onto the highway, I always find myself thinking, Did I turn off my car? Did I lock the doors? Do I have my keys?

Although that last question is easy to answer, sometimes I am kept guessing about the other two throughout the day. It is slight torture. But I don’t think anything compares to the panic and anxiety I felt that one day on that one college campus. Don’t Blink.

The New Way I Bonded With My Daughter

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This Saturday I spent the entire day with Sloan. The reason? Well, let me tell you…

Back in October I wrote about Sloan joining the St. Mary chess club. I mentioned that her desire to learn the game opened an entirely new way for us to connect. Suddenly, I was playing nightly chess matches with my daughter.

We enrolled Sloan in Chess Club at St. Mary (Spokane Valley) and it has opened up another opportunity for me to bond with her.

Sloan enjoyed fall chess club so much that she re-enrolled for the spring session. Thus, the past few weeks she has stayed after school on Mondays to play and learn more about the game.

Early last week, she asked me a question: Daddy, can I play in the chess tournament on Saturday?

Hmmmm. I loved the idea of her playing chess as an after-school weekly activity. But did I really want to invest an entire Saturday at a chess tournament?

My hesitation was twofold. First and foremost, it was what I alluded to above: I didn’t necessarily want to sit in a random elementary school from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on a coveted Saturday. The other reason? I didn’t think Sloan was ready. Although it was organized by the chess organization her club is staffed by (Inland Chess Academy), this was a public chess tournament for children from all across the city. I didn’t like her chances and even though I firmly believe that losing builds character, I didn’t want to place her in a situation where there was absolutely no chance to succeed.

I had my reservations about Sloan playing in a chess tournament but her desire to play convinced me to sign her up for Inland Chess Academy March Madness tournament.

But Sloan kept asking and asking if she could play. On Friday night I finally gave in. I was able to send a text message to a general number and enter her into the tournament. I was informed that she would play five rounds, regardless of whether she won or lost.

The tourney was played at St. John Vianney Catholic School. Once we checked in at the school library, it was obvious that competition was going to be steep. Kids who played in many of these tournaments before were rolling in and you could tell they were serious about chess. With that said, the event organizers had told me that Sloan would be placed in the beginner category, affectionately called the pawns division.  

After the check-in period concluded, the tournament director called the event to order by greeting all competitors/families and explaining basic rules/procedures. After that introduction, the kids were able to head to the chess hall to begin the competition. I was able to accompany Sloan to the hall (aka the school gym). To get there we had to walk out of the library and turn left down a long school corridor. At the end of the corridor were double doors that whisked us outdoors. It was then an approximate 50-yard walk in the elements to the school gym.

A look inside the St. John Vianney (Spokane Valley) gym at the Inland Chess Academy March Madness tournament. The tourney was well-organized.

Inside the gym was a picturesque scene of what you would envision a chess tournament to look like. More than 20 tables were lined up on the linoleum floor. At each table were two chess sets and four chairs, allowing for two games to take place simultaneously at each table station. When the kids walked in, they referenced a printout that had their table assignments. Sloan’s first placement was Pawn White 15. I made sure she sat down at her assigned spot and then a member of the tournament staff banished all the parents back to the library.

I took this photo of Sloan before her first match right before I returned to the St. John Vianney library.

Back at the library, the tournament director explained the reasoning for why parents were forbidden from the gym during play. Children perform worse, he explained, when mom and dad are watching. Anxiety and distraction negatively impact chessboard decisions made by kids when they sense the pressure of their parents watching. This reasoning sounded completely rational and I totally supported it.

John Dill from Inland Chess Academy, who served as one of the tournament directors, explains to us parents why we weren’t allowed in the chess hall during play.

As the tournament director gave this explanation, kids had already started to return to the library. You see, after a match concluded, participants were told to head back to tournament headquarters. When I saw these competitors return within just five minutes of the tournament starting, I envisioned the legendary four-move checkmates you see in movies. The other observation I made was that you could almost tell immediately by the look on the child’s face if they had won or lost. I knew once Sloan walked through the doors I would immediately know the outcome of her match.

About 10 minutes after I left her in the gym, she returned to the library. Yep, the result was obvious. She had lost. I stressed that today’s competition was a learning experience and she would have several more chances. And thus started the grind of an all-day chess tournament…

Sloan and I quickly learned how these chess tourneys worked. A round is played. Once all games are complete, the tables are re-set and new pairings are determined. Everyone is then called back to the gym to begin the next round. Rinse and repeat. The only thing is that a round doesn’t simply fly by. With 40 games being played each round, not every match is going to result in an instant checkmate. Thus, there can be a lot of waiting between rounds.

Sloan was all smiles prior to her second match. Unfortunately, it would end in defeat as well.

After Sloan’s defeat to open the day, she experienced the same result in the second round. She hung in longer this time but still lost. She was discouraged but I echoed what I told her the first time and also pointed out that she was more competitive.

The next round saw continued improvement. She fought hard until a stalemate was declared. Her fourth match resulted in an amicable draw.

Sloan before her fourth match. She got to play five rounds during the Inland Chess Academy March Madness tournament.

It was close to 3 p.m. before the fifth and final round was set to begin. Sloan and I had spent a lot of time sitting side-by-side each other throughout the day as we waited together between rounds. Even though Sloan had not won a match, I had enjoyed my time with her. As we made the journey out of the library, down the hall, through the double doors, and into the gym for her last game, I didn’t expect a victory. But I did hope the result would be something we could build upon. Once she sat down across from her opponent I told her “good luck” and walked back to the library.

Sloan and I spent a lot of time together on Saturday. This is us eating snacks from the Rosauers deli in-between the third and fourth rounds.

The walk to the chess hall was one thing. I got to experience it five times with Sloan. It came with excitement and nerves. But the walk back? Depending on the result, I knew it had to be either a glorious waltz or a walk of shame for the kids. I knew that this past Saturday probably wasn’t going to be a day where Sloan experienced the former but I hoped that she would get a taste of it in the future.

Sloan before her fifth and final match. I was hoping it would end with a positive result.

Well, the victory stroll came a little quicker than I expected.

Probably about 20 minutes after I left her for the final time in the gym, she returned around the corner with a grin from ear-to-ear. She had managed to put her opponent in checkmate and won her first tournament chess game. Even though my daughter’s enthusiasm from her win wasn’t needed to justify a positive and educational day spent with Sloan, it sure ended the afternoon with a major exclamation mark.

A photo I took of Sloan just moments after she won her game. She was glowing.

When I look back on Sloan’s first chess tournament, the top highlight wasn’t that she managed to win a match. For me, it was that she put herself out there and at the end of the day she said, “I want to do this again, daddy.”

Call me a participation trophy dad, but I got Sloan ice cream after the March Madness Inland Chess Academy tournament because I was proud of her for insisting she play and then competing to the best of her ability.

Thank you to Inland Chess Academy for a fun and organized tournament. I appreciate the fact that it was set up to allow beginners to get needed exposure to the game at a very reasonable price. As Sloan requested, we will definitely do it again. Don’t Blink.

King Thursday Rundown

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It is my pleasure to welcome you to the safe space that is my blog. And on Thursdays it is even extra safe because I rundown five random topics. Let’s do this…

Roofman – Sidney and I watched a movie over the weekend that might be worth your time. If you have Paramount+, look up “Roofman.” It is a new release, it happens to be based on a true story, and it stars Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst. The film centers on a man named Jeffrey Manchester who escaped prison and managed to evade capture for six months. But the truly remarkable feat is how he went so long before being re-arrested: He hid in a Toys “R” Us. Of course the movie has to intertwine a love story but we were entertained and even managed to watch it in an entire day (which is sometimes difficult to do around here). Although it is billed as a comedy, I found it to be more of a drama with plenty of nostalgia packed in.

“Roofman” entertained us!

King Size – It was on this date three years ago that I made Sid pretty happy: I bought her a king size bed. I am as low maintenance as it comes regarding sleep. All I need is a small space to lay my body and a single pillow. My wife on the other hand? She had been asking for an upgrade from our queen bed for probably a couple years. Now that we have enjoyed our king bed for three years, I can’t say whether I prefer it to the queen but I sure do enjoy the remote control that allows me to prop the bed up when reading or working on my computer.

Sloan and Beau hang out on a mattress. This is the queen version of the mattress that we actually got.

National Cheese Doodle Day – As you can tell from this topic’s heading, today is National Cheese Doodle Day. My only connection to this “cheesy” day is that I once had Sidney compare a Cheeto to a Cheese Doodle. The verdict? The Cheeto was crunchier and fresher. Although I don’t know for sure if a Cheez Doodle is actually a Cheese Doddle, I am calling it “close enough” for this post.

That time Sidney tried a Cheese…I mean Cheez…Doodle. The Cheeze Doodles are on the left of the plate.

Touching Advice – I was saddened to hear about the passing of Lou Holtz yesterday. He was a great coach, Catholic, and human being. I heard some touching advice he gave a sports media personality (Mike Greenburg) when he told Holtz his wife was about to have their first child. Coach Holtz pulled Greenburg in and said, “Young man, the most important thing you can do for a child is to make sure every day they know how much you love their mother.” Enough said.

May eternal rest be grant unto Lou Holtz and let perpetual light shine upon him.

Throwback – Truth be told, I am kind of drawing a blank when it comes to a fifth topic tonight…so how about a throwback? This photo is of my siblings and me when we were all in our primes. I am thinking it is around the 2006 or 2007 range. Ahhh, to be young again.

The Reser “Big 3” probably around 2006 or 2007.

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If you don’t want to leave this safe space feel free to get yourself lost in the archives of Don’t Blink. Thanks for reading! Don’t Blink.

We Aren’t Fighting If We Are Talking

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“When two enemies are talking, they are not fighting.”

This past weekend I was directed to a Ted Talk with the theme above. Full disclosure, I didn’t stumble upon it because of the world events in the Middle East but I guess you could call the timing ironic.

The Ted Talk I watched was delivered by a man named Daryl Davis. A professional musician by trade, there is much more to Daryl than his uncanny playing of the boogie-woogie piano.

Daryl Davis is a pretty special human being.

Daryl is an African-American gentleman who spent many years of his childhood in a mostly white community. His first experience with racism occurred when he was 10 years old as he marched in a parade. After the incident, his parents sat him down and explained the sad and misguided ways of racism.

That discussion spurned what has become a lifelong question for Daryl: Why do you hate me when you know nothing about me?

During his 18-minute Ted Talk, Daryl speaks about a relationship he cultivated with a Ku Klux Klan member.

I strongly encourage you to watch Daryl Davis’ Ted Talk.

He had his secretary reach out to Roger Kelly, an Imperial Wizard within the Ku Klux Klan. The secretary, who was white, was able to arrange a meeting between her boss and Kelly. When the Imperial Wizard showed up to the meeting, he had no idea that Daryl was black. As you can imagine, Roger Kelly and the bodyguard he brought with him were caught off guard.

Daryl details another “caught off guard” moment during this initial meeting. While the men were nervously talking, there was a noise that spooked both Daryl and Roger, causing everyone to tense up and clench their fists. Daryl thought Roger made the noise and Roger thought Daryl made the noise but it was actually just a natural sound made by soda cans submerged in ice. The tense moment “broke the ice” while also illustrating how sometimes it is easy to always think the worse of someone else.

Long story short, Daryl and Roger met many times after that first encounter. Neutral meeting spots ended up giving way to discussions at their respective homes. Eventually, the bodyguard stopped coming. Although the changing of Roger’s ideology was slow, he eventually left the Klan and gave Daryl his robe.

Believe it or not, Roger’s robe isn’t the only one in Daryl’s possession. Dozens of former Klansmen left the organization because Daryl took the time to befriend them and listen to why they could hate him without knowing him.

It turns out that when engaged in conversation, things can get sorted out—even things as dark as racism.

After watching Daryl’s Ted Talk by myself, I watched it again with my family. If you are looking for inspiration and a powerful example of humanity, take the 18 minutes to watch Mr. Davis’ presentation. Don’t Blink.

Snakes In A Dream!

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It was just over two years ago that I detailed Beau’s battle with bad dreams. When I published that blog post, he was having scary dreams at a pretty frequent rate. Each time he would have one, our son would refuse to go back to sleep because he “didn’t want to go back to it.” Like many of us, the moment Beau would shut his eyes he would find himself right back in the middle of the nightmare.

Beau is usually a happy kid…at least when he isn;t having nightmares.

Over the past 25 months Beau has continued to have bad dreams but nothing as frequent as when he was a 4-year-old. However, Sid and I have learned something about his bad dreams: they are usually directly related to what he watches.

If Beau watches something scary or graphic, there is a good chance it will show up in his sleep later that night. A perfect example wasn’t even Beau’s fault and became a good lesson for Sid and me…

One night several months ago, Sid and I were watching a true crime show. This particular episode centered around a person who was burned to death in a campfire out in the woods. We didn’t really think Beau was paying attention because even though he was in the same room with us he was fixated on a tablet (or so we thought). In the middle of the following night, Beau ran into our room freaked out and exclaimed to us that he had a nightmare about someone who was murdered in a fire. That dream didn’t just give Beau a wake up call.

Anyway, after several instances of this, it actually happened again on Thursday night. Beau once again raced into our room after experiencing a bad dream. As I usually do, I asked him to talk out his nightmare with me. This one had to do with an animal many of us don’t like: snakes.

He told me that his dream started with him in our bedroom when a big snake appeared on the floor. After dodging it in the space of our room, he totally evacuated and ran to Sloan’s room. Unfortunately the snake followed and bit his sister. Trust me, Beau didn’t take any delight in this. He was petrified!

I immediately knew how the bad dream was planted in his unconscious mind. It wasn’t from the movies “Anaconda” or “Snakes On A Plane.” It wasn’t from a visit to the zoo or a horror story he watched on YouTube.

Rather, it came directly from our nightly reading…

I knew the book “About Reptiles” is what gave Beau a bad dream about snakes.

On Tuesday night, Beau and I read a book titled “About Reptiles.” It taught us about lizards, frogs, toads, alligators, crocodiles, and—of course—snakes. In fact, the book probably covered the slithery limbless reptiles more than any other creature. As you can imagine, our 6-year-old had a lot of questions about snakes—especially the poisonous ones.

“About Reptiles” included multiple spreads within the book about snakes…including venomous ones.

Never did I think that reading the book would result in a nightmare for Beau. With that said, I am not beating myself up too badly. I read the book to Beau with good, educational intentions. However, it did drive home the fact that anything Beau consumes during the day could plant a seed for a bad dream during the night. Don’t Blink.

Rib Eye Thursday Rundown

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Don’t Blink because a new month will be here this weekend. If you are a basketball fan that is a good thing. And if you somehow are crazy enough to like this blog hopefully it is a good thing that my latest Thursday Rundown is ready for you. Let’s get going…

Going For A Ride, Part II – Our kids received some cash from Grandma and Papa for Valentine’s Day so this past weekend we went to the mall so they could (naturally) spend it. Beau opted to spend his money on a Boba drink and 15 minutes on the blue unicorn…that adds up to $20 really fast. If you remember earlier this year, I chronicled the very first time that Sloan and Beau tried out the Spokane Valley Mall go-cart attractions.

Beau felt like the king of the Spokane Valley Mall as he rode his blue unicorn go-cart throughout the main floor.

Jump Around – Sloan used her $20 on Boba, a pair of earrings from Claire’s, and three minutes on the bungee. It was a little more than two years ago that Sloan first tried Fanorama Bungee and after all that time it was calling her name again. It was also calling for my wallet because if you think Sloan was able to afford those three things for just $20 you are crazy.

Sloan jumping around at the Spokane Valley Mall.

Special Anniversary – Tomorrow (Feb. 27) is always a very special date for our family. It was in 2020—right before the pandemic and our big move—that Beau was baptized and Sid was welcomed into the Catholic Church. Fr. Roger Morgan performed both sacraments in the same ceremony as our family, friends, and my fellow Knights of Columbus brothers looked on. Fr. Morgan and St. Andrew Catholic Church will always have specials spots in our hearts. Thanks be to God!

Thanks be to God for Feb. 27, 2020. This is our family at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Myrtle Beach on the day Sidney was welcomed into the Church and Beau was baptized.

WinCo – After the change debacle, WinCo is back on my good side. Sid recently prepared these rib eye steaks for Sunday dinner. We don’t usually buy a lot of meat from WinCo but with the way these chops tasted we might start purchasing more. Of course, Beau passed on the delicious steak and settled for a peanut butter sandwich instead. 😕

These were the steaks we enjoyed recently. WinCo’s meat isn’t that bad.

Cowboy and Fred – For a fun throwback photo, I thought we would go back 20 years to when my brother and I dressed up as this particular odd couple for the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Nah, we didn’t go together as we actually had real dates (can you believe that?) but we did take this photo before going our separate ways. I was a senior at the time and my brother was a freshman.

My brother and I before the 2005 Mead High School Sadie Hawkins Dance.

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And with that, this Thursday Rundown is in the books. Don’t Blink.

The Two Seafood Dishes I Can Tolerate

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I know you are going to call me crazy but I am not a big seafood guy. Okay, fine, throw your crab legs at me for making such a shallow statement but it is the truth. I simply don’t care for the tastes and textures of the cuisine that comes from the sea.

However, I do have two exceptions…

Serve me fish and chips any day. It might be the deep fried batter that converts me, but I really do enjoy fluffy white cod or halibut served with a side of fries.

My other exception is clam chowder. I love soup and clam chowder is actually on my shortlist. But there is a specific reason for why an anti-seafood diner like myself actually enjoys such a delicacy…

Sidney and my sister at the St. Mary Knights of Columbus fish fry on March 3, 2023. They are enjoying the two seafood items I will eat…fish & chips and clam chowder.

I grew up eating clam chowder at my grandpa’s restaurant. As a solid Catholic eatery, the Pastime Café would serve the soup every Friday as an option for those abstaining from meat. When my family would visit our grandparents in Walla Walla we would normally arrive at the start of the weekend (aka Friday) and head straight to the Pastime upon entering town.

As a young boy who would always opt for soup over salad at that point in my life, I would settle for the clam chowder. But I don’t know if “settling” is the right word because I actually really liked it.

And I still do to this day. I find clam chowder delicious and I always look forward to a cup of the soup when we attend the Lenten fish fry dinners put on by my St. Mary Knights of Columbus council.

Friday is quickly approaching and you will have plenty of options to duck into pretty much any restaurant (or join me at the St. Mary fish fry) and order clam chowder. Or perhaps you should just enjoy some tonight. After all, it is National Clam Chowder Day. Don’t Blink.

Five Gems To Embrace

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This past Saturday I spent the day at Gonzaga Prep for the Spokane Diocese Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference. It was the sixth time I attended the gathering since moving back to Spokane and this year the event organizers didn’t have to go far to find their headliner. Bishop Thomas Daly, the leader of the Diocese of Spokane, served as the main speaker as he delivered three different talks throughout the course of the day.

Bishop Daly spoke to the male faithful at the 2026 Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference at Gonzaga Prep. I took this photo during the bishop’s first talk.

Bishop Daly is a rock star and kept the nuggets of gold coming all day long. In fact, you didn’t even have to be Catholic to appreciate the insight that the seventh bishop of Spokane was dispensing. I thought I would share just a handful of the gems that Bishop Daly shared on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.

It is always a treat to listen to Bishop Daly speak. He was the headliner at the Spokane Diocese Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference.

– Although I had heard Bishop Daly say it before on a podcast, his anecdote of children listen to their mothers but watch their fathers never gets old. It is a reminder that dads have a high call to set the absolute best example for their children because you better believe that they are watching.

– Sometimes life can hit us hard and we find ourselves in desperation. It is possible that praying is the last thing we want to do. But Bishop Daly challenged us to pray when we don’t feel like praying. Whenever any anti-prayer thought enters our mind or heart, the only logical response is to drop down and pray. This even applies when times are really good and prayer might seem unnecessary or when we find ourselves in a prayer rut. Respond to any voice that says prayer is obsolete by—yes—praying!

– A good piece of advice for me to heed from Bishop Daly was his reminder that when we complain about something, we lose God’s graces we could have gained from it. I am fantastic at whining when I get a man cold (just ask Sidney) but if I could instead just take it on the chin perhaps I could recover from it with better perspective and heightened respect from my wife.

– To begin the retreat, Bishop Daly offered mass. During his homily he sternly told all of us men in the pews the following: Don’t be so occupied with fending off evil that you fail to do good. It is admirable to avoid doing bad things but we have to do more than refrain—we actually have to DO. If we just hide all the time, when are we going to evangelize or do all the good acts that Jesus commanded us to do?

– I easily could have stretched this blog post to 10 items but since I capped myself at a handful, let me end with the most fitting and all-encompassing thing that Bishop Daly said. The path of holiness is not beyond us. We can all take up our cross, do good, and live as saints. When Daly was about to become a bishop, he had a mentor who told him the following: “Remember Tom, 11 of the 12 apostles were martyred.” So is it going to be easy? No. But is it achievable? With God, anything is.

Bishop Thomas Daly offers mass at the Spokane Diocese Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference inside the Gonzaga Prep chapel. During his homily he would tell those in attendance to not become so occupied with evil that we don’t do good.

Thanks to Bishop Daly for speaking at the 2026 Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference and for being so open to all of us in attendance. May God continue to bless him. Don’t Blink.

The Best Super Bowl Commercial Ever.

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Tap here to watch EWU’s Super Bowl commercial

When I wrote my Super Bowl LX review, I scrutinized the commercials. However, except for a brief mention, I didn’t say much about the ad that meant the most to me during the big game.

Perhaps my relative silence was due to conflict of interest because the commercial I watched/appreciated the most was that of my employer. I am referring to the Eastern Washington University spot that ran three times during the Super Bowl broadcast.

The Super Bowl commercial that I enjoyed the most was the one we did! This is the opening screen for the spot we created in a very short period of time.

This academic year at EWU has been special because our university president accepted a marketing proposal my team submitted. Because of her willingness to move forward with the plan, our marketing program was significantly funded with the resources needed to do some pretty cool things. While our brand marketing strategy is digital-first, that doesn’t mean we turn a blind eye to traditional advertising. And because we haven’t lost faith in the power of traditional advertising, we did just about the coolest things you can do with it—we decided to run an ad during the Super Bowl.

Thanks to our decision to pay for a lot of TV inventory up front in the early fall, we were allotted local spots to run during the Super Bowl. The plan was to run our brand anthem commercial during our moment in the sun but then something remarkable happened that scraped those plans.

When Championship Sunday concluded and the teams for the Super Bowl were decided, there was something that had any Eastern Washington University fan beaming from ear-to-ear: The Seattle Seahawks (Cooper Kupp) and New England Patriots (Efton Chism III) each had an EWU alumnus playing on their teams.

Our University Relations and athletics departments did everything possible to celebrate/market that two Eagles were playing in the Super Bowl. From flyers to stories to website banners to a watch party, we had it covered.

But what about that Super Bowl spot?

We knew creating an entirely new spot that was Super Bowl-worthy in less than two weeks would be extremely difficult. So we decided to hedge our bets. Our team worked with our marketing agency to create a social media video that was focused on our brand identity as the region’s polytechnic while infusing Cooper and Efton to make our hands-on promise quite literal. Although the plan was to use it solely on social media, we knew it might have greater potential.

Our spot was 100% on-brand with our identity as “the region’s polytechnic” but at the same time it infused the timeliness of two of our alumni playing in the Super Bowl.

When the video was finished, there was no doubt it was too good for just social. Working with our media buyer, we were able to swap out our brand anthem commercial for our new Super Bowl masterpiece.

The spot premiered during pre-game just moments before kickoff. It was then shown during the actual game at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It then had an encore showing as the Seattle Seahawks celebrated with the Lombardi Trophy.

Another screenshot from the commercials shows the point when Efton Chism III was introduced.

The reaction to the commercial was overwhelming pride. The EWU community was amazed just by the fact that we pulled off a Super Bowl spot in the first place. But to make it timely and aligned with our brand positioning as the region’s polytechnic? There was no doubt about it…we had scored a touchdown.

Even though it was just broadcast locally, running an ad during the Super Bowl was probably one of the most exciting things I have done in my career. Thanks to my talented team and our partners at idfive for making it happen. Don’t Blink.

Deep Undercover Thursday Rundown

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It is now the Lenten season and I hope things started right for you yesterday with Ash Wednesday. Let’s jump right into things with today’s five topics…

Valentine’s Date Recap – Sid and I had a promising night planned. We had a babysitter for the kids and were looking forward to an evening in downtown Spokane. We made reservations at 7 p.m. for a restaurant we really wanted to try. But by 8 p.m. we had yet to receive our food and with everyone else in our section in a similar boat, we decided to bow out as our movie (at least the previews) had already started. We watched “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.” Sid and I both found the film to be creative and fun. Although we didn’t get the dinner we were looking forward to, the theater came through with chicken strips, mozzarella sticks, and of course popcorn.

My lovely Valentine’s Day date at the not-to-be-named restaurant where we had to walk out.

Goat – Speaking of movies, the day after our Valentine’s date, we returned to the theater—this time with our kids. We watched Steph Curry’s film, “Goat,” and found it very cute and entertaining. However, I don’t know if it was worth $90. For four matinee tickets (with two of them being children’s tickets), a popcorn, and two sodas we spent nearly $100. Although memories are priceless, the cost of going to the movies is getting out of control.

“Goat” was good but I don’t know if it was worth $90.

Deep Undercover – After reading a book about an American spy a few years ago, I decided to read a book about a Russian spy. “Deep Undercover” is about Jack Barsky, a German who was recruited by the Russians to work for the KGB. Barsky eventually went undercover in the United States but eventually embraced the American way of life and found God. The book is pretty interesting and a rather easy read. If you are interested in a good spy autobiography, “Deep Undercover” is for you.

“Deep Undercover” by Jack Barsky was pretty good.

Sumo Wrestling – This past weekend we were at an Asian culture festival when suddenly Beau found himself face-to-face with a sumo wrestler. This guy meant business and wasn’t going to let my son walk off the mat without a battle. In a true David vs. Goliath moment, Beau snatched victory. You can watch how it happened here. Trust me, it wasn’t rigged at all.

Beau sure was brave as he faced off against a sumo wrestler.

White Lotus – During the holiday season, we traded out our Hulu sports package for HBO Max. This allowed me to begin watching the critically-acclaimed “White Lotus” series. Last week, I completed the third season (a fourth season is set to be released soon). I was entertained by the wild storylines, great acting, and unique musical scores. Season one was my favorite with season three next on my list. Although Aubrey Plaza is one of my favorite actresses, season two—although still a good watch—is at the bottom of my list.

I recently finished up watching all the currently available “White Lotus” seasons. I find the series to be fresh and entertaining.

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Thanks for reading. I hope everyone has a great last weekend with the Winter Olympics. Don’t Blink.