Author Archives: brent

Overeating at Texas Roadhouse

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I like to think I am a strong-willed person. I try not to fall into temptation and I try to practice discipline at all times, especially when it comes to my body. But I am all too human and sometimes I fall off the wagon. One of my more frequent lack of will-power offenses is the tendency to overeat.

There is absolutely no shred of victory when one overeats (unless you win a competitive eating contest). The sick, painful feeling you experience in your stomach when you chow down too much is awful; the feeling in your conscience that you betrayed your body and took a step back from the hard work you have completed in the gym is even worse. It is so easy to become victimized by this. You work up a large appetite or find yourself in a situation where eating large amounts of food is acceptable and encouraged and you are pretty much doomed. You can go into a meal with the best intentions but come out feeling like a big ol’ fat pig.

I usually eat myself to death in three situations. The first occurs at holiday dinners. The holidays are fun, joyous times where people cook giant meals that have a whole bunch of love and calories poured into them. I look forward to my mom’s Thanksgiving dinner all year long so naturally when that day in November comes along, I go all in. A year of build up turns into a half hour of absolute bliss and then it transforms into a night of stomach pains and self-guilt. I also feel like the most unhealthy person in the world after I visit a buffet. When you go to a buffet, there is just no way not to go overboard. The whole premise of these places is to challenge your “all-you-can-eat” threshold and do all you can to come out ahead of the restaurant by eating more than what you paid for. I plan to do a post someday on the buffets I have conquered/been conquered by and the culture that predominates at these places. Whether it was a traditional buffet, Chinese buffet, pizza buffet, brunch buffet, etc., I have gone in hungry and come out sick.

The final situation where I always find myself overeating in comes by way of the special occasion family night out dinner. This dining experience provides the “perfect storm” for overindulgence because it combines portions of the first two examples I provided above: You have the happy, feel-good component of a special event that makes you more susceptible to eating more than necessary and you have the eating out aspect that also tells your brain that it is acceptable to go a little harder than usual. This situation is where I fall victim to most.

Last night we celebrated my dad’s 55th birthday by traveling to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. We arrived to the resort town on a scorching sun-drenched day and walked up and down their main downtown strip. We checked out the many shops that dotted the area and then cooled off at one of the popular nearby bars. The walking, the weather, and the couple drinks consumed at the bar had me ready for my dad’s birthday dinner.

At my dad’s choosing, we ate at Texas Roadhouse. If you have never eaten at this well-known chain, just notice the first word in the restaurant’s name (“Texas”) and you probably have a decent idea about their portion sizes. Specializing in burgers, chicken, and steak, you better be hungry when you arrive. With all the extras you get at Texas Roadhouse combined with the relative inexpensive menu prices, the chance of overeating is quite high.

My dad, mom, and myself got to the restaurant but my sister and her husband had yet to arrive so we went straight to the bar where my consumption crusade began. We ordered beers and immediately started eating peanuts from the giant tin tubs they have lining the bar. If you know anything about me, you know I can eat more peanuts than an elephant. At baseball games I buy a whole bag and finish every nut in usually less than two innings. Feeling rejuvenated in the awesomely air conditioned restaurant while watching the Yankees-Red Sox baseball game with a cold, tall beer right in front of me, I started cracking shell after shell after shell. About fifteen minutes later my sister arrived and we were seated at a table.

Waiting for us at our dinner table? Two more tin buckets of peanuts! Shortly thereafter, we were brought the famous Texas Roadhouse rolls. Doused in butter, sweetly seasoned, and served with a spread that has to be 100% fat, they tasted like a little piece of heaven. We all devoured several rolls. Because it was a special occasion we had to get an appetizer as well. We settled on their cactus blossom, a deep fried onion snack that is analogous to Outback’s blooming onion. By the time we got our appetizer, all of us were already starting to get a little full by way of the beer, peanuts, and rolls. When our cute little waitress brought out the cactus blossom she took our entrée order. I ordered the pulled pork dinner. It came with bread AND two sides. I got steak fries and seasoned rice.

By the time my pulled pork dinner arrived, I always almost too stuffed to even dig in.

When our entrees arrived, I had already had enough. But you can’t just give up on the main course. I forked through the giant mound of pulled pork, making a modest dent in it. I ate a few of the steak fries. I ate almost the entire cup of rice. By the time I could see the bottom of the cup of rice, I threw in the towel, but it was already too late…I felt like garbage. Everyone else at the table looked defeated too. We messed with Texas and Texas won.

Driving the fifty minutes back to Spokane sucked. I felt like the fattest person on the planet. I pretty much swore I would never eat again (that oath was broken at 5am this morning). I groaned. I scolded myself. Once again I lacked the necessary self-control that would have enabled me to look at myself in the mirror with my shirt off that night. I felt like a loser.

Just like drinking or gambling, when it comes to eating we all need to put limits on ourselves. For me with eating, I sometimes struggle. No matter how bad the feeling is after I overeat I seem to have way too short of a memory because I always let it happen again down the road. Well, today I pledge I will never overeat again…until at least my mom’s birthday on August 2. Don’t Blink.

The Overuse of Quotes on Social Media

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*Originally published on July 5, 2012

Social media has brought so much good to society. But as is typically the trade off with any good thing, it has also brought some bad as well. Maybe I should take a step back and rephrase this. Social media has not created as many bad things as it has annoying things. Spam, countless parody accounts, stupid applications, shameless promoting/solicitation, and scams all test the patience of anyone just trying to update themselves on the latest news via their favorite social media account. While I could do without all the previously listed things, there is one common social media annoyance that seems to bother me even a little more.

In my opinion, the posting, retweeting, and highlighting of quotes over social media has gotten a little out of control. I remember back in time you shared a quote if it had a deep personal impact on you, if it truly meant something that you felt someone else could get a little something out of. Today, it seems as if people don’t even think twice about sharing with their audience any sappy or witty remark they come across.

Now I fully understand that a reason for this oversharing of “words of wisdom” is because quotes are just so much more readily available than ever before. The internet contains millions and millions of quotes that you can read for hours with just a click of the mouse. There are tons upon tons of Twitter accounts set up that solely spit out quotes on any topic you can think of. E-mail chains with “inspirational” quotes are forwarded and forwarded until pretty much everyone on the planet has received it. But just because something is so attainable on the internet does not mean we have to re-share it with our respective social media audiences. Look at it this way: The amount of porn sites has significantly skyrocketed over the past ten years. Because of this explosion, does it mean we need to share the links on our Facebook walls and Twitter feeds? Absolutely not! And we don’t need to share quotes either.

There are a few reasons why quotes bother me so much on social media. First off, they serve as nothing more than clutter. I cringe when I am on Facebook and I check out my newsfeed and I see a big colored box with text inside it. What an eye sore. I want to see original content, I want to see pictures from someone’s weekend or a thoughtful status update that fills me in on an important development in someone’s life. I don’t want to see a crude box with some ugly font smashed into it that someone decided to share with the world. Same goes for Twitter. I follow you because I enjoy your content and am interested in what you have to say. I don’t need you to be the 56,798th person to retweet Wiz Khalifia’s relationship quote. If I wanted that advice I would subscribe to his tweets myself.

Yet another reason why I detest quotes so much is that people simply abuse them. There are people I follow on Twitter and friends who I have on Facebook who will retweet and share quote after quote after quote. It is bad enough when you clutter up your content by dropping in some generic quote but when you tweet out a string of five quotes in a row or 80% of your Facebook content is surrounded by quotation marks, you really need to reevaluate your social media goals. You devalue your social media accounts by doing this and you also chase away people from your pages who would otherwise actually look at your accounts if you didn’t post so much crap.

Finally, quotes turn me off simply because many of them are so stupid. The overly emotional, cliché, and relationship driven passages make me want to vomit. All of us have issues and concerns. Find some way to intelligently articulate them to the people who are close to you and who can be of help (or just keep them to yourself) but don’t try to express them by using some cheesy quote for all to see. Some of the quotes out there are just so corny I have no idea why people would associate themselves with them. Drawing attention to one’s problems through social media is sad, doing it with a quote is pathetic.

I know what you are thinking: “But Brent, you start each day on Twitter with a quote. You hypocrite, you.” Yes, first thing each morning I do send out a quote but it is more of a personal trademark thing for me than anything. Ever since I have had Twitter, I tweet out a short passage from my “Life’s Little Instruction” calendar for that particular day. I do it because a few people have requested that I do it because they enjoy them so much (they will text me and ask if I am dead if I don’t do it) and because it serves as a little knock on the people who do tweet out quotes as if their life depends on it. The quotes from this calendar are light-hearted and for the most part silly…they don’t speak for me in anyway and are intended to keep people happy and hopefully make others laugh. There you have it!

I urge people to value their own social media space a little more and to save the annoyance of others by toning down on the quotes just a little bit. Challenge yourself to be more original, don’t fall into the trap of enabling sap to proliferate through social media. (Enter whatever quote you have that speaks to resisting temptation right here). Don’t Blink.

Hoopfest 2012: Basketbrawl

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*Originally published on July 4, 2012.

This past weekend I completed my fifth consecutive year as a court monitor for the world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament, Hoopfest. This particular year the tournament was the largest ever as over 7,000 teams took to the streets of Spokane to play some ball. Far and away, Hoopfest 2012 will go down as my most challenging year.

One thing I love about court monitoring is that you get a different experience each year. Different brackets, different ages, different street locations, different weather, and different situations factor in to making sure that one tournament will be completely different from another tournament. My first four years I definitely got a unique taste each time. However, while each year presented me with a new experience and new stories, one thing stayed constant: I had zero problems. I was able to maintain control, avoid any ugly incidents, and keep all teams eligible. Well, my unblemished record took a bit of a hit this year.

Hoopfest 2012: This was my fifth consecutive year as a court monitor for Hoopfest.

On Friday night I learned that I got assigned an adult male court….well, sort of.  My bracket consisted of 17-18 year old boys, some still in high school, others just graduated. I welcomed this assignment. For many people, this age is the pinnacle of athletic careers. I knew competition would be intense and the desire to win would be high. This appealed to me. I love monitoring games when teams go at each other tooth and nail, doing whatever they can to advance in the bracket. However, I think I got a little more than what I bargained for.

Hoopfest 2012: My brother and I at Hoopfest.

My home for the weekend was the KXLY4 HD #1 court on Washington and Spokane Falls Boulevard. This particular court was an end court so instead of another court directly in back of my court, I had empty space, thus allowing for fans to crowd around that area. Anyway, the early morning games went well except for one weird oddity. Maybe as a sign to me that this would be no regular Hoopfest, during one of the first games a drunk transient wandered onto my court and stood inside the two-point arc. Incensed, I told the guy to get off the court. He said no. Again, I told him to get off the court. He said no again. After telling him that I was going to get the cops he stepped behind the two point line (still on the court) and slurred “I’m behind the line now.” Just as he said that I saw my court marshal out of the corner of my eye and noticed that he had just realized the situation. As I went to go meet him, the transient left the court. Several other court marshals and rapid response members followed him in hot pursuit.

The actual play that morning went exactly how I thought it would go. Games for the most part were hotly contested and the competitive level was high, but nothing got out of hand. By the time the 12:30pm game came around, things started to escalate a little. In the first winners bracket game of the tournament, two teams were going at it the whole twenty-five minutes. Trash talk, hard fouls, and some pushing and shoving entered the picture. Towards the end of the game, I was forced to call an intentional foul. After that, everyone seemed to calm down a little bit and the game finally came to an end. I ventured over to the scorer’s table to do the necessary paperwork for the completed game. As  my head was turned from the players I received an urgent alert from my cousin to turn around. As I threw my head back I saw a terrible sight. No less than six or seven people were engaged in a fight. Haymakers were being thrown, people were screaming, and randos were starting to rush over. The number of people started to snowball and the situation got ugly. Remember how I said there was open space behind my court? The brawl had spilled out into the open area. At least twenty people were involved. My court marshal arrived quickly on the scene and radioed for all the help possible. We had multiple court marshals, several rapid response members, and quite a few Spokane police officers doing what they could to break the mess up. By the time order was restored there were bloody faces, ripped shirts, and numerous upset people. What happened was after the game finished, a fan said something to a player on the losing team and that player went after the fan. The team that instigated the brawl was disqualified from the tournament on the spot.

Hoopfest 2012: This picture was taken literally seconds before the first brawl broke out behind me.

I had never presided over such a melee before at Hoopfest. After giving my statement to a high ranking Hoopfest official, I got the next game going. The following game went well and I decided that the earlier fight was just a fluke, something everyone goes through if you volunteer at Hoopfest long enough. Unfortunately, it was not a fluke. At the 1:30pm game, another winner’s bracket matchup, another fiery situation had developed. Two teams from local area high schools were facing off. The teams had history with each other in other sports and they both wanted to win the game. One of the teams brought a very large cheering section with them. The empty space behind my court was no longer empty…it was packed with seventeen and eighteen year old supporters of one of the teams. While they were supporters of the one team, they were more like haters of the other team. The fans kept heckling and baiting the other team, one player in particular. As a court monitor you can try to control a situation as intently as possible but when the crowd is so large and when they are in back of you, it is hard to regulate completely. Anyway, a member of the crowd finally said something that really got to the targeted player and it was game over from there. The player walked over to the fan, pushing me aside as I tried to step between the two (this was a huge athlete), and cold clocked the heckler. Chaos ensued.

Once again blows were exchanged by multiple people. The player who instigated the fight was completely out of control. Someone from the crowd took the player down to the ground and then, I kid you not, some kid who was well over 300 pounds fell on the player, securing the peace. Court marshals and rapid response members separated everyone and I was given the decision on whether to let the game continue or to just call it right then and there. I decided to let the game continue. The player who crossed the player/fan boundary and punched the fan was ejected for the rest of the tournament.

The rest of Saturday went by without a hitch. Many of the players on the other teams saw the previous brawls and did not want to repeat any of that behavior. The late afternoon games went without incident but I still drove home that night feeling a little down about what all had happened that day on my court. An awesome BBQ with my brother and his team, some cold beer, and great conversation that night helped to remove some of that earlier feeling and left me rejuvenated for Sunday.

A delicious Saturday night BBQ was just what I needed.

While Saturday was characterized by brawls, Sunday was defined by disqualifications. Here is the thing: When you fill out your Hoopfest registration packet, you must be honest. When you arrive at Hoopfest, your team must reflect all of the info from when you signed up back in March. If there is even the smallest inaccuracy, opposing players will pounce on it and push for consequences. This happened on Sunday. The DQs started early. One of the teams that still remained in the winner’s bracket had a couple players that looked like they were comfortably over six feet (the bracket was 5’10” and under). The success of the team drew a complaint from a player. So, after the team had won its opening game on Sunday to come just one win away from the championship game, we measured one of the kids and sure enough he did not meet the height limit. The team was immediately disqualified.

A couple games later, another team was disqualified because they had a player sign in who was not on the registered roster. Then, a couple more games later, the fourth team of my bracket was disqualified because they had a player who was signing in as a registered player on the team but the only problem was that he was not that registered player. With all of these disqualifications the aftermath sucked as all DQ’d teams were very upset and voiced their displeasure on the court for everyone to see/hear. I hate disqualifying any team. I hate seeing their weekend ruined, their entry money wasted, and their fans/family disappointed. But when an opposing player brings up a complaint, you have to investigate it and follow the Hoopfest rules. Please, register your team honestly and then uphold that same team for the whole tournament.

Hoopfest 2012: Court marshalls (red shirts) and rapid response members (blue shirts) gave me great support.

So besides all of the disqualifications that resulted in multiple forfeits, some basketball was still played on Sunday. In what couldn’t be any more fitting, the team that won my bracket, the Royal Knights, was one of the few teams that never found themselves in any controversy the whole weekend. They never fought, never had a question raised about their eligibility, never complained/petitioned against another team, never had any player pushing the height limit, and never gave me one reason to dislike them.  In a weekend that saw a quarter of my bracket get disqualified and multiple unsportsmanlike infractions occur, it served as a little bit of justice that a hard playing team like the Royal Knights took home the champion t-shirts.

Hoopfest 2012: Myself with my bracket champions, the Royal Knights.

Players and spectators asked me all weekend long if I enjoyed being in the middle of the action on such a crazy court. My simple answer was no. When I am responsible for running the show I find no joy in watching fights break out and ejecting teams from the tournament. So while I was disappointed in the antics that occurred on my court during Hoopfest 2012 I will just learn from the experience. Some things I could have controlled better and some things were completely out of my hands. I developed a whole new sense of respect for my court marshal, Kevin, and the rest of the Hoopfest court marshals and rapid response members. They had my back every single step of the way and supported me throughout the whole tournament.  Through this experience I feel like I became a better court monitor and my passion and love for Hoopfest never waivered. Let’s get the next 360+ days over with fast, I am ready for Hoopfest 2013! Don’t Blink.

Bring On Hoopfest 2012!

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*Originally published on June 29, 2012.

Finally! My favorite weekend every summer, Hoopfest, has arrived. In less than twelve hours I will be on the streets of downtown Spokane as I serve as a court monitor for my fifth consecutive year. Ask yourself, have you ever played in or watched a community 3-on-3 basketball tournament? Secondly, ask yourself, have you ever played in Hoopfest? If you answered “yes” and then “no,” I sadly have to inform you that you have never truly played in or watched a community 3-on-3 basketball tournament before. Spokane Hoopfest is a basketball event on steroids. Nothing compares…nothing even comes close. This year more than 7,000 teams will participate in the event and I can’t wait.

Tomorrow I will monitor twenty games with the first one starting at 8am and the last one ending at around 7pm. It is a long, but very fun, day. I arrived in Spokane about two hours ago. My parents are hosting my brother, his girlfriend, and his three Hoopfest teammates who make up the “SlumpBusters.” Along with them, I also have several relatives who are also staying with us as they will participate in the tournament as well. Not only is my parents’ residence filled with lots of people right now, it is also filled with tons of excitement. And while we might be overindulging a little too much on the beer and pizza at the moment, you can rest assured that all of us will be ready to go by tomorrow morning.

Although Hoopfest is by leaps and bounds the best 3-on-3 basketball tournament on the planet, they still decided to step it up this year. The game ball is the coolest version yet, the court monitor shirts are dri-fit, and the complimentary shoes each court monitor receives for volunteering are sick. Adding to the prospect that this will be the best Hoopfest yet, the weather forecast is absolutely perfect. Tomorrow calls for a high temperature of 82 degrees while Sunday is predicted to reach 78 degrees. This is ideal weather for the players, comfortable weather for court monitors, and great weather for girls to dress in whatever “cute” outfit they feel like. Bring it on.

My 2012 Hoopfest court monitor dri-fit shirt

If you are in Spokane this weekend and will be downtown, PLEASE stop by my court and say hi. I am monitoring an adult male court on Washington and Spokane Falls Boulevard. My court name is KXLY4 HD #1. Come bring me an energy drink (sugar free please) or stop by just to heckle me. If you are too busy watching other games to make it by my court, text me later and I will invite you over to my parents’ house for our big Saturday night Hoopfest BBQ. Remember to use the hashtag of #SpokaneHoopfest for all of your Tweets and Instagram photos.

Hoopfest 2012: The official game ball and my court monitor Nike shoes.

Let the fun begin! Good luck to everyone participating in some capacity in Hoopfest 2012! Hello again to all of my Spokane buds and welcome to all of my Montana friends who have traveled west for this weekend. Have a wonderful couple days in the Lilac City, it does not get much better than this. Don’t Blink.

Fireworks Ban?

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 *Originally published on June 27, 2012

The Fourth of July is right around the corner and within the next couple of days I am sure to start hearing the bangs, crackles, and screams of fireworks exploding outside of my house. I welcome these echoing sounds because it signifies a great American holiday and the onset of summer. Although the loud booms seem to always linger around a little longer than I would like as people on my street tend to light off fireworks well into late July, it is still an overall positive sound for me that brings me back to my youth.

Growing up as a kid, I LOVED fireworks. For most of my life fireworks have been banned in my hometown of Spokane so I would always cherish the annual trip my family would take to Walla Walla, Washington, for the Fourth. As fireworks were legal in Walla Walla at the time, I would always salivate a little bit as we entered town and I started to see the various fireworks stands stationed in parking lots and on the sides of the streets.

Besides the pretty tame stand fireworks available in town, my uncles would always blow a whole bunch of money and stock up on the “good stuff” from the reservations. By the time July 3 and July 4 came around, we had a mini war zone taking over the yard of whatever aunt or uncle was hosting the family get together that year.
We lit fireworks off non-stop during the day and then transitioned into our own little fireworks show by night. While I loved the shows that we (and the neighbors around us) put on during the night, I really found love with the day arsenal more. You see, I was much more of a loud, blow-stuff-up kind of boy as opposed to the sparkling pretty colors “oooohhhh and ahhhhhhh” type. I preferred bottle rockets, firecrackers, and M80’s over fountains, strobes, and mortars. I liked blowing up beanie babies, detonating soda cans, and firing off bottle rockets at my cousins and brother. Through the age range of about 11-16, I remember these Fourth of July memories fondly. What I also remember is the horror and anger my mom had as she watched me light even the most harmless smoke bomb off.
I remember hating the stipulations, restrictions, and nagging my mom would force upon me each year. I hated getting scolded in front of my older cousins and worse yet, sometimes having to sit out entirely. “Mom, I am fine, I will be careful, trust me,” I would plead. My dad, the most low key guy in his family, would also take my mom’s side. My cousins would be detonating fireworks off with a cigarette lighter while I would be lighting extra long fuses with a candle lighter. I would get so frustrated and tell my mom she was embarrassing me. At that time, I didn’t understand it.
When you grow up, you start to see things differently. You experience more, read more, and observe more. Ten years removed from my “pyrotechnic”days, I no longer trust/glorify fireworks as much as I used to. Report after report of people who lose their limbs, lose their property, and even lose their lives from fireworks has changed my thinking a little bit. Back in the day, I would debate with you endlessly on how stupid it was for cities and towns to ban fireworks. I would throw out words like “unpatriotic,’ “controlling,” and “absurd”. I would reason that only uncareful and clueless people could be harmed while using fireworks. Speaking out of ignorance then, I now know that many professional pyrotechnicians get hurt and killed each year practicing their trade.
While I won’t go out and say that I fully support a fireworks ban, I do understand it.
A couple things people need to know about fireworks: While operator error is just one reason to feel nervous about fireworks, disaster can strike in other ways too. Fireworks can malfunction and not do what they were supposed to. Mother Nature can blow a firework off course or she could produce a very hot and dry day, making everything more susceptible to catching fire. A lone spark could ignite a house up in flames. Someone walking around could accidently stroll into the path of a firework or knock a firework down. There are just so many chances for something going wrong.
So while I probably don’t even completely trust a professional with fireworks, I certainly don’t trust a twelve year old with them. Mom, you were definitely right on this one. But between a professional and a twelve year old, there are many more groups that fall into the spectrum. One of these groups are good-old, trust worthy adults, just like me. Do I trust them? Do I trust myself? The answer is no. Not only do I not entirely trust people my age with fireworks, I definitely don’t trust people my age who have been drinking with fireworks. The Fourth of July is a drinking holiday, making it so many people who do light off fireworks are hammered. Does this put anyone else on edge? I would say it kind of makes those crazy people who are looking to ban fireworks a little more sane.
Fireworks are dangerous. But life is dangerous too, right? Just because life is dangerous doesn’t mean we should stop living it. The same can be said for fireworks too….just because they are dangerous does not mean people should stop celebrating with them. If they are legal in your area, by all means partake in the fun, just keep in mind the possible consequences. For the people who live in areas where they are already banned I know you will probably still celebrate with fireworks anyway so I offer the same advice…keep in mind the possible consequences. Don’t trust fireworks. Take every safeguard possible and have a plan for if and when things go wrong. And lastly, give your eleven year old sparklers and poppers, not M80’s. Don’t Blink.

Player Heckling

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I tend to write about fans a lot. I have taken on armchair fans, drunk fans, cyber fans, and uniformed fans. The irony is that some of these groups really are not “fans” at all but for the sake of clarity I am giving them much more credit than they deserve. Tonight, I want to talk about a different type of “fan”….the heckler.

Let me start by saying that I don’t have a 100% stance either for or against heckling. Rather, I have strong opinions on different situations and with the people involved in the heckling.  So while I am a little wishy-washy when it comes to my overall attitude to the art, I am completely onboard when it comes to the appropriateness of it in the many different forums of athletics. Let me explain.
I think heckling is fair game for high school and college students at the athletic competitions in which they are cheering on their classmates.  School spirit for a student centers on cheering for your own team while also making your presence known to the opposing team. Intimidating, baiting, and getting in the heads of opposing players is a part of the game when it comes to the high school/college experience.  It is also a way to unite a student body. It takes effort, coordination, and willingness for students who go to athletic events to band together and engage in effective heckling to have an impact. Many of the premiere college basketball teams have student bodies that rehearse before games just to make sure everyone is on the same page. Chants are planned out, cues are known by all. As long as heckling/chants/cheers are cleaver and in decent enough taste, I have no problem with students heckling other students.
I also feel heckling is legit at the major league level of sports (NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, etc) by any fan who is a diehard, loyal supporter of a certain team. Some of these pro sports fans are absolutely insane. They eat, sleep, and breathe everything about their favorite team and many of them would sacrifice their families for championships. These types of fans have earned the right to insult and yell at the opposing multi-million dollar athletes their team happens to be playing that day. Along with the major league level, I feel everyone has the right to heckle any athlete who happens to behave on or off the court in a shameful , inexcusable, or entitled way. If an athlete assaulted his wife, heckle him. If an athlete choked his coach, heckle him. If an athlete put down an entire city or group of people, heckle him. If an athlete made a mockery of your city by making a “Decision” on national television, heckle him.
Unfortunately, many people heckle who have no business heckling. By the time you graduate from college, much of the immaturity you displayed over the past several years should be washed away by your diploma and the next stage of your life. When It comes to heckling, you are no longer a student yelling at another student…you are a grown adult throwing insults at someone much younger than you.
This past weekend marked the opening homestand for our local minor league baseball team, the Missoula Osprey. As usual, I looked around and noticed many dudes around my age (25) and much older screaming and hollering at the opposing team. Not only do so many of these guys yell elementary, cliché remarks, they also seem to have no idea who they  are yelling at. Many of the players who make up the short season single A Pioneer League roster are seventeen and eighteen year old kids who are making a salary that many of us could never live on. Where is the honor in belittling these players?
But besides the audacity at heckling young athletes who are just trying to chase their dream, I find something even more troubling about these people I see hooping and hollering. Many are guys who only attend a couple games a year. They have no real investment/connection to the Osprey and they sure as hell don’t have any established vendetta or beef against the opposing team. Why would they care so much to stand up and look stupid as they mockingly yell out an opposing player’s batting average? Here is the answer: They are heckling just for the sake of heckling and that is my problem.  
This problem of course does not manifest itself on just minor league baseball. It goes across all levels and sports. The same morons I see getting drunk at Osprey games and making comments about the town that someone grew up in also exhibit the exact same behavior at college games, major league level games, and, sadly, high school contests. They feel that a ticket entitles them to act like jerks. Sure they want to impress their girlfriend, make their buddies laugh, sound like they know what they are talking about, draw attention to themselves, and get the most out of their buzz but it still means little because there is no passion or genuineness in their comments.  They don’t care about the outcome of the game but yet they continue to run their mouths.
Of course I understand that there are also the people who do have a fire burning in their hearts for their favorite college or pro team who sometimes like to yell at the opposing team a little more than they should. Remember my rules for major league sports? If you are a legitimate diehard or if a player has done something to offend others, go ahead and heckle. However, if there is really no good reason to insult an opposing professional athlete just don’t do it. Why waste negative energy? But please lay off screaming at opposing amateur athletes.  Let the student section do their job. What business does a forty-five year old have calling out a college freshman?
There is a time and place for heckling. Unfortunately, many of us will never be in that time or place again. Let’s accept this and conduct ourselves with class at sporting events. Realize that by keeping our mouths in check we are saving ourselves embarrassment.  Don’t Blink.

Thank Goodness: Summer in Missoula

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Today marked the first day of summer and for once here in Missoula it is just not the alignment of the sun and a designation on the calendar that is verifying this fact. Looking ahead at the 10-day forecast, all I see are highs in the seventies and eighties. I see more sun graphics than cloud graphics, more blue skies and less rain. Finally! Summer is here and I couldn’t be happier.

I hear all the opinions and arguments defending the other seasons here in Missoula. Fall is the most beautiful time as leaves change colors, a refreshing crisp air rolls in, students come back on campus, and football season takes over. Winter is a time that defines the toughness of Montanans, it is ski/snowboard season, an excuse to eat hot comfort food and guzzle down hot chocolate.  Then there is spring, an entrancing period of new life, flowers bloom, animals have babies, grass starts to turn green.
I could care less.
For me, it is all about summer. You could take all of the attributes of the seasons above and combine them all into one mega season and I would still take summer. I love the heat and in a town like Missoula where you are lucky if you only see two real hot months all year long, this time on the calendar should be coveted. I know there are people out there who like sub-zero temperatures, blowing winds, torrential downpours, and weather that changes by the minute but I don’t. Give me the sun, give me the warmth, and give me the girls in bikinis. Thank you.
Once the weather part of summer is secured, all the activities that go with it trump anything else the other seasons have to offer. Activities such as eating and drinking on the outdoor patios of some of Missoula’s great restaurants. Hiking the “M”. Riding bikes. Stopping by Big Dipper for some ice cream.
These summer-musts just scratch the surface though. Summer in the Zoo also means Missoula Osprey baseball at beautiful Ogren Park at Allegiance Field. Nothing beats the laid back atmosphere, the people watching, the cold beer, and…oh yeah…the actual baseball. I got my tickets for the first homestand starting this Friday and I can’t wait.
Summer in Missoula also means great community events. Downtown Tonight, Out to Lunch, Farmer’s Market, Roots Fest, Testy Fest, Celtic Fest, outdoor concerts, and many more such events make late June, July, and August such fun months to hang out in the Garden City.
Let’s not forget the rivers and lakes as well. Camping, floating, and swimming are all rites of passage if you spend a summer here. Nothing beats the sun beating down on your body as the cool water underneath you neutralizes the rays while you down a beverage.
Summer in Montana also means long nights, beautiful sunsets, and breathtaking night skies. We have it so lucky here in Missoula. Summer nights in this state have provided me with some of the best memories of my life. Hanging out with friends while watching the sun set at 10pm is a special experience.
But the best part of summer in Missoula is the relaxation factor. Because most of the students leave the town for the summer and many townsfolk relocate to other areas, the city is just less busy and more mellow. This time of year makes people more care-free and, in my opinion, happier. Work is the slowest for me at this time so I get to enjoy myself with very little stress. I get to use vacation time and get away from the office a little. It is a time to get rejuvenated.
Welcome back, summer!! I am so glad you are here, please stay as long as possible. Hope everyone had a wonderful summer solstice and are ready for the next several awesome weeks that are to come. Don’t Blink.

Five Days of Life

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I have enjoyed the last five days hanging out with my friends. While working out today, I reflected on the past several days and realized that I could kind of pull a certain story from each night that kind of defined that particular evening. Let me warn you now, there is nothing too overly exciting…well maybe one of the stories…but I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. Basically, I have just lived my life recently and am deciding to write about it for tonight’s post. Hope you don’t get too bored!

Wednesday, June 13: Trivia Victory

This past Wednesday, a group of us went to the Broadway (Restaurant/bar in Missoula) for all you can eat wings and trivia. For only $9, you can gobble up as many wings as your stomach can handle while also playing in a pretty fun trivia game. While getting basket after basket of wings, we managed to hang tight in trivia. We managed to stay in the upper tier of the standings for most of the game. However, when the final round came along, it looked as if we would not leap frog into first place. Because of this, we all paid our tabs. The last round, the “music round”, came and went. We hung around just to see where we ended up.  Well, wouldn’t you know it? We actually did know our music pretty well and once the results flashed on the bar televisions, there was our team name, #Winning, sitting all alone in the number one spot. We had just won a $50 bar tab and none of us had a tab open. We remedied that situation and asked our server to bring us out $50 worth of Fireball shots. The Broadway staff was more than happy to help us consume the plethora of shots.

Our team, #Winning, won trivia.
Thursday, June 14: Making Friends at Downtown Tonight

During Thursdays during the summer, Caras Park in Missoula holds “Downtown Tonight,” a great community event that features food, beer, and live music. The food choice is always amazing and when the weather is decent, the fun to be had is pretty remarkable. This past Thursday, my friend Chris, my co-worker/friend Jimmy, and myself invaded Caras Park. While chowing down on gumbo and distributing business cards for Jimmy’s new BBQ restaurant, we also met a couple different groups of really cool people. First off, we met two girls working a booth ran by a very successful real estate agent here in town who we all know from work. As successful people usually do, they hire intelligent and motivated people who will in turn be successful in the long run. This was definitely the case with the two girls that Diane (real estate agent) had working her booth. Just a little ways from the real estate table, there was a wood oven pizza stand ran by three girls around the age of twenty-three. One of the girls happened to actually start the business. This girl hired two of her friends to help her run the business (it is called Ciao Bella Wood Fired Pizza…check it out next time) and the rest is history, they completely sold out of pizza on Thursday night.

So we got to know both groups of these girls pretty well. Once Downtown Tonight ended and everything was packed up, it just so happened that Chris, Jimmy, and myself found ourselves sitting on a patio deck of a popular restaurant with both groups of girls, Diane, and the dad of the girl who runs the pizza business. Don’t think I said this above, but all the girls were beautiful. We had a great time visiting and getting to know each other. Anytime you can enjoy an evening where you network with similarly minded young professionals who also happen to be very attractive you know that you did not have a bad night.
Diane with her two workers.
Friday, June 15: Sucker Punched

On Friday night, Chris, Dan, and I were at the Iron Horse (yet another established restaurant in Missoula). The Iron Horse has two levels, connected by a staircase. The staff closed down the upper half of the restaurant that the three of us happened to be in. As we made our way down the stairs, there was a big commotion just a few feet away from the bottom of the steps. A troubled and very intoxicated guy in probably his late forties was giving the Iron Horse staff problems as they were trying to get him to leave the place. Not wanting to get mixed in with the unfortunate scene, we veered to the left to completely avoid the confrontation. Well, that night my red and white striped Where’s Waldo shirt must have attracted just a little too much attention because as I walked by looking straight ahead away from the scene, I was the recipient of a sucker punch to my jaw.

The moment the blow connected with my face, no fewer than four Iron Horse staff members mobbed the dude, carried him out with his legs kicking, and threw him into the parking lot. The whole place watched the scene as the 86’d individual tried to get up, only to fall backwards. His friend who was beyond fed up with his actions took the guy’s shoe and started beating him with it. The place erupted in laughter. The Iron Horse staff was very professional and sympathetic to me about the whole situation. They said they had never seen an unprovoked attack like that before. I told them not to worry, they took care of the problem immediately. After all, it was really no big deal at all…the guy couldn’t throw a decent hard punch if his life depended on it.
Moments after getting sucker punched Jessie pointed out the point of contact.
Saturday, June 16: A Great Meal on the House

Friday night, Dan and I played in the Bingo game at the Lucky Strike. Dan happened to win one of the rounds and in addition to some cash he also got a coupon good for two free dinners in the bowling alley’s connected restaurant. We decided to cash in the coupon on Saturday night. The card was good for two dinners, two drinks, and two desserts. We sat down in the empty restaurant with a killer air conditioning system and just enjoyed a free meal. Our entrees came with either soup or salad and I chose the former which was meatball soup! I had never tried such a thing before but it was delicious. Next, our dinners came. I got steak and mashed potatoes while Dan got the steak and shrimp combo. Even though we probably could have passed, we couldn’t refuse the free dessert. I got a giant brownie topped with ice cream and whipped cream while Dan got caramel cheesecake. We enjoyed every bite of our food along with every drink of our bottomless Coca-Colas. Getting a hearty, good tasting free meal every once in a while is not so bad.

Dan digs into his dinner at Lucky Strike.
Sunday, June 17: Seeing an Old Friend

On Sunday late afternoon I got to see an old friend who I had not seen in person since the Miranda Lambert concert way back in October. A lot had changed since that last encounter and unfortunately it was not for the better. Ellie lost her dad in January, an experience that I can’t even begin to comprehend. She came up with her mom from Kalispell for a day of shopping. When they finished hitting the Missoula shopping spots, they invited me out to one of my favorite restaurants in Missoula, Johnny Carino’s. We visited and caught up and had a really nice time. After I ate every bite of my five meat Tuscan pasta, I got to taste some of what Dan ate last night as the three of us split a piece of cheesecake. I was honored that I got to spend some time with Ellie and her mom on what had to have been a very tough Father’s Day for both of them.

Ellie and I at Carino’s earlier today.
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I look forward to what this next week has to hold. Hopefully I will continue to have good times with my friends, meet more new people, and not get punched in the face. We shall see. Don’t Blink.

Tom Dooley’s Review – Missoula

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This evening I finally got to try the place that I had literally counted down the days until it opened its doors to the Missoula community. My anticipation for the opening of this joint exceeded my excitement for the debut of any other business that I can ever remember opening in the area (with the exception of maybe Hooters). Tonight I ate dinner at Tom Dooley’s, a gourmet hot dog shop located on east Broadway right next to the Campus Inn.

As a huge hot dog fan, something really delights me about the prospect of a restaurant that specializes in just that…hot dogs. When the place happens to be a one-of-a-kind, local establishment it just makes it that much better. When I walked through the doors of Tom Dooley’s with an empty stomach earlier this evening, I was ready for business.
The storefront of Tom Dooley’s
The set up is simple at TD’s. You walk through the doors and the main counter is right in front of you. A black board hanging behind it creatively presents the menu in a variety of different colored chalk. To the right of the counter (from the vantage point of the customer) is a sectioned off area where the “hot dog artists” prepare your order. To the left is where the narrow but long seating area begins, complete with high tables and low tables. The soda fountain is right at the beginning of the seating area, the single unisex restroom at the end.
The ordering process is even simpler than the set up. A very nice and attractive young lady took our order. As first timers we kind of stumbled through what we wanted, making tweaks here and there. She got every detail and simply told the hot dog artists a generic word for each item we ordered (i.e. “dog”, “brat”, “fry”, “tot”). We went and sat down at a table and within two minutes, the nice TD’s worker brought us our food. Everything was exactly how we ordered it, every sauce accounted for. Not bad for a new business with new employees.
The set up inside Tom Dooley’s

Because I wanted to try both varieties and because I am a pig, I ordered both a brat and a hot dog. I selected “The Fargo” brat and “The Cowboy Luau” hot dog. My main man and eating partner, Money Mike, ordered the “Shout Bamalama” hot dog. We also got sweet potato tater tots.

A nice look at the food we got at Tom Dooley’s

“The Fargo” is a brat that came on a pretzel bun with pepper jack cheese and sautéed onions. As  I ate it, I generously dipped it in their volcanic radish sauce and their special BBQ sauce. What stuck out to me first was just not the warmth of the brat but also the warmth of the bun. Mind you, it is not a regular bun from a sack at Albertsons, it is a high quality pretzel bun. Anyway, every part of “The Fargo” was at the same temperature, the pepper jack cheese was perfectly melted on both the brat itself and the bun, and the sautéed onions topped it off. So the presentation and temperature of the brat was perfect, how about the taste? It was good! The freshness of the bun and quality of the brat contributed to a very positive taste. The pepper jack cheese was pleasantly noticeable and the sauces brought out extra flavor. The onions were so-so with many of them falling from the brat/bun and into the boat tray.

“The Cowboy Luau” is a hot dog that was served smothered in BBQ sauce and then topped with grilled pineapples! The original Cowboy Luau also comes with relish but I requested that they hold it. I had never tried a hot dog with pineapples before so I did not know exactly how it would taste, but it worked. I found it very tasty and once again, just like the brat, the temperature of both the bun and the dog were the same. The hot dogs definitely have a much more BBQ-type taste than the brats so that is probably what you want to base your decision on when deciding between the two. Or, you can just do what I did and order both.
I love you Tom Dooley’s! I gobbled down both my brat and hot dog in no time.
Maybe the best part of the whole dinner though was the sweet potato tater tots. The small, reddish-brown gems tasted amazing. You would eat a couple and you would get that clean, sweet potato taste and then you would eat a couple more at the bottom and you would still get the sweet potato taste but added in would be a pinch of what I made out to be cinnamon-sugar. Although Mike ordered them for himself, I pretty much ate the whole order. Speaking of Mike, his dog, “The Shout Bamalama,” came with cole slaw, BBQ sauce, and french fries! I had not seen french fries on a sandwich since I visited Pittsburgh last year. Mike said it was good but he was too busy talking about sports and the new Adam Sandler movie coming out for me to get much more out of him.

The final breakdown on Tom Dooley’s? It is a well-organized, clean spot to pick up a bite to eat. The food quality is good. Both the brats and hot dogs run around $5 with the brats being about twenty-five cents more if I remember correctly. One thing to keep in mind is that you pay the $5 price for quality, not quantity. The hot dogs/brats are not gigantic. In fact, they are regular size. Before going in I guess I kind of envisioned sausages more along the size of what Costco serves…this is not the case. Because of the size and because of the atmosphere and quick production of the food, I recommend visiting Tom Dooley’s for lunch. For someone like me, if you were to order a single hot dog for dinner you might leave the place still a little hungry. For lunch, it is perfect. Idea wise, the place is awesome. Missoula definitely did not have a gourmet hot dog place before but now it does. I am just hoping that the city likes the idea as much as I do because I would love to see it be successful.  Don’t Blink.

2012 NBA Finals

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Tomorrow night the Miami Heat will visit the Chesapeake Energy Arena to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in game 1 of the NBA Finals. While Oklahoma City could be a larger market, I don’t think the league can complain too much about this matchup. From a fan’s point of view, what more could you want? Rising stars, storylines, and exciting styles of play define this series. Buckle your seat belts, it is going to be a fun ride.

Now it should be a crime that I even have the nerve to make a prediction in this series after my disastrous prognostication of last year’s Finals but I want to see if I can redeem myself (or embarrass myself further). Neglecting to make some radical call or to go outside the  box, I am very conservatively going to say that the Thunder will defeat the Heat in seven games.
I think each team will “hold serve” and win each game on their respective courts, with OKC ultimately winning the championship because of home court advantage. I just don’t see either team taking one from the other on their home court. The Thunder enjoy the best fans and best atmosphere in the NBA. The Heat enjoy the best home court edge. What do I mean by home court edge? The Heat, and especially Lebron, get every single call under the sun when they play in AmericanAirlines Arena. It kills me every time I watch a game.
Normally I will try to save face and predict against the team I want to win. You see, by doing this I prevent myself from becoming too disappointed with the outcome. If the team I am rooting for loses, at least I can take some solace in the fact that I “branched out” and made a decent prediction. If the team that I am cheering for wins, then who cares about my lame prediction? I am a happy camper! But I can’t split it up that way this time around. I think the Thunder will win the series.
What the Heat have going for them is experience. They played in the Finals last year. They know what the stage is all about and they know what the travel and the series format entails. They also have motivation after losing last year, especially one certain superstar who embarrassed himself when it mattered most. But hey, I am not here to rip on Lebron, I did that enough in a previous blog post. Even with these factors going in the favor of the Heat, I still like the Thunder’s chances. They have home court advantage and they have the better team. They have played against much better competition the whole playoffs and they are coming off of more rest than the Heat.
Just a few NBA Finals odds and ends before I wrap this up:
Finals TV Braodcast Team: The only reason why I would want to watch every single Finals game in a deafening loud bar is to shield my ears from the analysis of Jeff Van Gundy. Out of all the color analysts in sports, he is on my top five list of guys I despise the most. Coming off as arrogant and whiny, I have a very tough time listening to him. He has a definite agenda too. He always hated Phil Jackson and all the years he was forced to call the Lakers playoff games, that bias always came through. I would love to hear Van Gundy’s counterpart for the Conference Finals, Steve Kerr, hold down the color duties. Articulate and very intelligent, Kerr is a joy to listen to. He is also very down to earth and brings the experience of both a championship player and a GM…a much more impressive resume than an over-the-top coach who never accomplished much. Mike Breen as the play-by-play doesn’t bother me but I would still rather listen to Marv Albert. Doris Burke as the sideline reporter? Hmmmmm….she is okay, but why doesn’t ABC/ESPN throw in Erin Andrews or take Rachel Nichols off of her team assignment and have her perform the duties? Again, I might have to watch more of these games in bars than in my living room.
Why is no one talking about this?*: I have heard very little discussion about how there will always be an asterisk by the 2011-12 NBA Champion. With a 66 game season, it is really hard to say that the additional 16 games that were cut off had no positive or negative impact on the teams. But maybe that is a testament to how exciting this postseason has been. The play, the games, and the series have been superb. Maybe this has covered up that minor detail. Even if the shortened season does escape the minds of fans, it will forever be etched in history at the end of either Oklahoma City or Miami in the record books.
Lebron vs. Durant: Although I think the Lebron-Dirk matchup of last year’s Finals was a little more intriguing to me than Lebron-Durant, this year’s battle should be very entertaining. Besides, Lebron and Durant will probably end up guarding each other for the majority of the series as opposed to Lebron on Dirk last year. Vegas has Durant winning the Finals MVP with 1/1 odds but Lebron has the second best odds at 2/1. I expect Lebron to show up at this year’s Finals (well, until at least the end of each game) and I see it as a series where Durant will get the best of Lebron one night and then King James will get the best of Durant the next night.
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I am ready for tomorrow night. Ratings are projected to be high and it seems like I personally know a lot more people who are drawn into the NBA Finals this year. Please e-mail me/text me/Facebook me your Finals predictions. Who will it be? Thunder or Heat? Don’t Blink.