The Buckeye's experience...

I traveled to Columbus this past weekend for the Ohio State - Michigan State football game and brought along with me my wife, 11-year old daughter and 7-year old son.  For my son this was his second regular season Buckeyes game in the past two years and for my daughter her first.  The game resulted in 10-7 loss and Ohio State didn't play particularly well on offense.  There was a somber mood at Ohio Stadium and I actually heard a media expert later that day predicting the Buckeyes first losing season since 1988.  When I asked my kids if they had a good time, I was a little surprised when they both smiled wide and said yes.  I'm not positive they knew what the final score was and I don't think they really cared.  In their eyes it seemed to be a great day.  Their game day experience started with hot dogs and pop at a tailgate party of an old high school friend of mine.  When game time came they enjoyed cheering the team as they rushed onto the field and watching the huge American flag raised for the national anthem by some servicemen.  During the game they had fun trying to find where Brutus Buckeye was at in the stadium, doing the wave and chanting O-H-I-O with the crowd.  They were also especially thrilled when the OSU band did Script Ohio and made a special appearance in our section 12B to get the crowd fired up.  When the score was 10-0 and the game seemed to be out of reach for the Buckeyes midway in the 4th quarter, I suggested we head for the exits.  My son got this panicked look on his face and quickly asked why?  I realized at that time what a memorable moment he was having and agreed to stick around for another series of plays.  It was obvious he didn't care about the score, he just didn't want his Buckeye's experience to end.  As I drove the family home that night I realized what a good time I had also. I'm hopeful there will come a day when my kids start bringing me to games, whether it's at Ohio State or somewhere else.  And I'm positive when they get frustrated with their team and suggest we leave a little early I'm going to ask them the same question they asked me, why?

The (not so) BIG 4-0...

40th birthday encouragement

I hit a lifetime milestone recently and turned the BIG 4-0 back on September 13th.  You know, it's the age when you're supposedly over-the-hill, your body starts hurting more, you forget things more often, and you're just generally washed up from doing things younger people can do.  I've been warned about this age for as long as I can remember.  Heck, they sell black balloons and t-shirts just for the occasion, and I can't think of any other age that's more notorious.  Maybe turning 100?  But now that I've turned 40 I'm left wondering what all the fuss was about?  Does my body hurt more?  Not really.  I remember a time about 15 years ago when I went through a period with some lower back pain, probably the worse I've ever felt.  I lost 30 pounds and it went away.  Do I forget things more often?  Not really.  I could never remember anything anyway.  My wife claims I just remember what I want to.  Well duh, who remembers what they don't want to!  Am I washed up from doing things younger people can do?  Not really.  I can still beat some some younger folks when it comes to running, playing softball, and dancing like a fool.  So, after a few weeks of being 40 and taking time to reflect on this new era, I guess I feel pretty good about life.  There are a couple quotes I like that seem to make perfect sense now:

"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because he stop playing"

As a matter of fact I feel a little smarter after turning 40.  Because now I realize turning 50 might be even better yet!

Ft. Loramie football stadium upgrades...

I had the opportunity to attend Ft. Loramie's varsity football home opener last Friday against New Bremen.  It was my first chance to see the new updates to the stadium that I had read about in the newspaper around a month ago.  I've been in the Redskins stadium before, most recently for a track meet this past spring, so I had a pretty good memory of what it looked like before the updates.  My dad was with me for the game and explained a few interesting things I'll get to later.  After we parked my car, we walked towards the stadium from the south parking lot by the baseball diamond, so the first thing I noticed was an area with engraved brick pavers.  It's a nice feature that recognizes the support of so many in the Ft. Loramie community.  As we approached the front of the stadium the coolest upgrade had to be the new entrance.  Wow!  Ticket windows, a beautiful gate, and an awesome Ft. Loramie football sign attached to a couple of lighted brick columns (click on picture above).  As we walked to our seats on the 50-yard line I noticed the new press box located above the home fans.  It's impressive enough that three different media outlets were using it to cover the game.  After we sat down in our seats I couldn't help but notice across the field at the new visitor bleachers that replaced the small set of bleachers that were there last spring.  It's nice that the home fans aren't the only ones that benefited from the upgrades.  I commented to Dad how nice everything looked.  He explained that all the upgrades were done with private donations and with volunteer work.  He even stated that he was part of a service club that volunteered their time to paint the lines on the field that Thursday night before the game.  As I watched the game I also noticed two huge play clocks behind both end zones that made it easy for each team to see how much time time was left.  Dad explained those were newly donated as well.  I never grew up with high school football and I'm pretty positive my children never will, but I have an appreciation for it after Friday night's game.  The upgrades prove there's a lot of pride in the community and it was great to witness it from a visitor's perspective.  Nice job Redskins.