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This is the 4th installment of the series of articles covering our move into our new home.

They Are All Together….

 The last article was written some weeks ago right after we had sold our house. A lot has happened since that time.

We had to pack up the remainder of our household goods and move to a new locale. Yep, I am back among those doing apartment living. This is a new experience for me since the last time I lived in an apartment I did not have any children, did not own any pets and did not have a ring on my finger indicating I was married. I am always reminded of the famous comedic line…why do they call them apart – ments when they are all together?

I was much younger, financially not near as well off, and frankly had a lot more going on so I really wasn’t in the apartment that much anyway.

Bonus Perks!

This is not Johnny’s apartment building.

Living in an apartment does have its advantages. I do not have to pay for all of the utilities and trash service. I do not have to worry about my lawn decaying and turning brown in the face of the worst drought we have had in my lifetime here in the Midwest – this also means I do not have to worry about snow removal and mowing either.

The apartment also comes with a nice pool and hot tub that I have been able to utilize on a few occasions. The location we chose for an apartment was very convenient as it allowed us to stay in the same school system with our son, and they also accepted pets. Since we have a dog, finding a place that allowed pets was a huge bonus. Finding a nice place that allowed pets that was in the area that we were wanting to live was even better.

I sure miss my fence….

Apartment living does come with some things that I have taken for granted as well. You have neighbors on directly on either side of you as well as below you. The younger gentleman that lives below me already blew a gasket as apparently we were being too loud at lunch time on a Saturday. He was banging on the ceiling reminiscent of Mr. Heckles from “Friends”. The only difference is this did not sound like a broom stick.

When you have a dog and a 6 year old abiding by the apartment rules of no running and keeping quiet can be difficult to say the least. As a homeowner this is never a problem.

Speaking of dog, that is probably thing that my wife and I are realizing we miss from being in the house. With the home and fenced yard, so when it is “bathroom time” for the pooch you simply open the door, wait for the friendly visage of your dog to reappear at same door and Voila’! Open door + Treat jar = happy dog.

Now we have to leash him up, put on shoes or appropriate warmer clothing if early or late at night, go down the stairs ( as we live on the 2nd floor) walk around until we get the business done, and then we use the secure entry to get back upstairs. Fortunately we are getting our dog a little more “trained” into a routine with this so we are all adjusting on the fly.

So Many Choices

A lot of our free time has been spent making the final selections on tile, carpet, paint, brick, countertops, fixtures, pretty much about everything you can name. The good news is that we have most of this finalized or very close to finalized as the framing is set to begin on our house very soon. Once the trusses start going up, the rest is going to keep moving along in a hurry.

In the meantime, it is a good thing I have college football to keep me distracted!

Until next time….stay classy Summersville, West Virginia

Fantasy Football Fantastic!

We have just started the NFL Pre-Season and now is the time when many of us turn on our computers and log into the draft- room.

Yep, it is time for fantasy football drafts.

Which Type of Fantasy Leaguer Are You?

I categorize Fantasy Football leagues into one of three categories. And it has nothing to do with what the entry fees are. They include:

The Eager Beaver League: These leagues have already held their drafts. They were likely already working out draft orders, dinner menus back in May. These leagues are made up of the die hards that yearn for the best part of any fantasy league….the DRAFT. Of course they get this out of the way early only to see their star players hurt in pre-season, arrested, suspended or cut from the team. If only they could have waited a few more weeks.

The Average Joe League: This is what 95% of leagues fall into in terms of statistical categorization. They hold their draft in the middle of pre-season as close as possible to the kick-off of the first ACTUAL games. This give all players plenty of time to study all of the overpriced draft magazine, dedicated hour long FFL shows, chat room message boards and trial and error from other leagues they may have already participated in. These players have done countless mock drafts, analyzed all of the 3 deep depth charts, and have already made nice with the spouse to get the extra couple of nights to hang with the group and have a few beverages and act like college aged kids once again.

The Better Late Than Never League: Two types of people fall into this category. They are either people that at the last minute decide they can get their work buddies or fellow students together to put together that last minute league, even though the season has already started…OR…you get the people that were in the Eager Beaver Leagues that miss the action of draft night SO BADLY, that they sign up for another one, even if it breaks every fantasy rule they hold tried and true (meaning it pains them to be doing it late) but they do it anyway, for the thrill of the draft.

Mucho Importante!

Which gets me to the most important part of any fantasy league, be it baseball, football, basketball, golf, hockey, water polo, Equestrian, Checkers, whatever….the Draft is the single most important part of your time in the league as well as the single most fun part of being in the league.

You can spend a lot of money subscribing to insider information, purchasing 14 different magazine and forecast tools for players – – – or you can do a little research and get together with your friends and have a good time.

Weather you play for just pride, a ton of money, or just a cheesy gold trophy resembling something that your dad would have won from his Thursday late-night bowling league, it is a good and fun time to participate, and the draft is always the highlight of every league I have ever been in.

College Anyone?

I for one am planning on entering a college fantasy league for the first time ever. There are a number of sites that offer this free of charge and you end up competing against people from all over the country as you simply sign up to join a league. Guess this means I better start researching the MAC for that bullet armed quarterback, or the Ohio Valley for that never heard before place kicker. Maybe the Mountain West has a stud tight end that has slipped under my previous radar.

All I know is that as World Champion of the World last year in two of the three leagues I competed in, I now my fellow competitors will be amped up and gunning to get me. One of those leagues is not taking place this year (I guessed I scared them all off) but I have added a new one to take its place

So….. Farm Leaguers, Big Ballers Big X Legends and Leaders, Johnny is back for bragging rights and will be talking smack on draft night. Consider yourself advised…..

Until Next Time, Stay Classy St. Onge, South Dakota.

Honey Badger takes what he wants

Apparently the Honey Badger didn’t care.

Didn’t care about team rules anyway. LSU “sensation” Tyrann Mathieu nicknamed “ The Hone Badger” has been released from the football program for what is being dubbed as violation of team rules.

A major impact player at a successful program is not simply given the boot. This tells me that it was something related to improper benefits, drugs or he had simply been riding the fence and been warned repeatedly about something that was re-occurring for some time, and simply did not change his ways. We know it was not for academic reasons as school is not yet in session for a couple of more weeks.

Message Boards and sports and news outlets are speculating with many varied stories at this time of exactly the cause of his dismissal from the team. In the hours following the announcement, the main rumors appear to be that Mathieu failed another drug test, which would be his third in three seasons. If this is true it appears that Honey Badger likes more than…well…umm…honey.

Mad-Hatters Presser earlier on Friday

For now LSU head coach Les Miles is not talking …..or at least talking as much as we are used to hearing him talk – which is seemingly every chance he gets to put his mug on ESPN. At his news conference announcing this on Friday, Miles did not mention the reason he was dismissed.

“We’ll miss the guy,” Miles said. “The football team’s got to go on. We’ll have to fill the void.”

Athletic Director Joe Alleva said Mathieu, who was suspended for a game in 2011 after failing a drug test, violated an athletic department rule and had his scholarship revoked.

“Being an athlete is a privilege,” Alleva said. “It’s a privilege and you have to follow the rules to take advantage of that privilege. And unfortunately, he doesn’t have that privilege here anymore.

“He really is a good kid. It’s a shame. But I told him this morning that he has the rest of his life and his life is still ahead of him. He still has a tremendous opportunity to do good things and I encouraged him to do those good things, and I think he will.”

Alleva said the violation did not involve law enforcement and Mathieu could stay at LSU and pay tuition. But Alleva said that was unrealistic.

“He’s not going to stay in school,” he said.

Bit by the Cobra

The best bet would be that Mathieu will go to a non-Division 1 program. If this is the case he would not have to sit out a year under the NCAA transfer rules. (a rule that was waived this year coincidentally for Penn State football players in the wake of the sanctions that have been imposed there) This would allow him to continue to play football at a lower level division this year and then have the opportunity to transfer back to a Division 1 school next year and be right back in the mix.

After this year at a lower division program, he could land just about anywhere, but the real question is will a coach take a chance on a player carrying some baggage…whatever that baggage may be.

Until next time, stay class Emporia State!

It will be an All-American final in women’s volleyball

Last night I sent a text to a friend of mine asking if he was watching Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh-Jennings in volleyball. Although I do not consider myself a volleyball aficionado, I do live in Nebraska where college volleyball is a big deal. This was a great match to watch with some great individual plays and long rallies. My buddy was pleading with me to not tell him the results as he had been waiting all day to watch this. Don’t worry Jonsey…I would never spoil the result for you.

Last week I wrote an article about the Olympics being ruined (in my opinion) by spoilers and social media. I guess my good friends don’t always check up on the articles on Facebook 🙂

I have tried to remain “true to my word” and follow my earlier statements, not reviewing websites and not listening to ESPN to catch any updates. I have been burned twice last week, as while in my car the “sports updates” let the cat out of the bag” and I found myself scrambling to change the dial quickly before I heard more. Darn radio….

Of course there are always big stories for the Olympics. I am looking past the Phelps and Douglas storylines to things that I have been more intrigued with personally.

We tend to focus on the stories that impact the people from our country more than others. Here are some of the things that I have found interesting.

Boxing – for the first time ever the U.S. Men’s boxing team is shut out of winning any medals. That is correct. NONE – when you think of all the greats, like Leonard, Ali, etc., that is a statistic that carries some real meaning

USA Basketball for both the Men and Women are boat-racing the competition. I still feel for the people last week at Ladbroke’s that had Nigeria and the unders in Team USA’s 156-73 drubbing of the Nigerian team. The troubling part for me is the fact that there was a lot of controversy about running up the score. Fact is, (if you watched the game like I did) it was like video game basketball, everything went in the hoop, and the end of the bench saw extensive action. This was a case where one team was far superior and having an extra good day of it on the hardwood.

Jordan Jovtchev (Previous event)

Jordan Jovtchev, the 39-year-old Olympian, qualified for the finals in the still rings. Read that again….39 year old gymnast. The guy has more gray hairs than Captain Kangaroo, but yet he is competing in his 6th Olympics in one of the most grueling events in gymnastics. Dude can ring it!

Usain Bolt repeats in the 100 meters for the 2nd straight games. He is trying for the double in the 200 meters. No one has ever pulled off the double – double.

And let’s give it up for the Jamaican women sprinters. – Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, became the third woman to successfully defend her Olympic title by running 10.75 in the 100 meters.

Maybe even more impressive is Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown. She won Bronze in the 100 meters in the 2008 and 2012 games but the 200 meters is where the real action is. She is trying to complete the trifecta of winning the 200 meters in 2004, 2008 and now the 2012 Olympics. She would become the first woman in history to win an individual athletics crown in three consecutive Olympic Games if she can pull it off.

Oscar Pistorius (Previous event)

Most impressive to me thus far is the story of Oscar Pistorius. Unless you are hiding in a closet you will know this is the South African double-amputee nicknamed the “Blade Runner,” after his “J” shaped carbon fiber prosthetic blades.

He qualified for the semifinals this past weekend after running a fabulous 45.44 in his heat race for the 400 meters.

The runner’s legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old because of a bone defect. His debut Saturday made him the first Paralympian to compete Olympic Games. Unfortunately he did not make it to the final, but still he will serve as a true inspiration to many with disabilities around the world.

To me, that is what the Olympics is all about. Inspiring others through goodwill, sportsmanship, and athletic excellence.

We still have another week of Olympic stories, legends and lore will continue to play out.

I for one can’t wait.

Until next time. Stay classy Johannesburg, South Africa

My only complaint about the Olympics is that they happen once every 4 years (or technically once every two years if you figure the alternating winter and summer games….but who is counting)

The games are well underway now in London, with many medals already handed out.

NBC has 7 different stations on my television availability to view differing venues from the Olympics. These dwindle throughout the day, as the events on these stations by and large are shown live as they happen. NBC in an attempt to maximize viewers and advertising revenue does however hold back not showing some of the events and keeps those aside for the telecast every night on the “main” network channel.

The time difference depending on what part of the United States you live is a minimum of 5 hours. That means by the time you are seeing any of the events in prime time television, the athletes are already asleep for the night. (Assuming they are not partying it up in the Olympic Village that is)

Many question in this age of Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, if this is necessary. The athletes competing in the events posting pictures and sharing results immediately as things happen. Most all of the major web bases news sites – USA Today, Yahoo, Fox Sports, etc. all report the action as it happens, meaning anyone looking at their computer at work throughout the day is already going to know the outcome before they get home for the evening.

While many may like to know the results as they occur… I am too old school. I remember the excitement of watching the 1980 Men’s Hockey Team, seeing Bruce Jenner finish the mile and Nadia landing a perfect ten on our family’s less than perfect grainy console television set back in 1976.

These events were long done and over, but unless you had someone calling you from the event, or had a real fast carrier pigeon, you didn’t know any better until you watched in on television that night.

For that reason, I take a 17 day hiatus from any of the internet sites with the sole purpose of keeping it surprise for me and my family as we watch the coverage after dinner each evening.

I prefer to yell at the TV as if I am part of the action. I swear those swimmers can hear me in the crowd.

Speaking of yelling….

Was Jordyn Wieber robbed of a spot in the all-around finals?

One of the best interviews I have seen on Olympic coverage is Bela Karolyi being very outspoken about the fact that only two gymnasts are allowed from each country to qualify for the gymnastic all around finals. 24 gymnasts qualify to the all- around but only two are allowed from country. This on the heels of reigning world all- around champion Jordyn Weiber being knocked out by two of her other teammates,

“What a travesty!” Karolyi said in an interview. “How someone can afford to cut one of the best gymnasts?”

“But that is not the reason. How can it be a reason?” Karolyi, who coached teams from Romania and the U.S. to Olympic gold, said of the rule. “To eliminate somebody because a teammate beat her. Still among the first four gymnasts in the world, and still you’re eliminated?”

Bob Costas did his best to keep Karolyi from leaping out of his chair, but Bela is entertaining regardless if you agree with him or not.

Costas used the line to compare the “two per country” limit as not allowing the third best team in the ACC to make the NCCA tournament.

Maybe a bit of a stretch in terms of an analogy, but it is about the best I have heard.

Bottom line every Olympic Games has winners and losers. Great stories and colossal disappointments. Out of adversity many good things happen.

The remaining days of the 30th Olympiad are sure to bring us that if nothing else.

Until Next Time, Stay classy Jordyn Wieber!!!

Statue of Joe Paterno removed from Beaver Stadium

No bowl games for 4 years, statues taken down, scholarships lost, massive fines imposed, wins vacated.

By now we have watched countless hours of coverage on ESPN and other news stations involving the sanctions levied by the NCAA toward Penn State. Yesterday was a veritable media blitz covering all of the sports talk radio, local and national news broadcasts, newspapers and internet message boards.

Former players, students, coaches from teams from all over the country all had microphones put in front of them to give their opinion of the penalties against the University and the football program in particular.

Everyone has an opinion on this matter.

Some have stronger opinions than others.

Whether you agree or disagree with the punishment fitting the crime, it does not change the fact that there is a lot of healing that needs to take place for many people involved, regardless if they are directly or indirectly impacted by these events and resulting consequences.

My only hope is that some of the public figures just quit talking about it altogether.

Bobby Bowden was taking numerous opportunities yesterday to talk about the subject and used his typical – good ol’ boy, golly gee whiz’ attitude. Bobby, stop with the Elmer Fudd impersonations here. A polite comment such as “this is a hard way to back into a record” and then just walk away.

I do feel for the Paterno family. Many of the things that have happened this week I am sure are viewed by them as a direct attack on their family, their pride and most importantly to them, the legacy of the good things that their beloved Joe stood for.

Unfortunately every time they make another press release – which seems like every single day – the perceived reality in their statements appears to be far out of touch with the pulse of most of the sports fans who are following the proceedings on a daily basis.

Another side bar to this entire event is what will happen to the current football players who have been given free rein by the NCAA to go elsewhere and not have to sit out and miss any time. Head coach Bill O’Brien will have his hands full trying to keep existing players and also try to make sure the kids that have already committed to the program as freshmen to be will continue to uphold that early promise and attend the university.

Many of the football players could look to other programs , and as some speculate this could essentially turn into a college free agency scenario for this year.

Since it is late in the summer and football is just around the corner, it is unlikely that many players will leave Penn State due to the timing of it all. No matter how high the talent level, it would be difficult at this juncture to leave and go to another school and still play this year for another program. It would require a lot of things happening in the lives of those young men in a short amount of time.

As we continue to discuss this entire topic over the next days and weeks, it is important to remember that a lot has happened here in a short amount of time.

More importantly…….. It has all happened because nothing was done for a long amount of time.

Until Next time…just stay classy.

Johnny’s longshot to win the Open Championship.

It is one of the best weeks of the year. By that I mean it the Open Championship. It is not the British Open as we Americans tend to call it. This is THE OPEN. Sorry Ohio State, this is the only event that deserves to use the word THE before itself.

Why such strong feelings about this glorious golf tournament? The Open has been around the longest. It all started in Scotland in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club. The first playing of the tournament was restricted to professionals, (mainly who were caddies, greens keepers, club makers or ball makers by trade) and attracted a field of eight who played three rounds of Prestwick’s twelve-hole course in a single day. The winning score of 174, was shot by Willie Park Sr. who beat Old Tom Morris by two strokes. The following year the tournament was opened to amateurs; eight of them joined ten professionals in the field to make a huge field of 18, and the Open Championship was on its way. Before this time golf had been played and some club tournaments had taken place, but more often than not Match Play was the rule and Money Matches between top professionals from various clubs were often played before and after the actual Open Championship itself.

Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club

This year we go to the great course Royal Lytham & St Anne’s.  The Open was last played here when David Duval won it and was still a force to be reckoned with on the PGA tour. Royal Lytham & St. Annes is not your typical seaside links golf course that is the norm for most Open Championships. This is the only course in the current Open rotation which begins with a par 3 golf hole. (this is unusual for any golf course actually, but it is something more frequently seen on the elder courses in Scotland, Ireland and the British Isles). Another unusual quirk is that the golf course has 3 par 3’s on the front 9, and just one on the back.

A lot of spectators can even get a front row seat for this one….from their houses! This is another rarity in Open golf courses in that there are residences on three sides of the golf course.

The venue has not hosted too many Open Championships when compared to places such as St Andrews, but the former champion list is quite impressive. Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Peter Thompson, Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin, Gary Player, Severino Ballesteros, Tom Lehman and David Duval. Of this list, only Lehman and Duval are not members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

155 players tee it up this weekend. Many of those golfers in the field are people that even devout golf aficionados have any knowledge of. There are some European and Asian Tour players that will test your meddle in name pronunciation.

Tongue twisters such as Pryad Marksaeng, Joost Luiten, Mardan Marmat, Thongchai Jaidee, and Rafa Echenique will keep Ivor Robson on his toes while he announces the players to the first tee.

The set up seems fair, but unlike some Open sites, there is an extra premium on driving the golf ball. The rough, off of the fairways is exceptionally tall and thick this year on the heels of what is even by British standards, extra rainy conditions.

Attending the tournament in person is still one of the best deals in golf. Last I checked you could get a week long pass to watch all of the action for basically the equivalent of $250- $300 USD. Try getting in for that for the entire week at the Masters!

As always set your alarm early and get up to watch the quirky holes, bad bounces, lucky bounces, horrible lies, strong winds, maybe even rain, and weather that can change faster than it takes Kevin Na to play one golf hole.

The Open is golf at its finest. Golf as it was meant to be played – over sand dunes, humps and hollows -not on overwatered and perfectly manicured greens, fairways, bunkers and tee boxes.

My pick this week – Tiger Woods. He needs to get off the snide and win another major. He seems to play pretty well when under the gun. He will be under a lot of scrutiny with unsubtle British media – especially if he is in the hunt…I think he will respond well this time.

Looking for some random candidates? Here is a short list for your fantasy golf pools – Sam Walker – Barry Lane – Greg Owen and Paul Broadhorst.

Longshot to win it? Francesco Molinari – he played well last week at the Scottish Open, might be his time to break out and win something big.

Until Next Time, Stay Classy North Berwick, Scotland

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SOLD!

This is the third installment in my series involving the building of our new home.

This past weekend we sold our existing house. It was on the market for about 7 weeks.

The previous two times I have sold homes they have been sold very fast (both in under 20 days). I was getting a little nervous as we had a ton of people look at the home, but had not been able to sell it. A few weeks back we received an offer that that was pretty strange but thought we had it sold…and then at the last minute with negotiating the prospective seller pulled the plug on the deal and then proceeded to start making comments on why they did not want the house in the first place.

Rule #1 of selling a home…Don’t make it personal.

For about 2 days I was pretty ticked off about this first deal falling through. “if you didn’t like these things about my house why did you make an offer in the first place” was my thinking! I will freely admit I was mad. But after some smooth talking by my wife and more reasonable thinking, I figured out that this was likely a bad offer anyway. They had strange need for cash at closing some weird clauses and oddly constructed contingencies of moving into the house and closing on it. In the end it was best that this did not work out at all.

Rule #2 of selling a home – Hey Realtor – Don’t make it personal to the clients!

– Rule #1 in my case could have been avoided altogether if not only the prospective buyers realtor but also my realtor would have NOT mentioned these “personal feelings” at the time the other party decided to not proceed with their offer. All this did was escalate my blood pressure and since they had walked away from their initial offer on our home, it really didn’t matter what they thought about my house anyway.

Rule #3 of Selling a home – Being the Bridesmaid is a GOOD thing!

We had another family that came to our house 2 times in 2 days. They stayed and looked at our place for a LONNNNG time each time they were there. We found out that they ultimately decided to go with another house. Instead of being disappointed, I was excited! Even though we did not get a potential sale, it told me that obviously our house was in the running which meant it was just a matter of time before we found a buyer.

Rule #4 – It happens when you least expect it.

We were going to have an open house on Sunday. We had a showing on Friday and another on Saturday, and had an offer by 3 pm on Saturday afternoon. It was a good offer, near full price and was clean as a whistle. In the end this is all I could have hoped for.

Now my family begins the arduous task of needing to move into an apartment in the interim while our new home is being built. They are breaking ground on our new house as we speak, and it is anticipated to be completed in mid-November. The people buying our home have a closing date with us that is less than a month away!

In the meantime, more of our household contents is off to the storage unit, and the daily necessities such as beds, living room furniture, clothes, pots pans, my sons toys and of course our beloved dog – Max- are off to the pet friendly apartment we will call home for the next 4 ½ months. On the bright side the apartment we are moving into is close to where we live, and has a pool, and a small stream…pool will be good for me.

Until next time, Stay classy Overland Park Kansas.

Omaha, the NEW Sports Mecca!

Before any of you accuse me of being a homer, and writing about the city to the east of my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, let me set the record straight.

I am really not a fan of Omaha. Compared to Lincoln it has a HUGE amount of crime. Many people there have what I would call the quasi East Coast Attitude.

They are the biggest city, their news is the only important news, the rest of the state is…well…hicks so to speak.

Even the Omaha TV meteorologists do not make mention of any storms hitting the rest of Nebraska. But once the storms are close to their beloved Omaha then it is a Major weather event…even if the storms have left major hail, tornados and feet of rain and snow in their wake.

Now that we are past my dislike of the Republic of Omaha, let’s focus on the positives.

The College World Series

Robert Refsnyder of 2012 champion Arizona.

Each year Omaha hosts two sporting events that are incredibly well received. The main crown jewel in the Sports Scepter is the College World Series. It has been an institution in the Big O for many many years. ESPN came aboard and blew the CWS to a whole new level. They even held so much power over almighty Omaha that a new baseball part was built right in the downtown area. This of course was to provide a bunch of extra income to the downtown area, and to also keep all of the drunk drivers off of the roads driving from Rosenblatt Stadium to the downtown area. Now, all of the inebriated people at the CWS just walk back to their hotel instead. (if you don’t believe me, check out the surrounding area next year during the CWS at about 11 PM on any game night)

The Cox Classic

2011 Cox Champion J.J. Killeen

The Nationwide Tour also hosts the Cox Classic in Omaha every year. This tournament is held at the Champions Club, and is viewed by most of the Nationwide tour players as the best event they have all year.

Volunteers turn out in droves to come and help make the Cox Classic a success. The prize money payout is one of the largest on the Nationwide Tour. But the real fun starts after the tournament is over each and every day. Once the golfers are off the greens, the parties start at a number of designated events at the golf course. These parties go late into the night and are known to be the favorites of the locals and the tournament players and staff alike.

I am sure in large part that the success of this tournament has led Omaha to host the 2013 United States Senior Open Championship. Omaha Country Club will be the site of that tournament and I am sure it will be attended by huge masses of people.

U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials

He’s back!

The Olympic trials for the swimming events is being held as we speak at the Qwest Center in Omaha (conveniently located basically right next door to TD Ameritrade Park where the College World Series is now held). This is the second time for this event to be held in Omaha, and with crowds over week to be in excess of 100,000 one could argue that these events are better attended in Omaha than they are at the ACTUAL Olympic Games.

Other Events in Recent Years

Omaha has also been host to NCAA Basketball tournament games earlier this year , and the NCAA Volleyball Championships in the recent years. Omaha is centrally located in the United states so while it might not be close for many it is also not near as bad as travelling coast to coast to go to some of these events.

It has a host of Hotels, has the casino’s and dog races right across the river in Iowa, and let’s face it , Nebraska’s State Motto is “The Good Life” for a reason. The people in the Midwest are nice, sincere, and hardworking.

Now if we could only get the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Omaha…wait…they are coming in 2013 as well.

Until Next Time…Stay Classy Ralston, Nebraska – SOUTHSIDE!!!!
 

 

Caught in the Webb

Does this look like a crack?

My Pick for the US Open last week was …well…not a good one.

Phil Mickelson simply was not on his game, basically not able to hole any putts and missing more fairways than he was hitting.

It did appear that Tiger was on his way to Major #15, but after a bad start on both Saturday and Sunday he faltered and finished tied for 21st.

Jim Furyk looked like he would keep it together and was on his way to winning a 2nd US Open, and pretty much therefore assuring his place eventually in the World Golf Hall of Fame. The pressure seemed too much, he hit some uncharacteristic shots down the stretch and then had to pull off birdieing the last with fellow playing partner Graeme McDowell to force a Monday playoff. Neither of the two were able to birdie the difficult but short 18th – mainly due to an extremely tough pin placement that did not allow for much of a chance to hit it close – and Webb Simpson, walked away with the Nicklaus Medal and the United States Open Trophy.

Who the Heck is Webb Simpson? That is what quite a few of the non-die hard golf fans are asking Sunday night into Monday morning. The guy dresses nice..anytime Ralph Lauren is a sponsor you are going to have some nice digs.

He played golf in college at Wake Forest, he was on the Nationwide tour for a short while, and really came into his own last year winning twice – including the Deutsche Bank Open during the final Fed Ex Cup race. In hindsight, it appears Simpson was poised for a breakthrough this year, much like Keegan Bradley was last year. It just happened sooner than anyone, including Simpson, could imagine. After all, he is only 26 years old.

NBA Playoffs

I guess I shouldn’t tell them that I like Durant Durant.

Game 3 is in the books and the Heat hold a 2-1 advantage. 85% of the time the team that wins game 3 wins the series. While that is an impressive statistic, these teams are very evenly matched – and each create problems for the other. Oklahoma City has proven all year that it is the toughest place in the league to play.

I do get tired of all of the analysts and sports talk figured “over-analyzing” every single thing that takes place in each game. Of course it makes for listeners to your program to have the latest scoop, or to be controversial in your comments. Maybe because I have no real allegiance to any NBA team I seem to read between the lines more so than a rabid NBA fan.

It is comical how some of these “experts” seem to flip back and forth on their opinions on each team or on particular players from game to game.

Regardless, this should be a great week of basketball and then we set off to the dead period of time known as waiting for football season to start. (Kosmo calls this Baseball season)

At least this summer we have the Olympics coming up in England! I will be covering a number of stories on the Olympics once they get started.

Until Next Time, stay classy Springdale, Arkansas