December Days - 12.23.10

Today was the 3rd annual Red vs. Green family basketball game.  This is something that us boys in the family started a few years ago and it has turned into a heated family competition.  The build-up involves months worth of planning and organization as we arrange schedules and a facility to host this family event.

This year, Marcy's Dad retired from the game and the Red team had a big free agent signing with Kyron joining the team as a player.  The game was tightly contested through 4 quarters with Caleb leading the Green team in scoring and Caeden leading the Red team.  Kyron proved his value on the court scoring more points in his first game than his Dad and Uncle Travis did combined!

At the end of regulation, the score was tied 40-40 and we were prepared to call it a tie, but after some negotiation from the boys we agreed for a single overtime period.  Five minutes later we were still tied at 47-47 when the final buzzer went off.

Our boys are starting to take this game a little too serious and all the adults were nervous about the potential of driving home with someone from the losing team in their car.  I think we've decided we need to change the format of this game and find another family we can play against.  That way our family can be united as we win or lose. :-)

Big shout out to Uncle Travis for providing the custom team shirts for the game and to Kyron who was chosen as the game MVP for not only his 12 points in scoring, but his "just having fun" attitude.  The video below shows the consensus play of the game by Kyron.

December Days - 12.20.10

Tonight, the boys in the family were fortunate to be able to go to the Portland Trailblazers game, courtesy of Marcy's brother Jason.  We had great seats just a few rows from the Blazers' bench and were able to be up close to all the action on the court.

The Blazers dominated the Milwaukee Bucks in this game, and the boys still haven't stopped talking about how much fun the night was.  The Blazers were hitting a lot of three pointers and all the boys really got into the "3 Goggles" the Blazer players have made popular this season.

I just have to hope Kyron doesn't pull out the "3 Goggles" when he makes a basket in his own basketball game!

December Days - 12.4.10

Before moving to Indiana, the only thing we really knew about the Hoosier state was that basketball is a big deal and pretty popular. We didn't understand just how big of a deal and how popular though until our own boys started getting involved. For the past four years Caleb has been playing pretty regularly (it's the only sport he plays) and since Caeden started playing a couple years ago it has become his favorite sport too. It should be no surprise then that the youngest brother, Kyron, would develop an interest in basketball and want to play himself.

With the winter season, comes basketball season and today marked the day that Kyron had his very first organized basketball game. Maybe organized is taking it a bit too far... it was more like coaching chaos or 'herding cats'. The important thing is that Kyron had a great time and the experience lived up to the hype in his head. If anything, he looked great on the court and he was smiling the entire time!

Final Four Experience

One of the benefits of living in Indianapolis is that it is a really great sports town.  The Colts bring their own amazing energy to the city and while the Pacers are going through a low point in their history, it's still a NBA franchise.  This weekend has been one of our favorite sports experiences in Indy so far as the city is hosting the NCAA Men's Final Four.

Friday we went downtown and watched the hometown Butler Bulldogs hold their final practice before their semi-final game.  Lucas Oil Stadium has gone through the transition from football stadium to basketball arena and it is quite a sight to see.  It was also very impressive to see how many people came to watch practice.  40,000 people turning out to watch practice is evidence of how excited everyone around here is for this weekend's games.

After practice and lunch with friends, we headed off to Bracket Town at the convention center which the boys described as 'basketball heaven, just with waiting lines.'  Every activity you could imagine for a basketball fan and the NCAA even had areas to promote other sports like football, lacrosse, fencing, and golf.

It was eight hours of basketball fun for the boys and despite Makela's constant complaints, even she participated in the activities at Bracket Town.  The whole day gave a us a glimpse of what types of activities and excitement Superbowl week may be like in 2012, can't wait!

Lucas Oil Stadium	Butler Bulldogs Practice	Caleb with the Championship Trophy

Bracket Town Fun

End of the Basketball Season

Last night we had the end of the season banquet for  Caleb's Pups Basketball season.  This was Caleb's first year playing competitive basketball, he has only played rec level until this year.  Last year, at the end of his third grade season, he set the goal that he wanted to make a Pups team and he worked hard over the entire year to improve his skills and put himself in a position where he could compete, intentionally working toward his goal.  I was so proud of him when he accomplished the goal of just making the program.


I think the season was a good challenge for him, but I am so proud of how he has continued to focus on trying to improve and compete, doing both with class and dignity.  When his coach introduced him last night to congratulate and recognize him for the season, he talked about his improvements and development as a player, but what really meant the most to me was how he talked about Caleb's character and attitude at practice and during the game, always smiling and always encouraging.


His jump shot, court awareness, ball handling, and aggressiveness will all continue to develop and serve him well on the court but his attitude and character will cross over into every aspect of his life.  As his parents, we couldn't be prouder of Caleb for his work this year and I look forward to next year as well.

Caleb is #5 in the video

December Days - 12.28.09

Thanks to my brother-in-law, Jason, I was able to go to a Blazer game tonight for the first time in a number of years. My father-in-law and I had great seats, maybe the closest I have sat to the court. My boys sat with Jason in the club level and had access to free food which they made the most of and it may come back to bite them later tonight....time will tell. Despite a poor performance by the Blazers resulting in a loss to the Sixers, it was a fun time cheering on our favorite basketball team.

However, the most special part of the day came an hour before we left for the game when my 10 year old, Caleb, came home from shopping with his grandparents. He had heard me talking about how I wanted to get myself a Blazers jersey - one of the RipCity versions you can only get in Portland - and while out at the mall he saw one and bought it for me with money he got for Christmas. A completely unselfish act done just because he wanted to do something nice for his Dad. It made my day and the jersey is much more special to me than any jersey I'd have bought myself. I'll wear with the pride of a fan and a father!

December Days - 12.26.09

I am breaking my rule of one picture per day to blog about because the story really takes both pictures to be complete.

A couple years ago we started a little competitive tradition on Marcy's side of the family. We refer to it as the Green vs. Red game. It started when the little boys began taking an interest in basketball and the big boys were looking for an excuse to play. The teams have stayed the same with Marcy's brother Jason anchoring the up and coming talent of Caleb and his cousin Kobe on the Green team; and Caeden making up for the shortcomings of his Dad, Grandpa (AKA Bumpy), and Uncle Travis on the Red Team. We figure one more year and Kyron will be ready to join the game too.

After a competitive 24 minutes of game play, the Green team held off a last minute push by the Red team to win 38-36. My out of shape body will be feeling the effects of today for the next 48 hours, but it was a great time spent with family.

I Love Competition

Today was my son Caleb's first all-star basketball game. What a difference this was from his regular season! On his regular season team, he was clearly one of the stronger players and spent most games frustrated that other the other boys weren't as serious or skilled as He. He would occassionally play against another boy that was at his level, or maybe better, and he liked that challenge - it pushed him to up his game. Without that consistent competition though, he didn't have the external push to perform at his full potential - just good enough to get by, which was still better than most.  He had such a great time today because he said he loved the challenge of playing on a team and against a team of equally stronger players.  (His team won by 1 point in overtime!)

I couldn't help but see the parallels to business. It's our competition that pushes us to be the best. Without competition, how would we know we're the best - or not. As an advocate of education in general, I think it is great that students have a lot of choices in their education and as an employee of an actual college I also appreciate the competition. Whether it's the low cost of a community college, the short completion time of another, or the name recognition of a national leader we are forced to up our game in order to stay ahead of the increasing competition.  

We need competition though to keep pushing us to perform at our full potential. For the sake of our students and for our own longevity.  Next time you think of speaking poorly about your competitor, take some time to be thankful for them instead and how they drive you to be better.

Kids and Sports

I have been a sports fan my entire life.  I have those teams that I am faithful to through thick and thin (Blazers, Cowboys, Yankees), and as a relatively recent transplant to the Indianapolis area I have come to really enjoy the local teams here as well.

Nothing compares to watching my own kids play though.  I may talk about how busy life is with kids playing sports all over town, but game days are typically my favorite days of the week.  Whether it’s Caeden making a great cross-over dribble, Caleb making a catch in the outfield, or Makela’s volleyball team winning a tournament, seeing my kids having fun and experiencing success on the court/field is awesome.  Even now, I am sitting watching Caleb in his basketball practice and have a stupid perma-grin on my face because I’m having so much fun.  I can’t help it!

At the same time, I am also concerned with the seriousness of sports at such a young age.  It’s great that we live in a community that has such great opportunities for kids, but it also concerns me that there may be a lot of pressure put on these kids.  Are travel teams too much?  Will they burn out and end up hating sports?  I am fearful of these things, but at the same time want to develop a healthy level of competitiveness which can serve them so well even beyond sports.

I just want to make sure I’m doing the right things for my kids for today and tomorrow.  The sports fan in me is thrilled with the kids’ involvement, but the parent in me can’t help but be slightly concerned.