It's All About the Bike

June 14, 1974. The day I got my first road bike. I remember it well.

It was a bike that I had wanted for some time. I had seen it in a pamphlet I got from the local bike shop, George Garner Cyclery in Northbrook, Illinois. I spent months doing odd jobs and scraping together money in order to buy this bike.

When the day came, my mom took me down to the bike shop and they brought it up from the basement. I looked it over and told the guy who brought it up to get me another one because this one had a scratch on it. The adults then looked at me like I was crazy and said this is your bike. All righty then.

I got on the bike just outside the store and told my mother I would see her at home. There is nothing quite like the sound of a new bike. It is so quiet and charged up with the adventures that lay ahead. When I got home, my friends were all waiting there to see the new beauty. Russ Williams decided that we should try it out so we all went for a ride down to Glencoe Beach. It was sweet.

When you're 13 years old, a bike is your way out into the world. My family did not go on vacations, so this was it. Freedom baby. Within a year, my friends and I were charting courses as far away as Fox Lake, Illinois. For a 14 year old kid, 62 miles round trip was pretty good. We stretched one trip intended for Wilmot Mountain into an 80 mile ordeal. Oh the places you will go...

As I got older, I hung on to that bike. It made it's way to The Woodlands, Texas when I was 18. It visited Eastern Illinois University when I was 20. It found its way down to Texas again when I was 24. It returned to Illinois when I was 30. It traveled to Colorado when I was 38 and remains with me today.

Today, I have had that 1974 Schwinn Sprint bicycle for 36 years. It was in my basement this morning and I pumped up the tires and took it for a spin this afternoon.

It no longer is my primary road ride. Back in 2003, I bought a Lemond Tourmalet that I will have had 7 years already this fall. Why do I keep the old Sprint? Is it a symbol of my journey out into the world? Or is it a tangible part of my past that illustrates if you want something bad enough, you will and can attain or achieve it. I don't know. Time will tell.

Spoiled

I was in college in the spring of 1983 and I dropped by the ballpark at The University of Texas at Austin to see my first Longhorn baseball game. I had started listening to games on the radio and their history had perked my interest.

Texas was playing a Southwest Conference game against TCU. It was the seventh inning and I noticed on the scoreboard that TCU didn't have a hit. Then, the Texas pitcher went into his windup and delivered the ball. There was a loud ping sound. The Texas outfielder backed up and went to the wall and the ball just cleared the fence for a home run. The Texas pitcher (Calvin Schiraldi) let out a yell and whipped his glove down on the mound. At the time, I was like bummer, but hey, we got a ways to go here dude. Well, Texas came up in the bottom of the 7th and went in order and to my surprise the game was over. You see in those days, the first game of a double header was a scheduled 7 inning affair. Being new to Texas baseball, I did not know this. So, Texas lost the game 1-0 on a 1 hitter by Schiraldi.

I went to other games that spring, Then I went home to Chicago for the summer. I followed the team in the Chicago Tribune's box scores in the back of the sports section. I went over to my friend Chris Kennedy's house every morning to look at his newspaper. Texas had made it to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska and were playing for the championship. In those days, without ESPN, the only way to find out if they won in real time was to call a Sports Information phone number. Anyway, I remember calling and hearing that the score was Texas 2 Alabama 2 in the 7th inning. A guy by the name of Roger Clemens was on the mound for Texas.

Later that night, I called again and was informed that Texas had indeed won 4-3. They had won the National Championship. I was excited and proud and had absolutely nobody to celebrate with because I was in Chicago.

So that was the beginning of my obsession with Texas Baseball. The next season, Texas lost the National Championship game to Augie Girrido's Cal State Fullerton team 3-1. Ironically, Augie is the current Texas head coach and has led Texas to 2 National Championships. And the season after that, Texas lost the National Championship to the Miami Hurricane's 10-6. It was quite a run of excellence.

And now you now why I expect so much from my Longhorns. At the time I thought they would play for the National Championship every year. Could you blame me?

Texas lost the National Championship to the Wichita State Shockers in 1989 and then struggled to be competitive until Huston Street grew up and won the National Championship for Texas in 2002. Texas was runner up to Cal State Fullerton in 2004 and won it all the next season in 2005 when they beat Florida for their 6th National Championship (1949, 1950, 1975, 1983, 2002, & 2005). Texas was runner up AGAIN last season to LSU.

That brings us to this past weekend. Texas was playing in what is called a Super Regional down in Austin. They had lost the first game of a best of 3 series to TCU 3-1. Then, Texas bounced back with a 14-1 victory to even the series. But yesterday, Texas lost to TCU 4-1 ending their season. Texas will not be going to Omaha and the College World Series this year. For TCU, it will be their 1st trip to Omaha and the College World Series. They earned it and they deserve to be in Omaha. They beat Texas and they made school history.

As for Texas and me, we'll be back. History is on our side. Funny thing is that I had just finished celebrating the Stanley Cup Championship with the Chicago Blackhawks, which took a lifetime to achieve. Sports most times is a way to mark time, which inevitably keeps ticking by. Enjoy the highs and remember them because championships don't come along every day and when you win one, it is as much for the here and now as it is for all the times you came up short.

Schooled

Ok, it's reality time for the Chicago Blackhawks and their fans. After storming into the Stanley Cup Finals against inferior Western Conference opponents, the Blackhawks have more than met their match in the Eastern Conference Champions, the Philadelphia Flyers. (The Flyers not only touched the Conference Championship trophy, they carried it around because they earned it.)

We have seen this rodeo before. An overconfident, young team told they are great and that they are going to win it all falling short of expectations. Right now, the Flyers are putting on a clinic on how to beat a superior opponent by doing all the little things that win games.

Somebody forgot to tell the Hawks that this is the Stanley Cup playoffs where grit and determination usually prevail over pure talent. The Blackhawks can skate like nobodies business. They are uber talented. They are also very young and inexperienced. Right now, they are being schooled by the Flyers.

Did we forget already that: the Flyers won their last game of the season on the road in a shootout just to make the playoffs, that the Flyers beat Martin Brodeur and the #2 seed New Jersey Devils in 6 games, that the Flyers came back from three games to none to win in game 7 on the road after being down 3-0 in the game, that the Flyers shut out the Canadians 3 times after the Canadians beat the #1 seed Washington Capitals and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, and that the Flyers have Chris Pronger, who is being allowed to play as dirty as he is capable of and not be penalized for it.

You bet we did. The fans of the Blackhawks want the Stanley Cup. They have waited 49 years for it. So, while we were all fixated on winning it, we forget to respect the opponent, who by the way wants it as bad as we do. If the Hawks don't wake up and start playing hockey again, I'm afraid that we will all be saying "wait till next year" like the true Chicago fans we are.

Quest for the Cup

1961 was the last time the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. That was 49 years ago. Since I was less than a year old, I don't remember it. I do remember being one period away from winning the Cup back in 1971 though.

I was 10 years old listening to the game on the radio sitting at our kitchen table. The Hawks took a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period of game seven and lost 3-2 to the Canadians. That one hurt.

The Hawks returned to the Finals in 1973 and lost in 6 games once again to the Canadians. I don't remember much about that series.

It wasn't until 1992 that the Hawks returned to the Finals after reeling off something like 10 straight playoff wins. They were abruptly swept by the Penguins and Mario Lemieux that season.

I then fell off the hockey bandwagon of my youth until I moved to Colorado. The Avalanche were a dominant force in the NHL back then and in 2001, the Avalanche exorcised some demons of mine and won the Stanley Cup. They too went into the 3rd period of game seven with a 2-0 lead. This time, 30 years later, the Av's closed the deal and won it all. We went to the victory parade down in Denver and it was something special.

So here we are, just 5 wins away from the Chicago Blackhawks winning Lord Stanley's Cup. I wish all the fans of the Blackhawks far and wide best of luck in your quest for the Cup. I'll be tuned in and rooting like hell as well.

Random Acts of Kindness

There was a man hanging around the backstop of our little league field. This man was a fan. He stood directly behind home plate and encouraged kids. The backstop consisted of a tall, chain-link fence enclosure and I remember the man leaning against it with his fingers wrapped around the fence. I was up to bat and he encouraged me to keep my eye on the ball and so forth. I got a hit. Actually, that day I got 3 hits, a double and 2 singles. It was my best day in little league. Neighbors and people in our town stopped my mom and I on the street saying they heard I had a really good game. It was special.

What was special to me was that this guy encouraged me and I fed off of it and performed. Not to sound like a poor kid, but nobody else had. Don't get me wrong here, my mother would go on to be a great 5:00 am hockey mom, but I don't remember her going to my little league games. My sisters? Nope. My brother? Well, actually he was an assistant coach, but he was busy helping the pitchers warm up, etc. And my dad, well let's just say the only time he ever spent any time with me as far as baseball was concerned was the day of little league tryouts, my mom made him try to give me some hitting tips in our backyard while I was standing on our patio. Nice.

So, yesterday I was walking our yellow lab Molly and we walked to a baseball field that only had a backstop. I stood behind the backstop and remembered the unidentified stranger who had encouraged me that special day. I am pretty sure he had no idea of the impact his encouragement had, but I do. Thanks man.

Is Denver Dumb?

Money...money changes everything.

The 1st round of the NFL Draft was on a Thursday in prime time this year. My wife and I tuned in and I began to explain to her that the higher you got drafted, the more money you got. Well it wasn't until a few days later that I realized just how much money we are talking about. After researching last year's 1st round picks, I was amazed at the dollar amount of the contracts these people got. For example, last year's #1 pick in the Draft signed a contract for 72 million dollars?! And get this, 41.7 million dollars of that contract is guaranteed! He gets hurt, he still gets paid.

So take the first 4 quarterbacks selected in this year's Draft and let's do a little cost analysis: Sam Bradford out of Oklahoma was selected first in the Draft, so let's give him 72 million dollars for starters. Tim Tebow out of Florida was the next quarterback selected at twenty-fifth in the 1st round, so based on last year's 25th pick's contract, he'll get a mere 13.3 million dollars.

Now Jimmy Clausen out of Notre Dame fell considerably in the draft all the way to the 2nd round, and he is looking at about 3 million dollars. And Colt McCoy out of Texas, who was selected in the 3rd round, can expect a measly 650 thousand dollar contract. Wow!

Here is the rub. Speaking strictly from a financial standpoint, how wise was it for the Denver Bronco's to select Tim Tebow in the 1st round? By most NFL scouts, Tim was the 5th best pro prospect at his position. In other words, unless Denver knew something and knew another team was about to pull the trigger and select Tim Tebow, they could have easily gotten him in the later rounds for a ton less money. Now, is the perception that this guy is worth it, worth all those millions of dollars it is going to take to sign him? You decide.

facebook alien

The musical group Simon and Garfunkel had a song that went something like this:

Time it was
and what a time it was
it was
a time of innocence
a time of confidences
long ago and far away it must be
for I have a photograph
preserve your memories
they're all that's left you...

The facebook phenomenon has got me to think'n, so before you read this post, you better put your hip waders on because this is some pretty deep (insert word of your choice that begins with s).

If we are all sitting in our own private movie theaters watching our own version of how we perceive the world to be, how bizarre it must be to use facebook to connect with people. Here are some observations:

Using facebook sometimes is like being a time traveler from somewhere in the past. You suddenly appear out of the blue and completely freak people out. I am sure it is unsettling and unnerving. You might as well be an alien from another planet. Like a pair of shoes you wore when you were 10 years old, you no longer fit and/or serve any useful purpose as a friend. But we try them on anyway don't we...nope too small.

Our friendships are like a commuter train moving along the tracks. The train stops and picks up and drops off people along the way. It has a destination, but that destination is different for each passenger. Some people miss their stops and fail to get off. Maybe facebook is like that? Maybe some passengers are lost, do not know where they are going, and/or do not want to be found. Can you say blocked?

Friends may be like leaves on a tree. They bud, grow into leaves, serve their purpose, then change color in the autumn of their life and fall to the ground, possibly to be blown away by the wind or raked up, bagged, and thrown out with the trash. One mans trash is another mans treasure. If we are all in our own little worlds, who knows how that is gonna work out?

Sometimes we press the leaves and iron them with wax paper for keep sakes...I think these are what they call high school reunions...

More often than not, friendships that are supposed to be two-way streets end up being one way streets that dead end into a cul-de-sac...seems pretty cynical huh, but when was the last time somebody from your past contacted you totally out of the blue, not on facebook?