Happy Birthday Jack

Posted on by
Reply
EmailShare
Jack Bashaw

Jack Bashaw

Today is Jack’s birthday. For those of you that don’t know, Jack is the Bashaw family dog. He is a Morkie which is a Maltese and Yorkie mix. Jack weighs a whooping 6.2 pounds.

Some activities that Jack enjoys are not long walks on the beach, but Jack loves to nap all day, eat, go outside occasionally and sleep in my bed. Jack is perfect with all our kids, never barks, never bites, and was easier to house train than I thought. After we taught Jack about going outside he has never had an accident in the house. Jack will sit by our back door and then we know it’s time to let him out.

I never thought I would like a small dog like Jack but I do and would definitely recommend a Morkie to anyone. Today Emma and I discussed that we would walk to Matilda’s Dog Bakery and Boutique and see if we could find Jack an extra special birthday present.

Happy Birthday Jack!

I’m a Rookie Playing Fantasy Baseball

Posted on by
Reply
EmailShare

I got an invite from a coworker to join his fantasy baseball league this year. I have never played fantasy baseball before and after some research about the league, rules, and how to play I was in. I will say I do think the baseball season is way too long, but I do want to stay in touch with what is going on but unfortunately as a Minnesota Twin fan the season is typically over by late May. I do have hope playing fantasy baseball will help me to stay more connected to what is going on.

As a first time player I am always looking for good resources to improve my game and my team. Can you help? I’d really love to hear of some good websites that maybe aren’t as popular as ESPN or Yahoo. I have also been active on the waiver wire to pick up what I perceive as good players. I can do 4 pickups a week and as my recent success has indicated I will adjusting my lineup almost every week.

It’s amazing how playing fantasy sports no matter what sport can get you excited about that sport. If you too are playing fantasy baseball good luck. We have a long season to go and so far I must say I am enjoying it.

What A Game

Posted on by
Reply
EmailShare

I was very excited to watch Louisville and Michigan play last night for the National Championship. The NCAA tournament certainly didn’t disappoint this year. It is one of my favorite times of the year and it is sad we have to wait till next year.

Just a couple observations about the game. First I was drastically surprised about the pace of the game. From watching their previous games, I knew Louisville wanted to play a fast paced game and Michigan was happy to play that pace as well. I didn’t expect it, but in my opinion that is how the game should be played, fast, fast, fast. The advantage for Louisville and Michigan with this pace was the TV time outs every 4 minutes. It provided extra breaks for the players who showed despite all the games they had already played, they were in shape. Second, both teams really shot the ball well. I have never played a basketball game in a dome but many people talk about an adjustment period. I thought both teams played tough defense and to see such good shooting on both sides was really fun. Third, just like every game, let’s break down the officiating. Here is my guess, these officials weren’t ready for the pace of the game. Having to go back and forth and make sure you are in position was difficult for the crew last night. I don’t try and pretend my angle on my couch was better, but when they missed the kicked ball, the goal tending, and when they call some very ticky tack fouls after letting all the contact go that they did, one can only ponder what they were thinking. However, it was nice in my opinion they did not affect the overall outcome of the game.

Michigan and Louisville played an outstanding game and both teams deserve a lot of credit. I loved the “block” by Trey Burke towards the end of the game, I loved the 3 points shooting by Luke Hancock and Spike Albrecht, and I just can’t understand how someone wouldn’t have loved to watch this game?

Much thanks to the 68 teams who made this such a great March Madness!

Happy Easter

Posted on by
Reply
EmailShare

HAPPY EASTER!! I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and hopefully enjoying this time with family and friends. Today is also a great day to enjoy some college basketball. After today the Final Four with have it’s final 2 teams. Syracuse and Wichita State are already in. I am pulling for Duke to win (as you might expect) and surprisingly Michigan. I have jumped on board the Michigan bandwagon.

I apologize for not posting in a long while but my time has been consumed with March Madness. There is a lot happening in the world and I can’t wait to write all about it.

UCLA hired a new coach, the Minnesota Gophers are searching for a new coach, a national champion will be crowned soon, and the NFL draft is right around the corner.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love sports? What a great time of year and to top it all off, golf season is very soon.

Happy Easter! He is risen!

Did Somebody Say March Madness?

Posted on by
Reply
EmailShare

It is that time of year again when the Nation goes online and prints out an NCAA bracket and participates in some sort of pool. This tournament is so popular you can find just about any online contest to participate in if you want. Oh by the way I did win the bracket contest at my work last year. Some of my coworkers are bitter.

This is one of my favorite times of the year and I just completed my bracket. I love turning on the TV and watching basketball pretty much 24/7. Also this year I can watch the games live on my iPhone with the NCAA March Madness Live App. It is a great app and I would recommend you get it if you love watching the games as much as I do.

If you follow college basketball you know this year there really is no favorite to win the tournament but some teams are on a roll after their conference tournaments.

When filling out my bracket I consider two things, how did they do in their conference tournament and who is the head coach. I know it doesn’t always happen but when a team has momentum going into the tournament it is beneficial. For instance a team like Louisville who just won the Big East was able to secure the number one overall seed. I believe their ability to win their conference tournament will help them more than say a team I love, Duke. Duke is a very good team but was knocked out of their conference tournament early by Maryland. This will be a factor. Both teams are very good with good coaches but I believe Louisville has the edge with their success in their conference tournament. But like in any sporting event besides playing well a team also needs a little bit of luck.

I know you are wondering so here they are, my Final Four teams and the eventual National Champion. My final four teams are Louisville, Ohio State University, Kansas, and Syracuse. Louisville and Kansas will face each other in the National Championship game, and Kansas will come out on top.

There you have it. My prediction for National Champion is Kansas University. I’d love to hear your predictions. Please leave me a comment with your prediction.

Good luck to all!

Good Luck Percy

Posted on by
2
EmailShare

Percy-Harvin-Brad-Childress

Yesterday the general public was made aware that Percy Harvin would be leaving my favorite professional football squad and heading to the Seattle Seahawks for draft picks and some other technical stuff like signing a new long term deal. His rookie deal was a 5 year deal worth 14.5 million and 8.7 guaranteed.

It’s hard to say I love this deal right now with the Vikings number 1 receiver being traded. In my opinion it is certainly the biggest need the Vikings have. But I can also understand why the Vikings made this deal as well. As a fan we certainly don’t have all the information about the relationship the Vikings and Percy had, but we can only assume through what we have seen, heard and read about, the relationship wasn’t on solid ground.

I am very happy the Vikings were able to secure multiple draft picks for Percy and now it will be fun to see how those picks are used to improve this team. The Vikings did an excellent job in my opinion in the draft last season, but I am also reminded that the Vikings just drafted Percy in 2009. Now the Vikings are getting rid of him. This deal is only as good as the people you bring with the picks you acquired. Do I need to remind us Vikings fans about the 2 guys we acquired for Randy Moss? But let’s also remember the Vikings took a chance on Harvin after he tested positive for marijuana during the combine in 2009.

The Vikings organization is giving Vikings fans hope for the future and if we ever need a team to make a deal with, Seattle seems to be that team. They have now taken Percy and Tarvaris from us. Once again, I will love or hate this trade depending on who the Vikings get in return either through the draft or a free agent signing. Let’s wait and see.

We Should Storm the Court

Posted on by
Reply
EmailShare

I absolutely love college basketball and this year has not disappointed. Whoever has been the number 1 ranked team in the nation has been taken down almost every week. Nothing is better than seeing the number 1 team go down unless it is your team.

Last week watching the University of Minnesota take down Indiana was one game I will never forget. I haven’t see a Minnesota team have a win that big since they went to the Final Four some years back but was later spoiled by the academic scandal.

As the game was winding down I was anticipating the fans to storm the court and wasn’t disappointed. If I was at the game I would stormed the court. With so many upsets this year some coaches and fans have expressed concern, dislike, and even hate for the fans to storm the court. Why?

I absolutely love when fans storm the court for a big upset or a big win. I remember a few years back when my old high school basketball team was playing to make a trip to the state tournament. A player made a three point shot to win the game at the buzzer. Fans stormed the court. It wasn’t really an upset but I can’t think of any other reason why the fans wouldn’t storm the court. Can we really put stipulations on why fans should storm the court? No way. Should we take this away? I don’t think so either. People try to say, well NBA fans don’t storm the court so why should college fans. But there is also a reason why college basketball is so much more popular than the NBA.

I can understand the concern for players safety but does our society really need to have rules for every single thing that could be a safety risk? I sure hope not.

I say let the storming continue.

What Would You Do?

Posted on by
1
EmailShare

money

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason the last couple days I have been thinking about money and more specificially what would I do if I ever got a check for $500,000? Some people think about getting a million bucks, winning the big Powerball jackpot, but for me I tend to think about a little bit less than a million bucks.

To be quite honest I can’t even imagine what a check like that would look like. Some people may think my inability to dream about a check that big may be limiting my potential to go out and get that check, but for where I am in my life right now seeing a check that big is very hard to imagine. But as I think about all this money, there are people getting checks like this and checks even bigger.

To go back and address my question, what would I ever do if I got a check for $500,000? To dream is fun and so with this check I would put $400,000 in the bank and use $100,000 for a down payment on my next house, buy a very nice present for my folks, Heather’s folks, my siblings and Heather’s brother.

But I think the bigger question about getting a check for $500,000 is, would this money make me happy? As I discussed this question with my wife strangely enough she brought up a passage of scripture she had read the day before. The passage of scripture was from I Timothy chapter 6:6-10, “6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” NIV

Would it be fun to have a check for $500,000? Of course it would, but until you get that much money, one would never know if it would make you happy. Maybe some day I’ll get the chance to meet someone who has that much money and truely pick their brain if it is making them happy.

Your thoughts.