Project 52 Update #2 -- Baseline

I slept really hard last night.  I woke up with stiff legs this morning.  And now I have a baseline.

Yesterday, I completed my fifth half-marathon at the ING Miami Marathon and Half-Marathon.  I finished the race in 3:30:47.  Now I know just how far I have to go in order to finish a half in under three hours so that I can cross item number 1 off my list.

I don't feel bad about my time.  I didn't train for the race.  It was a little warm.  I've heard and seen people talk about how hard yesterday's race was.  I've heard people talk about how they feel today.  Yesterday was probably the best I've felt after any race I've done.  So there is improvement there.

But in order to achieve this goal, I am going to have to cut nearly 31 minutes off my time.  I have to lower my pace by nearly two and a half minutes.  This is going to require some discipline and some work.  In my previous races, my times have ranged from 3:18 to 3:32.

So far, I have trained and participated in these races as a race walker.  In order to accomplish this goal, I am going to have to be more of a runner.  I have a lifelong aversion to running.  This is going to be quite the challenge.

My target race for completing this goal will be the Walt Disney World Wine and Dine Half Marathon which will take place the weekend of November 9th and 10th.  That means I will need to start my serious training around the beginning of June.  However, to get in running shape, I'm going to try to start running on a regular basis before then.

However, that date presents a bit of a problem for me.  My original plan was to go for the time at the Wine and Dine and leave myself a backup plan in case it didn't work out at that race.  However, as I looked into it this weekend, I was thrown for a loop by Disney.

The Wine and Dine is a fairly new race started by Disney back in 2010.  I have run the race the last two years when it was held on the first weekend of October.  I was expecting them to follow form and hold the race the first weekend of October this year.  That left a couple of races even later in the year as backups.  There is a Halloween themed race on Miami Beach on October 27 and there is a race in Fort Lauderdale on November 11 that is part of the 13.1 series of races.

Much to my surprise, when I check the Run Disney website, I realized that they are planning on having the race later this year.  With Disney moving the Wine and Dine back to November, I'm not sure I'll have a backup race.  Fort Lauderdale is now out.  I could still do the Halloween race, but I would hate to have an injury or not have enough time to recover physically before the Wine and Dine.  I'll need to do more research to find out if there are any races in the area in late November or December that I can count on as backups.

So the lesson this week is adaptability.  The Wine and Dine may be my only shot.  That means I can't afford to slack off on my training.  Maybe knowing that there is no backup plan will help keep me disciplined.

Only time will tell.

I haven't really made any progress yet on the rest of the list.  But I now have a target date for item 1.

Project 52 Update #1

So, it's Wednesday.  Getting in the habit of posting on a schedule will be difficult, but part of this process is developing new habits, so it will be good for me to work on this.

I didn't do much on the list this week.  My big accomplishment on the list was to reorganize the list to help me manage the goals better.  I broke my goals down into three categories:  One Time Events, Events Requiring Time and Planning, and On-Going Periodic Events. 

The first category is pretty self-explanatory.  These are projects that I can decide on a Friday evening that I want to work on them and complete it by the end of the weekend.  I was mainly motivated to reorganize the list by these projects.  I didn't want half the year roll by and then have to break my neck over the last few months to get a lot of projects done.  Based on my classification, I have 22 goals that fall in this category.  This means I need to do one of these projects approximately every two weeks.

The second category is for projects that will require some advance planning or a serious time commitment.  These are generally projects that do not lend themselves to completion on one day or weekend.  These projects will require a little planning, a little research and diligence in knocking out little pieces and completing the projects in small pieces.  I need to approach these projects the same way you approach eating an elephant:  one bite at a time.  In a nice bit of symmetry, there are also 22 projects in this category.

The final category is focused on projects where I've committed myself to doing something daily, weekly, or monthly.  These projects are generally about habit formation.  I may not do a particular thing everyday, but If I have formed the habits by the end of the year, then I will consider myself successful and cross them off the list at the end of the year.  Basic math will tell you there are 8 projects in this list.

All in all, I think this is a good breakdown.  I have a number of habits I want to develop.  I have a number or projects that need to be done to improve or simplify my life.  And I have a number of projects that are mostly just about enjoying life and having new experiences.

I have had a good response to my list of projects.  I have received some encouraging words and I've already received some offers from people to help me with a few of the projects.  So I think this whole thing has gotten off to a good start.

Hopefully, I will have some items to cross off the list by next week.

Conflicted Emotions--One Year Later

When I went to post yesterday's post, I realized that today was exactly one  year since my last post.  In the post a year ago, I shared some emotions I was experiencing about the birth of Jacob and the effect it was going to have on my relationship with Caleb.

On the morning of January 17th, 2011, Julie was induced into labor.  After struggling with labor all day, Julie was exhausted and had fallen asleep late in the evening.  As I sat in the quiet of the hospital room while Julie dozed, I was overcome by the emotions that I had been feeling for quite some time.  I felt the need to write about my emotions and try to make some sense of what I was feeling, so I tapped out that post on my phone while Julie slept.

After I wrote the post, Julie drifted in and out of sleep through the night as contractions came and went and Jacob was finally delivered just before noon on January 18th.

As I look back over that post and reflect on the past year, I am happy to report that everything has turned out great!  The things I was worried about have not even come close to passing.

Caleb and I still have a very special relationship.  In fact, he experienced some jealousy early on after we brought Jacob home and he expressed his jealously by clinging even tighter to me than he had before.  We still do all the things we did together then and we still have basically the same routine.  Julie's schedule takes her out of the house before Caleb is awake, so I'm still responsible for waking him and getting him ready for school.  I still give him his bath and I still read to him at bedtime.  We haven't lost anything that I feared losing and we are as close as we always have been.

Even better, Caleb and Jacob adore each other.  Caleb has tremendous concern for his brother.  He wants to help feed him and do other things for him.  He is truly concerned with Jacob's well being.  As for Jacob, he has been fascinated with his big brother from very early on.  Now that he can crawl, he tries to follow Caleb all over the house.  He can't quite keep up yet, but soon he will.

Of course, we are starting to see some sibling rivalry as Jacob is starting to show an interest in Caleb's toys.  But I know deep down that Caleb loves his brother deeply.  He is going to be a tremendous big brother as I predicted a year ago.

I still feel some inadequacy as a father.  I worry that I am not savoring these days and that they are slipping away too quickly.  I worry that we don't take advantage of these days while we have them.  I know Julie shares this fear with me and I imagine it is a common fear.  But we do the best we can.

I still go in their room at night and watch them sleep.  It gives me such peace to look at one and then the other.  No matter how my day goes, those few minutes of quiet in their room push aside any negativity and magnify anything that is positive.

I love both boys deeply.  They are my sons and I am so proud of them.  I pray for and look forward to many days and years ahead with them and I look forward to seeing the men they will grow to be.

One year ago tonight, I was full of angst.  Tonight, that angst is replaced by a sense of comfort and hope. 

52 Week (50?) Challenge

I hope you are settling into the new year. We traveled for Christmas and returned home the day before New Year's Eve. We had a birthday party this past weekend for Jacob and Julie's parents came to town. We spent the last couple of weeks thinking about and planning for the party, so we've stayed busy well into the new year. Julie's mom flew home tonight and Julie's dad is leaving in the morning, so we will just now get the opportunity to settle down and get back into our normal routine.

The new year is a fascinating even to me. Turning the calendar from December to January is an arbitrary time to change the year. We have a first day of the month 12 times a year and we have a first day of the week 52 or 53 times a year. But people place so much emphasis on January 1 as a time of introspection and a chance to make changes and resolutions. To me, January 1 is just another day. The biggest significance for me is the chance to watch some good football games all day.

I've never been much of a resolution maker. I like to joke that I resolve not to make any resolutions. That way, I've broken the resolution before the clock is even reaches the 12th ring and I can get the failure out of the way and move on.

Having said that, I wanted to get this year off to a different start. For the past year, I've been reading about Project 52 on my friend Jennee's blog. Project 52 is an approach to goal making that focuses on self-improvement and personal enjoyment of life rather than the absolutism of resolutions that are viewed through a failure/success prism. As I see it, the idea is to come up with a mixture of goals for the year. Some of the goals are whimsical. Some goals will take more work than others. But overall, the ideas is to set some goals for yourself and then focus on working on achieving the goals over the course of the year. As Jennee explains it, you work make a concrete effort to take steps toward accomplishing a goal each week and as time goes by, you'll slowly begin to cross your goals off your list.

I think goal-setting is far superior to making resolutions. To me, the idea behind resolutions is negative. Find the bad things in your life and change them absolutely beginning on January 1. If you break the resolution, you have failed. I think goal-setting is a much better mindset. You can still focus on self-improvement, but there is not the overwhelming pressure not to fail. Goals are more about the steps you take to achieve the goal. Rather than focusing on your negative qualities or habits and simply changing on the spot, goal setting requires planning, effort and patience as you work to change the goals. I think success will come much easier and be sweeter with this mindset.

Finally, Project 52 is about accountability. This comes in two forms. First, I am joining a community of bloggers who are participating in this project. There is strength in numbers and being a part of this group of bloggers provides encouragement as you read about other people's projects and the steps they are taking to work on their list. Second, by publicly declaring my goals in this forum, I am implicitly giving the reader permission to hold my feet to the fire. By publicly stating my goals, and failures on my part will also be public because you can ask me how I'm doing any time. It's scary to think that you will have to face someone when you haven't followed through with what you said you would do. Although the primary motivation for following through on these goals is personal, that fear of public failure adds a secondary motivation.

I'm posting this and getting started a little late. I committed myself to participating this year and started developing a list some time last year. But I stalled out and had a hard time coming up with 52 projects. But I finished my list a few days ago and then I shared my goals with Julie prior to posting them here. Now I'm ready to share my goals with all (ha ha) of my readers. I will post about my progress every Monday which is part of the Project 52 protocol. Feel free to ask me how I'm doing on my goals.

Without further adieu, here are my goals for 2012 along with some commentary:

1. Finish a half-marathon in under 3 hours--I started participating in endurance events with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program a few years ago. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to stick with it. Now I want to work on improving my performance in these events. This is one of several similar goals that I have set for this year. Rather than setting an arbitrary goal weight, working on these goals will have the secondary benefit of improving my health, fitness and physical appearance.
2. Complete a triathlon--This goal is about gaining new skills and to keep challenging myself in new ways.
   
3. Complete a full century ride--This past Spring, I trained with TNT for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. This is a bike ride through the mountains around Lake Tahoe. A century ride is a 100 mile bike ride. Since we trained in South Florida where the interstate overpasses are our biggest hills, this was difficult, challenging ride. Our team completed the 72 mile loop around the lake, be we were not able to complete the full 100 mile ride. Even though our coaches told us the 72 miles in the mountains was as challenging as a flat century ride and even though we completed a metric century (100 KM), I was left with a sense of dissatisfaction. I won't be completely satisfied until I bike a full 100 miles, so that is another of my goals this year.
   
4. Swim with the dolphins--This is something that I have wanted to do since we moved to Miami. I intend to make it happen this year.
   
5. Read 5 presidential biographies (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe)--I recently set a goal for myself to read one biography of every U.S. President from Washington to Obama. I decided to incorporate this into the project by setting a goal of getting through the first five presidents this year. This is really a multi-year goal. At the rate of five bios a year, there could be one or two presidents added to the list by the time I complete the goal depending on how the next couple of presidential elections go.
   
6. Read the bible in year (daily reading)--This goal is about the discipline of daily bible reading. I've read the entire bible through several times. This goal is about developing a daily time of reading as a lifelong habit.
   
7. Take a weekend trip with Julie--Pretty self-explanatory. Looking forward to getting away without the boys once Jacob is weaned and can stay with someone.
   
8. Pray with Julie every day--I have to admit, I started working on this before the New Year. I was challenged by several people to do this. I made it a part of my list before we started doing this together, but I decided not to wait until New Year to start (see about about my thoughts on the arbitrary nature of New Year's Day). Like number 6, this goal is about the habit it will develop and the lifestyle change it will bring about.
   
9. Read 25 total books--I love to read but don't make enough time to do it. My father is a voracious reader and I was when I was younger. I want to get back to that. One aspect of this goal is to read broadly across a wide spectrum of genres. Reading broadly is the best way to develop your mind and stay sharp. This equates to about 2 books per month. That doesn't seem too bad, but some books will be heavier than others meaning I'll have to do more than two books a month in some months.
   
10. Build a model airplane--My brother did some models when I was younger. I only had one model that I built and it was the kind where you snap it together. I want to do a real model where you have to glue the pieces together and then paint it yourself. You know what they say. Boys don't grow up...just our toys.
    
11. Repaint/Remodel Master Bedroom--Our bedroom is disorganized and in need of renovation. There are still nail holes in the wall from the prior owner. There are spots where we patched holes but we never sanded down the spackle and painted over it. There is even one spot where the paint doesn't match because I got ambitious one weekend while Julie was out of town. I thought I would resolve those problems so I got out all the paint. I thought I had found the paint from our room (painted by the prior owners who left numerous unmarked paint cans of various shades and colors). I did a test stripe in the corner and lo and behold, it was the wrong color. That spot constantly mocks me. I intend to rectify that.
    
12. Read a book of poetry--This will support #9. I made it a separate goal because I am unlikely to intentionally choose to read poetry unless I force myself to do it.
    
13. Take Caleb to a UM baseball game--Caleb loves baseball. UM baseball season rolls around in February. Every year I think I'm going to go to a few games. Before you know it, it's May and the season is practically over. Caleb has been asking to go watch UM play baseball for a couple of months now. I'm going to make it happen this season.
    
14. Go to a concert--It's been a while since I've been to a concert. Time to change that.
    
15. Take Julie to eat at Joe’s Stone Crab--I've had the privilege of eating at this South Florida landmark two times on someone else's dime. It's time for Julie to see what all the fuss is about.
    
16. Go to a play/Broadway show--See #14. I need more culture in my life.
    
17. Take Caleb on an airboat ride--Airboat rides are kitschy, classic South Florida attractions. We take all of our out of town guests to do this. Caleb has been when he was a tiny baby. It's time to go back now that he will know what is going on.
    
18. Go to Harry Potter at Universal Studios--We are big Harry Potter fans. We love the books and movies. It's hard to believe we live three hours away and we have yet to have a butterbeer.
    
19. Pull down ivy and repaint side of the house--One side of our house was covered with ivy when we moved in. I started to pull it down and it down and discovered it is going to do a number on the paint job. This is going to be a very involved project that needs to be done.
    
20. Travel to New Mexico and attend a Centennial event--New Mexico is my home state and is celebrating its centennial this year. We try to make it to NM every year at least once. I want to be able to participate in this once in a lifetime celebration while we are there.
    
21. Learn how to use the car radio--I got a new car back in May and, sad as it is, I still have not figured out how to set my own favorite stations. Time to get out the instruction manual.
    
22. Install solar lights in front yard--A few years ago, we received some decorative outdoor garden lights as a gift. They are still in the box. 'Nuff said.
    
23. Organize digital photos--We have numerous photo cards with numerous pictures of our boys on them. We have an iMac with lots of storage capacity and a wonderful photo program. Time to bring the two together.
    
24. Memorize Twas the Night Before Christmas--One of Julie's family traditions growing up was to read this story on Christmas Eve. We have kind of adopted it and we have a small collection of different versions of the story. Caleb found one of them and he and I read it numerous times at bed time over the last year. I know most of it by now...might as well go the rest of the way. (This book will not count toward #9.)
    
25. Discard two crates of magazines--You're going to see that a number of these goals are focused on organizing and decluttering my life and space. There was a time when I impulsively subscribed to several magazines. Many of these magazines site in a closet in milk crates unread because I have some hoarding tendencies. I intend to go through some of these magazines and eliminate them from my house.
    
26. Buy a lawnmower--Right now I rely on a weed eater because my yard is small. I have had problems with the weed eater lately, so the last few times the yard has been cut by a friend that I paid. Fortunately, the grass does not grow very fast right now. This will change soon. This will likely be one of the first goals crossed of the list do to its urgency. Not a glamorous goal...but necessary.
    
27. Blog once a week--Well....I'm already behind on this one...but it's my list and my blog, so I'll pretend it didn't happen. But since these goals are aspirational and about making changes going forward, I commit to this from this point forward. It's about the habit and will-power to do it.
    
28. Attend Attorney Trust Officer Liaison Conference--This is a valuable CLE resource in my practice area and I didn't make it last year. Now that I am on my own, it will be more expensive for me to attend, but it is the best way I've found to stay on top of current trends. Plus, I figured I needed a least one or two professional goals.
    
29. Organize print photos--More organization. We have a box full of photos that need to be put in albums or frames.
    
30. Digitize filing system/go paperless--I've begun scanning most of our files into a digital filing system. One part of this goal is to get rid of as much paper by the end of the year as possible. The other part of this goal is to get the proper backup system in place.
    
31. Have dinner guests in our home once a month--I want to be more hospitable. By making this a goal, now I have to follow through. This goal goes hand in hand with my desire to declutter.
    
32. Go to a wine tasting--Something we used to do before kids. I want to do it again.
    
33. Go on a picnic--See #32.
    
34. Learn how to shoot a gun and go hunting--I've always had a desire to hunt. Why not this year?
    
35. Go fishing--See #34. So many opportunities in South Florida. Must take advantage of them.
    
36. Watch a rocket launch at Kennedy Space Center--When we moved to South Florida, I said I wanted to go see a Space Shuttle launch. We procrastinated. NASA announced the end of the Shuttle program. I looked into it. Tickets were in such demand, they were having lotteries for the tickets. We had the chance to go to the next to last launch. For reasons I won't discuss here, we didn't go. Big regret now. I hear other rocket launches are pretty impressive. This moved up high on the priority list because of my regret over the shuttle.
    
37. Have my teeth cleaned--It's been too long.
    
38. Make a homemade romantic dinner--I like to cook. I don't do it often enough.
    
39. Fix the turn signal on my car--My car recently indicated one of the turn signals is out. I need to do this before I get a ticket.
    
40. Engage in a fast--This is a spiritual discipline that my faith tradition has encouraged or talked about much. I want to learn more about it.
    
41. Copy and send family records to family--I have a family bible in which I found notes written by my great grandmother. I intend to type them up, scan the notes and distribute them to my family.
    
42. Organize and update financial records--Another organizational task to work on.
    
43. Go horseback riding--I haven't been on a horse in years. Julie loves horses. I think this will be a great date opportunity.
    
44. File taxes by the end of February--I procrastinate. I've requested an extension our taxes the last two years and then filed at the last minute. This usually causes problems because I can't find a piece of paper. I've imposed a deadline this year to get it done.
    
45. Write a thank you note for every gift received this year--Handwritten notes are becoming a lost art, particularly thank you notes. I intend to show my gratitude this year in this personal way.
    
46. Find/Recruit a ministry replacement--I have several ministries in which I work in my congregation. Our elders are pushing us to involve more people. I'd like to find someone to take over one of my ministry areas.
    
47. Copy the key to my car--This is another silly goal. My car only came with one key. Julie has said she feels strange not having her own key to my car. This should be easy to take care of...but I have done it yet.
    
48. Take a pro bono client--The Florida Bar requires supporting pro bono work either by actually doing the work or making a donation to an organization that provides pro bono services. I've fulfilled the requirement with donations so far in my career. This year, I want to actually work with a client in need.
    
49. Work with a bar committee--Another professional development goal. The purpose is to get to know people in my field and hopefully generate some business.
    
50. Organize the closet in the second bedroom--Cluttered and messy. Definitely in need of some organization.
    
51. & 52. These last two goals are intensely personal goals that are not appropriate to share here. I know this seems to violate the accountability part of this project. I assure you the people involved have been made aware of these two goals and will have the opportunity to hold me to account. I'll let you know when I work on them or cross them off.

There you have it. My goals for this year. Some are one time events. Some will require some work and time to complete. And some will require weekly and daily diligence and I won't be able to cross them off the list until the year is done. If you know me well, you will know these are some ambitious goals. I look forward to working on them.

Wish me luck and good luck with your own goals this year.

Conflicted Emotions

Sometime in the next 24 hours, my second son will be born. I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this.

Don't get me wrong; I'm vey excited to meet him and welcome him home. But I'm also disappointed to lose the life we have now.

The last few years since Caleb was born have been more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. I never dreamed having a little boy would be so much fun and bring me so much joy. I can't begin to describe how I feel about our little family.

When we first started to discuss having another baby and then started trying, I was completely on board. But when Julie first told me she was pregnant, my first thought was, "wait, I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready to give up the life we have with Caleb." After a couple of weeks, I was able to come to grips with the idea of a second baby and started getting excited. In the back of my mind, however, there was a sense of urgency to make sure we made these last few months special for Caleb.

As time went on, we did lots of different things with Caleb and the reality of the pregnancy settled in. I grew more and more excited as we talked about baby names and other decisions we were making.

In the last few weeks, as the due date has approached, I've felt some some of the initial doubts and second-guesses enter back into my mind. I know in my heart that as soon as I see the new baby and hold him for the first time, I will love him more than life itself. But I just can't shake the feeling that while we are gaining another son, we are losing something in the process.

As I've tried to process these feelings, I've tried to come up with a word to describe what I'm feeling. Is it doubt? Fear? Regret? It finally occurred to me that I am feeling remorse. I am mourning the closing of a chapter of our lives that we will never have back. Barring some sort of tragedy, this time in our lives with Caleb will be nothing more than a memory as a new chapter unfolds.

When I put it in these terms, I realize it's OK to feel this way. Whenever I've had these feelings, I've felt guilty for having them. Frankly, they've scared me. Now that I understand these feelings, I embrace them because I'm not wishing that the next chapter wouldn't come; I'm just having a hard time leaving the old chapter behind.

I think part of what drives the feelings of remorse is a sense of inadequacy. I worry that I haven't given him what he deserves or that we haven't made the most of the time we've had. I worry that I don't have a chance to fix any mistakes I've made.

As part of this mourning process, I've been cherishing our various "last moments" together. I gave him his last bath last night and we said our last prayer together. I gave him breakfast for the last time this morning. I've been sadly aware the last few days that I will no longer do these things for just him. From now on, my attention will be divided and that breaks my heart for him.

It was really important to me to make Christmas special for him. I made sure I was able to put lights on our house for the first time this year because he asked for them. He helped decorate the Christmas tree. We had friends over on Christmas Eve. I knew that it was our last chance to do some something special for just him.

I had an especially poignant "last moment" Saturday night. Julie's been in the hospital for a few days, so Caleb and I have been home alone. Since he was born, it has been my habit to go in his room each night and check on him. Early on, as a new father, I was checking to make sure he was breathing. As I grew more comfortable with him and knew that he was fine, I continued to go into his room because I couldn't get enough of him. Now it's just a habit I can't give up.

On Saturday night, as I went into his room, it dawned on me that I would no longer be visiting his room just to see him. I sat down next to his bed so I could just savor those few remaining precious moments and watch him sleep. He was so calm and peaceful. As I left his room, I realized there are no more words to write in that chapter. A new chapter is beginning and I can't wait to see what it holds.

I dropped him off with the baby sitter this morning and I won't see him again until he's a big brother and our whole world has changed. The next time we see each other, I'll be introducing him to his little brother. He's going to be fantastic. He's so excited to see his little brother, the baby sitter told me that Caleb wanted to buy his baby brother pacifiers today. Caleb's not quite three yet, but shows no fear and he's shown me how to accept this change as much as I've shown him.

Welcome to the world baby brother. We are all anxious to see you and to see where this adventure takes us.

Deep Thoughts

The Los Angeles Lakers are running a promotion at each home game where coupons for free tacos are given away to every fan if the Lakers score more than 100 points and simultaneously hold the opponent under 100 points. This has led to cheers at the end of Lakers games of "We Want Tacos".

So this has me wondering; does anyone think Jack Nicholson is swinging his limo through the drive through at Jack in the Box on the way home from a Lakers game to claim his free tacos?

April Fool's!!!

Life played an April Fool's joke on me this week. As I recently mentioned, I had to replace the garbage disposal at the house. Well, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Due to the impending birth of our son, Julie thought our lives might be a little less hectic if we used paper plates and cups so we wouldn't have to mess with dirty dishes. Because of this, we accumulated dirty dishes very slowly so that the dishwasher did not run until a few days after replacing the disposal. I came home that night and found towels on the floor all around the dishwasher. I asked Julie about the towels and she said the dishwasher had leaked. I opened it up and the bottom was filled with water. I pulled the dishwasher out from the counter and found the hose leading from the dishwasher. I disconnected it and water immediately began flowing from the machine. I knew the problem was not in the dishwasher itself.

I followed the hose and discovered that it leads into the garbage disposal. Julie called Roto Rooter and had the guy that installed the disposal come check it out. He realized there was a seal that he forgot to remove which prevented the water from flowing into the disposal and out of the house. After getting the dishwasher back into the counter, it worked perfectly.

A few days later, the next problem popped up. This past Monday, I was in the shower and noticed some orange foam in the floor of the shower. I figured it was from one of Julie's products though I thought it was odd that it was at the end of the shower opposite the shower head. When I bent down to inspect the foam, I notice a tile tat was not flush with the wall. I was surprised that I had not noticed that in six months of living in the house. I rinsed the foam down the drain and went on about my day.

The next day (April Fool's Day), I was in the shower and noticed even more of the same foam. This was not a good development becuase Julie was still in bed and had not been in the shower yet, so I knew it was not left behind by her. When I inspected the foam, I could tell it was "flowing" from behind the tile which I had noticed was crooked the day before. There was an even greater amount of foam and some of it had dried on the floor of the shower and would not rinse away. I figured the foam was either the glue or the grout. Somehow, the the tile must have come loose and my best guess is that the water from the shower was causing it to expand and run. I smashed the tile back against the wall and rinsed away the foam. I went to work figuring I was going to have to learn how to do a tile repair job and wondering what problem was going to crop up next in my newly acquired, fifteen year old house.

I had hardly been at work about an hour when my phone rang. I saw that it was Julie and I knew immediately why she was calling. I said hello and she asked me what I thought of an April Fool's birthday. I asked if she was serious and she said her water might have broken and that her doctor told her to get to the hospital. When we arrived at triage, Julie was already dilated four centimeters!

They quickly got us back to a labor and delivery room. 10 hours later at 7:21 P.M., my son Caleb came into this world weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce. He was 19 inches long.

I began the day grumbling and grousing about the sudden rash of issues with the house. I ended the day overcome with emotion and joy. I was emotional about Julie and the wonderful job she did delivering our son and I was so overwhelmed with love and appreciation for the new little creature that is going to be living with me. I still have to fix that tile, but thanks to the curveballs of life, I'm not quite so worried about it anymore.

I have previously mentioned a special project that I was working on. The time has come to reveal that project. I have created a special blog that I am calling Year of Wonder which will chronicle my son's first year. You can find the blog at: http://www.myyearofwonder.blogspot.com/. Please check it out. I will post pictures of Caleb here from time to time, but Year of Wonder will be the most consistent place to catch pictures of him.

I want to thank everyone who has supported Julie and I throught this process and have been so generous with their time, money and counsel. We love you all. In the meantime, check out some pictures of Caleb after you have had the chance to go over to Year of Wonder:

My Bladder Made Me Do It

I have recently been reminded of a story from early in my marriage.

There were four couples at our church in Nashville that were all married within about a 7 month period. We spent a lot of time together in those early days of our marriages. We always went to dinner together after Wendnesday night classes.

It just so happened that the first Valentine's Day for all of us fell on a Wednesday night. We all got together and thought it would be fun to go to a fairly nice restaurant together after class. So we made reservations, we arranged to have the restaurant leave flowers at the place settings for the ladies. Us guys were really proud of ourselves.

So we get to the restaurant and had to wait a little longer than we had planned. When we got to our table, the restaurant had forgotten to put the flowers out. We should have know then what lay in store. Let's just say that the quality of service that night went down hill from there. Service was really slow. Orders came out wrong...multiple times. If I remember correctly, one person had to send her food back to the kitchen not once, but twice. The service really was deplorable.

We finally complained to a manager about how awful the service had been. The manager promptly fixed the problems and gave each of us a $25 gift certificate ($50 per couple)! Not long after we complained our server came to the table and apologized. Now, normally, that would be a very nice gesture. However, the words that came out of the server's mouth blew us all away and just topped our night. Our server said "I'm sorry, it's been a busy night and I've had to pee for the last three hours." We were floored. We still chuckle today about that night and about our waiter's excuse for the poor service.

I am reminded of this incident because of this week's revelation that Hillary Clinton flat out lied about the circumstances surrounding her visit to Bosnia in 1996. I don't relate the two stories because our server was dishonest or anything, but because of his lame excuse. I first came across the story on Tuesday and I was shocked at the lack of discipline Hillary showed in making her statements. It's not like the Clintons to be that undisciplined. Of, course, the Clinton campaign is trying to call it a "misstatement" as if Hillary made a slight error.

But what really gets me is that Hillary is blaming the misstatement on sleep deprivation. The absurdity of both excuses is frightening. While both the waiter and Hillary may have been telling the truth, the absurdity comes from the lack of a logical connection to the behavior that is blamed on the physical condition. A strong desire to pee does not excuse a waiter from making sure an order is right before taking it to the table and the lack of sleep does not excuse one from making up an experience out of whole cloth.

Now, I could understand the situation if Hillary had stuck to simply saying there was a lot of security because of snipers in the area. Many news reports this week have confirmed that snipers had previously been active in the area around the airport. I could see trying to pass that off as "innocent" embellishment of a 12 year old memory. But what I can't see is stretching the truth beyond any resemblance to the facts. You can't completely contradict the facts and then pass it off as faulty memory.

How could you not remember the difference between running to a car to take cover and a nice leisurely stroll down the tarmac with some locals? The explanation in my mind is not a misstatement, but a flat out lie. What's more, she was the FIRST LADY. Did she really think there was no documentation of the trip? Did she think the press was not with her on that journey?

I don't know what makes Hillary tick, but I do know she has lost all credibility because of this. I was never a supporter in the first place, but I don't see how anyone but the most intentionally blind can vote for her now.

Weekend Update

Had a pretty busy weekend.

On Friday night, we had a nice discussion with two other couples over dinner in our Young Marrieds ministry. We wrapped up our discussion of Love Life for Every Married Couple. The book was good and I think the group got a lot of good things out of the book, I am ready to move on. We will be studying Dr. Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages next. I think this is going to be a good study. I have flipped through the book and feel like it will be an easy read with lots of practical information. I hope it will help us grow this ministry.

On Saturday night, I went with a good friend to a Florida Panther hockey game. The Panthers won an entertaining game which was made more so by our seats. My friend used his firm's tickets which were four rows behind the visitor's bench. It was cool watching the shift changes and action closely. However, it was also frustrating to watch Tomas Vokoun have such a good game. I have a feeling Nashville would be in a much better position for the playoffs had they not traded Vokoun.

On Sunday afternoon, I watched Miami lose a heartbreaker to Texas. On the one hand, it was great for them to get that far since they were predicted to finish last in the ACC this year. On the other hand, it was frustrating to watch them come so close to winning and blowing it because they did not play well in the first half of the game. Hopefully, they will build some momentum going into next year. I just hope Frank Haith sticks around to keep building this program.

Another highlight of the weekend was getting to experience the joys of homeownership. Right before I left the house on Saturday, I was cleaning some dishes and put some food down the garbage disposal. I tried to turn the disposal on and it made a humming noise, but the blades were not spinning. After a couple of tries, nothing happened and I had a sink full of nasty water with food floating in it. Julie called Roto Rooter and they came out Saturday afternoon. After taking it apart, the plumber pronounced the disposal dead. While he went to the truck, Julie looked up disposals on her iPhone...turns out they have a life expenctancy of about 15 years. Our house was built in 1994. My guess is the disposal was original and it's time came. The only problem was we had no indication before Saturday night. Anyway, we now have an InSinkErator. Hopefully it will last longer than we are in the house.

This was our first real issue as homeowners. Prior to buying the new house, Julie was lamenting that we would not have a maintenance staff anymore. And while it sucked waiting for Roto Rooter to show up and I didn't like writing that check, I think the house is still is still worth it...and we have crossed our first homeownership speedbump. I guess we feel just a little more grown up today.

Biding Time

We had a baby shower this past weekend and I am just overwhelmed by the generosity people at church and families at school showed toward us. We now have many clothes, blankets, toys and miscellaneous other stuff for this baby. It's a good thing he won't have to go around naked. He also has a car seat now, so I guess we'll actually get to bring him home from the hospital. And once we buy a mattress, the kid will have a place to sleep.

As far as I'm concerned, we're ready to have the baby. Sure, there are plenty of things to be done around the house, but there is really nothing that HAS to be done before he arrives.

Prior to the shower on Saturday, we went to a newborn parenting class which wrapped up the series of classes we've been taking to try and calm our nerves before the bundle of joy arrives. We practiced diapering and swaddling a doll which strikes me as pointless because the doll was silent and was not wiggling. We watched videos. We talked about babies. It was realy informational.

After we got home Saturday night and surveyed all the wonderful gifts, a feeling of calm and serenity came over me. It occurred to me that we are ready. There are no more classes to attend. The baby shower is now behind us. Julie's mom was here for the shower and went home Sunday night. We won't see any of our family again until the baby is here. There is nothing left between us and the arrival of this child. All that is left is for us to hunker down and wait. It could be a few days, it could be a few weeks. Only God knows.

Wait and enjoy these last few days of pregnancy. Of course, I use the term enjoy loosely. I think Julie has enjoyed being pregnant to the extent that anyone can enjoy it, but she probably wouldn't tell you that right now. But after the baby is here, I think it is something she will look back upon and and cherish.

I know I am going to try to soak it up before it's over. We'll probably have another child, but I'm sure it's nothing like the first time you experience it. I will never forget the first time Julie pulled my hand over to her stomach and I could feel my son moving. I will never forget the first time we sat in that Doctor's office and I heard his little heartbeat. I only have a short time before I can actually hold my little boy in my arms and that is going to be a wonderful day. But I want to savor these remaining moments where he is moving around inside of Julie. I am going to savor her joy as she watches him move. The process of bringing a new life into this world is so amazing and so special. This is a time I will never forget.

Countdown

It appears that I have taken a bit of an unintended hiatus from posting. It's been so busy around here. But I just had to take a moment to mark the significance of today's date.

Today is March 13, 2008. As of today, the due date for my child is exactly one month away. Now, to anybody who has asked about the due date, after saying April 13th, I also add that it means my son will be born any day but the 13th. From everything I've ever heard, I don't know of anyone whose child was born on the actual due date (other than planned c-sections and inductions, neither of which we are planning right now). So, I have no expectation that baby boy Bergman's birthday will be April 13th.

Despite my assurance that he will not be born on the 13th, today's date still sticks out in my mind. As of today, I can no longer mark the time remaining in terms of months. It is a matter of weeks or even days until my son is born. This fact both thrills me and frightens me.

I look around the world today and I sometimes wonder what I was thinking to have made the decision to bring a child into the midst of all that is wrong with the world. Yet, I imagine myself sitting with my son in my arms and I have indescribable feelings of joy. I can't even begin to imagine how it is actually going to feel to hold my son, my child, my offspring in my own arms for the very first time. But I am fearful of my ability, or extreme lack thereof, to guide this child through life. How do I teach this little person to love God, to care for his family and to be kind to all the people he meets? How do I teach him to respect his mother and to honor all women? How do I teach him to be ambitious and achieve many wonderful things without becoming arrogant or jaded? How do I teach him to live a happy life with the ability to enjoy all the wonder of creation when so many around him will try to drag him down and tell him that the only way to accomplish anything is to seek his own interests at the expense of others?

There is so much I think about now that I am about to be a father. I am scared. I am excited. I'm a mess.

Fortunately, I don't have to have the answer to these questions today. In fact, I many never have the answer. Right now, the only thing I HAVE to know is how to change a diaper.

Fortunately, I've still got a month to figure that out.

Rising Tide

It's been a few days, but I wanted to write about the Lakers/Suns game last week. I know they've played (and won!) a couple of games since then, but I just have to comment.

I LOVE the fact that the Lakers beat the Suns in Shaq's first game with the Suns. I think it is pretty unique that the new Heat players played their first game with the Heat against the Lakers and Shaq played his first game with the Suns against the Lakers. Pretty fluky scheduling quirk.

Anyway, the Lakers won a pretty trhilling game and Kobe scored 41 points. Spoiling Shaq's big night was just the cherry on top. All that remains is for the Lakers to knock the Suns out of the playoffs and win a championship.

Surprisingly, the Lakers now have the best record in the NBA Western Conference and have only lost one game since the Pau Gasol trade. That trade is looking more and more brilliant every night. And now, the commentariat is taking notice and some are calling the Lakers a legitimate title contender. It's hard not to get excited when so much seems possible. But after the way the Cowboys flamed out this year, I am certianly holding things in check and waiting for the Lakers to actually accomplish something.

Speaking of good basketball, the Miami Hurricanes have won four in a row and are now at .500 in the ACC and one win away from a 20-win season. Barring a complete collapse, there is no reason UM should not make the NCAA tournament which is a huge turnaround from last year. And who knows, maybe they'll even make a nice little run in the tournament and get to the Sweet 16.

Who knew a few weeks ago at the end of what turned out to be a pretty miserable football season that basketball would come along and brighten my sports world?

41 and Counting

Last night, the Miami Heat lost a close game to the Denver Nuggets. One might wonder why that is fodder for a post on this blog. It is significant because it was the Heat's 41st loss. In an 82 game season, the Heat have guaranteed that they won't finish with a winning record before the All-Star Break.

I saw this coming a while back and had been looking forward to making fun of this accomplishment. But now that it has actually happened, I feel kind of ambivalent about it. It's not as much fun to make fun of the Heat now that Shaquille O'Neal has been traded to Phoenix.

I'm not a Shaq fan. I am a Lakers fan and a Kobe Bryant fan. When Shaq got traded to the Lakers four years ago, I thought Kobe was treated unfairly in the media as everyone thought he should bear the sole blame for the breakup of the dynasty. I was convinced then, and am even more so now, that Shaq was every bit as selfish and self-conscious as Kobe is/was. He just did a better job of hiding it.

Shaq is not a true team player. He has consistently shown up out of shape and does not do the offseason work necessary to try and prevent the "injuries" he has suffered every year going back to his days in L.A. His flat out refusal to work on his free throw shooting should be an embarrassment to the NBA. He had an attitude that he could just turn it on for the playoffs and everything would be OK. Well, that did not work so well last year when the Heat were swept out of the playoffs in the first round after Shaq had started out the season out of shape and missed some games due to injury. And then he shows up out of shape again this season. Shaq may be a pro athlete, but he is not a professional.

Then, two years ago, Shaq and the Heat won a championship thanks to some pretty awful officiating and Dwayne Wade playing out of his mind. Seeing Shaq win another championship really annoyed me.

So I enjoyed seeing the Heat get knocked out of the playoffs uncerimoniously last year and have been ecstatic as the losses piled up this year. The Heat ar 9-41. That number is just astounding. It is the worst record in the NBA by a game. I have cheered every loss and jeered Shaq in the process. As this season has progressed, discontentment with Shaq was increasing and there were rumors that Shaq and Heat management were not on good terms. That fact more than any other validates what I think was the reality with the Lakers situation. So I had been planning to gleefully point out this little fact about the Heat's season for a while now. And the Heat went and ruined it.

Now that Shaq is gone, it's not fun anymore...it's just kind of sad. Aside from D-Wade, this team hardly resembles an NBA team. But they have signs of life. They played the Lakers well in the first game with the new teammates. And then last night they took another strong Western Coferenced team to overtime and had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but it was not to be. They look good right now and maybe they will make a turnaround.

But this season is a loss and will be a really bad memory for fans of the franchise. As for me, it's just not as satisfying that Shaq was able to escape.

Basketball Fun

I got to experience another "First" yesterday as I attended my first Los Angeles Lakers game. I had taken a friend from church to see the UM/FSU basketball game last week (not worth talking about). This friend then invited me to go to the Miami Heat/Lakers game with him after the person he originally invited backed out.

He had pretty good seats in the lower bowl and we had a good time, especially since the Lakers won 104-94. In addition to seeing the Lakers, this was a good game because it was the Heat's first post-Shaq game, so I got to see Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. The Heat played well considering it was the first time they played as a group. But the Lakers played better and I was glad not to have my first Lakers game spoiled by a loss.

I also really enjoyed seeing Kobe Bryant play yesterday. In my opinion, he's gotten a bad rap, but he is still one of the best, if not the best, players in the NBA today and I like watching him play. Seeing it in person only made me appreciate his abilitieseven more.

His abilities became even more apparent at a crucial point late in the game. Kobe was out on a fast break and was going up for a dunk. Before I finish decribing the play, you have to understand how Heat fans feel about Kobe. They don't like him. Immensely. First, you have had Shaq here for the last four years taking shots at Kobe and stoking the fires. Second, this is Dwayne Wade's town. He has elevated himself into the upper echelon of the NBA. Heat fans have a dislike of Kobe because they want to belive D-Wade is the best player in the NBA (which is amusing to me becuase he may not even be the best player in his draft class; see LeBron James and Carmello Anthony). So they don't like Kobe.

So anyway, Kobe's about to dunk the ball and a Heat player comes flying into the play and takes Kobe out. It was a foul. Suddenly, the arena erupted in cheers. I know the fans here dislike him, but to cheer a near flagrant foul when the guy hits the floor hard shows a lack of class in my opinion. The arena is rocking at this point and Kobe steps up to the free throw line and calmy sinks both free throws and shuts the crowd up. You could kind of fell the arena deflate a that point.

The Heat tried to stage a comeback, and got close, but Kobe slammed the door shut with a clutch shot and some clutch free throws. Kobe went to the line with a few seconds left and as he was shooting his free throws, the scattered Lakers fans (quite a few actually) started chanting MVP. The Heat fans tried to drown it out by booing, but so many of them had abandoned the team and left the arena that the booing did not overcome the MVP chant.

It was a fun game and a neat experience.

Big News

Contrary to the fecetious comment attached to this old post, plenty has happened to me since September. However, one event has dominated my time since and will continue to dominate my time, so I guess and official announcement is in order and better late than never.

When I first decided to have my own blog, I noted that my friends Mark and Adam started their blogs when they were about to have kids. Back then, I specifically pointed out that the beginning of my blog had nothing to do with a child and would not have anything to do with a child for quite some time. However,I did post a comment to Mark's first post in which I noted that Julie and I were looking forward to "starting our own blog."

Well, not that anyone who actually reads this doesn't know, but Julie and I are expecting our first child in April. We are very excited and apprehensive. I guess this means we'll have to finally get a digital camera (go back and read my first post regarding my delayed use of technology...my brother can't get over the fact that I don't have internet access at home right now) because it is obviously obligatory to post various pictures of the mini-me on the blog. So, I can promise there will be pictures. I also have a special project in mind that I will reveal at a later date. Until, then, I'll write about the impending birth from time to time as it gets closer.

Speaking of closer, I can't believe how close it is already. When Julie told me on our anniversary that we were going to have a baby, 9 months seemed like such a long time. Well, it has been almost seven, Julie is getting big, and the day fast approaches. And we still have much to do to get the house ready and I don't know how we are ever going to have the time since we don't have many Saturdays available.

Three of the four Saturdays in February, plus one in March, we are spending a big chunk of the day at the hospital where the baby is going to be born for various classes. This past Saturday, we went to our first childbirth preparation class. We learned some breathing exercises and relaxation techniques and watched a few videos. I came away realizing how unprepared I am for the delivery. I'm not saying I'm completely ignorant of the difficulty of childbirth and I'm not comparing what I have to do to Julie's struggles, but I did not realize how much work its going to be. Just like many other subjects, TV births paint a different picture from reality. On TV, it's chaotic and it does not last that long and the pushing is the hard part. Well, it was obvious that it is a long, drawn out process and not that chaotic. Other than the occasional check up by the nurse, it's really just going to be me trying to help Julie get through each contraction and help her in any way I can.

The class was really eye opening. I think it is going to be a miraculous event, I just hope I can hold up my end of the bargain and be a good supporter during the process.

What If...

As I sit and ponder last night's Super Bowl, I can't help but wonder:

- What if Eli Manning gets sacked?
- What if Asante Samuel makes the interception?
- What if New England had not tried to milk the clock on their touchdown drive?
- What if Belichick kicks the field goal instead of going for it on fourth and 13?
- What if the New England player had not had the ball ripped out of his hands after recovering the fumble in the first half?
- What if Brett Favre does not throw a stupid interception?
- What if Patrick Crayton ran a full route?
- What if Patrick Crayton did not have hands of steel?
- What if Jeremy Shockey had not gotten hurt?
- What if the Redskins had held on to win in week 3?
- What if Tiki Barber didn't retire.

That's the thing about winning a championship in any sport. From breaks in the game, to breaks in the playoffs, to breaks early in the season to breaks last year. If Washington holds on to win in week three, would the Giants have recovered from 0-3to even make the playoffs? If Tiki had not retired last year, what would the offense have been like this year? So many factors went into the Giants winning yesterday.

That is not to say they were lucky...and even if they were, what's wrong with that? Luck is a part of sports and a big part of championships. Ask LSU about luck. I'm simply pointing out how "fragile" a championsihp is.

I enjoyed the game. The Giants played really well, as much as it pains me to say that. As a Cowboy fan, there is very little I can like about the Giants winning a Super Bowl. I was pretty much the lone dissenter in a house full of transplanted New Yorkers, Dolphins fans and Patriots haters who all had their own reasons for supporting the Giants. I just couldn't bring myself to cheer for the Giants, so I was outnumbered. In the end, I wasn't really going to be happy with either team being champion.

However, I am extremely disappointed that the Patriots did not jump on the perfect pedestal with the '72 Dolphins. The outcome of last night's game does not change my conclusion that the '72 Dolphins are a bunch of grumpy old men and that their fans need to stop living in the past. If anything, my feelings have been reinforced this week and in the aftermath of the Patriots' loss.

Aside from the game, I can't complain about the overall Super Bowl very much. The commercials were very strong this year...it was the first year in quite a while that I remember liking so many of the commercials. Some of my standouts were the Bridgestone screaming squirrel, the Fed Ex carrier Pigeons, the E-Trade baby (both spots), and most of the beer commercials. Out of those, I liked the Bud-Light fire breather, the cheese party and the Rocky clydesdale.

I also liked the halftime show. Petty put on an excellent show. I don't normally pay attention to the entertainment, but enjoyed this year a lot.

My biggest complaint: Fox. I generally like Fox. I like how they cover football. I like Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Usually can't complain about their coverage. I got tired of hearing about all of the Fox shows. But the most annoying part of the Fox coverage was during the pre-game show when they had Ryan Secrest doing red carpet interviews with various stars. That was just too much and I found it very annoying to be reminded that common people don't get to go to the Super Bowl anymore.

So there you have it. Another year of football is over. Wednesday is national signing day for college football. Miami is supposed to have a really good recruiting class and signing day means spring football is not far around the corner. Soon, summer will be here, the preseason mags will start to hit the stores in July and another season will be here before you know it.

I can't wait.

Time Flies

I just read this and was reminded that today is the 5th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. First, let me say, may God bless the families of those brave astronauts who continue to grieve over the loss of loved ones. I know all too well that you never get over losing someone, you only learn to accept it and move on, always holding on to the memories.

As I read the article, I couldn't help but think, "Has it really been five years?" That tragedy occured during the second semester of my first year of law school. That means we are coming up on our sixth anniversary here in Miami. It is hard to believe that much time has gone by. I can still vividly remember waking up early on that Saturday morning and turning on the TV only to be stunned by the news of the loss of Columbia as if it were yesterday. Later that day, I drove to campus for a little while and listened to the coverage all the way to and from school. Needless to say, I think most of America was captivated and frozen by the images on TV of the debris streaking the sky.

Time does move past you pretty quickly if you don't pay attention. So I hope everyone will take a minute to appreciate this day and this moment for the precious gift they are.

Objects In The Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. As a football fan, I'm glad it's here, though I feel a little subdued about it because I'm still not quite over the fact that the Cowboys are not playing this Sunday. But it's still the championship game and it's the last football game of the year (Pro Bowl and college all star games don't really count), so there's plenty to be excited about.

This year, it's the Patriots vs. the Giants. It's hard to have a rooting interest in this game other than hoping it's a good game with good commercials. On the one hand, I'm a Cowboys fan, so I usually pull for the NFC team, but it's hard to root for the Giants to win it all as the Giants are one of the Cowboys' biggest rivals. My dad is a Giants fan, but that is not enough to sway me. On the other hand, I'm not that fond of the Patriots. I was glad to see them beat the Rams a few years ago when they were heavy underdogs, but it is getting old seeing them in the Super Bowl. They are getting arrogant and I'm tired of them. I also don't want to see them win their fourth Super Bowl because then they will be within one championship from tying the Cowboys.

But one of the biggest factors is the fact that the Patriots have a chance to complete an undefeated season by going 19-0 making them only the second team to do it since the 17-0 '72 Dolphins. And therein lies the reason I won't have any problem if the Patriots win this game.

Purely from a fan's perspective, I think the chance that an NFL team could go undefeated is pretty amazing. It's been 35 years since the only team to do it did (longer than I have been alive, by the way). As I was growing up, it was just accepted wisdom that it would never be done again. The season was too long, the pressure too great, the parity too equalizing, etc. There were numerous reasons it could not be done. Yet, here we are on the cusp of seeing it happen again. Who knows when it will happen again. Yes, there have been teams that came close, but they crashed and burned in the regular season (see the 1985 Bears whose one loss came late in the regular season, to the Dolphins, no less). But obviously, though there have been good teams with great years, only two have made it through the regular season without so much as a loss.

And that is why I am ready for a team to join the Dolphins. The Dolphins should certainly be proud of the fact that they were the first team to go undefeated and they should be proud of the fact that they stayed the only team to do it for so long. But that record has created an arrogant franchise and an arrogant fan base whose combined arrogance far exceeds their recent accomplishments. This franchise and city live on past glory so much it is sickening.

I was always of aware of the 1972 Dolphins and their little reunion with Champagne each year when the last undefeated team lost. But I have become more acutely aware of it since living here in Miami and it has become quite nauseating. I think a lot of fans are tired of it and it has been amusing to hear the members of that team try to pass it off as some quaint reunion when it reality it reeks of smugness.

I have enjoyed watching the '72 Dolphins up close this year as they have become increasingly nervous. It's bad enough that another team is about to go undefeated, but the fact that it is a rival from within their division just makes it worse for them. It was painfully obvious early in the year that the Patriots were going to challenge for an undefeated season, so the Dolphins have been stewing about it all year. Add on top of that the fact that this year's Dolphins were by far the worst team in football and came awfully close to not winning a game (stupid Ravens...you blew it), and it was an all out bad year for the Dolphins and their "Dolfans" (I hate that term!!!).

The Dolphins have embarrased themselves constantly as they get increasingly defensive about the record. The best example was Don Shula's assertion that there should be an asterisk place by the record because of the incident the first game of the year involving illegal cameras. The funny thing about is I think comments like Shula's have helped fuel the Patriots and give them motivation to finish the year undefeated.

But to me, the most humorous and desperate '72 Dolphin is Mercury Morris. He has been noted in the past, when asked about the prospects of some team going undefeated, as saying "Don't talk to me when they are in my town or my neighborhood, talk to me when they are on my block." Well, Mercury, not only have the Patriots been on your block for a few weeks now, they kicked down your door two weeks ago and they are about to steal your trophy from your fireplace mantle. How do you feel about that?

The '72 Dolphins are a bunch of grumpy old men who need to get over themselves and move on with their lives. So I won't have any problem with the Patriots nudging the '72 Dolphins out of the spotlight on Sunday with a victory. It's true, as some people have said, that the '72 Dolphins will still be one of only two teams to have gone undefeated. But I think the uniqueness will have worn off and the media won't care as much anymore and I, hopefully, won't have to hear about it every year any more.

So, here's to a good game America. Enjoy!

UPDATE: 2/1/08, 1:51 P.M.
This article proves my point.

Reasons to Love Miami

The Metzes are in Key West this morning and will be coming back through Miami to catch a plane home this evening. Hopefully I'll get to see them before dinner on their way through.

We have had slightly cooler than normal temperatures this past week and they have been quite amused to hear us call lows in the 50's "cool." Adam has also remarked numerous times how confused Clark is because it is winter, yet he is wearing shorts and sandals. He expects Clark to really be thrown for a loop when they get back to Ohio.

So, I thought I'd check out the forecasts for today:

Key West: High of 76 and low of 67.
Miami: High of 78 and low of 64.
Westerville, OH: High of 24, low of 13.

'Nuff said.

Important Day

Today is a very important day. It is a day that has been anticipated for months. Throngs of media follow the participants' every move and report on every detail. The winner of the contest will long be remembered in History...until the next time one of these rolls around.

Yes, Super Bowl Media Day is upon us.

What?!?! You thought I was talking about the Florida elections? Well, yeah, that's taking place today, too.

Today is the presidential primary in Florida. Florida is expected to have a record turnout to vote in today's election, however, I won't be part of it. Democrats and Republicans are supposedly choosing their candidates for the general election later this year. The problem is, it does not really matter because the outcome of today's vote is nothing more than window dressing. Florida moved it's primary up to today, the last Tuesday in January. This angered people in Iowa and New Hampshire becaue they are insanely protective of their status as being the first states to hold primaries. So, the Democratic party decided to punish the good people of Florida and take away all of Florida's delegates to the convention this summer. Soon after, the Republicans stripped the state of half its delegates (Ah Florida...always an electoral drama queen. It has been amusing watching people whine about having their votes taken away which is really stupid since the right to vote in a primary and nominate a candidate to represent a party is not guaranteed by the Constitution. Primaries are just something the parties came up with the make the people believe they actually participate in the process.).

So, the primary here is essentially meaningless. Of course, there is talk that both parties will have their delegats reinstated prior to the conventions and the Democrats are discussing having some sort of caucus or other event in the Spring to select delegates to the convention. It all seems pretty absurd to me.

As a Republican, I'm pretty uninspired. We moved and I still have not changed my address on my voter registration and I have no idea where my voting precinct is. And the polls will probably be closed before I get home. Had Fred Thompson run a halfway decent campaign, I might have actually made the effort to go vote. I'm also missing out on the opporunity to vote on some county question regarding Vegas style slots at dog tracks (whoopee) and some changes to the property tax. I like the idea of increasing the homestead exemption, but I think the overall proposal stinks.

So, call me apathetic if you like, but I'm sitting this one out at least until November. Maybe by then, I'll have gotten my address changed.

No, the big news of the day is Media Day. I'd be willing to bet that more people across this vast land are paying attention to the Super Bowl than the primaries. This is the day that a bunch of nut jobs who don't have anything to do with football the other 50 weeks of the year get to do silly things like wear a wedding dress or wear a sock on your hand and interview professional atheletes about to play in the biggest game of their career. (Both of those things happened today.) There is definitely some goofiness that goes on during media day and some people do some really strange things. But I enjoy it. I look forward to Jay Leno's annual correspondent report from Media Day.

What I don't enjoy is the regular sports columnists who whine about all the non-football stuff that goes on during media day and the general excess. I say, get over. The Super Bowl is not just a sporting event. It's a pop culture event and it is a worldwide event. People from other cultures may not truly understand the game of football or its significance in American culture, but they watch it. The Super Bowl touches so many people who are not normal football fans, whether it is the celebrity parties, charity events, etc. So I completely understand the increase in the number of media covering the game. And frankly, some of the more weird stuff that goes on during media day is entertaining. So, to all of you grumpy, old sportswriters, get over yourselves. You're not as important as you think and this event is more than a game.