Baseball

Baseball season.

One of my favorite times of the year.

For several reasons.

One of which is that, as the collegiate baseball season begins to wind down, I will have another sports season (my 23rd) at LSU behind me.

But it's also a time when many of our grandkids are out on the fields playing ball.

Like they should be!

9 year-old Randy has begun his second season of Coach's Pitch ball.

And, for him, it comes right on the heels of a flag football season and a soccer season he just wrapped up a few weeks ago!

Randy is turning into quite the little athlete!  And he absolutely LOVES sports.

Playing sports, watching sports, reading about sports, talking about sports...a LOT!

We got to watch his first game earlier this week, and the first position he played that night was catcher!

My old position.

The position I played from the time I was 7 until my last competitive baseball game as a senior in high school.

I don't know whether Randy will "take" to catching - most kids don't.

But I can hope !!

In Randy's first at-bat of the season, we got to watch him hit a homerun on a ball that was hit WAY over the 3rd basemen's head and rolled almost to the fence!!

Randy playing catcher for the Orioles

That same night, Randy's little brother, Tanner, began his first season of Tee Ball.

Tanner also just wrapped up a season of flag football and soccer!

And as much as he seems to be enjoying the outdoor sports, his REAL love right now is wrestle mania!

He is enamored with John Cena, The Rock, Big Bluto (I just made that one up because I have no idea who all the big westlers are these days).

While most kids his age want to be firemen, policemen or major leage baseball players when they grow up, I'm quite certain Tanner wants to be a wrestler !!

But Tanner is WAY to cute to be a stinkin' wrestler !!

Can there BE a cuter ball player??

Tanner's cousin, Conner, also plays on the Yankees tee ball team with Tanner. This is Conner's 2nd year of tee ball, but it's really the first season he has an understanding of the game.

For a soon-to-be 2nd grader, Conner has a heck of an arm! He has already made several great throws this season from 3rd base to 1st base.

Not that the 1st baseman can catch them, but at least Conner gets them there!!

Conner

 Conner's sister, Kaleigh, opted not to play ball this summer.

(But I think she is regretting that decision!!)

She will begin taking guitar lessons on Monday, and I'm in hopes she will learn enough to be able to teach her PawPaw how to play!

Kaleigh will also attend an LSU Cheerleading camp later this summer and wants to take hip-hop dance lessons in the fall.

I sincerely doubt she will be able to teach her PawPaw how to hip-hop !!

Kaleigh just might be the most athletic of all our grandkids!

So, another summer is upon us.

And, for us, nothing is more fun than spending time with our grandkids and watching them express themselves in their own ways.

This grandparent thing is pretty darn cool!

Until next time...

"Weekend"

                                                         

We have made it to another Friday!

Another "weekend".

Weekend is in quotes because, for those of us in the collegiate sports world, the word "weekend" is a misnomer.

"Weekend" implies the work week has ended.

Not so fast, my friend...

For many of us, the work is just beginning!

For instance, my day today will be spent assisting CBS Sports with their setup operation going on in Tiger Stadium, as the 19th-ranked Auburn Tigers come to town to face the Number 1-ranked LSU Tigers tomorrow at 2:30.

Cox Sports Television will also begin its setup later today in our stadium.

At 6:00pm tonight, we will show a motivational video to our team on the videoboards in Tiger Stadium.

The team will then head to its hotel for the night; I will finally head home after another long day.

Hopefully I will be the first one in line at my local voting station tomorrow morning before 6:00am to vote for my favorite politicians.

Or maybe to vote AGAINST my not-so-favorite politicians !

Then it's back to Tiger Stadium to get ready to work my 275th LSU football game since 1989 !

Tomorrow's game will end sometime around 6:00pm - but by the time we shoot and edit our coach's weekly television show - Inside LSU Football - my crew and I will finally leave the stadium sometime around 10:00pm.

Just another 15 hour workday on a "weekend"!

Then it will be back to LSU on Sunday morning to get ready for a 1:00pm volleyball match, which our crew will produce for the videoboards in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

So, for us, the "weekend" will actually not begin until around 4:00 on Sunday afternoon!

I am in the midst of my 23rd season at LSU Athletics and it has definitely been an interesting ride.

I have been fortunate to have been a part of 2 football National Championships (2003 and 2007), as well as 6 baseball National Championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2009).

And, if things continue to go well for the Tigers, I just MIGHT get the opportunity to be a part of yet another football National Championship this season!  

Despite the long hours - and all the nights, weekends, and travel - I really can't complain.

I graduated from LSU in 1980 with a Broadcast Journalism degree and I've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in the sports world for most of my career.

As they say, it beats digging ditches!

Hmmmm...I wonder what ditch-diggers say...??

Until next time...Geaux Tigers !!

Grand Isle

As another sports season is upon us, we decided recently to try to fit in one more weekend trip with the family.

Grand Isle, Louisiana was the decided upon destination - Grand Isle being one of the southernmost points of Louisiana.

At the mouth of Barataria Bay, where it meets the Gulf of Mexico.

A fisherman's paradise!

Now, not being a fisherman, I have really had no interest in visiting Grand Isle over the years.

Nontheless My Better Half and I, along with daughter Allyson, son-in-law Jimmy, and their 3 sons Randy, Tanner and Carson loaded up the Family Truckster and headed 3 1/2 hours south to Grand Isle.

And I must say that it won't be our last trip to Grand Isle!

No, the beach isn't the pristine white sandy beach like you'll find in Florida.

But who says brown sand can't be pretty too ??

If it works for Galveston, why can't it work for south Louisiana ??

My son-in-law taught me all about crab-fishing.

Which basically works something like this:

Get two pieces of PVC pipe, about 8 feet in length.

Drill a small hole at the top of each piece of pipe.

Tie a piece of lightweight rope about 25 feet in length between the two pieces of PVC pipe.

Then tie pieces of heavyweight line from the piece of rope (which now connects the two pieces of PVC pipe) about 5 feet apart.  Those pieces of line will dangle from the rope into the water.

The rope connecting the two pieces of PVC pipe is then stretched out to its full length, and the pipes are stuck into the sand on the bottom of the ocean in about 3-4 feet of water.

Next, the fishing professional (HA!!) ties chicken necks from the pieces of line that dangle into the water.

The chicken necks should then be dropped into the water, where they should just barely touch the bottom of the ocean.

Next, the fishing professional (again, HA!!) heads back to his tent on the beach and proceeds to drink a cold beer, a dacquiri, a wine cooler or some other adult beverage.



Jimmy, in preparation before checking crab lines



At this point the fishing professional then has to decide if one adult beverage - or two adult beverages - is sufficient before heading back into the water to check his crab lines.

Usually, it takes 2.

Then it's time to head back to the water to check the lines.

He slowly pulls up each line to see if a crab has attached itself to one of the chicken necks.

If so, he slides a small fishing net underneath the crab and drops his prey into the net.

And that's it !

Of course it takes many, MANY trips back and forth between the crab lines and the adult beverages

tent during the course of the day before one has enough crabs to make it worthwhile.

Yep, it takes dedication and hard work !



Dedication and hard work

We spent a long weekend in Grand Isle.

Didn't do much of anything except fish for crabs, cook, eat, cook, drink adult beverages, cook and eat.

Crab and shrimp boil



Allyson



Enjoying the fruits of our labor

So, another GREAT weekend with family.

There's absolutely nothing I'd rather be doing!

OK....I'd also like to play some occasional golf, but even that pales in comparison to spending time with family.

Especially in God's Country - South Louisiana !

Until next time... 

Smart Phone

I THOUGHT my BlackBerry was smart.

Or maybe I thought I was smart because I used a BlackBerry.

Apparently neither was true.

Due to the fact that my "company" recently decided to discontinue its support of the BlackBerry operating system, I was forced to change cellular devices.

Which meant that, if I didn't change to either an iPhone, a Windows-based device, or an Android by August 1, I would no longer be able to access my work emails or my on-line calendar.

I had no vote in the matter.

No surprise there.

I had been a loyal user of the BlackBerry for the past several years and had become quite comfortable with its keyboard, its ease of navigation through the various elements I use on a daily basis, and its compact size.

Yes, the BlackBerry had its limitations, but for my purposes it was the perfect work device.

Or so I thought.

As of Sunday I am now the owner/operator of a brand new Samsung android device - the Samsung Infuse 4G smartphone.

And it's pretty amazing!

It is FAR smarter than a BlackBerry.

Indeed, it is FAR smarter than I am !

(Which isn't saying a whole lot).

I have now been "on the smartphone system" for the past 3 days and I can already tell that I will come to love my new device.

(Maybe you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!)

It is FAR superior to the BlackBerry from the standpoint of the number of applications that are available for quick and painless download, the size and resolution of its 4 1/2-inch screen, and its adaptability to my company's system.

No, I am not a fan of the keyboard on the new smartphones, but I will quickly learn to live with it.

I DO know this...if I need any help trying to figure out my new device, 4 of my 6 grandchildren will probably be able to tutor me !!

One of the biggest adjustments for me, however, is the SIZE of the new Samsung device compared to my BlackBerry.

Wearing the new device on my hip is akin to carrying around one of those dorm-sized refrigerators! 

When I plugged the Samsung in to charge its battery at work yesterday, I swear I noticed the lights dimming in my office!

I have laid the old BlackBerry to rest in a large Ziplock bag, alongside all its accessories.

RIP BlackBerry; you lived a long and productive life.  Thanks for the memories !

Until next time....

Smoky Mountains

It's not often My Better Half and I get the opportunity to actually take a REAL vacation.

The problem is that her "busy" season is my "not-so-busy" season.

And vice versa.

But this summer we were determined to make it work.

A friend of mine has a vacation home in The Great Smoky Mountains.

Just up the mountain from a little town called Cosby, not far from Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

About 2,500 feet up the mountain!

Karen's sister and our brother-in-law from Houston drove over from Houston and we then made the 12 hour drive through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, a small tip of Georgia, and then into Tennessee.

We were treated to some of the most fantastic views of The Smoky Mountains you can imagine!

And these were just some of the views from the balcony of the home we stayed in for 6 days!!

We also made a day trip into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - which happens to be THE most visited national park in the United States.

In addition to "getting away from it all" for nearly a week and enjoying some of the most beautiful scenery we've seen in a very long time, it was nice to spend some family time with Barbie and Guy.

The plan was not to have a plan!  We didn't want to feel like we had to be anywhere at any given time.

The only "planned" activity we had was a trip down the Upper Pigeon River - a white water rafting trip that literally took our breath away!

We also enjoyed a half-day trip along a mountain route that included arts and crafts shops of all shapes and sizes, and included shops featuring glass-blowing, woodworking, pottery, jewlery, quilts, clothing, and more.



We even stumbled upon a traditional British pub, which somehow seemed a bit out of place in the Smoky Mountains, and lacked a lot when it came to service.  But we enjoyed a LONG lunch there before heading back up the mountain to the cabin.

Of course, all good things eventually come to an end and, as much as we hated to, we locked up the cabin and made the long drive back to The Swamp at the end of the week.

But the trip was an awesome "getaway" for all of us and we brought back lasting memories of an awesome vacation in the mountains of Tennessee!

Until next time....

Death of a BlackBerry

I am NOT a happy camper today.

It's not because I opened the sports page this morning and found that the Houston Astros have one of the worst records in major leage baseball and still find themselves in last place in their division.

For a life-long Astros fan, that fact is a bit disturbing but not at all unexpected.

And it's not because my golf partner and I had a bit of a rough day on the golf course yesterday and lost a two-shot lead heading into the final day of our golf club's Member-Member tournament.

(We did, however, manage to play well enough over the two-day event to finish 2nd).

No, what ticks me off today is learning that the company I work for has decided to no longer support the BlackBerry Enterprise Server effective August 1 !

Now you have to understand that I LOVE my BlackBerry.

Yes, I realize that there is better and more advanced technology out there these days.

But I am a hopeless addict to my BlackBerry !

It is my phone; it is my calendar; it is my camera; it is the device that stores all the music I enjoy listening to.

Heck, it is the email device I use even more than my PC at work !

But, for monetary reasons, The University has decided to no longer support its platform on our network.

Sure, I will still be able to use my BlackBerry as a phone, or to send and receive text messages.

What I will lose is the ability to wirelessly synch my BlackBerry with my office computer for emails, calendar entries and contacts.

Which - for me - renders my BlackBerry totally useless !

So, sometime between now and August 1, I will be forced to choose another device such as an iPhone, a Windows-based device, or an Android.

What the heck is an Android???

I know my BlackBerry inside-out.

I completely understand every feature my BlackBerry is capable of.

I can text, email, and post pictures to my Facebook page in mere seconds.

My fingers fly across my BlackBerry keyboard faster than a speeding bullet !

I can synch it up with my car stereo and listen to all my favorite music.

I can surf the net.

Heck, I could probably surf the Pacific ocean while surfing the net !

Well, if I knew how to surf, I probably could ...

So, this old dog is going to have to do some research and determine which new device I will be forced to purchase -- AND learn how to use -- before August 1.

But I don't have to be happy about it.

RIP, dear BlackBerry.

You've been good to me !

Until next time...

Almost Summer !

Waking up in South Louisiana this morning to a temperature of 44 degrees, it's hard to believe that summer is almost here!

According to area weathermen, the 44 degree temperature was a record low for this day in the Baton Rouge area, breaking the previous mark of 51 set back in 1956 - the year of my birth.

Despite the cool temperatures, there are definite signs in my little world that summer is just around the corner.

For one thing, the sports season at LSU is nearly over with.  Baseball, softball, and track are the only sports still competing - and their respective post-season tournaments are either currently underway or will begin soon.

Geaux Tigers !

Another sign that spring is nearly over with is that Mother's Day has come and gone.  And though I did not get a chance to spend Mother's day with my Mom in Houston, I was fortunate enough to host a Mother's Day gathering at our home with My Better Half, my two daughters and their families (including all 6 grandkids)!

Prior to our Mother's Day gathering, I got the opportunity to watch two of my oldest grandson Randy's flag football games for the first time!

Randy is very quickly budding into quite the little athlete, and scored his (and his TEAM's) first touchdown of the season this past weekend.  He took a handoff from his quarterback and dashed about 30 yards untouched and into the endzone!

Randy also begins his first season of "Coaches Pitch" baseball this summer.  Two of our other grandkids - Kaleigh (softball) and Conner (first year of tee-ball) - have also begun their summer seasons!

Conner is our 5-year old grandson.  He officially begins his summer today, as he graduated from kindergarten yesterday!!

Yes, kindergarten classes actually hold graduation ceremonies, complete with shirts, ties, caps and gowns!

Hard to believe our little man, Conner, will be a first grader in the fall !!

It is certain that this little dose of cool weather will pass through south Louisiana in the next day or so and our hot, humid, summer-like days will return.

It is also certain that I can be found on the golf course very, very soon.  Look for me there !!

Until next time...