Sports Madness

I apologize to all my readers out there (Mom, Dad, Uncle Steve) for not posting any entries for a while. My life has been just so crazy and it's all revolved around sport.

As I mentioned many months ago I started refereeing youth soccer as a method of flexible secondary income. It is some of the easiest money I have ever made and the most difficult at the same time. Concrentration is key. Focus is essential. Taking you eye off play for just a moment could mean the difference between the right call and the wrong call. And when you make the wrong call, the whole world lets you know it. As an official sports official myself, I now have much more respect for the men in zebra suits (basketball, hockey, football), umpires, and highliter yellow (thank you MLS) who do this professionally at a much highler level than a U-14 girls game.

In my never ending quest for adventure, challenge, and self inflicted suffering- I signed up for a triathlon. For as old as he is, my dad can still talk a good game and back it up. He did his first tri at an age much older than mine so I felt obligated to do one of these things. Not to mention a girl from my church group called me out. I wasn't about to let that happen. Training has been interesting. I haven't swam laps in a pool since or on a running program since high school. Biking isn't an issue since I'm fit on the bike since my Little 5 days. Plenty of soreness has taken place in the place few weeks as muscles that haven't been used in a while are brought back to life.

Despite being hotter than hell in the summer (which it is right now), Texas has an incredible musis scene dating all the way back to Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson who rebelled from the pomp of Nashville and went home to Austin. Last weekend I went to a new Houston venue called the Merdian to see alt-country band Old 97. Their sound was a modern Johnny Cash. Rock music with a two-step beat. The show rocked and played a double encore. I've never seen that before.

Plenty of good soccer has been going on lately. The MLS season is in full swing. The Dynamo are finally starting to play better which makes selling their tickets much easier. The European Championships begin tomorrow which will make for some great television viewing on the ESPN family of networks. I'm glad ESPN is finally starting to see the value of soccer. In fact, the championship game will broadcast on ABC.

How awesome is it to have a Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals! Finally, there is a match-up people actually care about. I have to admit this is the first time I've cared about the NBA in a long time. I love watching the old footage of Magic Johnson and, of course, the Hick from French Lick/State Bird of Indiana himself Mr. Larry Bird.

We might also have our first Triple Crown winner this year which is something the sport of horse racing desperately needed.