From madness to letdown

 I just figured now was the time for the Northern Iowa logo. When else would I use it?

Come March, I have this tradition.

It consists solely of embarrassing myself with my NCAA Tournament bracket.

With the first weekend of the NCAA Touranment down, I’m still in the 95th percentile, which sounds like I’ve got this all figured out. And you know, I probably should. For a few years, I was paid to be a sportswriter. That should help.

But it always ends up like it did two years ago, when I filled out a bracket on facebook, which was stupid, because then anyone could see my bracket futility. Mine was so bad that year, I received the following message on facebook from another sportswriter friend of mine:

“I just wanted to let you know that you are the only friend I have on facebook whose bracket is worse than mine.”

Neat.

This year, my first weekend went great, but, since I had Kansas and Georgetown meeting up in the Final Four, I’m very aware that it’s not going to turn out well.

Actually, that’s how I feel about this tournament from this point on.

The first weekend was incredible, with upsets and buzzer beaters all over the place. It even involved Northern Iowa beating Kansas, which is a sentence I never thought I’d ever need to put together in my lifetime. I haven’t enjoyed a tournament this much in years.

What makes for a phenomenal first weekend however, can lead to a lackluster second weekend.

At least, that’s my fear this year.

Upsets are what make the first weekend so much fun. No one expects to see Ohio dismantle Georgetown (at least, I didn’t, which is why I put the Hoyas in my Final Four). No one even considers St. Mary’s having a chance over Villanova.

So we cheer the underdog and get excited when they improbably win.

But the next weekend, we have matchups where it’s even less likely underdog teams will win. Or at least, this round of top-seed teams won’t underestimate the underdogs because now the top teams know if they don’t take these teams seriously, they’ll get burned.

Here are the seed matchups this time for the Sweet 16:

No. 1 vs. No. 12
No. 2 vs. No. 11
No. 3 vs. No. 10
No. 2 vs. No. 6
No. 5 vs. No. 9
No. 1 vs. No. 5
No. 1 vs. No. 4
No. 2 vs. No. 6

I’m not saying these lower seed teams can’t win. Obviously, these teams can, or we would not be talking about them. But now, it’s the Sweet 16. There aren’t any teams that are sleep walking through these games. At this point, the Final Four looms just one week away. The elite teams aren’t messing around anymore.

In the first weekend, Cinderella teams get through on a little talent, a lot of heart and determination, and capitalizing on the fact that the top seeds thought they could take it easy and still win.

Now, it’s more about talent and coaching. And that’s when the big boys start to win out.

I just hope I’m wrong.

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Friday Favorites:

Friday Favorites

New beginnings: In February, I got engaged to my favorite person in the entire world. This week, I started a new job, which came when I needed it most. After a week, I really think I’m going to enjoy this job. This year has started well for me, and I feel incredibly blessed for that. 

NCAA Tournament Round 1: The first day was phenomenal. My fiancé and were watching one of those March Madness highlight shows, where they showed classic moments from the tournament. What did we notice? That all but one of the “classic” games occurred before the 2000s.  The tournament hasn’t been good in quite a few years. This one is shaping up to be interesting, after a very un-interesting year in college basketball. With many of the classic tourney teams gone (UNC, Connecticut, Arizona, UCLA) this year is wide open.

Williams and Sonoma: It won’t be good for my bank account but there’s one right near my work, and that makes me pretty happy.
 
Friday Fails

Not using your brain properly. Well, not you, me. You don’t use your brain, and you end up in East L.A. in a Disneyland-ish line to get your birth certificate and to top it all off, get a parking ticket too. I’m always thankful when a bunch of bad things happen in one day; that way I feel like I’m getting all out of the way for awhile.

Ron Washington- He’s handled the situation as well as he could in the aftermath, but cocaine? At 57? That is disconcerting, to say the least.

Wedding diet. I’m not really on one (surprising information, I’m sure) but I am trying to eat better and work out consistently. That said, working in a big office makes it nearly IMPOSSIBLE to eat healthy. Today there were TWO kinds of cake due to someone leaving, and tomorrow we’re all bringing breakfast stuff for someone’s birthday. I mean, what am I supposed to do with mint-n-chip ice cream cake? Watch other people eat it?

No.

One of my most importantly life rules: if there's mint-n-chip ice cream in the vicinity, don't let it melt.

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Q & A: Dave Roberts

I’m super excited for this week’s Q & A, because it’s with one of the nicest guys to ever put on a Major League Baseball uniform. Ask any baseball writer, player, manager, whoever, that’s been around Dave Roberts (I know several and can include myself in that group after covering the Padres in 2006), and they'll probably tell you the same thing.

You’ll get to hear from him about his new role with the Padres as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations and his take on Spring Training. He also gives us some restaurant suggestions.

But before we get to Dave, allow me a minute to talk about the awesomeness that is Spring Training.

Do the Spring Training games matter? No. Is Spring Training more exciting than the NCAA Tournament? Definitely no. Is a Spring Training game possibly the best way to spend an afternoon in the history of the world? Yes.

In March, the weather in Arizona has not reached its heatstroke-inducing heights yet. So basically, we’re talking about 80-85 degree days. You buy cheap tickets, lay out in the grass just over the outfield fence and watch baseball.

Do you really need to know anything more than that?

It’s also the best place, hands down, to interact with players and or baseball legends. You know, if you’re into that sort of thing.

True story: last year, my sister and I went to Arizona for a few days for Spring Training, and in the process of taking in a few games, got sunburned. As we were walking into Camelback Ranch for the first time, new Spring Training home of the Dodgers, someone behind us was making fun of our sunburned shoulders. It was Fernando Valenzuela.

So, with baseball season almost here (thankfully) I spoke with Dave Roberts via e-mail.

Yes, the Dave Roberts who stole one of the most famous bases in baseball history while with the Red Sox. That 2004 stolen base turned the fortunes of the Red Sox around and led to their first World Series title in eleventy billion years (That’s not the exact number. I’m just rounding down).

Here are his answers:

CC: What have you enjoyed so far about your new role as a special assistant?
DR: Getting to know and work with players has been a thrill. Also, having the access to the front office has given me a completely different perspective on baseball. Everyday is different and has made my transition from player to staff more intriguing.

CC: Why did you want to stay in the game of baseball after your playing days ended?
DR: It is something I have always wanted to do. Baseball has given me so much and I've always felt compelled to give back to this game in some capacity. 

CC: What does it mean to you to be able to have this position with your hometown team?
DR: Being back in a Padre uniform is really special to me. I don't think I would have taken this position in any other organization. The opportunity that I have been given by my hometown team was something I could not pass up. Geographically it makes sense for me and I believe in the organizational philosophies on and off the field.

CC: What do you enjoy most about Spring Training?
DR: I enjoy playing a bunch of day games and having the chance to go out to dinner. Having the fan interaction in a more laid back environment is always fun. It doesn't matter where you are in Spring Training; a sense of optimism always surrounds the teams.

CC: What is your schedule like during Spring Training in your new role?
DR: My Spring Training is pretty much double duty. I get to the park around 7:30 (a.m.) and leave around 5:00 (p.m.). The first part of my day is spent with the on-field staff and players and the second part is spent with the baseball operations staff. It has been quite an experience.

CC: What are some tips you have for fans to keep in mind who are visiting Arizona for Spring Training?
DR: Get to the park early and watch them do fundamentals and take batting practice. Also, it's much easier to get access to the players for autographs!
 
CC: Any restaurant suggestions?
DR: There are so many great restaurants in the Scottsdale area. My two favorites are Mastros Ocean Club (warm butter cake for dessert) and Sakana ( for sushi).

Again, a big thanks to Dave Roberts for taking the time to do the Q & A. If anyone goes out to Spring Training, I hope you enjoy it!

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The death of a streak

It truly was a remarkable streak.

As a 26-year-old, I have never lived in a world where the University of Arizona Wildcats stayed home during the NCAA Tournament.

Until this week.

I don’t want to wax poetic too much about my alma mater (obviously I sort of am, but I'll try not to get to poetic or waxy) but staying consistently good enough  to be in the premier post season tournament for your sport 25 years in a row is pretty impressive.

In college, I had the opportunity to cover the Arizona basketball team for the 2004-05 season for the Daily Wildcat (best newspaper job I ever had and it’s not even close). It was the last year the Wildcats made any sort of deep run in the tourney. It was the last season, before things started to fall apart for the program and Lute Olson.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime for me. I was fortunate enough to travel with the team all the way through to the Elite 8 in Chicago, and save for a ridiculous performance by Deron Williams and Illinois in the final minutes of regulation and overtime I would have gone to the Final Four (oh yeah, and save for an EPIC implosion by Arizona. Click here for my take on it. Please be nice. I was still in college). The team had Channing Frye and Hassan Adams, both eventually drafted by the NBA. 

In covering the team for a season, I couldn’t help but think it was a good time for Lute to walk away (everyone in Tucson simply calls him Lute, so I will too). The rigors of coaching are tough on someone in their 40s, let alone their 70s.

If he had retired that season, it probably would have turned out differently. But you know what they say about hindsight. The next season he was dealing with marital problems, and then later, health problems that forced him to retire. There was even some NCAA violations reported this year that occurred under Lute.

What’s sad is, the program he single-handedly put on the map, he also was responsible for bringing about its demise.

In past seasons, I thought watching the team was frustrating, because it had a wealth of talent but was inconsistent with its effort. I never felt that way about this season or even embarrassed that the Wildcats were left out of not only the NCAA Tournament but the NIT too. I felt like they were the doing the best with the situation they were given, which makes for a much more enjoyable, likeable team.

The program will be fine, and I think Sean Miller is building something good in Tucson (thank goodness the program avoided that Tim Floyd mess).

So, here is my bracket. My Arizona-less bracket:

Tournament Challenge

But don’t worry. The Wildcats will be back. Very soon.

Happy March Madness everyone!

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Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites:

Spring Training: There’s a line in the movie “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” a Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra movie, where Sinatra is standing at the spring training complex in Florida and gets excited about the coming season. He looks around nostalgically and says, “It happens to me every spring.” 

Me too. Baseball makes me happy. Spring Training makes me happy. Vin Scully makes me happy (the Dodgers themselves this season, however, make me terrified).

To talk about Spring Training and all of its awesomeness — seriously, if you haven’t been before, you’re missing out on one of the best ways to spend a spring afternoon —we’ll have a Q & A post on Tuesday with a former Major Leaguer. Hint: one of his stolen bases is one of the most famous in history. Check it out Tuesday!

Wildcat basketball: for the first time in my lifetime, my UA Wildcats will not be in the NCAA Tournament. It might sound like something that should go in the Friday Fails, but I put it here because that is a remarkable run. I’ll discuss this more in a post on Monday, but I don’t think their NCAA Tournament drought will last long.

Choosing a honeymoon spot: As my best friend says, “it will light at the end of the tunnel with all the wedding stuff.” Thinking about which resort we will stay at is so much more fun than thinking about what flowers to use. But maybe that’s just me.


Friday Fails:

Slacking Concession Stand: After a crazy couple of weeks, now I’m back to a normal schedule, so next week will be better. Promise.

University of Oregon football team: Let’s get it together guys.

The word “woot.” First, it’s not really a word. Second, there HAS to be a better way to express yourself when you are happy. I’m thinking about starting a personal crusade to rid the English language of this “word.”

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Tales of a Running Hater Part VI: The Stitch Edition

This week, I’m starting to feel it.

Week 4 of the Couch-to-5k program has come, and the length time of the running intervals are starting to get longer.

In my mind, and from my athletic background, running for five minutes straight is nothing. But, it’s been awhile since I was in any sort of running shape, so this week was the first of the program I really felt that it was starting to push my limits. Not that my limits are impressive. At all. 

The interval set was run for 3 minutes, walk for 90 seconds, run for 5 minutes, walk for 2 minutes and complete two sets.

In day 1, in the first five minute run, I got a cramp in my side. I worked it out and was fine for the rest of the run. On day 2, another cramp came and this time it lasted through most of the second set. It never hurt to the point that it forced me stop, but it did affect my speed on the last five minute run; I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted in the final couple of minutes.

So I looked up some info on cramps (or stitches, as they’re sometimes called) to hopefully avoid that problem tomorrow when I run day 3.

I read two articles to help me, one on WebMD and one on Cool Running and both said it’s more a breathing problem than anything else. If you learn nothing else from me in this life, remember that shallow breathing is bad. You can get stitches by simply not breathing deep enough. If you start breathing properly, a lot of times the stitch will go away.

When you get a cramp, it’s best to just slow down, even to a walk if necessary, until the stitch goes away. It usually won’t take too long to subside. 

There can be other contributing factors, like being dehydrated or eating too much before going on a run. Good breathing seems to be the key.

I’m coming up on the halfway point of this program, and I’m really glad I started it. As I mentioned in the previous Couch-to-5k posts (you can click here if you want to read them), I have never enjoyed running, but I wanted to challenge myself.

At first, I was struggling to stay motivated to do the runs. But now, I actually (gulp) look forward to run days. I can’t tell you how much better I feel on days I run. Even from start to finish of the run, my body feels drastically improved.

So, look out. I’m actually starting to enjoy this. Sort of.

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Sexual misconduct and sports

It’s something I don’t understand.

When a female accuses someone of sexual misconduct — especially when a female accuses a famous person or professional athlete on such charges — it seems like people immediately want to think, “She’s just a gold digger.”

I don’t have any personal experience in the matter, fortunately (both in getting raped or wanting to hook up with professional athletes. Once you've covered them on a daily basis, believe me, you wouldn't want to either). But, as a woman, I feel compelled to say something in light of this most recent Ben Roethlisberger situation.

Now of course, I don’t know what happened last week between Roethlisberger and the woman who is making the claims against him. So it’s possible the Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback will be found not guilty on all charges if this goes to trial. I’m not just talking about his situation specifically.

But, just look at the language in the media when a sexual misconduct situation arises. Maybe it started earlier than this, but the first time I remembering hearing it was the Kobe Bryant rape case, and that’s the phrase “Kobe’s accuser.” Or, Ben Roethlisberger’s accuser. It’s such a negative word. The phrase seems to completely separate Bryant or Roethlisberger from any involvement in the situation. Accuser makes it sound like some crazy person in the Salem witch trials getting up and screaming, “She’s a witch!” at some random person they don't even know.

In my mind, when I hear “possible victim” vs. “accuser”? it makes quite a difference in how I am going to view the person.

What if it was flipped? What if stories would say, “Possible rapist Kobe Bryant”? Or, “possible rapist Ben Roethlisberger”? Well, that’s not saying they committed the crime, so the media outlets are covered from any libel problems. But it puts Bryant or Roethlisberger in a negative light before all the facts are out. I think it’s important to be fair to both sides while the situation is being sorted out and the language used often doesn't do that.

It also frustrates me when people say (again, not just in these two situations specifically) “well, she put herself in that situation. It’s her fault.”Well yes, maybe some of these women were out at nightclubs, and maybe, they were hoping for attention from star athletes. Maybe, they were even hoping to hook up. But, if these women got in that situation, and at any point voiced that they were uncomfortable with what was happening, the other person needs to listen and stop.

It doesn’t matter who the person is, or what their profession is, or even how many people they’ve slept with. Everyone should have the chance to say, “hey, this makes me uncomfortable and I want to stop.” Sleeping around or wanting to hook up with athletes doesn’t make you are immune from getting raped.

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Tales of a Running Hater: Denver Edition

 

Yes, I did actually wear all of that at one time.

At 6:30 a.m. in Denver, which is 5:30 a.m. in my Los Angeles-based brain, I was laying in my warm bed trying to talk myself into getting up.

It was a serious battle in my head. But miraculously, I pulled myself out of bed. Three different times.

I put all of those clothes on and faced the snow-covered ground for Week 3 of the Couch-to-5k running program.

This was the first week that had a longer run. We’ve jumped up from running 90-second intervals to running a couple of 3-minute intervals. Still, not too bad. I know a difficult week is around the corner for me, but at this point, things have gone smoothly from a physical standpoint. I haven’t been sore afterwords. Running in the high altitude makes me breathe heavier than normal, but it hasn’t caused me near as many problems as I thought it might.

But I did come up against something new.

For the first time in my life, I had the chance to feel what it’s like to have my boogers start to freeze in my nose.

(At this point, I should mention despite wearing all those clothes at one time and writing about my boogers freezing, I did manage to get engaged this weekend. This probably surprises you that someone like that could actually find someone to propose to them. I won’t argue with you on that.)

Freezing boogers were only the first day, however. That was when the temperature was in the teens. Day 2, it was in the high 20s. Balmy. On Day 3, I didn’t even have to run with my gloves on. It’s like I’m a full blown Coloradoan now…except for the fact that I’ll NEVER wear shorts when the temperature is in the 40s, like everyone around here seems to. Other than that, it’s exactly the same.

Admittedly, I haven’t exactly gone by the book on the Couch-to-5k, because of getting sick and trying to fit runs in while I’m on a trip where I’ve worked some long hours. It hasn’t gone as smoothly as I had hoped in that department, but I have done all of the workouts required. Doing them in the proper time frame has proven to be a challenge for me.

Still, I am determined to finish, so I’m plugging away. In 12 layers of clothes.





 

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My Denver Surprise

 

I was dropping a bombshell on my brother and sister-in-law the first night I was here visiting them in Denver.

Or… so I thought.

“Bryan and I are talking about getting married,” I said, my eyes locked on anything but my brother and sister-in-law in the Cheesecake Factory on that Saturday night.

If you know me, you know this is an extraordinary statement. I’ve dated my fair share of fellows, and most of the time it ended with me fleeing in panic when things started to get serious.

So, the fact that Bryan and I had talked about getting married, AND the fact that I could verbalize that to another human being (in this case TWO human beings) is probably all you need to know about my feelings for Bryan.

My bro and sister-in-law were excited by this announcement, to say the least.

Five days later, after working a long week with my brother (I’m here to help him out on some projects at his work), we had Friday off, and my sister-in-law was off too. We were going to do some sightseeing.

Or… so I thought.

One of the cool places Travis had mentioned was Sloan’s Lake. Our plan was to go to lunch and then head out for some more tourist-type stuff.

Travis told me to dress nice; the place we were going to lunch was kinda fancy.

While we were driving, Sloan’s Lake appeared on the left.

“This is the lake I was talking about Mandy,” he said.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” I said.

And it was. The lake was beautiful; frozen over, with a view of downtown Denver to one side.

So beautiful, in fact, that Travis got impulsive.

Or… so I thought.

“You know what? Why don’t we just get out right now? Do you have your camera? We can take some photos. It’s a perfect day.”

“Yeah sure, that sounds good,” I said.

And it was a perfect day. Well, for Denver anyway. Perfect for this girl is 70 degrees by the beach. But this is Denver in February. So somewhere in the 40s with clear skies and sunshine is perfect. The sun felt warm when we got out of the car and walked around, stepping on chunks of melted ice and snow.

We came to a beautiful bridge. Travis took my camera and told me to stand a certain way. Emily made me turn my back to one entrance of the bridge, and then my brother started snapping photos of the two of us.

Or… so I thought.

Unbeknownst to me, he had the camera on the video function to record what happened next.

While Travis was “taking pictures” I saw a person coming over the bridge out of the corner of my eye. Emily stepped away from me and when I turned to see who it was, I realized that person looked pretty familiar.

It was Bryan. My Bryan. My Bryan who had talked to me on the phone the night before from Los Angeles.

Or... so I thought.

I — being a graceful and soft-spoken lady at all times — shouted something like “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” about three octaves higher than I thought possible. You know, in a good, completely stunned sort of way.

I barely got those words out of my mouth, and he was down on one knee. On one knee with a white box. On one knee with a white box that contained something rather shiny.

“I love you very much,” he said.

And um, I honestly don’t remember the rest because I think I was rather close to going into shock. But you know, those are the only words I need to remember.

I assume he said something like, “Will you marry me?” because of the whole ring-and-on-one-knee situation, and also because at some point I remember saying something eloquent like, “Yes. Yes. My answer is yes.”

But mostly, I was stunned that it was all happening.

I think I was stunned because I really wasn’t sure it would ever happen for me. In my mind, the chances that anyone would come around that would make my life so much better, or fill it with so much laughter and happiness seemed slim to none.

Or… so I thought.

 

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