Sweet 16?

I'm not talking about March Madness anymore. It's April. Kansas made it past the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight, the Final Four and won the NCAA tournament in an historic comeback win over Memphis in overtime (just realized I never posted about the championship game...I think I've been in shock all week). No, I'm talking about Sweet 16 birthdays.

As I mentioned in my last post, Monday was Shelby's 16th birthday. Well, tonight is Shelby's Sweet 16 birthday party. So, here I sit, trapped in a house with a dozen teenage girls. And I find myself wondering, "What's so sweet about 16-year-olds?

Actually, Shelby's friends are good kids. Yes, they all talk at the same time at a decibel level equivalent to a Ted Nugent concert, but at least they're here, having fun being silly, rather than out causing trouble. But sweet? Not sure that's the right adjective.

When I think back to my own 16th birthday party, I wasn't exactly sweet myself. And I wouldn't say the day itself was sweet, either, but it was a day to remember. May 15, 1980. I had a forensics tournament that day. No, I wasn't studying to be a Crime Scene Investigator. I was on the speech team. And since the tournament was right after school, I got to wear a suit to school (I know, hard to believe a geek like me was one of the "cool kids" in high school).

My family picked me up at West Springfield High School after the tournament and took me to the local Mickey D's for my birthday dinner. So, there I am eating a Big Mac in my best corduroy suit (above left, circa 1980) with my mom and dad, little sister Denise and brother Evan (at left, circa 1982, after I had caught up with the fashion trends of the 80s!). I wasn't a happy camper. In protest, I refused to let them bring gifts into the restaurant.

On the way home from my "Sweet 16 Party" at McDonald's I let loose on my parents. "I can't believe you had my 16th birthday party at McDonald's...you threw a surprise party for Jon (my older brother) on his 16th!"

"We did?" they said, as if they didn't remember.

"Don't you remember?" I said, "It was at Happy Joe's" (Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor in Topeka, KS). But they still didn't remember...or so I thought.

When we got home (at left, our house in Burke, VA), I stomped up the walk, ready to escalate the protest into a full-on tantrum. But when I opened the door I was greeted by (you guessed it) all my friends. My parents had very cleverly -- no cruely -- orchestrated the ultimate surprise party.

Ah. Sweet 16. High school. If I could transport myself back in time...I wouldn't. Skinny. Awkward. Braces. Hair (on our heads, but not on our chests). Girls (scary, wonderful, mean girls). Would you go back?

Maybe knowing what I know now I would...nah.

[Above, from left: Brad Phillips, Kevin Galligan and my brother Jon; At left: the Kavanaugh brothers, Steve and Mike]


But I can look back with fond memories. And I can try my best to make it less painful for Shelby, by not trying too hard. Our little girl isn't a little girl anymore (at left with my dad, three days old). In two short years she'll be off to college.

Our job as parents in the next two years is to start letting go...and hang on as long as we can.

Daren

Win One for the Shelbers!

Today is my daughter Shelby's 16th birthday. It also happens to be the day Kansas plays Memphis for the NCAA basketball championship. Shelby isn't happy about it. She'd prefer not to share her birthday with the Jayhawks, which I can understand. But the fact that the game falls on her birthday brings back lots of memories of the day she was born.

[Above: Shelby is "all smiles" as she opens presents this morning; At Left: the infectious grin we haven't seen since she became a teenager]

I'll never forget the night before she was born, April 6, 1992, sitting down to watch the Duke/Michigan NCAA title game. I was settling in to watch the game on my new RCA 35" big tube TV when Leslie got home from work at the Treasury Dept. She had worked late, as she often did those days, supporting Secretary Nicholas Brady in the Bush I Administration. This particular night she arrived home saying she felt "unprepared" for the impending birth, even though her due date was still three weeks off. Must have been her motherly intuition kicking in for the first time.

The fact is we weren't prepared. The crib had arrived, but was still sitting in a box waiting for me to assemble. The Dutailier glider-rocker had not arrived. The nursery was not ready for the baby and I was afraid Leslie was going to make me put the crib together that night instead of watching the game. This was obviously unnecessary since a first child never comes three weeks early! So as a diversion, I suggested she go pack her overnight bag and she'd feel better. To my surprise, it worked.

Leslie left me alone in the basement of our Alexandria, VA, duplex to watch the game. It wasn't a great game. Many people think it was one of the worst finals in the history of the tournament (Duke won by 20) despite the hype around Michigan's then famous, now-scandalous Fab Five. How could it compare to the East Regional final when Duke beat Kentucky on Christy Laettner's last-second turn-around jumper? I can't stand Duke or Laettner but that was a classic March Madness game.

Anyway, Shelby woke us up around 3:00 to go to the hospital. It was a good thing Leslie had her bag packed (thanks to my brilliant suggestion!), although there was no mad dash to the hospital. Leslie even got on me for driving too slow (a first) as we headed through Alexandria on GW Parkway towards George Washington University Hospital (known for being the place where President Ronald Reagan was taken after being shot in 1981).

Less than 9:00 hours later, Shelby Faye Williams was born.

[At left: The day we brought Shelby home from the hospital...note that I was wearing a Jayhawks shirt...a good sign!]

So here we are 16 years later. Tonight we're celebrating Shelby's birthday by watching the Jayhawks play for the NCAA title. I hope we're all smiling when the game is over like she used to when she was a baby!

Let's go Jayhawks...win one for the Shelbers!

Daren

Goodbye Roy; Respect Our Self

Time to let it go...all the bitterness towards Roy Williams many Kansas fans have felt since he left Kansas to go home to Carolina. Last night's game proved once and for all that Kansas basketball is better off without ol' Huckleberry. Sure, he gave Kansas 15 great years...no championships, but a lot of good basketball, a lot of "dadgumits" and a lot of tears.

I think this line from a story I read this morning sums it up best:

Roy Williams taught Kansas all about how to handle cruel, crushing disappointments.

Bill Self schooled the Jayhawks on how to dish out some pain of their own.

Kansas left its former coach in the dust Saturday night...

-- Eddie Pells, AP

Time to let Roy go home (after all, he left five years ago). Let's all give him a big group hug and wave goodbye. He's headed home today and the Jayhawks are staying in San Antonio to play in the title game Monday night.

I'll still keep that picture of me with Roy at the 2002 Final Four in Atlanta (one of those bitter disappointments -- how could you lose to Maryland with Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, and Drew Gooden on the same team?) on the bookshelf in the study with other memorabilia from Roy's days at KU, along with the "Oh Danny Boy" Sports Illustrated cover (from the 1988 Championship under Larry Brown) and the signed programs from the 70s (when Ted Owens was coach).

Roy is just another former Kansas coach in my book.

Bill Self is the KU coach now and he has earned the adoration of Kansas fans once reserved for Roy. Ever-humble Roy even admitted that he got outcoached last night. Self had his players better prepared, relaxed (for the first 15 minutes at least) and ready to go. He even did a better job of coaching down the stretch, calling timeouts when the Jayhawks looked rattled (something Roy always refused to do and didn't do in the first half last night).

I like our chances in the finals with Bill at the helm more than I ever did with Roy. I love all the talk about how KU might be too emotionally drained from last night's game to win on Monday night. Haven't the pundits paid attention to how Bill got his players ready to play Carolina? It wasn't by buying in to the emotion of KU fans who deperately wanted to beat Roy. It was by focusing on winning a basketball game. I'm confident he'll have them ready to play Monday night.

Bring on Memphis. May the best team win.

Rock Chalk!

Daren

Beautiful Day, Part II

KU WINS!!!! ROCK CHALK, BABY!! Cinderella has left the ball. Bring on Roy's baby blue boys.

What a game. Davidson is a great team. Underrated. A 10 seed? Are you kidding me? The tournament committee must have forgotten that they played UNC, Duke and UCLA back in November and December, losing by 4, 6 and 12, respectively. Nevermind that two of those teams are in the Final Four. Davidson didn't lose a game in 2008...until today.

I rode my new Cannondale Synapse 3 on my CycleOps Fluid2 indoor trainer during the first half of the game, working off nervous energy. The game started slow, and so did I, trying out my cycling legs for the first time since September 22, 2007. But getting back on a bike was kind of, well, like riding a bike.

I worked on keeping my cadence above 90 rpm, something I think riding on an indoor trainer will help me improve on. After all, it's Lance's secret to success. During commercials I revved up to 100-110 rpms. Thank goodness college basketball timeouts are only 30 and 60 seconds long (except for those darned TV timeouts)! This routine made for a nice interval workout, and helped me survive the stress of the first half.

After showering at the half I settled in to the couch to watch the second half but found that sitting still was a problem as the game see-sawed back and forth. KU leading by 6, Davidson leading by 4, KU leading by 6 again, Davidson cutting it to 2 on a Stephen Curry three-pointer with one minute remaining. It was torture...but the Jayhawks prevailed and all's well that ends well.

It's another beautiful day in Castle Rock, CO.

Daren

Beautiful Day

Today had to be a top ten day in my lifetime. Seriously. First thought of the day as I woke up was that the Kansas Jayhawks won last night to advance to the Elite Eight. As the sun rose in the east and began to light up the mountains outside our bedroom window, it was clear that today would be one of those sunny blue sky Denver days we've come to expect (Denver ranks as the ninth sunniest city in the US behind Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, El Paso, Fresno, Sacramento, Albuquerque and Los Angeles...in that order...followed by sunny San Diego at number 10).

After lounging in bed for a while we finally crawled out from under the covers and I took my first shower since my shoulder surgery 10 days ago. May not seem like much, but it was so nice to stand under the hot running water and not have to wash my hair in the sink (I had to keep the wound dry until they removed the staples at my follow-up appointment yesterday).

Next on the agenda we took Casey to the dog park. Hanging out at the dog park drinking a latte on a sunny Saturday morning has become one of our favorite weekend activities. Casey loves it, too, especially when her friend Duke (unfortunate name but cool Golden Retriever) shows up, as he did today.

But here's where the day gets REALLY good. After dropping off Casey at home for a good nap we drove to Treads in Parker to pick up MY NEW BIKE! What a sweet ride. Well, I haven't actually ridden it yet, but it looks sweet! This afternoon I got it set up in our study/exercise room (right next to leslie's elliptical trainer) on a CycleOps Fluid2 indoor trainer and am planning to go for my first "ride" tomorrow.

Wait...the beautiful day keeps getting better. Leslie, Casey and I went for a 3-mile hike late this afternoon, heading straight out our back door to the top of Williams Ridge (pictured at top and left), heading south along the ridge. Within minutes of our house we climbed to the top of the mesas for unbelievable views of the Front Range from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak.

Could it get any better? Sure it could. For dinner tonight I grilled up a big thick Coleman Natural Beef ribeye and two romaine hearts for Leslie's new grilled romaine salad with roasted garlic aioli...which she ripped off (and improved) from the Phillips Chop House in Kansas City (we ate there twice when back in KC for the Big 12 Tournament -- very good).

Check out that grill work (above)...perfect medium rare on the steak. I sear my steaks directly over the coals for five minutes per side, then move them to the other side, cover the grill and let my Weber Kettle do it's magic for another 15-20 mins (to get the perfect steak everytime, follow these three easy steps). For the romaine hearts, I just put them on the grill (over the coals) for about 3 minutes after taking the steak off (it needs to rest for about five mins before cutting anyway). Leslie drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette over the lettuce before grilling, then topped with the roasted garlic aioli and some fresh ground pepper before serving. Yummy!

Last week the vegan community staged "National Meat Out Day" so I declared today, "National Eat Beef Day" and urged all my family to eat beef for dinner. I figure the impact my family alone had on beef consumption yesterday was bigger than a bunch of vegans not eating meat for a day!

Only thing that could have made the day any better is if Louisville had beaten North Carolina in tonight's east regional final. Would have been fun to see Roy Williams cry after watching him shed tears year after year when KU's season ended early under his reign as the coach of the Jayhawks. Oh well, KU just needs to beat Davidson tomorrow to earn a matchup with Roy's baby blue boys in the Final Four so we can send Roy, Tyler and Co. home early ourselves!

Let's just hope Sunday is half as good. Rock Chalk, baby!

Daren

March Madness

Sitting at the airport in Kansas City waiting for my flight back to Denver after a week-long trip which took me to San Antonio and then to KC for the Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament. What a week! Actually, it has been a crazy seven weeks on the road -- Reno, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Austin, Manhattan (KS), Dallas, San Antonio, and KC. [At left: Going for a run on San Antonio's famed Riverwalk]

I'm really looking forward to laying around this week recovering from my collarbone surgery tomorrow! As Jimmy Buffet sang, "I must confess, I could use some rest. I can't run at this pace for very long!" (from "Tryin' to Reason with Hurricane Season")

The past four days in KC have been a great way to lead into rehab...for my collarbone! My wife Leslie, brother Jon, cousins Wiley and Ryan, and college buddy Tom all met in KC to cheer on our beloved Kansas Jayhawks. Four days of basketball, beef and beer (not too mention several fine bottles of Chateau Montalena and Far Niente!). And, of course, KU won.

The new Sprint Center arena and Power and Light District (bars and restaurants) have definitely changed the appearance and attraction of downtown KC. [At left: Leslie, me, Ryan, Wiley and Jon enjoy a pre-game beverage in the Power and Light District]

There is still a lot work to be done to revitalize downtown KC, but the new arena and P&L District are a great start. For KC's sake, I hope the famous line from Field of Dreams -- If you build it...they will come -- proves true in this case.

The final game of the tourney between Kansas and Texas was well worth the price of admission (about $150 from scalpers on the street). It was one of the best games I have ever seen live. [At left: Ryan, Jon and Wiley at the Big 12 Championship Game]

KU coach Bill Self likened the game to the first half of the 1988 National Championship game played at KC's old Kemper Arena. Kansas and Oklahoma met in that classic battle between two Big 8 teams (and, of course, KU won!).

The first half of the '88 NCAA Championship game ended 50-50 as both teams scored at will. The 2008 Big 12 Championship game was played at a similar frenzied pace with both teams draining threes all afternoon (KU hit a Big 12 tournament record 15 and Texas hit 12 in 28 attempts). Texas led by one point at halftime and KU still trailed by one late in the game before closing with a 14-3 run to win by 10 (84-74).

The similarity between the two games was captured by KU coach Bill Self in the following interview with the Lawrence Journal-World...

“It is pretty corny, but at halftime I told the team in front of Danny (Manning, assistant coach) ... I said, ‘That’s probably as good a half of basketball played in Kansas City since the ’88 championship game,’” Self said of a 50-50 halftime score in KU’s 83-79 victory over Oklahoma on April 4, 1988, at Kemper Arena.

“I asked Danny, ‘What happened the second half of that game?’ He said the game slowed down and we guarded. That’s what happened today. We defended and rebounded the ball much better the second half and played about as complete a game as we’ve ever played.”

Is this a sign that KU will return to the NCAA Championship game this year in San Antonio? Who knows. But I do know this: as I head back to KC and prepare for surgery tomorrow I am looking forward to the start of the greatest sporting event on Earth.

Bring on March Madness!

Daren

Bienvenidos a Mi...Casper?

In the past week I have gone from Denver to Miami to Casper, Wyoming. I think I'm suffering from jet lag...and culture shock! Don't get me wrong. I love the contrast. The diversity of geography and culture in our country is immense. God Bless America.

Last week's trip to Miami for the Orange Bowl was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure with my two bros, Jon and Evan, cousins Wiley and Ryan, and my oldest nephew, Alex (on his first big-time trip with "the boys").

[Above (from left): Me, Jon, Evan, Wiley, Alex and Ryan]

The purpose of the trip was to celebrate Ryan's 50th by watching the Jayhawks beat Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl with down low tickets on the 50-yard-line (Kansas Gov. Sebelius was about 10 pp down on the 45!).

[Above: Me, Ryan and Evan celebrating the Jayhawks win at the Orange Bowl]

The adventure began when I met Jon at DIA Wednesday morning, January 2. He arrived on a flight from Sacramento a few minutes before I arrived (from Castle Rock). Sitting in the airport lounge we watched the sunrise before boarding our flight to Miami. The four-hour flight flew by...literally and figuratively. Upon arriving in Miami we met up with Ev and Alex, who arrived via Atlanta on a separate flight from Sacto (long story). Wiley and Ryan arrived an hour and a beer or two later from St. Louis.

After a seemingly short ride to the Fountainbleau, we checked in, got dressed up, and headed out to dinner at The Forge.

It's hard for me to describe Ryan's 50th birthday dinner at The Forge because all I can remember is the BEEF! We all ordered the bone-in ribeyes with a variety of "family-style" sides and a magnum of Far Niente (compliments of Joweyums). Ryan's birthday "candle" was more like a fireworks show. Call the Fire Marshall!

Now, I've had a few bone-in ribeyes in my life...but these were the best-tasting, biggest-boned, ribeyes I have ever seen! Seriously. I work for the beef industry. But I have never seen a bone-in ribeye on the WHOLE rib bone. Check out the picture (above). Ignore my balding head (and my Prada shades). Look at that bone! Crazy. Yummy.

Dinner that night was a story in-and-of-itself. Ev disappeared... Joweyums went in search...Alex and Ryan closed their eyes to it all...Wigman arranged fireworks..and I immersed myself in dinner...figuratively and literally!

Alex, Ryan and Ev retired after dinner while Joweyums, Wiggy and I headed to South Beach. It was that night, when we left Fountainbleau, that we found the windiest spot in Miami. Apparently, the circular drive in front of the Fountainbleau experiences hurricane-force winds on a daily basis. Seriously. Check out the picture of me attempting to take off in human flight (forever dubbed the "David Blaine" pic by Evo the next day).

From there, DB magically transported us to Mangoes, the Mansion and back to the Fountainebleu safe and sound, ready for game day. The Orange Bowl trip had only just begun...stay tuned to DDublog for "the rest of the story."

Daren

'Tis the Season...for Beef!

Today we headed out for our annual Christmas Tree Hunt. I'm not talking about a hunt through the basement for the tree-in-a-box...or through the local Boy Scout troop's roadside pre-cut tree stand. We prefer real Christmas trees...and we prefer to cut our own.

Cutting our own tree has been a family tradition for several years. A Sunday afternoon trip to the Christmas Tree farm outside Olathe, KS. Until we moved to Colorado last year and moved into our new home in the middle of the Great Blizzard of '06! We were lucky to have a small evergreen plant to decorate last year.

But we resumed the tradition this year. Living in Colorado you'd think there'd be plenty of cut-your-own Christmas Tree farms around. So we Googled "Colorado Christmas Tree Farms" and found one listed in Douglas County called "U-Cut Tree Farm." So we headed out with great anticipation on a beautiful bright sunny but cold December day to find the perfect tree.

Now, I'm no Clark Griswold, but I had hoped for something a little more picturesque than the U-Cut Xmas Tree Farm in Franktown. Other than the incredible views of Pikes Peak in the distance (just to the left of Shelby's right elbow in the picture above), the "tree farm" consisted of 10 acres of scraggly pines that make Charlie Brown's tree look good. Seriously. But we made the best of it and found one that looked like it needed a good home and cut 'er down, straped 'er on and drove 'er home.

We got home just in time to watch the KU men's basketball team beat the USC Trojans in Los Angeles. In between watching the game we had fun trying to find my brother Jon, his wife Betty and their children Alex, Brandon, and Kristina among the crowd. It wasn't too hard because they were sitting with my cousin Wiley and his kids, Preston and Becca four rows behind the KU bench!

[Above, from left: Kristina, Wiley, Jon (black shirt) congratulate KU coach Bill Self after an impressive road win over the USC Trojans]

Anyway, we spent the rest of the afternoon putting up the tree, outdoor Christmas lights and the cresche my grandmother Angell hand-painted (she made one for each of her four children and 12 grandchildren). Each year we take turns placing the figurines the way we think they should be arranged (who gets a better seat at Jesus' birth, the three kings, sheperds or animals?).

This year I made sure the animals got a front seat. And of course the bovine earned a special place next to the manger with Mary and Joseph!

This prompted my daughter to start crafting a new version of the Christmas story entitled, "Jesus' First Steak." I kid you not.

After all, the beef industry has been very very good to us this past year. So to top the day off we sat down to two tasty Omaha Steaks top sirloin steaks for dinner...compliments of my brother Jon. Thanks, bro!

Daren