2008 MLB - HALFWAY MARK

Usually the All-Star game marks the halfway point of the season but since all 30 teams have played at least 81 of their 162 games, here's some observations.

* Who has the best record in the American League -- The Tampa Bay Rays! Who in the world would have thought that would happen? Really?!?

* The Detroit Tigers might have finally turned their $137 million salary around. For the first all season they are over the .500 mark

* The NL West is a bad division. I thought that Arizona was going to walk away with that division but since they are leading with a 41-41 record, that equals a bad division

* Glad to see the Yankees are finally playing better. They may not win the division but a wild card spot seems very possible

* Josh Hamilton went from No. 1 draft pick in '99 to almost done with his career because of substance abuse problem to the AL's MVP at the halfway point. Amazing!

JUNE RUNNING

At the halfway point of 2008, here's some of the stats from the month was June ... The June Running Stats:

Total Miles Run - 77.57 (according to mapmyrun)
Days of Running - 15
Longest Run - 8.5 miles
Approx. calories burned - 10,219

Really tough running month since I was recovering from the marathon. I never thought it would take as long as it has. I guess it is just part of "the beauty" that comes with running that far.

In 2008 I have logged approx. 701 miles and I am still well on my way to running at least 1,000 miles for the year.

L.A BOUND ... PART II

I think that I have told everyone that "needs to know" but just wanted to post a few thoughts about the whole thing. If I didn't tell you and you felt you should have found out through me rather than the blog, please accept my apologies!

So at the end of July I'm packing up whatever I can into my CRV and making the 2100 miles journey to Los Angeles. Anyone wanted to buy some cool baseball memorabilia not to mention some other random things from my apartment?

For seemingly two years I have pondered what living out in southern California would look like. I have thought out every pro and con possible. So many things have aligned to make this move possible. I have a place to stay, I have funds in place, I have finished my masters degree, my lease is complete, etc. The only thing that makes the move a little scary is I have no job.

Do I wish that I had a job secured before I went out there? Sure I do but you can't make a difference in the world with taking action steps. Thinking is good and all but without action it really doesn't matter (see James 2:20-26, the Abraham story is something that has constantly been running through my head).

If I don't have a job secured before I move out there, that's the first thing I will get done. You know, it is kind of important! ;-) ... After that, I am really excited to get back along the skid row area. Whether that means as a volunteer or an employee, there's something about helping out in that area that advances God's Kingdom.

I am almost 30 years old and I feel like my life is really starting to begin. By no means do I feel like the first 29 years didn't mean anything. Man, I have learned so much over that time but something feels so much more exciting about this move than anything else I have done. With that excitement it may mean failure or maybe amazing success but either way I am committed to keeping a teach-able and hopefully a humble spirit.

RON POPE

So here's a new musical interest that recently hit my radar screen.

Ron Pope

"I am dreaming of Los Angeles as the winter closes in ..."

He kind of has this David Gray, Howie Day meets The Fray type sound.

REALITY TV

Reality TV isn't really "my thing" but after last night, I might have found my something very interesting in the reality TV genre.

Who needs to hand out birth control pills when you have Baby Borrowers?

Granted there are a few things that could be tweaked to help the show but for the most part it is something every teenager who is thinking about being a parent should watch.

SWITCH-HITTER vs. SWITCH-PITCHER

I have never, ever seen anything like this ...

Here's the deal, if you are a right handed batter it benefits you if the pitcher is left handed and then vice versa for a left handed batter against a right handed pitcher. This is semi-ridiculous but some what funny as well.

THEOLOGY OF CREATIVITY

During a trip to Mars Hill on Sunday morning the team teaching of Jeanette Banashak and Don Perini focus on creativity and what that means in relations with Matthew 28 and the Great Commission. Where do our creative ideas and thoughts come from?

10 Idea Friendly Places/Times

- Shower/Bath
- Driving
- Toilet
- Falling asleep or waking up
- During a boring meeting
- Reading
- Exercise
- Waking in the middle of the night
- Listening to a church sermon
- When doing manuel labor

GAS PRICES

This was pulled straight from Relevant Magazine's Daily Slice:

According to experts, Americans are now being overcharged on the price of gas. In related news, novices are now saying that experts are being overpaid for stating the painfully obvious.

AND, on a local note, has anyone noticed that gas prices have dropped sharply in the South Bend area? The Marathon station in Roseland has gone from $4.15 to $3.79 in less than two weeks.

ONE MONTH LATER ...

... It's been exactly one month since the Bayshore Marathon and I think I'm at (or very close to) 100% again. I read that it takes about 30 days to fully recover from running 26.2 miles and I won't argue with that. I recommend ice after running any distance covering 3 miles or more.

I have been taking things real easy since May 24 and have topped out on my longest run at 8.5 miles. Hopefully soon I will be able to get back into double-digit long runs (10+ miles) but I would rather listen to what my legs are telling (or screaming to) me before pushing it too far.

My next race is this Saturday at the Warsaw Optimist Triathlon. Not sure how it will go but as long as I make it out of the swim portion alive, I'll be happy!

Run On ...

TOP 10 SPORTS FILMS

Last week there was a special on TV listing the top 10 sports movies ever made according to AFI - here. Some good picks indeed but there were certainly some head scratching choices as well. Here's my top 10 sports movies:

10) Major League
9) Chariots of Fire
8) The Rookie
7) Jerry Maguire
6) Remember the Titans
5) Miracle
4) Hoosiers
3) Rocky
1b) Bull Durham
1a) Field of Dreams

You know as I look at this list, I just realized that five (Chariots of Fire, Rookie, Titans, Miracle, Hoosiers) of them are based on actual events and one (Bull Durham) might as well be based on actual events. Maybe I'm just a sucker for real underdog stories.

I have not seen Raging Bull so that may have made my list. The honorable mention goes to Pride of the Yankees, The Natural and Caddyshack who are just not quite there in my view.

SHORT ON CASH?

Since gas and food costs are rising, here's my creative list of things to do when short on cash and you live in the South Bend area --

1) Go to Silver Beach (St. Joseph, Mich.)
2) Walk, Bike, Run around Notre Dame
3) Putt-Putt (I prefer Hackers in Niles, Mich.)
4) Mt. Baldy and the Indiana Dunes
5) Chill at Barnes/Noble or the Chocolate Cafe
6) Silver Hawks game
7) Volunteer (somewhere/anywhere)
8) Concerts, Fireworks in the Park
9) Visit a Garage Sale
10) Take in an event at the Morris Center

USA OLYMPIC SOFTBALL TEAM

So I really had this neat little experience on Thursday morning. The USA Olympic Softball Team did a Sports Illustrated photo shoot on the Saint Mary's campus.

It is truly amazing to watch how much effort goes into a single photo shoot. The whole event took about 90 minutes and they took upwards of 200 pictures. For all that time, energy and effort Sports Illustrated will probably use 2-4 photos for their Olympic preview issue. Keep in mind that setting up and tearing down the shoot took at least eight hours. I'm very curious to see what the photos final look like when the issue is published.

The cool thing about the whole thing was just to be able to interact with the players. Some of them have already one at least one gold medal in a previous Olympics. If they win gold in Beijing, it will be the fourth straight gold medal for this team. It can even be argued they are the best international team - ever!

Our softball coach, trainer and one of the players at Saint Mary's got to get a few photos with the team so that was really quite cool to be apart of that.

(I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to post this picture. So if I should take it down just let me know.)

DUMB CHOICE

First read this article by Rick Reilly - here.

This is perhaps the dumbest decision in the history of organized athletics. Even if the umpire isn't giving you the calls you think you deserve you don't take a purposeful dive so he get nailed in the head with a fastball. Dumb!

I am glad the catcher can't try-out for the college team anymore. Serves him right! One can only hope the possible court case rules in strong favor of the umpire.

Umpires do the best they can. They are human to. They won't get every call right but they don't deserve this kind of punishment. I'm glad the players got caught in this dumb little idea.

US OPEN

The 2008 US Open may have been the best golf tournament - ever.

Think about all the extra factors that went into making this event absolutely stunning. The No. 1 ranked player in the world against a player who is ranking 156th and barely qualified to make it into the main field. Tiger Woods playing his first tournament after knee surgery. Not one but two birdies on the 18th hole to force extra holes.

I like Tiger Woods and hope that he wins 20+ majors before he retires but in some way I was hoping the cinderella story that Rocco Mediate was playing out would come true. He truly raised his game to an amazing level and he's a guy that you enjoy rooting for because you can tell he is having fun.

The tournament was billed as No. 1 (Tiger) vs. No. 2 (Phil Mickelson) since the two were paired together in the opening rounds but it No 1 vs. No. 156 produced much better drama. I am sure the executives at NBC were happy to see their decision to use the three-hour west coast time difference to their advantage. Showing golf in prime worked after all.

JACK JOHNSON

It was just a chill concert.

You know those moments when you are able to tune out all that extra crap that gets in your head? Experiencing a Jack Johnson concert is a lot like getting "lost" for two hours. It is the perfect remedy for dealing with stress and junk while having a good time all the while.

This is my best remembrance of the set list. It's probably a little bit out of order but he definately played a ton of good stuff.

Hope

The Horizon Has Been

Bubble Toes

Taylor

Inaudible Melodies

Flake

Upside Down

Sexy Plexi

If I Had Eyes

Banana Pancakes

Girl I wanna Lay You Down

Breakdown

Staple it Together

Posters

Monsoon

All at Once

Go On

Plastic Jesus

Fall Line

Angel

Better Together

I'm not sure I would be in a big hurry to see another one of his shows like a Springsteen or Norah Jones concert but it was well worth the experience to see him once. It was the most laid back concert I have ever been too. Since it was the first show on this tour, the guy made a few mistakes on stage but he was really very cool about making up for it.

Not an overpriced concert by any stretch either. Granted I paid nearly $20 less than face value from my ticket but I would have paid the face value if needed. Of course the $25 parking fee at the Verizon Wireless Music Center made up for the money saved on ticket costs (paying to park is a pet peeve of mine).

FAITH IS ...

During my drive back to South Bend I came across an old podcast from Mars Hill called "Saint Peter" by Kent Dobson. I must admit that I was pretty not interested in pressing the play button but I am glad I did.

He walked through the life of Peter and came up with a list of attributes for faith when looking at the life of Peter.

Faith

* Self Awareness
* Just Trying Something
* Pure Moments of Insight (i.e. a gift)
* Missing the Point and Learning from it
* Realizing that History Makes Sense
* Denial and Return

DONALD MILLER - RIDE ACROSS AMERICA

Just found out that Donald Miller and some of his friends are bike riding across. He is riding to raise money to build water wells in Africa.

Follow the ride - here.

COLDPLAY - VIVA LA VIDA

Here's my thoughts:

First/Second listen - at least there are two good songs on the album because the rest are kind of bad.

Third listen - ok, the album is s-l-o-w-l-y sounding a little bit better.

Fourth/Fifth listen - this is Coldplay's best and most creative album.

It may have taken me several listens to actually enjoy Coldplay's fourth studio album but it really is a great piece of work from start to finish. "Viva La Vida" and "Violent Hill" are great singles but the album has entire range of emotions from start to finish. Not all the songs are radio friendly but they are all good songs.

This album seems to be a little more edgy and different than the previous three. Maybe a little more dark? Maybe a little more "out there"? Whatever it is, it works for me.

Personal Favorites on the Album - Viva La Vida, Lovers in Japan, Violent Hill, Cemeteries of London

QUOTABLE BRIAN WILLIAMS

It's not a matter of if we should be "at war" but rather, this thought and quote makes you wonder if America is fighting the right war ...

"U.S. aid officials privately admit us they think that hunger is now a bigger national security crisis [in Afghanistan] than the Taliban."

- Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News (June 11, 2008)

ROCK CHALK WHITEHOUSE

PACK RAT OR COLLECTOR?

There's a fine line between being a collector and being a pack rat. I think I am more of the pack rat variety. Let me share why ...

... I was doing some cleaning around the apartment on Sunday evening and came across all kinds of congratulation cards from graduation. Ummm, my graduation for Radford in 2001. Not only did I came across cards, I found notes that I had taken from class while I was an undergrad. Why do I still have these things? Because I am a pack rat

THEN, I found some rather interesting baseball cards that I have been saving for years in hopes that someday they would be worth money. So I checked what kind of value they were getting on Ebay. Ummm, they are not valuable. Well, at least not yet. Why do I still have these cards? Because I am a collector.

I used to keep all of my media credentials for the all events I've covered over the years. There were something like 75 different credentials I have saved that were collecting dust. Why? That would be the pack rat in me.

In the back corners of my closest I found some old school baseball hats that also may have some value. Why do I still have them? Because I am a collector!

So amid all this "stuff" that I have accumulated over the years, somethings need to get trashed or get saved. Hopefully the collector in me will get rid of the right stuff and throw away the crap that is unnecessary. The cleaning continues!

SUNBURST 2008

This year's Sunburst was much different than my first experience last year. A lot of running changes have occurred since that day!

Unlike last year I felt no nervous energy at all. I was just out there to have a good time and enjoy myself. My body was definitely still feeling the effects of the marathon but my post-marathon training called for a six-mile run so the 10K at Sunburst was perfect.

I was really lightly jogging the thing until about halfway through. I was talking with a few people and really enjoyed the kids playing the bongo drums. Just having a good time, you know?!?

I decided to pick it up a little bit with about two miles left. I didn't have any plans on actually running hard and I never really did but some how I managed to post a 44:53 (7:14/pace) over the 6.2 miles. I was fairly shocked and so were my quad muscles. They got a little tight. Plus my hips were telling me how dumb it was to run harder the last two miles. Live and learn.

It was fun to take in the whole day and watch the marathon start and see a few people I knew. Until the next race ...