tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91924552024-03-07T19:11:04.409-08:00Home on The Ridge (Snoqualmie Ridge)Tales of a transplanted Midwestern family living life in the Cascade Mountains.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.comBlogger793125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-72923131082627625532015-03-25T19:54:00.001-07:002015-03-25T19:58:28.151-07:00Not the fastest. Just the best.This story really starts back in September at our hockey association's "rep" tryouts. Despite Garrett being invited to play rep (Garrett has been rated as the #1 player in his class 4 years running), we decided rec would be a better experience for him. There were a few reasons for that, one of them was the observation that better hockey players were passed over in lieu of, well, not better hockey players. It gave us the confidence that Garrett would be playing with solid players and against solid competition at rec (other local associations don't water down their rep teams like Sno-King does, leaving lots of good players at the rec level).<br />
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That theory was put to the test this past weekend when we put together a team of 9 rec players and 5 rep players (5 players that we knew were coachable and team players) to play in the area's premier 10U tournament: the Seattle Jr Squirt 'A' tournament. It attracts 'A' teams from as far north as Kamloops and as far south as Portland. Over half the teams were from Canada. So yes, we had a roster that included 6 players who were told they weren't good enough to play rep, going up against the best rep teams from BC, Washington, and Oregon. On top of that, we assembled our team just two weeks ago, and going into game 1, some of the players never met each other.<br />
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Fortunately, our head coach is great (yes, even better than me, if you can believe that). He put together a simple plan, we put structure in place, we held the kids to high standards. Almost like he subscribes to my coaching blog :) The rec players had two tune up games against other rep teams in the area, and they won both of those games. So going into the tournament we felt like we would have a good showing, although we would be surprised if we won more than our first game.<br />
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And for that first game, we had the privilege of playing the best of Sno-King's 10U rep teams. Definitely a test of my "the wrong players are playing rep" theory. We came out of the gate strong, opening a 3-0 lead in the first period, and having a 5-2 lead midway through the third, before closing out a 6-4 victory.<br />
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At great of a victory that was, our toughest competition was still to come. The two other teams in our pool were from Canada - Squamish and Kamloops. We played Squamish next, and we battled back and forth all game. We even had to defend shorthanded by two (5-on-3) for a full two minutes. Garrett was selected with our superstar (we were lucky enough to land the top player in Sno-King, who scored 55 goals this season) and another rep player to defend. The three, despite not playing together before, did an amazing job killing the two minute penalty, and when our two players jumped out of the box, they grabbed the puck and scored. Squamish was a terrific team, but we played our hearts out, and with two minutes to go we held a 6-5 lead. They pull their goalie, and in trying to ice the puck from our own zone, we score. Twice. Unbelievable.<br />
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Kamloops was next, and it was a tough game for a while (at one point tied 2-2), until we pulled away with a 9-3 victory.<br />
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Wow, we showed up hoping to be competitive, and the next we know we are 3-0 and heading to the semi-finals. Unbelievable. <br />
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Sunday morning we drew Portland as our opponent. It's the semis, so we know they are a great team. We gave up an early goal, got it back with a short handed goal, and battled our way to build a 4-1 lead halfway through the third. Then the wheels fell off the bus. Portland battled their way back to tie the game up with two minutes to go. We head to OT, and with 3:20 left we get called for a penalty. Playing 4-on-3, with Garrett out there to kill the penalty, Portland looks sure to get a game winning goal on a rebound. But Garrett dives and puts his hand on the puck to keep it out of the net. Good to save a goal, but that's also a penalty shot.<br />
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Rewind a little, with about 2 minutes to go, our head coach turns to me on the bench and says "we do not want this to go to a shootout." His son was our goalie, and he played rec all year. Not a lot of confidence from either of us of him going 1:1 against rep players.<br />
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So the penalty shot comes... and Quin makes the save! That energized the team, and put the wheels back on the bus. We are still on the penalty kill, with our superstar on the ice. He starts to make an aggressive play on the puck in our own zone, our coach starts yelling "DON'T CHASE! DON'T CHASE!" Well he chases anyway, makes the steal, takes it coast to coast and wins the game in OT. Unbelievable. <br />
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So now we are in the finals. Playing against Squamish again. This time they take the lead, and we are locked in a defensive battle 1-1 with about 6 minutes to go. They start slashing and checking our superstar (across multiple shifts) and the refs don't call any penalties. Our superstar gets pissed of, and scores 4 goals in the next 4 minutes. And we had another goal in that stretch to win 6-1. Unbelievable.<br />
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It was a great experience for me and Garrett. It really shows what good preparation (remember, the rest of the teams had an entire season to prepare), good players, and hard work on the ice can get you. As a comparison, that other Sno-King team, coached by strong coaches, went 0-4 against the same competition.<br />
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I'm so proud of the players, of Garrett, and of our coaches to accomplish what we did. The parents loved it too. "Why couldn't THIS be our team all year?" was the most common comment I heard afterward. Even the rep players paid to keep their Gold jerseys, a testament to the value they played on the team and the experience. <br />
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I have to say, I was really proud of Garrett (the kid in the white helmet below). He has a history of stepping it up against better competition, and he was an absolute beast on defense, especially the penalty kill. Just amazing what he can do on the ice and how quick his feet and hand were.<br />
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Several parents asked if we could put together the same team for some spring tournaments in Canada. We'll see... :)<br />
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Our players weren't the fastest. Just the best. Congrats Sno-King Gold!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbnP9xckUVIHf39Ld0G3zfjq3GhzlR2rJTY9VlxJwqLulbEx2Xb0jgcaozXYHhzU1XMqO7YCEfpnZ8M5ZJknSpfFx7VULilAhJJPPXFeLmwPzPhlGgDULZQQrvDz-COx5o7hTjw/s1600/DSC_9145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbnP9xckUVIHf39Ld0G3zfjq3GhzlR2rJTY9VlxJwqLulbEx2Xb0jgcaozXYHhzU1XMqO7YCEfpnZ8M5ZJknSpfFx7VULilAhJJPPXFeLmwPzPhlGgDULZQQrvDz-COx5o7hTjw/s1600/DSC_9145.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pandemonium after the final buzzer</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Don't hurt the goalie!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsi4b9nKlK5c1QHP895QeeV2Q4Vjur13SbDWSNB_orGt5bzCUnIPHsYV4inYFrSRdPblZavZimh4mmYH2rien6wq64ito0yoEWG6-vLvam3uPtjQ0unvT71Dn4AG6Wh-QPMTyAVg/s1600/DSC_9163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsi4b9nKlK5c1QHP895QeeV2Q4Vjur13SbDWSNB_orGt5bzCUnIPHsYV4inYFrSRdPblZavZimh4mmYH2rien6wq64ito0yoEWG6-vLvam3uPtjQ0unvT71Dn4AG6Wh-QPMTyAVg/s1600/DSC_9163.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
A very proud and happy team poses with their team trophy</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awwww yeah... Squirt A Champions!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kQYXHmP0lHa16lCR84_XNlXTKEXGCndmC_i82EqgKSIFy6d56enV7ttnOABxnDipGeEnS89RgMAZL1tp54wOYBAv11RbaTqByA0kaNFge9uLiCgfZPwm1Dp3E3a35HBaklGZiA/s1600/IMG_1083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kQYXHmP0lHa16lCR84_XNlXTKEXGCndmC_i82EqgKSIFy6d56enV7ttnOABxnDipGeEnS89RgMAZL1tp54wOYBAv11RbaTqByA0kaNFge9uLiCgfZPwm1Dp3E3a35HBaklGZiA/s1600/IMG_1083.JPG" height="640" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How proud were the players? Garrett and Tyler wore their jerseys and medals Monday to school!</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-85676463323118414812014-11-06T13:03:00.001-08:002014-11-06T13:07:53.109-08:00Please RT: There is no right way to do a wrong thing #LetGarrettPlayI figure if Alex from Target can trend, then I am giving this a try. #LetGarrettPlay
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The story: Garrett is a 9 year old that plays organized youth hockey. In last weekend's game he was called for intending to injure someone, ejected from the game, and suspended another game.
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The video evidence clearly refutes this. At 51:00 of <a href="http://sports.livearena.com/Content/Index/26418">this video</a> you’ll see that another player initiated the contact and in fact Garrett (in green) was trying to avoid contact. We have attempted to appeal this ruling and have the suspension lifted. We have even escalated to USA Hockey. Those in a position of authority agree it was a bad call (“egregious” is what someone called it). At the same time all have said the same thing: “we can’t do anything to reverse the suspension. Sorry.”
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So we are left in a dumbfounding situation where a 9 year old is being disciplined when he did nothing wrong. At some point those in charge have forgotten that youth sports is about the kids and having fun, instead of rules and red tape.
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Thanks for reading, and much appreciated if you tweet this if you agree that USA Hockey should #LetGarrettPlay After all, there is no right way to do a wrong thing.
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-67573245971322353802014-05-18T22:06:00.000-07:002014-05-19T13:08:00.098-07:00Changes, they are a comin'I'll start with my prediction I made a year ago: in 10 years youth tackle football won't exist at pre-high school ages. As a coach in two sports (hockey and football) that are high risk of concussions, I've been in the trenches with parents, coaches, and leagues with increasing concern about putting kids in harm's way and risking long-term impact of head injuries. It's been noted that <a href="http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/page/popwarner/pop-warner-youth-football-participation-drops-nfl-concussion-crisis-seen-causal-factor">Pee Wee football registration has dropped</a> due to concerns of concussions. I'm in this group. A few years back it was expected my youngest and his peers would start Pee Wee football in second grade. Instead (my son is in third grade) they are still playing flag football, and we have no plans to put him in tackle. Apparently others feel the same, as participation in flag football is up about 33% across the east side (Seattle east suburbs) this spring.
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And <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2014/05/17/nfl-may-have-suffered-major-setback-as-concussion-lawsuit-settlement-lingers/">the NFL is not done with its lawsuits</a>. From a business perspective, the NFL can view concussion settlements as a cost of doing business and they can still be profitable. But can the NCAA? Sure the major schools can afford it, but what about the dozens of schools that already lose money on football and college athletics? So hard choices will be made in the college ranks.
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Will high schools be able to afford the insurance down the road? I don't know. I don't know the economics of high school sports (other than Bellevue High School pays their HS coach upwards of $160k/yr - wow). But, I can't see how it will be possible under the high school level for any organization to be solvent. So many kids. So much recklessness. We have head-to-head collisions and concussions in flag football and hockey, and that's with kids trying to <i>avoid</i> contact. Insurance is so high in youth hockey that it severely limits organizing hockey games outside of an organization that has anything short of 16 hours of coach training a year.
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Think I'm crazy about the sport disappearing? It's already starting. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/sports/footballs-risks-sink-in-even-in-heart-of-texas.html?_r=1">In Texas of all places</a>.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-1777552899703630382014-03-31T22:45:00.001-07:002014-03-31T22:45:46.861-07:00Three years of cord cutIt's been three years since we ditched our DirecTV in favor of streamed content via Netflix and Hulu Plus. In fact it's been so long that DirecTV stopped mailing us their weekly "please, please, please come back!" brochures.
I don't miss a thing. Really. Football? NFL Rewind, which due to time constraints I like better than watching on Sunday. NHL? That's what NHL Gamecenter LIVE is for. Or hockeystreams.com. College Football? ESPN on Xbox One. TV Shows? Hulu Plus. Crappy Movies? Netflix. Good movies? Buy them off Amazon Instant Video. News? Really? Does anyone take the news seriously anymore?
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-14638262787448879272014-03-24T22:38:00.003-07:002014-03-24T22:38:44.745-07:00Another career changeJeez, no blog posts in two and a half years? Maybe I should thank twitter :)
In one of my many "my wife told me so's," I left Amazon last week to pursue an opportunity at Seattle's hottest IPO, zulily. I'm really excited to get in at the ground floor of a company that already has a proven formula. Suffice it to say I learned a big life lesson (be careful taking a job for just the money) in going back to Amazon. I'm putting that behind me and looking forward to building a team that will deliver personalized experiences for zulily's website and mobile apps. I start next Monday - woot!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-83851109717989933132011-09-05T18:47:00.000-07:002011-09-05T18:47:07.343-07:00Heading back to AmazonAfter talking with a team at Amazon for the past several months, I finally make the move tomorrow back to Amazon to take on a new challenge. I'm excited. While Microsoft was good to me in many ways - including working a dream gig in the Xbox org - I realized I missed Amazon's high expectations of its employees, its relentless focus on the customer, and it's data-driven approach to making decisions. While I worked hard to instill such values at Microsoft, my successes were few and far between. I'm excited to be heading back.
I left three and a half years ago due to work/life balance, my biggest challenge will be ensuring I can have a life outside of work and still be successful at Amazon. Even a bigger challenge given our kids schedule is 10x more busy now than it was then. Wishing myself luck, I think I'm going to need it. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-38864475545999693112011-07-16T21:07:00.000-07:002011-07-16T21:54:14.437-07:00I heart my RokuI have seen the future of TV.<br /><br />Last year as ESPN was launched on Xbox and Hulu picked up more and more shows, I did some research to figure out how to stream content to my tv. What started as looking at software packages to route content through my laptop and to the tv, ended up in me finding a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00426C55G/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=boilerup-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=B00426C55G">Roku HD Streaming Player</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=B00426C55G&camp=217145&creative=399369" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> and ordering one for $60. It's a small device that connects to your home network via wifi, has HDMI output, and provides a UX to browse online "apps" or "channels" to watch content. Channels include Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Video on Demand. You can also subscribe to channels such as NHL, MLB, and UFC (and if you're paying a subscription you'll actually get to view the content :) ). <br /><br />Another perk is that Roku supports a plethora of media and photo sharing sites. So I can stream Pandora through my TV, and it also has a SmugMug plugin so I can view my photos and videos straight from my SmugMug account. It also has support for Picaso, Facebook photos, Flickr, and other photo sites.<br /><br />Six months ago Amy and I decided to dump Directv (and the $1000+ we flush to them every year) and use Roku exclusively. Haven't regretted it once. It's enabled us to discover shows we wouldn't have found otherwise, and we've used the savings to fund NHL and UFC content. We were able to watch March Madness and the NHL playoffs. For sports on ESPN, we switch over to the Xbox. Admittedly, I will be SOL come NFL season since NFL Sunday Ticket isn't an option.<br /><br />A few friends have made the switch as well with the same results: no regrets.<br /><br />Why do I think this is the future?<br /><ol><br /><li>No more "record show" mentality. All content is on demand. <br /><li>Because of that, trying out new content is easy. All shows are at your fingertips.<br /><li>High quality. I had assumed that quality would suffer streaming. In fact, Amy can watch Roku and I can game online over Xbox Live and neither one of us can tell that the other is online.<br /><li>Innovation. One cool thing about Roku is that the number of channels are limitless. And there's plenty of independent content providers and developers building apps and content.<br /></ol><br /><br />The downside is finding content across apps. I watch to watch Harry Potter. Is that in Netflix? Amazon VOD? Another video service? Don't know until you search in each one. Awaiting the aggregator to come up with cross-app search. You know, like Google, eBay, and Amazon did in their respective spaces.<br /><br />Beyond Roku, we're Hulu Plus subscribers. Love watching TV on my Roku, iPhone, iPad, or Xbox. And it being smart enough to know if I start watching something on my iPhone and I stop, it will pick it up on the next device I fire up HuluPlus on.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-35074860300422211312011-06-05T22:37:00.001-07:002011-06-05T22:48:20.736-07:00Garrett's last football gameFinally got some good video of Garrett playing football during his last game today. Throwing an interception, taking it the length of the field to the house, pulling a flag on fourth down, and a great catch... only to watch him fumble :)<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Football-Videos/17067651_CZd7cd#1323775195_DxLvpQD-A-LB" title="Garrett throws a pick six"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Football-Videos/i-DxLvpQD/0/M/VID00088-M.jpg" title="Garrett throws a pick six" alt="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug"></a><br />Garrett throws a pick six to his friend Riley<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Football-Videos/17067651_CZd7cd#1323789614_LRdMjHL-A-LB" title="Garrett takes it to the house"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Football-Videos/i-LRdMjHL/0/M/VID00093-M.jpg" title="Garrett takes it to the house" alt="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug"></a><br />Garrett takes it to the house<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Football-Videos/17067651_CZd7cd#1323780959_PXrDtBv-A-LB" title="Garrett's big fourth down stop"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Football-Videos/i-PXrDtBv/0/M/VID00092-M.jpg" title="Garrett's big fourth down stop" alt="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug"></a><br />Garrett's big fourth down stop<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Football-Videos/17067651_CZd7cd#1323790131_7pK2Bwd-A-LB" title="Garrett with a sweet catch and a fumble"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Football-Videos/i-7pK2Bwd/0/M/VID00089-M.jpg" title="Garrett with a sweet catch and a fumble" alt="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug"></a><br />Garrett with a sweet catch and a fumbleAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-62724863407878131212011-02-16T07:22:00.000-08:002011-02-16T07:26:57.674-08:00Garrett's Five Minutes of FameLate in posting this, but Garrett and his team skated on the Showare Center ice between periods last Saturday night. Spencer thinks the funniest part of this is when Cool Bird kicked me out of goal.<br /><br />Garrett is #7 on the Gray team, he comes out pretty early and ends up taking the opening face-off for the Gray team.<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Hockey-Videos/13452712_sNtiE#1186025166_ywT6W-A-LB" title="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Hockey-Videos/2011-02-12-Gman-skate-tbirds/1186025166_ywT6W-M.jpg" title="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug" alt="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug"></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-49780082418646648242011-01-03T23:04:00.001-08:002011-01-04T01:27:08.232-08:002010 Year in ReviewI better get this written now before too much of 2011 gets behind me.<br /><br />Wow, what a friggin year. A big year of change for everyone in our family. Where to start?<br /><br />I think the big topic for Amy and I - and will be for a while - is Spencer. In 2009 we were unhappy with the level of help and insight we were getting in our local schools, so we enrolled Spencer in <a href="http://www.bellevuechristian.org/">Bellevue Christian</a>, a decision we both regard as being a good one, well worth the money.<br /><br />Enrolling him there started us down the path of seeking an awful lot of professional help for Spencer - starting with doctor visits to rule out things like diseases and psychological issues. Turns out that while Spencer doesn't have any medical issues, he does show signs of both anxiety and depression. Unfortunately that's a consequence of whatever is hampering Spencer's development, and while good to know, doesn't help us with Spencer's development.<br /><br />Fortunately for us, last Christmas old friends of ours pulled Amy aside at a Christmas party and starting asking some questions about Spencer. That led me to read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399531653?ie=UTF8&tag=boilerup-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0399531653">The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=boilerup-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0399531653" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, which gave us an "Aha! That's it!" <br /><br />There's no shortage of information on what <a href="http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/">Sensory Processing Disorder</a> is; however, therapy for it is much, much harder to come across. With some information in hand, Spencer started down the path of physical therapy and speech therapy. God bless Microsoft's health benefits. It's been a long year, and couple with therapy and our own research, we think we have a pretty good grasp on some of Spencer's core issues (dyspraxia, gravitational insecurity, etc). As we enter 2011 we are meeting with a brain specialist that we hope will help recommend further therapies for Spencer.<br /><br />And as if that wasn't enough, Spencer was diagnosed this past year with lazy eye, which is affecting his ability to write. It's supposed to affect his reading ability, but we aren't seeing any adverse affects. Somehow he is compensating for it and loves to read (we got him a Kindle for Christmas and he read two books in the first 24 hours). Add another two therapy sessions a week to help with his vision. <br /><br />My big takeaway after a year of research is that it's amazing Spencer is able to learn in a classroom environment, or ride a bike, or skate on ice skates. He's done a phenomenal job coping with the deck he's been dealt, and has identified his own coping strategies that help him accomplish what he wants to accomplish. For example, this past May he earned his bodan (last belt before black belt - <a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/spencer-bo-dan-may-2010/12165855_wAJ93#1145420465_Jv5GX">videos are here</a>) in Tae Kwon Do after four-plus years of hard work. Incredibly, he's also playing hockey and developing quite nicely, proving me 100% wrong as I did not think he would be able to pull it off. This past fall he's taken up piano and is doing well with it. <br /><br />We have a long haul ahead of us with Spencer, he is helping us and working hard along this journey, and while it may get frustrating at times, Amy and I both repeatedly say to each other "giving up is not an option." We are also thankful that Spencer's issues are minor in the grand scheme of things.<br /><br />Switching gears over to Garrett, he's had quite the busy year with TBall, hockey, and football. All before he even started kindergarten, which was also this year. Football was his favorite sport before Christmas, when Santa brought him some goalie gear, now we can't keep him off the ice. In 2011 we are limiting him to two sports at a time, and he's opted for football and hockey.<br /><br />Working with Garrett on hockey has been fun. I've been helping out a little with his team, I get to get ice time, with a puck and nets, I get to share my limited skating knowledge with him, I get to watch him develop week-over-week, and he's got such a knack for skating and puck handling that people are amazed a) he's only 5 and b) he's been skating less than a year. Can't wait to see how he develops over time.<br /><br />Garrett is off to a good start in school. While he's a chatterbox and trouble-maker at home, he's apparently quiet and an angel at school. Maybe he should live there permanently. Seriously, he's doing a phenomenal job and strangely enough he loves homework, simply because he sees his brother do it and he's quite the competitor.<br /><br />Amy went back to teaching after a 9 year hiatus. As I joke, Washington must really be hurting for teachers. We were lucky that she found a job fairly close-by that fits in with the kids schedules - she works 5 hours a day, enabling her to get the kids after school and ensure they make it to all their activities. She likes being back in the classroom, although she is frustrated by the overhead imposed by the government that gets in the way of her teaching.<br /><br />Amy also volunteered to be the team manager of two of the three hockey teams in our area. That gives the benefit of allowing Garrett extra ice time with the second hockey team (Garrett's coach coaches both teams as well). <br /><br />I of course started working with Xbox this year, which has been the most exciting year in my almost-twenty-years-in-the-software-industry. I've blogged enough about that. Outside of that nothing to report this year. As you can see above, a lot of time spent on Spencer and helping the little guy out, and it occupies a lot of our mindshare. <br /><br />My talent for taking naps regardless of time or what's going on around me never wanes.<br /><br />I'm now convinced I will never see Purdue in a Final Four. And it's been 10 years since Purdue went to the Rose Bowl. My how time flies.<br /><br /><br />I'm struck by how well Amy and I continue to adapt to the increase rate of busyness in our schedules. I realize all parents are faced with this and go through it. But looking at other parents of older kids I've always wondered "how the ef do they do keep up?" I've learned you just do. Although I will admit, our busyness has taken a toll on us. While we usually host a Thanksgiving get together and a New Year's Eve party, this year we did neither, and stayed home by ourselves for each for some much needed recharging.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-11315498283667930562010-11-07T09:54:00.000-08:002010-11-07T09:56:12.166-08:00Halloween PicsOk, one pic. Kinda nice to go out with the kids and neither one has a weapon in his hands.<br /><br /><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Holidays/halloween-2010/IMG0513/1072391743_LqHNC-L.jpg">Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-18265525503382442132010-11-07T09:33:00.000-08:002010-11-07T09:52:16.760-08:00Garrett Hockey Pics<a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Nov-2010-Mite-Minor-Team/14549790_Qwx7P#1081132963_sZunW-L-LB"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Nov-2010-Mite-Minor-Team/IMG0619/1081132963_sZunW-L.jpg"></a><br /><br />Garrett showing his closing speed to poke check on D.<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Hockey-Fall-2010/14348703_hdqbo#1062352015_kLH2a-A-LB"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Hockey-Fall-2010/IMG0340/1062352015_kLH2a-L.jpg"></a><br /><br />Waiting for the outlet pass (he's gonna wait a while in this league).<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Nov-2010-Mite-Minor-Team/14549790_Qwx7P#1081141471_5jjCi-A-LB"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/Nov-2010-Mite-Minor-Team/IMG0659/1081141471_5jjCi-L.jpg"></a><br /><br />Doing what he's best at, celebrating after his team scores.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-11015617148652483652010-11-07T08:24:00.000-08:002010-11-07T08:51:27.144-08:00Ship ItWhile I shake my head at many of the tenets of Microsoft culture (I will write a book one day, really), one element I <i>really</i> like is the "Ship It" stamps and plaque. For every major release of a product, Microsoft distributes a small ~2"x1" stamp to the people that were part of the release. I like it because it rewards delivery and emphasizes that in the end it's about getting things out to customers as opposed to who can come up with the prettiest PowerPoint presentation (apparently those people get promoted).<br /><br />This past week I earned my first Xbox Ship It badge, and earned some rest I hope. This is a huge time in Xbox history, not just because of Kinect but with the launch of the Family Plan for Xbox Live, ESPN, Zune, etc. Much of it (Family and Zune Pass subscriptions) flow through the subscription platform I just upgraded. Was fun upgrading my personal account to Family Plan, adding my kids to it, and have it "just work." <br /><br />Glad to be a part of it. Now what's next?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-72667939787967434392010-08-20T15:52:00.000-07:002010-08-20T16:31:35.706-07:00Boys' Hockey CampIt was six months ago when Spencer and Garrett took their first steps on the ice over in Kirkland. This past week they spent two and a half hours each morning at the ShoWare Center in Kent attending the 2010 Rob Sumner Hockey Camp (Coach Sumner coaches the Seattle Thunderbirds). In addition to some of the coaching staff, four Thunderbirds players helped out each session.<br /><br />I must say, one of the best experiences I've had as a parent by far. The kids got to play on the ice of their hometown team, the Thunderbirds players were terrific teachers and role models, the camp drills were well-suited to the kids, and they were nice enough to let a 5 year old and a 9 year old play in the 6-8 year old group. About the only thing missing was having the Jumbotron on.<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/13401301_ZwDhF#974992057_vT4AX-M-LB"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/IMG9970/974992057_vT4AX-M.jpg"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/13401301_ZwDhF#974992158_QpBQ2-M-LB"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/IMG9971/974992158_QpBQ2-M.jpg"></a><br />Garrett going all out to get back on defense.<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/13401301_ZwDhF#974992629_qpHzY-M-LB"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/IMG9975/974992629_qpHzY-M.jpg"></a><br />Spencer driving hard to the boards to keep the puck in the zone (his specialty).<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/13401301_ZwDhF#975807714_xKh3M-M-LB"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/IMG0067/975807714_xKh3M-M.jpg"></a><br />The formidable S-Man on D.<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/13401301_ZwDhF#975812604_JVeyE-M-LB"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/IMG0094/975812604_JVeyE-M.jpg"></a><br />A favorite of kids this age is the "Superman" drill.<br /><br /><a href="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/13401301_ZwDhF#975811494_KoUee-M-LB"><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Rob-Sumner-Hockey-Camp/IMG0091/975811494_KoUee-M.jpg"></a><br />Most of the time Spencer and Garrett were broken up into different groups; was nice to watch them on the ice at the same time during one of the scrimmages.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-74439570625592803502010-05-27T23:58:00.000-07:002010-05-28T00:34:19.324-07:00Alan Wake ReviewBitchin'! was an expression that had a short lived life back in my college days. That was the first thing that came to mind when I finished <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ELJFB4?ie=UTF8&tag=boilerup-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001ELJFB4">Alan Wake</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=boilerup-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001ELJFB4" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />.<br /><br />I won't go into the plot or mechanics of the game - tons of articles on that already. <br /><br />But what is Alan Wake? And what made it "worthwhile"?<br /><br />First, let me say, I wouldn't call Alan Wake "fun"; instead, I'd call it entertaining. In a nutshell, it is a long movie that immerses you and makes you truly feel like you're the character - not the actor - in the movie. I think of Alan Wake as being as groundbreaking to game play as 24 was to TV shows. <br /><br />The game is partioned into six episodes; think of these as six quests, all serialized. There is no choice in Alan Wake, other than choice of path - you can choose whether to explore that shed to see if there's ammo, but unlike RPGs your actions do not affect the game environment. I have never played a "tunnel" game like this and enjoyed it. That's where the beauty of Alan Wake comes it. They figure out how to immerse you so much that you forget you are playing a game and you instead are Alan Wake himself traversing the town of Bright Falls looking to understand what has happened to your wife. <br /><br />How does it do it?<br /><br />First, the graphics are superb. Just phenomenal. Maybe that's why it took five years, but the entire notion of being in the dark with a flashlight and fog is pulled off perfectly. Pure realism. If they could make the character look more real instead of graphics, you would swear you were watching a video.<br /><br />Second, the episodes are long and single-minded. You usually start an episode knowing your final destination, and it takes 1-2 hours of game play to get to that destination. No "hey I made it in 15 mins but here's a twist so go on another quest for 15 mins with yet another twist etc." Coupled with the graphics above that make you feel like you truly are armed with a flashlight in the dark, and you are absolutely drawn into the game in an intense way. It is creepy and it is emotionally draining.<br /><br />Third, the fighting requires real work for two reasons: a) you can't take a lot of damage, even in easy mode, and b) if you are careless about what you're shooting at, you will run out of ammo. Nearly every shot must count, and you have to be prudent about your weapon of choice. You learn quickly that the shotgun you found doesn't help if you have to reload after two shots, and that you better save your flashbangs to take out at least three bad guys at once.<br /><br />And because you're in the dark, if you're facing more than one bad guy you're in a state of backpeddaling and spinning trying to locate them. Again, creepy and engaging.<br /><br />Fourth - and I found this key - while you do have to face bad guys, most of the time you spend moving toward your goal in the dark. I'd say bad guys occupy 25% of your time max. The rest is moving with the fear that bad guys are going to jump you, so you're in a constant state of watching your back. Once again, creepy and engaging.<br /><br />Orthogonal to all of that is the story. What a great plot. Like a lot of movies, I was less than impressed with the ending, although I won't say I was disappointed. I just thought it could of been better. At the same time, it is always hard in a book or movie that has great suspense to pull off a great ending. <br /><br />The cut scenes, dialogue, and voice talent is outstanding. <br /><br />Once you're done, however, I don't see a need to play again unless you're truly after the achievements and exploring every nook of Bright Falls. Again, there are no choices, the plot doesn't change, the environment doesn't change, characters don't change, etc. I'm looking forward to the first downloadable content, but not interested in popping the game back in now that I'm finished.<br /><br />By the way, play the game in the dark. You will jump more than once.<br /><br />Thank you, Remedy, for such a great game. And thank you Xbox org for my free copy :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-85851716946968887402010-05-27T21:47:00.000-07:002010-05-27T23:58:14.822-07:00Five years in SeattleAs the saying goes, "sheesh where did the time go?" <br /><br />So what's it like to pick up the family and relocate them to another region of the country? Having done it, it's both crazy (initially) and not a big deal (eventually). And both aspects - the uncertainly of reloc and the end result - have been good experiences for me and my personal development.<br /><br />Seattle certainly walks to a different beast. I wonder if in its collective goal to be unique they are stupid on purpose, but nonetheless it's where we've decided to raise the kids for the foreseeable future. <br /><br />Interestingly enough, I've gotten to the point where I don't like it if it <b>doesn't</b> rain. At least from fall through spring (the nine months of the year where it rains most every day). It never rains hard here - I've never needed an umbrella, and it's rare if the windshield wipers go past "intermittent." Yet the ground is always wet and soggy. It will drizzle for hours on end. And then go on for more hours. As I type this I don't remember the last time I saw a blue sky let alone sun, and looking at the forecast I probably won't for another week. And strangely, if I did see blue sky, it would be <i>weird</i>. <br /><br />Once the weather breaks in the summer, however, it's a different story. The best summers in the world (or at least I'm told by world travelers). 70 degrees almost every day. Not a cloud in the sky for weeks. <br /><br />I'm really surprised myself in taking to the outdoors. I've considered myself an athlete (enjoy playing sports) but not an outdoorsman. But long walks that challenge your mental and physical state for hours on end, in total solitude, with beautiful views of God's creation all around is a great match for both my competitive nature (can I <i>really</i> make it to the top of that 4000 foot mountain?) and my social personality (get as far away from people as possible). Hell I've started looking for real estate in the mountains for my retirement.<br /><br />When I moved to Chicago I traded in being a Tigers fan for becoming a White Sox fan. That was part of the deal for my wife becoming a Lions and a Red Wings fan. I'm now trying to figure out how to be a Lions fan while my kids are Seahawks fans, and suffice it to say it's hard. When the Lions played the Seahawks this year, I sported Seahawks gear for the kids, cheered externally for the Seahawks, and celebrated internally as Stafford threw for a couple TD passes. I actually went into the game thinking I truly would cheer for the Hawks, but quickly realized where my loyalty lies. No sense fighting it. Damn you Ford for cursing the Lions.<br /><br />For all the foot travel I've done in the Cascade Mountains, we haven't done as much family travel as I'd like. Still haven't been to Vancouver or the Olympic Mountains or truly visited Spokane (stopped by my uncle's for a couple hours but did no sightseeing). The only exception is that we have been to Lake Chelan on several occasions. With Spencer and Garrett having activities on the weekends, the likelihood of us catching up on weekend getaways seems slim and none. <br /><br />So here's to us pitching our tent in the Pacific Northwest. Looking forward to the next five years.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-44452524270623115182010-04-19T10:35:00.001-07:002010-04-19T10:39:18.262-07:00Some pics from Garrett's first football game<img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Other/april-2010-hockey-easter/IMG8962/841543309_onAbb-L.jpg"><br /><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Other/april-2010-hockey-easter/IMG8966/841543928_ZQX2D-L.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://jvreagan.smugmug.com/Other/april-2010-hockey-easter/IMG8991/841548090_4qsUX-L.jpg">Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-71815133679756420532010-02-19T09:14:00.001-08:002010-02-19T22:07:00.030-08:00My dream job, or how I got hired by XboxMaybe not my dream job, but definitely my dream organization. On Monday I start a new role with the Xbox organization (still as a Program Manager) working in Xbox Live. I enjoyed my 21 months in search, accomplished a lot, was rewarded fairly, but now its time to look to bigger and better things.<br /><br />Xbox Live is the piece that takes gaming to the next level. Multi-player gaming. Downloadable games and movies. Online game shows. And who knows what is in store for the future. It's the piece that excites me about Xbox as an entertainment vehicle, and now I get to play a large part in shaping its future (of which much has yet to be written, with decades in front of us). Way kewl. <br /><br />But my biggest learning from Xbox Live might have already occurred: don't be afraid to take a chance.<br /><br />Jobs in the Xbox org are highly competitive. Internally, with the geek culture that is Microsoft, working in the gaming division is the most sought after work in the company. Externally, people in the gaming indusry (ok, some, not all of them) love the idea of working for a company with best-in-the-world perks and benefits. As such Xbox is real, real picky about who they hire. <br /><br />I have a friend that I've worked with in the past that works in Xbox, and he put me in touch with a hiring manager with an opening. Unfortunately, the position was filled before I got to talk to the manager. So I took a look at the internal job site, saw a position that looked like a fit, and reached out to the hiring manager for an informational.<br /><br />My thinking was to make some contacts and learn what Xbox was looking for outside the obvious "industry experience" and "real smart folks." Then, use that knowledge to develop my skills while in bing, eventually getting in a position where I could realistically compete for those coveted Xbox positions.<br /><br />To my surprise, the first informational I requested, I was granted. Then, to my surprise, I was scheduled for an interview loop. Again, my expectations were still low. Great, a loop, a nice opportunity to learn what they are looking for. <br /><br />At Microsoft, the "last interview" in a loop is never executed unless all the previous interviewers give a thumbs up. The last interviewer (usually a higher up but not necessarily) not only looks at the fit to the position but also to the organization (and for external candidates, to the company). As guardians of talent they also have veto power. Once again, I was surprised when I was told indeed I would be meeting with the last interviewer - I had passed the bar with everyone.<br /><br />At the end of the interview loop, I was content that I had given it my best shot. It's the first time I've interviewed that I didn't feel I made a mistake, or wish I hadn't said something, or wish I would have added something. Instead, I knew I gave it my all and they had an accurate picture of who I was. Still, even if they were impressed, these are highly competitive positions and they were interviewing many candidates.<br /><br />As such, when I got the email two days later with an offer to join Xbox, I was a little surprised. It wasn't supposed to be this easy. Well, not easy, but this short. It took a whopping 10 seconds for me to reply back with acceptance and start thinking about my transition plan.<br /><br />So, why do I think I got in? A few reasons:<br /><ul><br /><li>I'm a gamer. First and foremost, they want people who love video games. In fact, as an almost-40-year old I've been played video games for 30+ years. Not many people on this earth with more experience than that! And three of them I interviewed with :) With most people, I'm embarassed to admit how much time I spend on video games (and have since I was a kid). With this org, I was embarassed at how <b>little</b> I played.<br /><li>I have a track record of being decisive. I sensed that a real challenge they have in Xbox is making tough calls on where to apply precious resources in such a large ecosystem. Everyone (game developers, publishers, retailers, etc) wants to partner with Xbox, but there aren't enough resources to go around. How do you make feature calls? Partnership calls? Can you live with saying no? That's what they look for in PMs.<br /><li>I can deal with ambiguity. My interview question from the Principal SDE was "how do we go about adding (insert big feature here) to Xbox?" From there I had to break it down, know what questions to ask, what the big issues would be, and describes ways of addressing said issues. Which is all about understanding the <b>process</b> of resolving big problems rather than specific solutions.<br /><li>I knew exactly why I wanted the job. No, really, I mean it, this is what got me passed the last interviewer. He told me the previous candidate answered that question by saying they just wanted out of their current job. Bzzt. Wrong answer. I had done my homework and new I would be a great culture fit, I had a passion for gaming, and the area (development) was up my alley (as opposed to operations or product management or marketing). Touchdown.<br /></ul><br /><br />Xbox is going to be a great culture fit for me. Just enough process and documentation, job descriptions are not set in stone, they do not create nice and neat little boxes for people, etc. 180 degrees from where I was, and I wouldn't have it any other way.<br /><br />I am so ready to "Jump in." Now, upstairs to my Xbox. I have work to do :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-73227409271331651992010-01-11T13:09:00.000-08:002010-01-11T13:16:16.625-08:00I hope the Red Wings are looking at Calvin PickardJust read where <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=59882">is rated as the top North American goalie prospect</a> for the upcoming draft. I've watched this guy stop 50+ shots a night on a pretty bad hockey team. Congrats to Calvin, he's the man.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-42164132471889655342010-01-09T21:50:00.000-08:002010-01-10T17:38:33.343-08:00Purdue had to lose sometimeWinning their first 14 games wasn't totally unexpected (they had a pretty easy pre-conference schedule, with one top ten matchup on a neutral court and another top ten matchup at home). And if there was a game that would break their streak, I figured it would be at Wisconsin. And it was. <br /><br />After the game, though, I'm a lot less confident that. Wisconsin did not play a good game, especially offensively, and Purdue couldn't even make it a game at the end. If this were an anomaly, then no big deal, but the slow start first half has been Purdue's modus operandi for most of the season. At some point they have to shake it and get out of the gate strong. Good teams are going to pull so far ahead Purdue won't be able to catch them.<br /><br />I also think yesterday's game highlighted a) Hummel still isn't the offensive player he was two years ago, b) Johnson is the basketball equivalent of Curtis Painter - puts up great numbers against smaller teams, but get some size in his face and he disappears, and thus c) Moore is going to have to carry this team to Indianapolis.<br /><br />I'd like to see Painter prep this team for a final four run. If that means getting Barlow and Bade more PT, and even Marcius into the mix, so be it. To win a big ten title and not get to the final four because Purdue didn't play its cards would be disappointing.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-70014790224413220962009-12-31T00:23:00.000-08:002009-12-31T00:27:44.568-08:00How I spent the first 20 minutes of New Year's EveI learned a great many things to kick off New Year's Eve. <br /><br /><ul><br /><li> First, the rock band stage kit is hella kewl. $30 at gamestop for a fog and lightshow for rockband enthusiasts... highly recommended. The lightshow is sync'd with RockBand (1 and 2), and the fog is timed for the solo sections. Well executed novelty. <br /><li>Second, our smoke alarms are sensitive (see aforementioned fog) and wired together so that all 6 in our house go off simultaneously. I like that, although tonight it was a little bit of a pain. <br /><li>Third, our kids can sleep soundly through aforementioned 6 smoke alarms going off. Either that or the sound killed them. Will find out in the morning when I offer them doughnuts for breakfast. <br /><li>Fourth, I can now detach and reattach our smoke alarms from their ceiling-based wiring harnesses with speed that rivals any formula one pit crew. <br /></ul><br />And nye is only 20 minutes old. Can't wait to see what tonight's party brings.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-73640900378922283942009-12-25T21:35:00.001-08:002009-12-29T23:46:58.172-08:00The end of another yearAs I approach 40 these years are really starting to fly by. Not only am I amazed that 2009 has come and gone, but I am amazed that a <b><i>decade</i></b> has come and gone. Seems like yesterday I was trying to explain to people why Y2K wasn't an issue, that Purdue was heading to the Rose Bowl, and we were waiting for the schmucks in Florida to figure out how to cast and count votes for a Presidential election. Since then, I took down my shingle and entered the corporate world, Purdue football has gone to the crapper, and our wonderful politicians have collectively put several nails in this country's coffin. <br /><br />Even before the recent moves that will allow the federal gov't to take over 17% of our economy in the name of (he he) "health care reform" (side note: I just love when the gov't creates a problem then taxes the hell out of us to fix it) I had resigned myself to the fact that our national debt load and forthcoming tanking of our dollar renders everything I knew about financial planning useless. Strangely enough, that's reduced my stress load immensely - there's nothing I can do about our forthcoming implosion, and there's nothing that I can do to hedge against it, so why worry about it? <br /><br />And thus starts my annual year-in-review post. Yes, early this year, and why not... everything this year so far has been ahead of schedule, now that I have finally figured out this whole work-life balance thing. As I tell people, I'm glad I spent three years at Amazon (best business training in the world), but I'm equally glad I left. Hard to describe, but that sums it up. Microsoft is going very well, even with the current turmoil of me going through three bosses in three weeks a couple months back. I launched cashback on then-Live-Product-Search-now-Bing-Shopping, kept the site available 24x7 during the brand launch and black Friday/cyber Monday, and even managed to see my family in the process. Whodda thunk it.<br /><br />The big change of the year has been sending Spencer to private school all the way in Bellevue. Actually it's more convenient than it sounds, as in May Microsoft moved me from Redmond to their new building in downtown Bellevue. I was even able to chaperone on their class field trip to the Museum of Flight. We like the school so much, and Spencer has made such tremendous progress, that we are thinking of sending Garrett there for kindergarten next year. And yes, that probably means we will start seriously looking at moving to Bellevue, even if we can't sell our current house in the Snoqualmie Ridge because the wonderful city let the developers build too many houses in the area. Not that I'm bitter or anything.<br /><br />In sports, I watched the Lions continue their futility, Purdue football underachieve-then-overachieve in the same season, Purdue basketball return to its rightful spot at the top of the Big Ten, the Red Wings choke in the Stanley Cup Finals after being up two games to nil, have been to a dozen-plus Seattle Thunderbirds games to get my fix, and three Seahawks games this year. Highlight was a roadtrip down to Oregon to watch a fantastic football team against one of the nation's top teams. Strangely enough, that was the day Garrett became an Oregon Ducks fan. Because, well, they beat Purdue.<br /><br />I really upped the bar on myself on hiking, tackling Mount Teneriffe, Mailbox Peak, Mount Washington (in the snow), and Granite Mountain all this year (and yeah, a couple trips up Mount Si too, but that's now just a warm up). I have my eyes set on Mount Adams this year, with a friend at work gracious enough to teach me the basics of mountaineering. Reminds me I need to get off my ass and get to the gym to drop a few pounds before my tests start in March.<br /><br />Amy and I have probably enjoyed more dates this year than any year since before Spencer was born. Nice to have the kids old enough that we don't worry about them while we are out... in fact we tend to worry more about the babysitters. They're also old enough that their play room has been transformed significantly - gone are the little kids toys, replaced with the start of a game room (MY game room dammit). <br /><br />Garrett has turned into quite the football afficionado, with a new favorite team almost every week (although he seems to opt for Dallas quite a bit recently). He can tell you which team has white jerseys at home and which ones wear colors at home. He can also tell you the Lions still suck. Oh, wait, that's me.<br /><br />All in all a good year, I miss our friends who are now in Germany, and the boys continue to grow faster than I can keep up with them. Here's an early Happy New Year to everyone and a prosperous 2010!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-29316317045798082042009-12-21T13:55:00.000-08:002009-12-21T13:58:22.075-08:00Before there was corporate email...... we used to send humor around by voice mail. I remember this bit actually bringing down our voice mail system because so many people forwarded it. This is still the funniest damn thing I have ever heard. If the entire free world hasn't heard it by now, they should. Rated R for language.<br /><br />I don't know if we ever found out if it was real or fake (all evidence pointed to real).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRfOPquP_1Y">Enjoy</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-28465871366512500932009-11-24T12:10:00.000-08:002009-11-24T12:24:30.712-08:00Dear JaJ J: stay out of foul troublePurdue looked good against a deep and athletic Tennessee team last night. It's the first time I can remember since 1994 that Purdue looked like they belonged on the court against a big time team. They were as quick and fast as Tennessee, they penetrated well, they created their own shots, and they played terrific team defense. The weakness I saw was that they couldn't stay out of foul trouble to save their life.<br /><br />With Lewis Jackson out I thought Kelsey Barlow did an excellent job at the point. Good penetration, excellent defense, and he has some size so he can scoop up some boards. But boy does he need to work on his free throws. <br /><br />I've read about Patrick Bade, and he seemed to have good stats. I thought he held his own pretty well last night. One frustrating stretch he missed a couple putbacks and ended up fouling, but still he at least got to the back to have a chance at the putbacks. He'll be solid coming off the bench.<br /><br />Which leads me to JaJuan Johnson. Man, JJ, you can't get in foul trouble. No matter what. Let the other team have a less-than-perfectly contested shot. You don't do any good on the bench, and the trio of Moore, Hummel, and Johnson are as good a trio as it gets in the country this year. That is what Purdue is going to ride to the final four. Even if Marcius comes back and is a solid backup. <br /><br />Love the idea that Bade, Marcius, and Barlow will get lots of PT this year before the tourney. Damn these kids are going to be tough to beat.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192455.post-82329791058460087712009-11-22T18:57:00.000-08:002009-11-22T19:01:25.209-08:00the jury is still outBut today gave me a glimmer of hope that after 50 years the Lions have found their franchise quarterback. 5 TDs in a game is a lot for a rookie even against crappy competition like Cleveland. And 422 yards is a Lions record, more than the great Scott Mitchell ever put up. Some of his throws were excellent, and today he showed he can move to create plays. We'll see when the dust settles at the end of the year, but I continue to like what I see from Stafford.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17780126315779919153noreply@blogger.com1