Don't take your grandparents for granted...

Wednesday night my Grandpa died. I miss him.

Why is it we never realize what we have until it's gone? This isn't a new concept. We hear people say it all the time. Don't take people, places, times, etc... for granted. But for some reason we all do. I was able to tell him goodbye, hold his hand, and give him a kiss on the forehead... I would have much rather talked to him about the crops, weather, hell even something I normally don't care about; I'd do anything just to be able to talk to him again, and have him talk to me. It can't happen, though, and this saddens me. I miss him. Sure, a part of him will always stay with me for the rest of my life (thanks for the receding hairline Grandpa), but it's not the same. People older than you are supposed to be invincible. They'll never leave you. They'll always be there. But now my grandpa won't be, and I can't get over that feeling. I want him to be there for Christmas to hand me my money card; I want him to lead us in prayer before Thanksgiving dinner; I want him to yell at the grandkids and great-grandkids to stop jumping on the beds in basement. I just want him around. Maybe I should have been around more...

Here's Grandpa Hemann's Obit: GRANDPA HEMANN

Perhaps This Blog Needs to be Shutdown...

I completely jinx programs with posts on my blog.

* College Football - Iowa takes on #1 Ohio State - 2006
(I discussed that I thought Iowa would take down tOSU if they played again... and then Iowa got beat by Indiana)

* Iowa's Albert Young - One of the PREMIER Backs in the Nation
(Albert has been hurt all year and has been ineffective)

* Cubs Move to Single Digits Back in the Wild Card
(Cubs went on to flop hardcore)

Once again, I apologize for jinxing these teams.

I almost wrote about the Bears and their inevitable run the Super Bowl, but then I realized what the hell was going on so I didn't... but I thought about... and that's what happened on Monday Night vs. the Cardinals.

So I guess at this point, I should write that Michigan is going to kill Iowa, so the Hawks have a shot this weekend up in the Big House...

College Football - Iowa takes on #1 Ohio State - 2006

Comments after watching the game live at Kinnick:

1. Iowa had more yards per carry than tOSU, yet rushed the ball 30, yes 30 FEWER TIMES than the Bucks. I realize Tressel tried to run clock in the 3rd and 4th Qs, but only 20 rushing attempts by Iowa is far too few.

2. Why is it that that for some reason Parker believes our LBs can cover tOSU's receivers? Klinkenborg on Gonzo, not smart. Did we not learn anything from last year in the shoe when Anthony destroyed Greenway? IF Chad couldn't defend Gonzo, do you really think Klink or Humpal could? Also, why did we have (on select plays) our LBs covering Ginn??? Doesn't make sense to me.

3. Give the ball to Sims. He has opened my eyes more and more as this season progresses. He is certainly much improved from last year. Give him the ball.

4. Iowa shot itself in the foot too many times. 3 picks, and 1 fumble were 4 turnovers too many. Those TOs turned into tOSU points. If Iowa holds onto the ball, it's a completely different ballgame. Iowa would have been able to get through Tate's first two picks, but the fumble killed them. Down two scores and driving the field with plenty of time, Iowa had their chances.

5. Tate. Love his heart, but he just did not play very well last night.

6. Fenstermaker continues to be one of the best punters in the Big Ten, if not the nation.

7. Chris Wells is scary good.

8. We missed Paschal in the secondary.

9. Hawk fans showed their support to the end... I know my throat and body are pretty sore. What an environment in Kinnick last night... too bad the team wasn't able to play to their potential. Good things will be coming Iowa's way the rest of the season, though. This team will respond with big things this year!

10. I wish there was a BT Championship game to give Iowa the chance of maybe meeting up with tOSU again this year.

11. For one day, Iowa was the center of the college football universe. What an incredible feeling!

I wanted to see what I missed from what I saw at the game vs. what was shown on TV. First let me say that my initial comments about the game were spot on. I am not concerned with anyone calling me a homer, an idiot, etc... about what I think.

Watching the game again, I am 100% sure that if those two teams suited up again, Iowa would win the ballgame. Go ahead and tell me that I don't know what I am talking about, I don't care.

If Iowa could have eliminated the little mistakes, they had that ballgame (regardless of the final score). Iowa's defense was really containing the Buckeye offense for the most part. The short fields were where tOSU took advantage. Too many dropped balls by Iowa, and too many mental mistakes cost the ballgame.

Iowa is not that much below tOSU in terms of how good they are this year. tOSU is very beatable, and I don't see them going undefeated this year. Please don't take that as a knock on the Bucks, as they are very, very talented. But after watching the game again, Iowa had its chances to knock off the #1 team in the nation, and several times during the game it looked like they would take over the momentum for good, but then Iowa would shoot themselves in the foot.

Iowa fans - for those of you waiting for Iowa to start playing better (myself included), your wait is over. The game is the turning point for the program. There is no such thing as a moral victory, but I know looking at the video of the game, there are a TON of positives to come away from it. The reason Iowa lost the game was because of silly mistakes and executing. Iowa has the ability to run the table the rest of the year, and I am very confident that they can do just that. It all starts with Mr. Tate. Iowa goes as he does. If he is not ready to accept the challenge, Iowa will be in trouble. But if Drew is ready to step and become that guy, then the sky is the limits for this year's team.

GO HAWKS!

Wal-Mart has Officially Lost its Damn Mind!

Check out this story: HERE

Quote:
Instead of stocking mostly the same products, Wal-Mart (Charts) is custom-fitting its merchandise assortment to reflect each of six demographic groups - African-Americans, the affluent, empty-nesters, Hispanics, suburbanites and rural residents, the newspaper said.

I can just wait for the lawsuits to flow in...

I'm sorry, you are black, we prefer you to go to the "Black Wal-Mart". Oh sorry sir, you are farmer, you can't go to the "Suburbanite Wal-Mart", you have to go to the "Hick Wal-Mart."

For Christ sake, this is how segregation and racism flourishes.... it's not a big deal until someone makes it an issue... how retarded is Wal-Mart?

Unbelievable!

Iowa's Albert Young - One of the PREMIER Backs in the Nation

Ok, I've held it back long enough. I am pretty sick and tired of Albert Young not getting much love from the rest of the nation. I hear about Peterson from OU, Lynch from Cal, et al that are all Heisman candidates. No love for Iowa's running back. I look at Iowa's O-Line and just smile seeing the talent and the experience they will have up front. Young is now 100% (something he wasn't last year). Call me a homer, but I really do think Young is one of the premier backs in the nation. Just because Young doesn't score a ton, doesn't take away from what he did last year. He is a complete player who blocks well and also has fantastic hands.

Look at the stats. The one that stands out is the hype for Irons, but clearly Young was the better back last year even at 80%.

2005 RUSHING STATS
Adrian Peterson - 220 rushes, 1108 yards, 5.0 yds/carry, 14 TD; 9 rec, 50 yards, 5.6 yds/rec, 0 TD Michael Bush - 205 rushes, 1143 yards, 5.6 yds/carry, 23 TD; 21 rec, 253 yards, 12.0 yds/rec, 1 TD Jamaal Charles - 119 rushes, 878 yards, 7.4 yds/carry, 11 TD; 14 rec, 157 yards, 11.2 yds/rec, 2 TD Kenny Irons - 256 rushes, 1293 yards, 5.1 yds/carry, 13 TD; 14 rec, 164 yards, 11.7 yds/rec, 0 TD Marshawn Lynch - 196 rushes, 1246 yards, 6.4 yds/carry, 10 TD; 15 rec, 125 yards, 8.3 yds/rec, 0 TD Steve Slaton - 205 rushes, 1128 yards, 5.5 yds/carry, 17 TD; 12 rec, 95 yards, 7.9 yds/rec, 2 TD Albert Young - 249 rushes, 1334 yards, 5.4 yds/carry, 8 TD; 24 rec, 244 yards, 10.2 yds/rec, 0 TD

Antonio Pittman is another back that I don't think gets enough respect, and that, too, irritates me.

I can't wait for the season to start, and I am looking forward to a huge year for Young. I realize the Hawkeye's offense isn't condusive for Young to go out and get 2,000 yards this season, but I do think he is good enough to be mentioned as a Top 5 back in the nation.

Cubs Move to Single Digits Back in the Wild Card

GO CUBS GO!!

17 games under .500 at 47-64 and playing the best ball of the year, the Chicago Cubs move to within 9.5 games of the Wild Card lead thanks to St. Louis taking out the Reds in spectacular form tonight.


37-14 for the wild card
44-7 for NL central title

The Chicago Cubs are 18 Games Under .500 and Still in the Playoff Hunt

Here's the record the Cubs need the rest of the way:

38-14 for the NL Wild Card
45-7 for NL Central Title

Oh yeah, I am crazy....

A Look at the 2006 NL Cy Young Race...

Here's my breakdown...

As of July 26th, 2006:

TOP CANDIDATES

1. Carlos Zambrano - 9.06 K/9 (3rd in NL), .197 AVG (best in MLB), 147 Ks (Best in NL), 1.23 WHIP (10th in NL), 3.27 ERA (6th in NL), .352 SLG (2nd in NL), 11 wins (2nd in MLB despite playing for a team 22 games under .500) For walking as many people as Carlos does, his WHIP is amazing.

2. Pedro Martinez - 9.83 K/9 (2nd in NL), .202 AVG (2nd in NL), 111 Ks (10th in NL), 1.00 WHIP (Best in NL), 3.45 ERA (9th in NL), .343 SLG (Best in NL), 7 wins (Not getting run support isn't Pedro's fault).

3. Chris Carpenter - 7.64 K/9 (9th in NL), .232 AVG (7th in NL), 114 Ks (9th in NL), 1.12 WHIP (3rd in NL), 2.68 ERA (2nd in NL), .364 SLG (4th in NL), 10 wins

4. Brandon Webb - 6.82 K/9 (18th in NL), .255 AVG (13th in NL), 117 Ks (5th in NL), 1.11 WHIP (2nd in NL), 2.51 ERA (Best in NL), .362 (3rd in NL), 11 wins (2nd in MLB)

5. Aaron Harang - 8.48 K/9 (4th in NL), .264 AVG (20th in NL), 135 Ks (2nd in NL), 1.26 WHIP (12th in NL), 3.52 ERA (11th in NL), .410 SLG (15th in NL), 11 wins (2nd in MLB), 4 CG (1st in MLB), 2 SHO (1st in MLB)


HONORABLE MENTIONS

Jason Schmidt - 7.48 K/9 (14th in NL), .227 AVG (6th in NL), 115 Ks (7th in NL), 1.19 WHIP (8th in NL), 3.12 ERA (4th in NL), .367 SLG (5th in NL), 7 wins

Brad Penny - 6.68 K/9 (19th in NL), .258 AVG (15th in NL), 89 Ks (25th in NL), 1.26 WHIP (12th in NL), 3.23 ERA (5th in NL), .381 SLG (9th in NL), 10 wins

Bronson Arroyo - 6.89 K/9 (17th in NL), .247 AVG (10th in NL), 111 Ks (10th in NL), 1.17 WHIP (5th in NL), 2.92 ERA (3rd in NL), .393 SLG (11th in NL), 9 wins


DOWN THE LIST

Roy Oswalt - 5.98 K/9 (25th in NL), .282 AVG (32nd in NL), 91Ks (21st in NL), 1.26 WHIP (12th in NL), 3.35 ERA (7th in NL), .436 SLG (27th in NL), 7 wins

John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Chris Young also deserve to be mentioned.


DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT

No way on Jason Marquis... not with an ERA of over 5.60, only reason he has 12 wins is because of run support during his outings. 4.1 K/9 is below avg. That ERA is laughable, plus he is only averaging 5.5 innings per start. On top of that he has given up the most HRs of any NL pitcher.

When Do You Live Today for Today?

Too many times in life we get rundown by the daily grind. We go about our normal routines, as if programmed by some automated service. Daily routines; we all have them. Most of us can set our watches by our daily activities. Wake up. Grab breakfast (whether that is coffee, a donut, a cigarette, or whatever the preferred meal of the morn is). Go to work. Grab lunch. Go back to work. Leave work. Get home. Eat dinner. Go to sleep. Rinse, repeat (5 times). All the while, waiting in anticipation for the two days of the week that we have a chance to get away from the aforementioned routine; the proverbial weekend. Alas, this time away from our “normal routine” usually breeds a second process called the “weekend routine”. Mow the law. Clean up the house. Do the laundry. Continue to work on the ever-lengthening honey-do list.

So when do you have time to do the things you wanted to do as a kid? When do you get to spend all day lying on your back, trying to figure out what each passing cloud resembles? When do you get to bask in the fruits of your labor? When does tomorrow become today? When does soon become now? Too often we concentrate on the future that we forget about the present. Why is this? Are we a society of procrastinators or are we just focused on being prepared? There is a fine line between the two.

We are always wanting more; wanting something new, something fresh. We want the newest gadget, the latest edition, the current release. Is this an inherit insecurity or a wanted need to be on top of the game? Regardless, it is absolutely essential to at least attempt to live in the now, otherwise tomorrow will undoubtedly become yesterday without you even knowing.

Accolades for the 05/06 Hawkeye Basketball Team

17 CONSECUTIVE WINS AT CARVER HAWKEYE ARENA
(18 going back to last year)

JEFF HORNER - Iowa's All-time 3 Point Leader; Iowa's All-Time Assist Leader; 2006 Big Ten Assist Leader; 3rd Team All-BT; Big Ten Tournament MOP; All-American Honorable Mention

GREG BRUNNER - Iowa's All-time Rebound Leader; 2006 Big Ten Rebound Leader; First Team All-BT; Academic All-American

ADAM HALUSKA - Academic All-American, 3rd Team All-BT

EREK HANSEN - 2006 Big Ten Blocks Leader; BT Defensive POY

DOUG THOMAS - BT 6th Man of the Year