One Shining Moment

The ball is tipped
And there you are
you're running for your life
you're a shooting star


The final song that caps every college basketball season is one of the greatest things I've ever known. Many of my close friends feel the same way. One even had it playing as he and new bride made their first appearance at their wedding reception. He goes by Likey. Just this year CBS made a change and allowed Jennifer Hudson a chance to sing her rendition, possibly signaling the end of a decade of Luther Vandross. The girl undoubtedly has mad pipes, and even though there were a few editing gaffes, it definitely worked. The key for me is the chills. And they came.


And all the years
No one knows
Just how hard you worked
But now it shows


Nothing in sports is perfect, but the college basketball postseason tournament comes closest. It was aptly dubbed March Madness years ago, and every March it lives up to its name. Whether your teams win or lose, whether your picks win or lose, there is madness every single year. One and done. Single elimination. Lose and go home. Unlike pro basketball, one bad game can break you. Everything is on the line every single time out. You play 6 game sevens. And if you're the last team standing, you've earned the title. Every single year you have a worthy champion. Some are more talented than others, some send their entire starting five to the pros and some send nobody, but by beating six different teams over six weekends, teams with different styles and stars, in different venues, for different stakes, the title is earned. And even though, I jumped off the couch in dismay when Butler came oh so close three nights ago, I'll glady give Duke their props.


One Shining Moment, it's all on the line
One Shining Moment, there frozen in time


I like to make ridiculous predictions and have way too much fun with numbers, but the numbers don't lie when I say this: For the last 11 years, I have filled out my brackets at Perkins and eaten a chicken tender melt. Younggren made it through 10 and gave me a hell of a run, but his move west to Portland, while a brilliant life move, was a horrible Selection Sunday move. And now I stand alone.

It's hard to accurately describe the scene at the 'Kins. I guess you have to experience it at least once to understand. We had only three attendees this year, our lowest turnout yet. But we had three old standbys, and it did not disappoint. Even though Perkins has taken to calling the CTM another name, it just allowed me a chance to order, "The sandwich formerly known as the chicken tender melt." With sides of BBQ sauce, honey mustard and ranch, of course...


And when it's done
Win or lose
You always did your best
Cuz inside you knew

That one shining moment you reached for the sky
One shining moment you knew
One shining moment you were willing to try
One shining momeeeeeent


I won $2 from Josh when Michigan beat Seton Hall in 1989, which he still hasn't paid. I was near tears when the Fab Five of Michigan fell to Duke in 1992, and even closer during the classic game against North Carolina in 1993. I hurled obscenities at this dude Mike in high school when he tried talking shit about Syracuse during their 1996 loss to Kentucky. I jumped on board the Miles Simon train the next year as Arizona beat Kentucky. I exulted in N185 Pioneer Hall on the U of M campus when Rip, Kahlid and UConn nipped Duke in 1999 in one of the best college basketball games ever played. I swore off smoking cigarettes when Maryland finally drank from the championship cup in 2002, I was on a huge high and felt it could be done (Failure #27). I loved every minute of Kansas' crazy overtime win over Memphis two years ago in my personal choice as the championship game that was played at the highest level. And of course, I festered and fidgeted throughout the epic game this year, knowing full well in the aftermath that something special had taken place.

It's a horrible, overused cliche after a game that "both teams won tonight." But it's never been closer to the truth than it was Monday night. Both teams will be remembered.... for their pivotal roles in the neverending quest for everyone to find that one shining moment. And you don't have to play basketball to do it....

Just another reason to love March

You've got rebirth, rejuvenation (all that crap), things melting, green grass, Perkins and March Madness, the start of baseball right around the corner, March effing Forth.... and now a new candidate has emerged as a reason to love this month. One year ago tomorrow I met a girl. I learned she loves horror movies, Michael Jackson and Prince, hates Brett Favre and can dish it out as easily as she can take it. When the night ended, I did what anyone would do at the end of a great first date.... I deserted her in the dark streets of downtown to take the light rail home and walked to my car parked one block away in the lot. One year later, I think she is just now beginning to forgive me. Now I'm just working on the other ones. It's ok to put stainless steel in the microwave, right?

I'm smarter, wiser, more handymany, lighter, savvier and less prone to sleeping late than I was a year ago. All good things. And fixing to get better. In the words of Michael Scott, , "I love this womaaaan!"

You'd all better come to Vegas. And I'm especially talking to.... well... you know who you are....

Quick Hitter

Felt like sharing some randoms...


Recent life change I made ------ If I was washing my hair and using two different bottles for shampoo and conditioner, I would just combine the two to form a supersubstance in my hand and then toss it all together onto the top of my head. I have been since told that this defeats the purpose. So now I use shampoo and conditioner separately. My shower time has increased by three solid minutes. On the days I wash my hair at least. Which is every other day. That's the norm, right?


--- Each time I fill up with gas at the station, I try to predict how much it is going to cost to fill the tank. I consider it a successful guess if I come within 1% of the correct amount. Twice I have been two cents off but never closer. The day in which I guess it exactly right, well there's no telling how I might react. You just can't prepare for a magical moment like that.....


--- As far as embarrassing life moments go, where does backing your car out of your garage and into a snowbank and getting stuck rank? I'd say somewhere between farting in the middle of a meeting at work and striking out in slow pitch softball.


--- If you had to construct the perfect amount of hours in a day, based on what you now know, would you keep it at 24 or make a change? I think 28 seems about right...


--- I couldn't honestly tell you that I've ever loved a dog before. I've hated some, not minded a couple and liked a few... but the L word is creeping in these days. Riley can be a pain and a nuisance, but he's pretty damn funny and cool, as well as being genuinely happy most of the time. There is something happening here. We both feel it, we're just trying to let it happen naturally. Scamp is untouchable in the pantheon of all-time animals. But Riley Boy is a solid #2.


--- I think that if I am forced to use a cane when I'm older, I'll fall down a fair amount.


--- Some September weekend in my life, I want to go to a Cubs game on Saturday and a Packers game on Sunday. That would be more than a little slice of sports paradise.


--- I know people say that they would gladly work 4 10 hour days and have 3 day weekends, but I don't see why you wouldn't just work Monday at 8 AM until midnight on Tuesday and just be done with it....


--- Someone needs to invent a sport that is played only in February because it's the deadest month for sports. I love baseball as much as anyone, but pitchers and catchers reporting just doesn't quite do it for me anymore...


So it goes....

The Forbidden City

One of my favorite episodes of Seinfeld is the Bizarro episode, where up is down and black is white, Elaine finds a new group of guys to hang out with, Kramer is a working man getting his hump busted by old man Leyland and George tries to date a woman way out his league. She ends up taking him to a club that he thought was a meat packing plant and introducing him to her attractive friends. George refers to dating a girl like that to being in a forbidden city where people like him have not been inside for thousands of years. But finally he is dating an attractive girl, is inside the walls, and can come and go as he pleases. Pretty soon he realizes he doesn't even need Amanda, the girl he is dating, as he is already in.

Jerry: So you're gonna burn THAT bridge??

George: Flame on!!

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Of course ultimately the plan goes up in smoke, he is essentially kicked out of the city and in the final scene the club was never really there, it was indeed a meat packing plant.

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Over the last five years, poker for me has really been like the forbidden city. In the beginning, playing $5 games in the living room of the 213, there was the knowledge that a place like that existed, but it was merely the faintest of ideas. There has since been a wide ranging spectrum of involvement with the game of poker for the regulars at that table, with mine being far and away and the most passionate and intense. The game tapped into a lot of what makes me tick... it was a giant puzzle with deductive reasoning, math, memory and instinct playing crucial roles. It should surprise no one that I've spent so much time chasing the game.

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In poker, like most things, you get better with practice. The more hands you play, the more things become clear, the more you figure things out, the more you are used to certain situations. The gap between when I first started playing and where I am today is enormous. If I sat down at table with myself of five years ago, my current self would break my old self in swift order. My old self is reluctanty nodding as I write this.

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I improved steadily, playing tournaments of rising stakes and skill levels, before I finally lost my World Series of Poker virginity the summer of 2008. The experience was memorable and satisfying, paving the way for the experience of 2009, which was both completely devastating and positively euphoric. All the wonderful and difficult things about the game reared their head, but the bottom line was this... I sat with some of the best players out there and more than held my own, played my game like knew I could and FELT like I belonged. I didn't end the trip on the high that I started it on, but I still strongly felt like progress was being made.

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I still feel that way today. But the reality of the game can plant seeds of doubt in you. I have leaks in my game that continue to block my road to being great. I've heard this key message many times but for some reason it evades me when I need it most ----- Poker is a marathon, not a sprint. The game can be played over a lifetime, and over the long haul the best players will win. It's pure statistics. But way too often, I let my emotions get the best of me on certain nights and completely forget that adage. There will always be another night, another game, another chance. And until I can get that leak fixed, I won't be anything close to the player I think I can be. I'll enter the poker elite for a short while, but leave just as quickly. I'll have my moments where the world is my oyster, and others where the oyster is taking a crap on me.

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I'll spend some time in the Forbidden City. But, as I know all too well, it turns back into the meat packing plant just like that.

10 Greatest Losses

So last night's tough defeat for Vikings fans got me thinking about my life and the 10 toughest sports losses I've personally endured. What the heck... let's make a list. Keep in mind these are professional losses I've experienced as a fan...

10. 1984 NLCS Cubs vs. Padres --- My first sports memory also doubles as the angriest I've ever seen my dad. 1B Leon Durham lets a ground ball go between his legs in the 7th inning of the deciding game, Cubs lose 5-3, my dad slams his fist down on the counter, walks out of the house and does not return for some time. It scared me at the time... and made me a Cubs fan for life.

9. 1991 Orange Bowl Notre Dame vs. Coloardo --- My favorite college football player of all-time is The Rocket, Notre Dame's Raghib Ismail. With Notre Dame down 10-9, he capped off an electric college career with a silly 92-yard punt return for a TD with 43 seconds left. Exultation and exhiliration. For five seconds. A bogus clipping penalty ruined it all. The Rocket deserved better.

8. 1998 Super Bowl XXXII Packers vs. Broncos --- Going into the game there may been overconfidence... and it grew even further when the Pack marched down the field on the opening possession and put up 6 after Favre floated a perfect one to Freeman. The rest of the game was jagged, the Packers seemed out of sync, Elway did that weird helicopter landing on the famous run late in the game.... and.... this may sound familiar... Favre's last pass of the season was a horrible one. This was maybe the biggest, "Wow I can't BELIEVE they lost" game. I was that sure they were going to win. Maybe it's because we watched the game at Bal's house.....

7. 2001 NCAA National Semifinal --- Maryland vs. Duke ----- We drove straight through back from Vegas and arrived just in time for tipoff. My favorite team vs. my least favorite.... and the Terps bolted to a 22-point first half lead. Only to have it all come crashing down, one possession at a time. I felt like at Christmas morning I woke up and my parents told me to go to school. What once was so wondeful turned into a nightmare. It was just Duke's year. One year later the Terps would win the whole fricking thing and have their Juan Shining Moment.

6. 2010 Wild Card Playoff Packers vs. Cardinals ---- Flying down to Arizona to go this games was on a whim, and sure worth it. The despondent vibe early gave way to the incredulous rush late. I've never gone from bottom to top like that in my memory. The missed field goal. The coin flip win. Jennings breaking free. Rising from my seat. The ball soaring in the sky. Raising my arms in the air. Greatest game ever......

Incomplete. Penalty. Fumble. Game Over. Loud Arizona fans. Life sucks again.....

5. 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals Kings vs. Lakers ---- One of the greatest playoff series of all-time. I loved everything about the Kings and hated everything about the Lakers. Liakos and I lived and died with that Kings team. Horry's 3 to win Game 4 for the Lakers was a heartstopper. Game 6 was the biggest ref shitshow I've ever seen... and I've seen a ton. Then the brutal OT loss at Arco in Game 7, with Peja and Christie both botching huge 3s and Webber disappearing late. I'll never be convinced the better team one.

4. 2008 NFC Championship Game -- Packers vs. Giants. The official end of the cold weather myth. We thought Favre was a cold weather master but he was throwing ducks all game. Yet still after Lawrence Tynes missed a field goal at the end of regulation (after which I engaged in a three way jump, hug, shriekfest with Sarah and Maggie), the Packers won the coin toss and visions of the Super Bowl were dancing. Then the WTF pass left Favre's hand. There was no joy in St. Louis Park.

3. 2008 NLDS Cubs vs. Dodgers --- I blogged about this one heavily when it went to down... so excited going in and so devastated going out. I've never seen the weight of expectations affect a team like that. I called in to work after the game 2 loss since I knew the person who showed up

that day would not have benefited the company one bit. I was stupid enough to honestly think that was the year. As Cub fans, if we don't know better by now, we never will. I still believe it will happen one day. I just don't know for sure anymore.

2. 1993 NCAA National Championship --- Michigan vs. North Carolina. There's so much more than just the timeout. There's the insane comeback they made against UCLA in the 2nd round, when I realized I was more nervous than I had ever been watching a game in my life, where King tipped in Rose's miss to end it. There's the flawless game they played against the favorite Kentucky in the National Semis, winning without making a 3 over 45 minutes. Sticking it in my dad's face after that game as he guaranteed Kentucky would win. There's Rose and Webber, two of my favorite sports dudes ever. Then there was the finality of it all. The ending was all kinds of wrong. It haunts me to this day.

1. 2003 NLCS Cubs vs. Marlins ---- The last time I cried after a sporting event. I stumbled around the streets of Eau Claire in my socks. I lay in the driveway, looking up at the stars for what seemed like hours. I was unemployed for four months following. There were so many things about the 8th inning of game 6 that turned out badly.... I watched the game on ESPN classic earlier this month and was blown away all over again. Then KWood hit the incredible homer in Game 7 and it was possible once again. But no. The long goodbye instead. I'm not sure I'll ever be the same when it comes to sports.

The Year that was

I always said that my junior year in college was the best year of my life. I lived with three of the best dudes ever, had a brother house three blocks away and a sister house through the park, turned 21, truly learned the beauty of Seinfeld, tried to qualify for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, mastered Mario Golf like no other, did puzzles, caught mice, laughed all day every day... there will never be another year like it. But technically that was August 1999 - August 2000. And when it comes to full calendar years, what just went down in 2009 very well might have been..... best year ever.

When 2009 dawned I sent a mass text out from the bar I was at. It said..

Happy New Year Kids, I am fucking shit up this year, let's not kid ourselves. Sikkow. I had just emerged from an emotional pseudo relationship and felt in a way that it was my time. I didn't know what that meant exactly, but I had an inkling that what was coming was gonna be great. And the days that followed didn't disappoint...

There were a lot of little things that contributed to the mix, but the crux of the year was all about two things: 4 x 2 and the Franchise

I'll never have another wedding year like 2009. Nothing will come close actually. My brother and three of my best friends got married. Four great weddings....preceded of course by four epic, and very different, bachelor parties. Eight weekends spanning late March to October. It's impossible to boil everything down in this spot. I threw up on my way to the bathroom for the first time, was not just the better man but the best man for the first time, jumped into the ocean in my wedding gear for the time... and officiated my first wedding. I got to spend weekends with my favorite people in the world over and over again. And that doesn't even include the bachlor parties. There's a code....

And then you have the Franchise. March 3rd isn't just my birthday eve anymore. It's the day I met the girl who made my year... and who will make many more years if I'm lucky. I've always been very content with my life with whatever I've been doing, but right now I'm both the best person and the happiest I've ever been. And I have my new roommate to thank. Life is pretty alright...

And now we have wireless so the blogging may come.... for real this time


Bye Bye

2010...just a matter of when

I'm gonna post the monster of all monsters before too long. Just wanted to get that out there. So many things to say... and I'll try to say them all.

Happy New Year

AJ