Memphis, TN

Ruminations of Thanksgiving

The Speakeasy

Not sure whose idea it was but the garage was set up to accommodate people for Thanksgiving. It was furnished with a TV and a few tables and chairs for eating, drinking, hanging out. Most of the rapscallions congregated for simple reasons.

1. There desserts and cold libations were stored there.
2. There was a TV for football.
3. You were less likely to get favor/questions from Team Cheryl.

Shame Sticks

I am not sure the line when fact ends, myths begin, and legends are made. Somewhere in the ephemeral mist lives Mikey Boam. Famous too many, infamous to others, and a hero to me! Boam married into the clan through my cousin Julie. To take a football analogy way too far; Boam was a mid season acquisition to an already powerful team with simple championship ambitions. Since that moment, the goals have changed. Phrases like “best ever” have now been tossed around. I as usual digress. Boam has an affinity for butter, not as an ingredient but as a main course. Boam has “taken it to another level” or “given 110%” or fill in an overused line of your own. Boam has created Shame Sticks. They are sticks of butter rolled in sugar and then lovingly dipped in chocolate. Take a moment to envision that creation. Pure bypass laden brilliance. Boam isn’t even from the south. If he was he would surely deep fry it!!!

Three potential "SHAME STICKS"

Memphis, TN

My mom, as usual out did herself with the Thanksgiving meal. On this day her cooking and organizational skills are at their best. She was feeding twenty and all of the food came out at once. We gorged ourselves and some of the Thanksgiving favorites. The two dishes that I love the most are the homemade bread dressing (stuffing) and brussel sprouts in rich sauce with bacon. We had a great crew. They were old and new friends. Food was ate, naps were took, drinks were drank, and conversation had. I was stuffed and ready for bed around 8pm. It was great Thanksgiving.

Frank and Truk discuss stategy for turkey consumption

Only the young can resist the tryptophan of Turkey

Kath and Marj enjoy a post meal conversation.

Matt, Dylan, and Christa enjoy the spoils of Mom's cooking

Notice that the energy levels of the young ones

Members of "Team Cheryl" get the pre-meal game plan and instructions

Stephanys charing a laugh

The pork butt appetizer that was consumed "cave man" style

Aunt Sue with family, sans Buffy, wearing an old timey helmet

Caroline enjoying the meal

One of four areas that a eater can load up on food

Big Mike gives the meal a thumbs up

This was someone's dessert plate. I promised I would not mention Buff's name...whoops!

Big Mike, the music man, Scoots, and Southside Mike enjoy the meal

These grazing males methodically finished off the appetizer pork butt with their bare hands. Notice the look of manly satisfaction.

Memphis, TN

It was a short work week with it being the Thanksgiving holiday. That worked well because I was also fighting off a cold. I think I slept more this past week than any other time in my life. I am not a big sleep in guy. In fact I usually up around 5:30am each morning whether I have work or not. Do not confuse this habit with any sort of positive connotation. I full believe this is punishment for crimes of youth. It was not uncommon for me to sleep a whole day in college. That is not unheard of but it seriously impedes your ability to attend classes.

On Tuesday I checked out the CBU Bucs basketball game against the University Alabama at Huntsville. They came away with a quality win. (Game Recap) I sat with Oliver and we caught up with each other’s lives and family. I really need to call him more often. Reggie had a great game. Afterwards I went with Coach Mike and the rest of the Nienaber clan to the Bayou for a sandwich and a couple of beers, always a good time. Typical conversation topics are politics and basketball.

Wednesday, though gang went out for one of my favorite nights in the year. I always enjoy the night before Turkey Day drink fest. The crowd always includes a healthy dose of Stephanys, we were rolling five deep (There were five of us), friends, and friends of friends. There are some great stories from previous years that will not be told to protect the not so innocent. All I will say is that the “night” ended with Rocky burgers at Alex’s Tavern. If you are Memphis you can make you own assumptions about the quality of the effort!

Memphis, TN

The rest of the week was pretty typical for me; lots of teaching, reading students work, and coaching basketball. I got out a couple times to watch a game, grab a bite to eat, or drink a beer. On Thursday I did all three at once! On Saturday afternoon I met up with Lindsey W. and one of her friends for lunch at the Renedzvous. I worked with Lindsey two summers ago when she was main intern at the School of Public Service in DC. The program, sponsored by Vanderbilt, is called VIEW(Vanderbilt Intern Experience in Washington).

Lindsey did a fabulous job and was sorely missed last year. Not only was she supremely organized but the she truly cared about the program and the students in particular. Last summer she was a intern at the White House where she worked on press releases and other PR type duties. She is senior at Vanderbilt where she is a classmate and sorority sister with a bunch of my old students at the “H”. It was good to catch up with her and meet her friend. The ribs weren’t too bad either.


After a lengthy nap the rest of the afternoon, I visited a few watering holes in the midtown area to make sure the economy was being properly stimulated. Tough job, but someone has to do it.

Memphis, TN

I went to the CBU vs. Memphis basketball game tonight. The game is an exhibition game which does not count in the standings for either team. The Memphis Tigers are Division I team that is ranked 3rd in the country and CBU (Christian Brothers University) is a Division II team ranked in the top twenty of their division. Why do they play you ask? Well it gives Memphis a warm up game and CBU’s kids get to say they played against one the top teams in the county. Memphis blew the doors off the Bucs of CBU but really what did anyone expect. (Recap) What made the game fun to watch, besides being a fan of basketball, is the fact that I have my masters degree from CBU, the coach of CBU is a friend of mine, and I coached one of CBU’s top players, Reggie Peyton, in high school and grade school. I got to know Mike Nienaber through his son, Eddie, who I also coached in high school and the fact that I lived on campus as the Resident Director for three years. Here is a great article in the Memphis newspaper about the game and some of the CBU coaches and kids.

Reggie (5'10") breaking the press against Robert Dozier (6'9")

Here is video of one of CBU’s games last year against Harding. At about 50 seconds in the video watch Reggie make an amazing block. It is more amazing considering he is only 5’10”. Here is another video from a game against Delta State. At around the 40 second mark Reggie gets a pretty nice dunk.

Reggie running the point fro the Bucs

Reggie inbounding the ball against CDR (Chris Douglas-Roberts)CBU got whacked pretty badly but it was fun to watch Reggie take on some of the best players in the country. I drove Reggie to school every day for about four years, coached him in middle school football, high school basketball, and taught him for a year. We got pretty close in those years. He is like a little brother to me. Coaching him in football considerably helped my coaching record. His dad, Oliver, was the realtor when I bought my first house. It has been fun watching him grow up as a basketball player and a young man. I am really proud of the person Reggie has become.

Memphis, TN

I went out to Well’s place for the Browns/Steelers game. If anyone is a fan of either team you know very well this is not just a game, it’s a grudge match pitting to sworn enemies against each other. In my home town the rivalry divides the city. Erie is equidistant from Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. As a result the teams divide the city for fan loyalty. There are quite a few Bills fans but the number pales in comparison to Browns and Steelers fans. What makes it worse is that since Buffalo is technically the closest city there are many times that Browns/Steelers game is not shown because the Bills are playing on TV. This is bad for fans but great for sports bars. Here is an article about the rivalry in my hometown newspaper. Wells and I grilled out Brats, drank some beer, and watched the game. Wells is a rabid Browns fan which makes the game quite fun to watch. To get an idea of how much the two teams hate each other here is site called steelerssuck.com. The passion/obsession the south has for college football is the way the north is into pro football. When the Browns did not exist for a few years it caused an unbalance for the Steeler fans. The two fan bases need to hate each other. It is kind of a yin yang thing.

Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison decks a Browns fan who has run out on the field.

Big Ben being chased by the the Browns "D"

Memphis, TN
November 4th thru 10th

Sunday
In celebration of Katherine’s birthday Truk planned a surprise birthday bowling party for her. To anyone who may question the wisdom of a bowling party, relax…, Katherine loves to bowl. The party was well attended and everyone seemed to have fun. My bowling acumen was a bit off which shames my Middle America roots. If you want to know how much Erie likes bowling, just think of the old TV Show Rosanne. Its storylines regarding bowling live accurately depicts my hometown. When the gang gets together to bowl we take names that match our alternative personas. Some go with old stand by’s while others go with a “porn” name developed by using your middle name a street you once lived on. Either way when your combine the bowling and the company it’s a good time.

Guess which is Pete's name.

Later on I met Baruch to watch the Cowboys/Giants game at BW Three’s.

Tuesday

I caught the Memphis Tigers vs. Richmond Spiders basketball game at the FedEx Forum with the Big Kat Ronnie. It was the second round of the Coaches vs. Cancer preseason tournament. The Tigers play could be described as lethargic at best. Richmond ran an efficient “Princeton” style offense. The offense basically has the center operating as the distribution area at the free throw line. It was made famous by Pete Carril the legendary basketball coach at Princeton, ergo the name. Memphis eventually pulled away from the Spiders and won 80 to 63. One thing is for certain is this; Derrick Rose is the real deal. We have hyped some players such as Dujuan Wagner (Where has he gone?) and Darius Washington who were very good but the Rose kid is good as advertised. He is one of the quickest players I have ever seen play.

Derrick Rose being Derrick.

Thursday

Tonight I had the privilege of attending the Facing History and Ourselves Benefit at the Peabody Hotel. The key note speaker was actress and oral historian Judith Sloan who acted out stories of individuals in her exhibit on immigration, CROSSING THE BLVD. This exhibit uses photographs, stories, and sounds to intimately portray the lives of new immigrants and refugees living in the culturally diverse community of Queens, N.Y. The performance was amazing. If you want to get know real stories of immigrants you can get the book which is awe inspiring. I ran into a bunch of old friends at the dinner. One of which was the Hardy Thames, an old colleague from my Bridges days. Here is a copy of his speech he gave about Facing History and his student Khadija Hassan who also spoke. Khadija was in one of my groups of FutureBuilders about four years ago. She has an amazing story of her struggle to escape the Rwandan genocide. Here is column about her by Commercial Appeal columnist Wendi Thomas. (You must read this!) I have been working with Facing History in one way or another for over ten years. Twelve years ago when I was mid year replacement at Bishop Byrne the principal Neddy Brookshaw recommended me for the program’s training session. I will be eternally indebted to her for that. Facing History has been the one common thread at every one of my teaching stops.

Friday

After teaching school and basketball practice I met up with Truk at the Rhodes’ pub, the Lynx Lair, for a ping pong match and a couple of pints of Guinness. Truk bested me in a best of five match. We were closely matched in talent but Truk pulled away in the fifth set. The new pub is quite nice and the Guinness was well poured. Anyone who is a lover of the “black stuff” will know what I mean by that. Let’s put it this way. I you order a Guinness and get it quickly the server does not what they are doing. In order to ensure a full pint ready when you are finished drinking the current pint one should order it about half way through. That’s just my opinion. We called it early due to our cooking gig at the Rhodes vs. Sewanee football game the next morning.

Saturday

I rose from slumber this morning at 6:15am to meet up with Truk to head over to Rhodes. This Saturday at the Rhodes vs. Sewanee football game was the faculty/staff appreciation cook-out. Truk as a Rhodes employee and alumnus got me involved last year and I was lucky enough to get asked back to the cooking crew officially. The crew led by Bud, who works in the alumni office, cooks authentic gumbo, red beans and rice, sautéed shrimp, and jambalaya. How authentic you ask? Well Joby (99’), from Dulac, La said that the shrimp that we peeled and cooked on Saturday slept in the Gulf on Wednesday night till his uncle, who is a shrimper, caught them Thursday morning. I did was do what was I was told. I peeled shrimp, cut chicken, and drank Bloody Marys. The food was on time and well received by the faithful faculty/staff/alumni/fans. I had a great time and hope to go it again next year. I enjoyed multiple naps the rest of the day while watching football.

Memphis, TN

This is entering into my really crazy time of the year. The first week of November for Pete means the beginning of middle school basketball at the “H”. I am the head coach of both the 7th and 8th grade teams. This is my fifth season at the helm of the Sting. Over the years the teams have had pretty good success considering that basketball is usually the second or third sport of choice for our girls. In the four previous years our girls have won two championships in our league which is composed of other independent schools in the Memphis area. As frustrating as it can be at times I enjoy coaching immensely. I will try to keep readers updated on the progress of the teams. Either way it takes up a great deal of my time. So basically between the months of November and early February I spend a lot of time focused on the middle school hoops scene in Memphis.

Intrasquad scrimmage at the "H"

I had a really nice time out with Dave, Christina, Truk, and Katherine. We all met up downtown for a meal at Sauces, a new spot off South Main in downtown Memphis. The place has a nice feel and the food was great. I had the pan seared tuna with a rosemary and basil sauce. It is a bit overpriced but not ridiculously so. After dinner we ambled down to Blues City Pastry for some coffee and dessert. We closed the evening with a couple of beers at Bosco’s in Overton Square. We all do not get to do this as often as we would like. This group goes back to 1989 and Rhodes College.

The gang enjoys a meal at Sauces.

Kath and Dave select a treat Blues City Pastry

The bar at Boscos Squared

Memphis, TN

OK, I know it has been a while since I’ve updates any of the goings on of Pete. This is going to be cliff note version of my activities because I have been pretty busy with school and pretty lazy whenever I can find time to. SO here it goes.

October Highlights

Bolivar, TN

Eighth grade retreat

Right after fall break at the “H” we had our annual 8th grade retreat out a Victory Ranch in Bolivar, TN. The place is camp that has both high and low ropes course elements and tons of other activities for young and old. It operates primarily as a summer camp, weekend retreats, and corporate team building. Ropes courses seem to be the vogue and “in” thing that all private schools, youth groups, and corporate “team building” are jumping on. What I have found is that unless you brief, facilitate, and debrief the activities then they all they turn into is fun games that people do and very little is accomplished. The very best facilitators that I have seen are the BridgeBuilders Staff and groups that I worked for a number of summers. All the girls seemed to have a good time.

Pete scaling the climbing wall

A student doing a much better job of it.

This is not meant to be a criticism of the folks at Victory Ranch. Our retreat is not designed to do what I mentioned. Our activity is supposed to be a bonding time our girls and faculty. Victory Ranch’s facilities our first rate and it is always a very relaxing time for our faculty because their staff does a great job with the kids.

Pete, preflight.

Pete, or is it "Peter Pan"?

It's a bird, it's plane, it's SUPERPETE!!!!!

Flying is exhausting

"Roughing" it at the lodge.

Memphis, TN

Family Fun

My aunt Mary, a.k.a., “The Goat” was in town for a visit. The Goat runs Stephany Catering, the place that my Grandma started over 30 years ago. My cousin Jeff, The Goat’s san, is slowly taking over reigns from her as she eases into retirement. She is a retired Special Education teacher from the Erie School District. She taught at East High School, where my grandpa and grandma went to school, my Dad student taught, and my cousin Julie, is the Librarian. Needless to say there is some history there. We had a great time. Some highlights were a cross generation kegger, a Rendezvous visit, and lots of hanging out and visiting. I’ll see her around X-Mas but I hope she comes back to Memphis soon. She seemed to have fun and it was good to have her in town.

The Stephany clan getting their "rib on"!

Idiocy at its finest

Another highlight was a day long football watching with Tusky and Craig at the Brookhaven. One of the highlights was a contest invented by yours truly which entailed four “grown” men putting their hand in a bucket of ice water. The last one to pull their hand out was declared the “winner” (Let’s be honest here, if we are doing this none of us are anywhere close to “winners”). As a note: I, as creator of the contest, was the very first out!!!

Oxford, MS

Some artists work in watercolors or acrylics. Others sing or are performance artists. Well my friend Tusky's milieu is unbridled rage. As a result of him being one of the angriest men in America, his rants about the world in general and sports in particular are hilarious. Here is post he made on a message board after one college Saturday afternoon.

Here is the background story that inspired his bitter "art".

At halftime of the Arkansas/Ole Miss football game Ole Miss did a fireworks show…at 1pm in the middle of the day. During the DAYLIGHT HOURS fireworks show, long streamers drifted into power lines, started a fire, and blew out a transformer. The results of which knocked out half of the stadium's electricity for more than an hour. Arkansas senior fullback Peyton Hillis said the players noticed the power had gone out but didn't hear the loud explosions from the locker room at halftime. Two transformers were blown in the north end of the stadium which caused the outage, including the video screen and scoreboard on that side.

Here is the post. WARNING!!! There are bad words!!!!

"It hasn't been often that I've been moved to words on our message board, but that all changed Sunday afternoon on my trip back from Baton Rouge. Every now and then you hear something that just makes you sit back and just say ...Wow. Normally I would take a few minutes to break down the Ole Miss game and gloat over another spectacularly failed effort to be competitive on Saturday. Now I know there are several Ole Miss fans who are in the league so you guys know more than anyone what I'm talking about. Whether its another fantastic down to the wire, we got screwed "moral victory" or another colossal beat down at the hands of the juggernaut that is Wyoming football, there's always plenty of spirited banter to be tossed about in rebel nation. Don't get me wrong I'm actually a huge Orgeron fan and would love for his contract to receive another extension. I could go for days so lets not lose focus. Despite the hours we could spend on the workman like effort put in by the rebels on Saturday, we have other fish to fry here. When do you know a university has quit? When does it become so apparent that everyone from the President, to the AD, to the Coach , to the passed out shaggy hair undergrad, are so completely disenfranchised with the football program? I mean , seriously when do you know? Well I’ll tell you, and it comes in the form of 2 words never associated together before, are you ready, here they are .......AFTERNOON FIREWORKS!!! Congratulations to Ole Miss!!! Who else in the entire firework gazing world would have thought to have a fireworks display at 2:30 in the afternoon? Its good to know that the stupidity that once was confined only to the football program has completely immersed the entire university. I won't even mention the shorting out of the scoreboard and jumbotron for the entire 2nd half as a direct result of the "Disney in Oxford" display. At some point it becomes just like scoring on the defense..a joke. It has now become apparent that there is almost no way the lowest I.Q. on campus resides with our hero Coach O. That honor would have to go to the genius who prepared Saturday's halftime festivities. Hey i guess even that guy figured Fuck it, no one is watching anyway."

PURE BEAUTIFUL ANGER AT ITS FINEST

Memphis, TN

Hey here is shocker…, Pete went to a Wedding. This one was in Memphis and I was not in it. Crazy Pete factoid #372, I have been in over twenty weddings, five of them as best man. No joke. One of Scoots (my sister Keri) friends and my coworker at the H, Emily got married. It was a nice wedding and lots of Scoot’s old friends from her IP days were in town. Some of them I had not seen for years. We had some afternoon beers on one of the many bar patios in Memphis, hit the Rendezvous for ribs, visited Ernestine and Hazel’s for a soul burger, and did some breakfast at Miss Cordelia’s grocery. All of this was facilitated by my fall break this week. For a change I stayed around Memphis for fall break and just hung around the Mempho.

The weather has finally broke in Memphis and you can actually go outside in Memphis without melting like the wicked witch of the west. Truk and some others took advantage of the weather by walking across Memphis. Yes, you read that correctly, walked across Memphis. It was Frank’s idea but his schedule would not permit him making the jaunt across the bluff city. I was supposed to go but I had.., lets just call it stomach troubles and we will leave it at that. Here is a link to Truk’s Blog about the trip with accompanying photos.

School has been a little crazy. Every year goes by faster than the previous one. That is both good and bad. Good because vacation comes more quickly, bad because it never seems like there is time to get anything done. There are only eight weeks to Christmas vacay (That’s how the kids say it these days). Oh well, my philosophy has always been process over product. Here is what I mean by that. Let’s face it my students are not going to remember anything specific about my class but they will retain learning techniques and strategies that I teach them. As a result, what specific material I actually cover is less important than teaching them to be life long learners. Or maybe that is just a cheap excuse for not getting a lot of stuff done.

This week we had a nice break in the action with the 8th grade retreat out to Victory Ranch in Bolivar, TN. They have a beautiful facility out in the country. The girls have a good time doing ropes course things like climbing walls, zip cords, and other high element activities. It is a nice way to get to know the kids outside the classroom and vice versa for getting to know the teachers in the same light. It is not exactly roughing it. In fact the cabins look like Colorado ski lodges. The food is always good and I even got to watch the Indian/Red Sox baseball game and Rutgers upset of South Florida on satellite. This is one of the few times it really works out being a male teacher at an all girls school, I can not help with bed checks and other night time duties so I sleep quite comfortably by myself. A crazy bad thunderstorm rolled through at night which provided an awesome lighting display along with a substantial amount of rain. It was over before folks went to sleep so there was little drama to speak of.

Memphis, TN

Things have been pretty busy in Pete’s world the last few weeks so I thought I would catch folks up on my goings on and tomfoolery.

Some highlights from earlier in October. Wednesdays have been spent at the Court Square concert series. The last one was this past week and I missed it because of crappy weather. One of the Wednesdays I met Truk and Kath at the Memphis Flyer’s “Best of” party. I’ve gone the last few years and always have a good time. They had Blue Moon on tap which was quite nice. Hung out for a while and was in bed by 10:30pm. The party was at Bridge’s headquarters. It was a little odd to be drinking where I worked for so many summers at the leadership camps. Shockingly, I got over it.

Matt roams the outfield of Autozone Park

Another nice time was when Uncle Dave came down to Memphis for the weekend to visit with Lex and Buff and watch CBU and Matt play in the Nostalgia Man classic. The Classic is a nice little fall baseball wooden bat tournament hosted by Memphis’ AAA baseball team for the local small colleges. CBU played Rhodes and Bethel College. CBU lost the first and tied in the latter. It must be nice to be a small college player and play at Autozone Park. We had lunch at Bigfoot before the game on Saturday and the Stephany girls entertained the bartender. As Uncle Dave lobbied the girls to hit Church the next day Buffy’s response of, “Oh, is it Easter already?” proved to be the line of the day. The weather, setting, and company conspired for a great weekend. The Stephany clan also hit Buffalo Wild Wings for some playoff baseball and wingees. Pete love wingee.

Hey batter, batter,....., swing batter.

Uncle Dave at the entrnace to Autozone Park.

I also forgot to mention that last month my cousin Greg came through town for a couple of days. He was blowing through on the way to Louisiana for classes he needs for captains license. I am so envious of his adventures. Greg is a sailor. Old school sailor, you know like swab the poop deck, raise the mast, avar there matie, real time sailor. He recently completed a gig where he worked on ship called the Picton Castle which sailed around the world. He got PAID to sail around the world, and people say I live the life. Well Greg came through and we did what are clan does and a good time was had. He recently passed his captains license and is currently working with some ships out of Maine that work with college crews among other people. It is good to have family in town and come through town.

Late night fun at Alex's Tavern with the cousins

Another highlight from the month was Truk and Kath’s porch party. They have arguably the best porch in Memphis and host a party each year. It was good company and a good time. Kath had some great snacks and there was an excellent beer selection. It was good to get to see some folks I had not seen in a while.

If the porch is a rockin'.., stop by!

Mostly Midtown Memphis

Friday was a crazy day. I started off meeting my parents for a beer out east for a beer. More accurately my dad’s happy hour buddies from Germantown High. It was nice but the beer only made me tired so I went home and took a nap. Good Thing. I first met the Stephany cousins, Jasper, and Keri, who was in town from Chicago, for a beer at the Blue Monkey. Later on I met up with a couple of Baruch’s friends for drinks. We hit La Chardonnay first then slid over to the Beauty Shop for some killer mojitos. These were the best mojitos I have had since DC. I know that sounds obnoxious but its true.

The Blue Monkey

The Beauty Shop

Baruch and friend wisely bailed, so Cindy was brave enough to come with and meet up with the rest of the motley crew at Bayou. It was an all star gallery of wild ones, the Music Man, Jasper, Angry Chuck, Buff, and Keri. . Suffice to say, poor decisions were made and we ended up at Alex’s Tavern for some late night food and drink. When Buff joined were rolling four Stephanys deep. That is illegal in most states.

Downtown Memphis

The Reba Russell band was playing at Court Square tonight. Beautiful night. The Music Man’s Jazz band from school opened up tonight and did a fabulous job. They covered some of Memphis’ classic songs. Last year they were awarded the title of best high school band from Downbeat Magazine. I hung out with Penny, the Music daughter, for a stretch. Later on that night I met up with Truk for a couple of beers at the Saucer. The pint special was Oktoberfest Beer. In bed by 9:30pm, it was good night.

The Gazebo stage

People mulling around the foutntain

One of the ore hilarious/annoying part of the Court Square concert series is the weekly “Bum off”. Its kinda of like a dance off only the crack influences the dancing style far more than the music. It helps pass the time but if any tourists see them it kind of freaks them out. I really want to have “Bum Dance Contest”. I can yell, “It’s an ol’ fashioned Bum off! Old school rules apply!” I’m not sure what those old school rules would apply but when I think about it in my head I giggle. I have issues.

Memphis, TN

I went out to SBA to support the H’s volleyball team in an important region match. There was a big crowd so it was great atmosphere. I said of hellos to a lot of my old SBA cronies. The seniors are the last group of kids I coached in Football so it was great to seem some of them. One of favorites was a kid we dubbed “Manhole”. I coached his older brother in football and taught his other one. Smart and funny kid, he is stand out wrestler. His family has gone through a lot. About three years ago he lost the brother that I taught in car accident on his way home from school at LSU. He has kept a good head on his shoulder and I enjoyed talking with him.

SBA got us in the firth and tiebreaker set. In the end it could be a good loss. The team had beat SBA the other 4 or 5 times they had played them and I feel that it is tough to beat a good team every time you see them. We will see them again in the region tourney. I like supporting the team, a lot of my old students, and one of my 8th graders starts on the varsity as a setter. She is pretty good.

Washington, DC

After waking up and getting packed Billy picked me up from the hotel and we headed to fields near the Lincoln Memorial along the Potomac to play some flag football. This was the season opening game. The team is mostly comprised of Ugly Mugs softball team with a few additions, namely two members of my Erie Crew, Ryser and Micah. The weather was sunny, the skies were blue, and there a nice breeze coming off the Potomac. Wow do I miss playing football.

The Ugly Mugs drew first blood only to be matched by the opposing team on the next possession. After that the route was on. We, by we I mean me, stopped trying to call plays in the huddle we started lighting up the scored board like a pinball machine. The final score was 28 to 6. All played well. After the game we headed to our sponsor bar for the obligatory min burgers, wings, and pizza rolls. MMMMHHH, bar food. We watched the first half of the NFL games and then returned to the mancave at Bill and Amanda’s to watch the Packers secure a win in the second half. Ryser made this killer chickenwing dip thing which was awesome. I had to tread lightly though because given my gastric intake of the previous three days coupled with a flight home I needed to “manage the team”. Once on the plane I slept from gate to landing.

Washington, DC

The whole process of waking up and getting food pretty much repeated itself from the previous day. The only difference was the destination which was Clyde’s in Chinatown. It was a good meal with good company. By the time it we had gotten all of that done it was time for the wedding party to get ready and me to nap. I watched the beginning of the Penn State v. Michigan game while I fell asleep.

The calm before the storm
Dunk sporting his authentic mesh Steve Largent jersey

I got eventually got ready and headed over to the Hotel Monaco, beautiful place, with the others for the ceremony and subsequent festivities. I caught up with some of the other “Ugly Mugs” from summer softball and Bill and Amanda who was due with their first child any day. It was great getting caught up.

The ceremony was great. As a frequent wedding attendee and veteran groomsman I am rarely surprised by some aspect of a wedding ceremony. Leave it to Virginia and Norm to do just that. For the scripture reading they chose John 2:3 – 11, or commonly known as the Wedding at Cana, more specifically Jesus’ debut miracle, water to wine. For anyone who has been to Bourbon Street in New Orleans or Beale in Memphis with me, you know I like to argue with street preachers about the supposed evils of alcohol. Well the Wedding at Cana is my biblical evidence for the drinking. The street preacher stated that John meat non-alcoholic grape juice. And then I drunkenly retort that, “You take the whole bible literally except for these few lines. Bull%&#$!” I digress. Anyway the reading was perfect and the minister, Virginia’s brother-in-law, said that he chose this reading because he knew that Brian and Virginia liked to have a good time. Amen!!!!

In the time between the ceremony and reception there was a cocktail hour so no one would die of thirst while the room was changed from a ceremony setting to a reception one. Some of the highlights; Stiff drinks, nummy appetizers (The andouille sausage and shrimp skewers were my favorite), and not to be boring a belly dancer. That’s right a belly dancer. Good times!!!

Norm and the belly dancer

Once the reception area opened the party was on. Young and old alike, it’s all relative anyway, danced from the moment the music started till the final song. The food was awesome. They even had sushi bar!! Dunk, at everyone’s insistence, revisited his best man speech/song from the previous night. It was awesome! Some highlights were; Virginia’s dad’s speech and jacket, singing some Journey, “Don’t stop believing”, Dunk’s rendition of the wedding classic, “Shout”, and me knocking over a plant decoration. This description totally understates the whole reception. Easily one of the top five wedding receptions I have ever attended, no exaggeration.

Mr. Duncan's awesome jacket.

Double E enjoys a little, "Sugar Time!"

After the reception was over we made our way to the lobby bar to finish things off. By the end of that, it was time for everyone to go home and lick there wounds. Great job everyone!!!!

For more pictures of the insanity and fun check this photo album.