My son

My son had football practice last night. He took a real beating! But it wasn't a physical beating...it was emotional and mental. No, he got hit and hit back all in the name of tackling and blocking, and tried to do his job. He was unfortunately blowing the snap, from the Center position. I know why...he's raising up too quickly, before getting the ball back to th QB. Why? Despite being told? He's bracing for the impact of the defense, because he still a little afraid of getting hurt, even though he's a big kid, probably the biggest on the team. So, where did the beating come in? On the last blown snap that he made, he got yelled at for an extended period of time by one coach, and when he finished my son got to run a lap. This all started at about a half hour into a two hour practice. So they moved him off of center, and just back to the offensive line, still panting from the lap and dejected by the scolding. Now he lines up for maybe a total of 3 plays in this position, where he isn't lining up well (too far forward) since all this time he's been accustomed to being out in front as he prepares to snap the ball. He gets yelled at again, and then again by more than one coach at the same time, and sent off for another lap. Back on the line, again, visibly upset, blows the assignment, doesn't pick up the guy he's supposed to block, and time for another yelling session. I don't remember if there was another lap here or not. On the evening though, he put in either 5 or 6 laps though. Mind you a couple other players did punishment laps but none more than one. On this final return, he is kicked off the offensive line, and put on defense, and they pull someone from that side over. Not only is he tired, he's now hanging his head, his expression is both vacant and beaten at the same time. He is just there...wondering how much longer this is going to last, trying not to cry. They've won...the coaches are bigger and badder than he is. They're great and he sucks, and he knows it because they've told him so. A total of 4 of the coaches jumped him last night, at varying times and degrees. In the end he couldn't do anything right. Practice continued, and thankfully for the last maybe 15 minutes he didn't get singled out for any coaches' venom. He walked over to me, on the sideline, and just looked at me. I really couldn't look him in the eye. At first when initially he was messing up, I was a little irritated with him myself. Why's he screwin' that up tonight, he knows better? But as the verbal abuse continued, I started getting upset. Now facing him, and having done nothing, I'm a little embarassed myself. I simply say, let's go to the truck. I start driving home, silent. He's looking at me, I can feel it, and finally he says, "Aren't you gonna yell at me? Aren't you gonna tell me you're mad?" All I can say is, "I think you've had enough yelling for one day..." I later continued and asked why he continued to mess up, which is when he told me about being afraid of the coming hit from the defense. I started explaining the "how to," and he cut me off and said, "dad, I really tried my best." I didn't have the heart to say much more, after that. Now, I don't believe it was really his best. I've seen him do better. But for that moment in time, last night, it was the best that he believed he could do...and he was coming up short. He knew it, before the tongue-lashing and the laps. He didn't get help, or correction, just abused. And I didn't really know what to do, or how to help. Worst of all, I let it happen. I'm slow to complain to the coaches, since football is new to me. I didn't play as a child. I wasn't athletic...at all! My hope has been for my son that he will learn positive aggression and grow confident and unafraid. All of my hopes for my son last night we're destroyed. I talked to him later when I was tucking him in...and said I know it was bad...are you okay? He answered, "...yeah, I'll just have to try harder, and fight my way back into my position, 'cause I got fired from both of them tonight." FIRED...that's an interesting concept. He surprised me by the fact that he didn't say anything about quitting. He surprised me that he didn't cry, or whine about it. He took every bit of what they dished out, and there he sat in his bed telling me, that he was going back and was going to try to do better. I decided then...and throughout the night (because of a guilty feeling plagueing my sleep.) Saturday will be different. We will show up at 9:00am for practice. I'm going to do what I should have done last night, and tell the coaches that there will be no further beat downs like that. Yes, they must be firm, yes he must respect, yes he has a job...but he's 8-yrs-old, playing football for the very first time. He's a little boy, and they're supposed to be building character in addition to teaching football. I didn't see anything built last night, except for what Cole did on his own. He was strong beyond his (few) years. I do not expect him to return to center. I think it was a mistake for them to put him there in the first place, since he is very inexperienced. BUT, he is big...and useful on the offensive line. Aside from the fact that no one else has ever been "fired" from 2 positions in one night. I think if they do no plan to put him back on the line...I may pull him from the team myself. No one, especially a little boy, deserves what he took last night. I want him to do well, but this is supposed to be an enjoyable/fun thing to do. He puts in a lot of time and effort into this. If it's all for pain and misery, then what's the point. I'll leave the decisions on this until Saturday, and the final one will be up to Cole. He's earned that right. Either way he's still my son, and I'm very proud of him. No one likes a bully, and last night he withstood 4 of them. The next encounter will be different. Whichever decision he makes...he will have beaten them all, whether they realize it, or not. I admire you son.

Regards,

cheer_dad

No more 'nanners...

I got to chug down 2 and half jugs of this stuff yesterday, and then go through the pleasures of a CT scan yesterday. I don't think I'll be eating any more bananas for a while ...yuck... I've been experiencing some lower abdominal pain. It feels A LOT like the pain you might feel after say having done crunches for an overly extended time...a few hours, and the way you feel the day after. That inability to "sit up" without pain. Unable to "bend" at the waist without serious discomfort. Heck, even trying to scoot up to my desk while seated is a chore. Anyway, so I go to the doctor yesterday at 1:00, and he sends me for bloodwork, a piss test, and a couple hours later the CT scan. When they say that you're gonna feel like you're going to "pee your pants" when the the IV cocktail hits your innards; they're NOT KIDDING! She said trust me you won't...okay lady for you anything...but wow I had to pee so bad I could taste it. Now it's the waiting game. Wait for results, wait to find out what's wrong...and ultimately what to do about it, so I can get back to the business of being me. I'm going to be angry, when they don't find anything wrong, though it won't surprise me. I'll just feel foolish, and think that I've just been whining over nothing. Meanwhile...I'm still in a bit of pain. It's actually a little better today, of course after the "bowel-blow" experience gettin' rid of the barium, hell there was nothing inside left to hurt. I'm starting wonder if the pain is actually musculature and not digestive tract in nature. But I have no explanation for it either way. Anyway, we'll just play the waiting game now. Stay tuned on this one.

I played for a while last night on UB at the .50/$1 NLHE tables. One table this time, for a little over 100 hands. I cashed out up. For the day I'm back up about $30-ish. Still down you know from the blackjack and the lousy run of SNG's that I opted for. Now, I'm single tabling and making notes of EVERY SINGLE guy I'm playing. Last night in fact it allowed me to make a read on a guy who was bluffing me. I'm playing tight...WAY TIGHT! So tight that I feel a bit like a target, and I can tend to feel and see that at the table. There begin to be guys who circle and start trying to put preflop moves on me. Buying me out of my blinds, over and over again. For a while it made me mad. Then...I decided just to continue waiting. Waited for the hand to push back, not just a blind push back, but something with teeth. As "luck" would have it though, he dropped it. The observations that were most useful were keeping track of the other guys at the table playing on their bellies as well. When they shoved, or even just when they got involved, it was time to stay out, except with some monster holdings. The really good thing was that I only made it to the showdown maybe twice. So no one knows anything about my play other than I was tight-aggressive. I bluffed VERY SELDOM, if at all. I didn't make a lot...but I was able to hold on to what was already mine. I only had to make one questionable call once, when I guy reraised me $10. But because I'd been watching, and his bet seemed actually kind of weak, I was able to call without a lot of fear. Fear nonetheless though. New rules, no more SNG's. Keep taking notes, and no risks, at least for a long while. I won't really be happy until I'm back up about $400 or so. Really... it's going to take that much for me to get my head back together.

As for the coming long weekend...Friday night is card night at the Yanok's. Saturday afternoon and evening is our Labor Day weekend picnic...which will probably lead into a card game too. Sunday is Cole's football game @ Mineral Wells. Monday is the holiday...and Tuesday is my AWS day. Long weekend needed. I really need to think about eating better...a lot better. The scales at the docs office don't lie. No wonder I feel lousy, I'm carrying around so much excess weight. Let's see what a few less pounds can do for me. It couldn't hurt now anyway, right?

That'll have to do for a post...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Kanawha County says YES to table games!

ExtraExtra...read all about it...

Table Games officially passed in Kanawha County, following recount from the August 11th, 2007 Election. Read all about it here:

http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/2007082938/BREAKING-NEWS-Recount-ends-with-table-games-passing-by-a-339-vote-margin

Now the question is "when?"
As has been noted previously, Wheeling Island was all set to fire up the poker room and all the other table games, right around Labor Day. But enforcement was said to be a problem, meaning the "State of WV" was not ready or equipped to regulate and enforce the new gaming enterprise. So, it has been "back-burnered." I for one have heard no additional update. I'll keep you posted, when one arrives.

Of course what does this all really matter to me...since I SUCK at poker anyway. Blackjack hasn't been so kind lately either. Aw, who am I kidding. I'm sure there will be visits to both Cross Lanes and Wheeling in my near future...or at least the future in which the tables are open for business.

Regards,

cheer_dad

D'OH

Well that didn't work. : )

I thought since the failed CarbonPoker (blackjack) experiment failed horribly, I'd move back to UB. (Easy decision as I've squandered all the Carbon money.) So, I've been reading, knowledge is power, yadayadayada... Thought I'd try to maximize by 3-tabling $10+$1 SNG's. In total I played 6 of these. I lost ALL of them. Now, let me qualify here. Instead of playing my typical, tighter 'n hell game, a la "Welcome to the Rock" style, I tried to model after the "small ball" strategy that is espoused by Daniel Negraneau and Erik Lindgren. Now, I won't pretend to be an expert at it, BUT the goal is to take small victories, see LOTS of flops for cheap, use position, but don't get overly greedy, and be able to walk away from your hand. The strategy is intended to allow you survive the early and middle rounds, and leave yourself with a chipstack that is formidable enough to play with in the latter rounds. Unfortunately, I would get pairs in late position, to an unopened pot, and push slightly but reasonably and get destroyed EVERY TIME with someone's pocket overpair. I pushed once with pocket 3's and ALL but the shortest stack called w/pocket 4's, D'OH!!! I raised with pocket 9's, and was called by the first to act with pocket Queens. Heck by the river he hit his set. I had AQos greeted by Cowboys, and I couldn't find an ace in the deck. I flopped a straight and pushed, and was greeted by the guy who flopped the HIGHER friggin' straight. I had pocket Kings cracked by a J-9os, when he hit four to the flush on the river with his Jack of Clubs. I was heckled by that guy. Then I got heckled again at another table by a guy who called me down to the river, and I flipped over top pair, which I wasn't overly proud of, but he wasn't pushing. He mucked, but said..."Donkey can't get away from his pairs!" But WTF!!!??? He didn't have a pair and had to muck, and kept calling, but I'm the donkey. I wasn't going overboard with the bets either, I was prepared to drop if I got pushed. After the smoke cleared on the SNG's without a win to my name...I sat down at a .50/1.00 NLHE table, w/ the table max $100. I went through 35 hands before hitting anything even worth playing. Really, and this wasn't me being tight. I even started keeping track of what my hands woulda been if I'd played, and I still wasn't hitting crap. So, there again, I watched my buyin begin to dwindle very slowly. Oh boy this is lots of fun...just getting blinded out. I finally hit from position A-Qos, raised and everyone folded (well of course, I hadn't had a hand to play up til then, so everyone friggin' knew I had something. Very next hand is pocket Cowboys, luckily this time, some guy minimum raises to $2, preflop, and gets 3 callers preflop before it gets to me...I raise the pot and of course everyone folds. Next hand I get pocket 8's and it folds around to me, and I raise to a measly $4, and the blinds fold. Time for bed, and licking my wounds. Dropped the $60 SNG buyins, made back "maybe" the $1 fees associated with each. So dropped a total of $60. Last attempt of the experiment (if time permits tonight) play the same number of SNG's this time, going back to my roots. All old school on 'em. ONLY premium hands from position. Wait 'em out. Get down to the final four and pray for a hand. Feels like chicken shit poker, and maybe it is. I know I take a ration of it for playing that way, and have tried to broaden my game, but hell I'm getting spanked with everything else I try. Maybe I just need to face facts...that I really SUCK at this game. And just call it quits. No mas! Here's the thing...if I drop the UB account back to $300, I'm cashing out, what I have online. The level of frustration just isn't worth it. Especially just continually bleeding off the bankroll. I blame myself for the blackjack farce...that was me, plain and simple just fed up with the going nowhere poker, that I'm playing. But I'm running seriously cold, unlucky, stupid...or something. But it's all getting hard to swallow...and wahwahwah!!! Fuckin' cry pretty for me!!!

On a lighter note...the Yanok game is Friday. I have absolutely no expectation of doing well. I'm just gonna play it uber-straight. Play my "game of old," and see what happens. Back to playin' on the belly. That's what I'm going to shift to it online too, and see where it goes. Wish me luck, unless of course you are the competition, in which case, lately I suck...take my money!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Weekend and the next

I wanted to personally thank the Wolfe's for hosting their House Warming party. I think everyone had a great time. I know I for one helped as much as I could to put a dent in the keg. There was so much food that a group of us returned the following day to continue the grazing, all the while loosening the belt by yet another notch. Of course there were cards to be played. Big Red was the winner on the night. 14-players started, she came out on top. This is beginning to be an all too common occurrence for her. Congratulations. I on the other hand continued my donkified ways, always attempting a steal at the most inopportune times. Trying to steal against Jody with trip 7's, with an obvious flush and straight on the board, but being greeted by her FRIGGIN' BOAT! WTF!!! Later I tried to make a move on Big Red, from last position, with my King high, preflop. Of course in retrospect...she had the chips, and an ACE. So the call was inevitable. So was my exit!

Now let's talk about another issue...BLACKJACK. You'll recall that I've espoused the evils of this method to reduce my bankroll in previous posts. I went on a bender. A fuckin' tilt-a-whirl, marred with 20's and double downed 11's turning into wondrous hands like 14 and 15. Needless to say, I no longer need to worry about finishing the play through requirements on CarbonPoker, since I have NO BANKROLL on the site, thanks to my own stupidity. I had lost about $50 before leaving for the Wolfe's. I was just fed up with bullshit poker. Playing hours of Hold 'em only to cashout up or down a few measly ass cents. Fuck this fucking game. So I fire up the BlackJack engine, and do very well, up until the time that I don't! Then at the House of Wolfe after busting out of the tourney...and doing shitty at the cash game, failing to hit open ended straights way too many times, I fire up Frank's computer and proceed to BlackJack it up again. I think for the evening the score was me 0 blackjack tables $200. Meaning my bankroll on Carbon is no longer in existence. Actually I think there was like $30 left, cause I fired it up again when I got home...and since I was still awake, and destined to sleep on the couch because of the snoring issue, I find a $22 tournament, and figure I'll give it away as well. I made it #5. Payout of course was Top 3. I was knocked out holding AQ from last position. When the SB insta-fuckin'-calls, and flips over his COWBOYS. Cheer_dad, exit stage left. So, I've donked it off AGAIN, folks. Maybe I just need a new hobby huh!!!? Well back to the ole drawing board. Okay, so I'm sitting at around $1,000 in the bankroll. I think...I'll need to take inventory tonight. Come up with a new game plan. Hey, it's only money right. I need to get my head right. Sometimes, just ignore that little voice that says "What the Fuck!" I gotta figure out how to get in the bigger game, and stay there. Well that and stop being such a fuckin' moron. Okay I've used my quota on the F-bomb, and should stop now.

Cole's football game was Sunday vs. Warren White. It was a scoreless game until the last 20 seconds, when Warren punched one into the endzone. We had failed to capitalize on a 1st and Goal from the 8 yd line earlier. The worst part of the day, aside from chalking one up in the losing column, was Cole. He got pulled off of center, when he blew the snap on a couple plays. Whether the coaches knew or saw it, he got his clock cleaned a couple times by Warren's #45, and he got skiddish, then went back to old habits of trying to get up quicker to fend off the tackle, instead of getting the ball hiked. He's upset. I didn't help matters, really, but I later told him I was sorry, and that we'd work it out. I'm worried though that the coaches aren't even gonna let him try it anymore. He's still on 1st offense and 1st defense. Plenty of play time. He's just needs more aggression. I'm debating about what to do if they decide to dole out punishment in the form of "laps." Since I trained him on the snap...and fixed it for him...I may do the laps with him. We're in this thing together, or at least that's the mission I want for him to see. It's not just him on his own. I'm his wing man...and really am still his biggest fan. I just wish I could express it all a little better. Keep the fingers crossed that he'll get a second chance to shine, otherwise it's going to be a terrible blow to his ego, and may devastate his game altogether. So much shit for an 8-yr-old to deal with. Sorry little guy!

The Yanok's game is scheduled for this coming Friday night at 7:00pm. It sounds like it'll be lively. I think the Wolfe's are tagging along. The Millers, and Sally and Scott are also confirmed already. JR will probably be there too. Incidentally, JR will be leaving Tuesday destined for a freeroll at the MotorCity Casino. Money and work schedules just aren't going to allow me to go with him. He will going up against 50 total players, for a prize pool of $5,000. Everybody wish him luck...good cards and big pots.

This weekend is a 3-day weekend with Labor Day falling on Monday. Which Big Red has already decided that our Labor Day extravaganza is a go as usual, including the Volley Ball Game From HELL. I think I still have bruises and dislocations from last year's game. So, again, it's going to be a busy weekend. Cole has a game tonight at Godbey, something called the Novice Game(s.) Bad part is they just started school today. So he'll be tired either tonight, or tomorrow at school. Then there's practice at least on two other nights this week. Thinking of it...I'll try to have pity, and be extra nice to him. Good kid, I want the best for him.
In other news of my life. I'm struggling with some things. Non-poker, non gambling...and no further discussion here. I'm just struggling.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Wage Slave

The "Debt" got its pound of flesh out of me today. There really is no end in sight to the madness at work. Arbitrary decisions, conflicting goals, inconsistent enforcement throughout the organization, lip service to customer service but no proof in the pudding. Each day I see larger roadblocks to accomplishing actual work. Metrics be the buzz word of the day. It's all about measuring it...and not about doing it. So much so that the work disappears behind the shadow of tracking it. More focus is placed on opening and closing trouble tickets, and service requests than actually accomplishing the associated work. No recourse but to keep showing up and doin' the job though. Happiness, joy, job satisfaction all things of the past, and they're not showing any signs of returning ANY TIME soon. Man, this really bites.

How do decisions get made in an organization which create such dismal working conditions. I think the lot of us is FED up. I keep expecting to show up to work tomorrow and find that half the people quit and moved on a greener pasture. Other days, I keep expecting someone to go postal, and start mowing we lemmings down. Duck and cover...or is it hunker down and pray for daylight.

I wish I could end this on a positive note...but can't.

Regards,

cheer_dad

More...or LESS from the felt

I'm at a loss. Or maybe I'm just lost. My poker endeavours of late, have left me feeling VERY weak. I've been feeling lately that I did better at poker when I first started and didn't have clue about what I was doing. Poker was thrilling and occasionally I won. Now that I kinda know what I'm doing and have increased my skills, poker's not so thrilling and I'm winning less frequently. Let's take for instance yesterday (and no, I'm not basing this whole train of thought on that one day.) I played for quite a while on CarbonPoker. Playing at two .10/.25 NLHE tables is where I started. I successfully "gave away" half of each of the initial $25 buy ins. I hit one score that was noteworthy. From the BB, I was unraised, with my 5-8os. I flopped the boat! I had to slow play it through the flop and turn, since I wasn't going to get any action. Luckily the board filled in flush and straight possibilities for the one lonely player still in the hand, despite my checking. I finally bet out "small" on the river, and he raised me. I mashed the All-In button and got called. But with somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 or less, what was I really gaining. It put me up only slightly in total, like maybe $3. Oh what a PayDay!!! I proceeded to give the rest of the money away at the other table. Just in blinds... and second best hands, getting big preflop hands, which never connected, but were worth seeing the flops and raising with from time-to-time. So I was losing cash on big starting hands. So, mimicking the style of those around me, I decide to broaden my starting hands a bit, and look for opportunities to blind side my opponents. It just didn't work for me. My attempts at being an aggressor (despite a very tight table image) were just being slapped down. WTF! I mean I'm watching the practice work for everyone else who's winning at the table. I try the same tactics and get my ass handed to me. I leave both of these tables when I get busted on the one. Now I'm down...and pissed. Still a bit calm. I decide to try my hand at a Sit N Go. About the only action on CarbonPoker was on a $22 buy in SNG. Higher than my norm...but I decide to give it a shot, ordering myself to play it smart, and not stupid. I also fire up a $2.20 SNG. That one of course I take down 2nd banana. The $22 on the other hand, I get knocked out in 5th place. Here's that hand. I have A-K suited, from middle/late position, and push in my 2,400-ish chips and get called down by one of the blinds, who only "just had me covered." I believe he was the BB with $400 in. He has a pair of SEVENS. Now, was he right to make the call? I don't know. I don't know that I would have. Of course not only did his 7's hold but he also hit a SET to boot. He immediately typed YES!!! His "buddies" at the table all applauded "NICE CALL." "GREAT HAND." I would likely have said "Lucky Call, " or "Whew, they held up!" Maybe I'm just looking at it wrong though. Maybe I know less about the game than I think I do. Maybe I just suck at it. Still I keep donating to the cause. I guess someone's got to make a living, right? I cleared my next $10 in bonus cash, during this session. So I "should" be at $240 is I was only playing break even poker. But at the time I found myself sitting at $188! : ( Then, I wandered in to that "dark" territory. Yeah, JJ I did it again...blackjack. Shudder, now in fear, but actually, I allowed me to climb back out to like $201. I decided to walk away, being up a buck from my initial buy in a few months back. This is not winning poker. This is not winning, it's losing...and it sucks. I don't seem to be able to turn it around. I need to figure out if I'm underplaying...or overplaying. I need to become more aggressive in live games, but maybe "less-so" online. Which, shucks I might as well limit my starting hands to AA or KK, and just get wait to be called and sucked out on...and just give it all away, or I never get called at all, and get blinded out.

I'll keep trying to strike a happy balance, and let you know if any of this turns around for me. I'm just tired of getting spanked.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Myrtle Beach 2007

Well all good things must end...but let's recap the Myrtle Beach 2007 trip.

We stayed here:

We did a lot of this...

I saw a COOL waterspout!!!

We took time out to do this...

And even some of this (twice even)

We looked a little silly at times

Suffered some minor casualties...

But in the end...

We all survived, got along, had a BLAST, and all made it back in ONE PIECE! All's well that end's well. (We even managed to get in a few hands of poker to pass the time.)

Regards,

cheer_dad

Fun in the sun

This looks like a crew up to NO GOOD doesn't it! Actually they've gotten along very well while we've been on vacation here at Myrtle Beach. We're getting ready now to head down to the beach for another day of sun worship. Well at least MOST of us are up and are moving around.

The other two members of the party are still down for the count, huddled in their bed.

This is what they look like under normal circumstances:

BUT, so they don't get mad for having pictures posted of "just" them, I'll show one of group too, minus BIG RED of course, who took the picture.

Note the fact that Whit although "holding" the beer bottle, was not being permitted to "drink" it. What kind of parents do you take us for!? Time to hit the beach.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Myrtle in the morning

It's Tuesday morning on the Jackson/Murray vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC. Things are going great, the sun keeps shining, the waves keep rolling and the beer...well it's wet and cold! As usual Big Red opted for the less than wise approach to the art of sunbathing. She will never learn. Yeah, Big Red's a little red. : ) Cole got a little extra sun on the first day as well, but just on ONE shoulder, so he's surviving. Yesterday we opted to skip the beach and go instead to Broadway At The Beach. We all got henna tattoos and wandered around and actually had a good time. The shopping excursion didn't last too long. Cole started to get restless and I was able to convince Teresa it was time to head back to the condo. I think I owe the boy! Then we ALL headed out that evening to Murrell's Inlet and a restaurant called Nance's. Nice seafood restaurant, non-buffet...but it was very good. Afterward we walked up and down the boardwalk that connected a number of restaurants/bars. The boardwalk also led into a marina, with some enormous boats that the boys really liked. The boys have gotten along very well. You know how that's not always true when you have 3! Right now they're sitting here on the coach, playing Mario Kart on their DS's. The "gamer" chatter is entertaining to me! If it was a FPS...or a poker game, it'd be smack talk.

Speaking of poker, we've played cards a couple of nights already. One night a cheap game of TONG. Last night we started out with TONG and moved on to Hold 'em. Bob joined us, so a five person game is where it started until Jody busted out and headed to bed. Then the four of us continued. Big Red and I each started with $10 and each cashed out at around 1:30am for $40 and $37 each. I'd like to pretend that I was just playing well, but Matt was just hitting a run of bad cards. Now, having not played with Bob before, I didn't know what to expect. Of course he was in the same boat! Observations...a bit loose, but aggressive. He could be the type to blindside you with junk...which he did to Matt once, when he played the Shuman hand and nailed the straight. Matt got stuck with AQos, when he hit his two pair on the flop. Ouch! I played tight for the most part, and they remarked that it was the uber tight variety, and said I was incredibly patient for a 4-man game. I took the hint slowly, and opened up the game a degree. It worked for me. I was able to capitalize on Bob's misplaced aggression against Bob, when he made a move on Matt. He had discounted me staying in the pot when he made it $11 to go after the flop. I had hit two pair and I couldn't put him on the straight or flush draw possibility. He had top pair only, I later learned. I didn't get to see it immediately. I pushed all in for an additional $10. He dropped after going into the tank. All in all, it was a good time. And I hope to do it a few more times this week. We'll see.

I'm preparing for sitter duty today, so I'm going to wrap this up. Matt, Dillon and the Bob's are all going golfing. The ladies are all heading to the flea market, for a few hours. Whit and JoJo are still in bed, but should be beginning to stir soon. I'm staying here with the 3 boys and taking them down to the pool to worship the sun god and let them run amok in the pool.

Anyway, hope all is well in P-burg, we'll back in a few short days. We'll all get together again soon.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Blog + Therapy = Blogerapy...

Contact drills started last night, for the Tri-C Bullets football team. Their numbers had already dwindled, but I'm curious to see how many casualties (kids that don't show up tonight) after full on tackle practice started. One kid already called it quits. He was unwilling to practice...stretch, you name it. He wanted football on his terms. The coaches didn't see eye to eye with him. He left less than half way through practice. I don't even think he started the tackle drills. His parents wanted him there, no other reason. That was destined to fail. Cole was tired after last night. He was a bit afraid of tackling. I noted, like the coaches did that he stutter stepped before tackling. Contact is something new to him. Aggression as well is new to him. Strangely, he's a big boy, but just hasn't realized it. By the end of practice he was hustling like an old pro though. He was able to bring down some of the best running backs that were there. As well, he was a difficult target to bring down. I get off earlier than usual from work, since I got here at 6:00am, so I'm going to run by Shirt Factory to check out some elbow pads, and gloves for him. Hopefully, to keep him motivated in the right direction. I'm fearful that my mother will talk him out of wanting to play at all. Not that she's vindictive, but she has no interest in him playing. He's being confronted with the same "manipulation" that I was when I was a child. I was never able to participate in sports. I would have liked to, but in her mind, music (particularly classical piano) was more important. My wants...didn't seem to mean much to her. Granted I was good at it, and branched out to the trumpet and finally singing. But now...I do NONE of the above. I slowly began to resent it all. In a way, I wish I were still interested in it, but there for the last few years that I studied piano...I resented it, deeply. When I quit...I made a major break from it. Mom pushed HARD for my daughter to be take piano lessons, in fact she over encouraged it. My daughter, being much more headstrong than I ever was, decided early on that enough was enough. She just wasn't that interested. Frankly mom drove it in the ground for her. She got off easy. Now Cole is doing his sports thing...and I'll never object to him taking up an instrument, but I'll never overly suggest it either. I believe mom would differ. I'm concerned that on days that she watches the kids for us that she will plant the seeds of discontent in Cole with regard to football. She didn't like baseball, and in a way I think she caused problems there too. She also babied him too much. She used to do it to me too. I was in for a rather rude awakening when I went to work for my dad...and had a degree of suffering involved in getting in shape, working on a construction site. Mom jumped on him about it, but finally he summed it up...give me 2 weeks with him...toughening him up, and you won't hear anymore complaints. Well they did begin to stop. Sure, I'd throw in a "he's pickin' on me complaint every once in a while, but for the most part, dad began to turn me into a man. It was probably during that time frame that I developed the backbone enough to quit piano lessons. I think mom gave me the cold shoulder for a few weeks after that. Scathing comments about throwing my "life" away were common for a while. Well maybe I was throwing "a" life away, but it wasn't mine. It was what she wanted, or would have wanted...not me. I feel like I'm bashing her a bit here. Understand me, I love her, she's my mother, but her overzealous interests in any number of things have been inherited by me. To a degree I'm compulsive, a direct result of how she pushed her interests on me.

I really would have liked to have tried sports at some point. Not because I think I would've been a good athlete, but I would liked to have had the opportunity. I think it would have given me a greater sense of self worth and self confidence. Perhaps more of a Can Do attitude, instead of the defeatist attitude that I've struggled under now for several years.
Anyway, back to Cole...and enough of my blog tempered therapy! I'm going to encourage him to tough it out. I'm going to equip him as best I can, and make sure he doesn't get hurt. I hope he'll stick with it, for his own physical well being. Maybe he won't grow up to be the couch potato that I've let myself be lately. But I want it to be about him...and not me. I want him to enjoy it, as an experience in his life. I hope he knows victory...and to a lesser degree defeat as well. I want him to understand that he can't always be the best, even if he tries his best. I hope he comes to learn that there is no shame in losing when you have given it your all. I want him to accomplish things that he never thought possible. I want these things for my daughter as well. I want her to grow from adversity in addition to success. I want the best for both of my children. I don't want it handed to them. I want them both empowered enough to take it for themselves.

Wow, where did that all come from!?!?

Regards,

cheer_dad

Top 10 quotes from NDPT #8

1. "It's a Royal Flush!!!"
2. "Ok...show me your 4."
3. "It tastes just like a Cherry Tootsie Roll"..."I didn't know Tootsie Rolls came in Cherry!?"
4. "I'll have to remember that move for later!" --Shelley, after getting JJ to lay down his hand.
5. "Pay up beeyatch," said JR to All-In-Allman, because of a $5 prop bet, on when Steve would bust out.
6. "I can't quench my thirst," --Matt J, after a day of beer and moonshine out on the golf course.
7. "I asked her if I could play...and she didn't say 'NO' so I took it as a yes..." (just guess who made that statement.)
8. That table was particularly MEATY!!!
9. "The keg is dead" ...please, a moment of silence. :(
10. "No one cares about that hand that you had that one time..."

Just a few quick observations/quotes that summed up NDPT Tournament #8, from last night.

Regards,

cheer_dad