Running in a Busy Life

Well, today is the day that it really all begins for me and my goal of running the Columbus Half Marathon on October 17th. I’ve been running for two months now and have logged just over 100 miles, but today is when it gets serious. I’ve paid my entry fee just ahead of the early bird deadline of July 31 and now the real work starts as I began Hal Higdon’s 12-week training program this morning with the first day of actual running.

When I returned from a good run this morning that took place in perfect weather conditions, I received a tweet asking about writing a blog post about five tips for scheduling training for busy people. Well, with this being my first half marathon along with the fact that my training has just started, I’m not sure that I am an expert on this subject. However, just writing this blog will be one more accountability step in my busy life in making sure that I reach my goal of crossing the finish line on October 17th with 14,999 other dedicated and determined people.

For those of you who are new to my blog, I am the sports information director at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, a private faith-based college located in Mount Vernon. My job responsibilities revolve around promoting our institution’s 10 sports teams, student-athletes, and coaches in all their endeavors on and off the court or field. This is a lot of fun, but during the sports seasons it means that I am working about 80 hours a week including the weekends.

After my wife, Carla (above with me), completed her second Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus this past spring, I strongly began considering the possibility of running this upcoming race. I knew that I would have some time to begin training in the summer when I wasn’t quite as busy at work since we didn’t have any games going on. However, I still continued to doubt whether or not I could really put the time into it.

Tip #1: Find an accountability partner. Whether or not this person runs the race or not, you have to find someone who is going to be right there with you (even from a distance) and help keep you on track. For me, this is my friend, Jay Stancil. Like me, Jay is a sports information director at Union College in Kentucky. Like me, Jay is married with two kids. Like me, Jay is going to turn 39 in November. Like me, Jay has never run a half marathon. I kind of jokingly suggested to Jay several months ago that he should come up to Columbus and run the half marathon in October. Well, he jumped on the idea and started training right away. I was a little more reticent about getting started, but Jay’s updates and encouragement through Twitter helped nudge me to the Kokosing Gap Trail to finally begin this process. It is also nice if you can find someone to run with you at least occasionally as you train. It’s a great help for making sure you show up for a scheduled run even on a day when you might not feel like going.

Tip #2: Find a time to train and stick to it. Once I got over the first hurdle of just getting off the couch and starting to run, I knew that I needed to make this a routine or basically a lifestyle change. Especially in the summer, it would be easy for me to sleep in just a little since the kids don’t need to get off to school and my wife is off work. However, I found that by getting up early that I have time to run and I can beat the summer heat at the same time. For me, the morning runs were a great way to start my day and give me energy (despite weary legs at times). By making it a habit, it becomes easier and easier to get up and go for that morning run. Now, I find that I really miss my runs when I take a day off, the weather doesn’t cooperate or I have a conflict that keeps me from going. It is also fine to adjust occasionally due to your schedule, but I’ve found that it is best to make it a daily routine as much as possible.

Tip #3: Document your runs. This has been a big thing in helping me stick with my training. I started a spreadsheet with the date, distance, and time of each run. Since I deal with numbers, stats, and records for my job with our teams, I wanted to track everything I was doing. This is a great way to keep you accountable. It’s also a rewarding and encouraging way to track progress as you see the miles pile up. For those of us who are not elite runners (and that’s probably 99.9% of the people reading this), it really is not about your time in the half marathon on race day. It’s about the journey to get to that point, the dedication to put in the required training, and the support of your family and friends.

Tip #4: Make the most of your busy life. One thing that keeps some busy people from ever training is the fact that their work takes them on the road a lot. Why not use this to your advantage and break up the monotony of running the same route? My family and I were in San Francisco for eight days earlier this summer for the annual NAIA-SIDA and CoSIDA Workshop. I figured that I really wouldn’t have time to run or a place to run as I’m not a big fan of running on the treadmill (although this is necessary at times due to schedule or consistent bad weather). I ended up going on runs three different days that included running the Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise (see photo below), running through deserted Chinatown and up Lombard Street, and running around picturesque AT&T Park – home of the San Francisco Giants. Not only was it great to continue the running momentum that I had started, it was also a great way to see the city and to connect in a new way with some of my fellow sports information directors from around the country.


Tip #5: Make sure your family is on board. Training for a half marathon requires a serious time commitment. As a husband and father of two girls ages 8 and 5 (photo below), I know that when I go for a run it is taking time out of my day that I can’t spend with my family. That’s why I’ve chosen to run in the morning before they wake up. However, by exercising, I also feel like I’m doing something that in the long run benefits my family because I am healthier. My wife has been a great support and encouragement in this process and again the inspiration of knowing that she successfully trained for and completed two half marathons while working full-time and being a great mom helps to push me to do my best. People do ask why we aren’t both training to run together in October and we just think it would be too hard to pull off that much training with two young kids. So, we’ll switch places again in the spring and she’ll train for her third half marathon.


Again, I don’t claim to be an expert by any means. In fact, I’m a newbie to all of this and would welcome any feedback. You also want to make sure to take care of yourself and rest on the days that your training program tells you to rest. My biggest fear in this process is an injury rearing its ugly head and wrecking all of my hard work.

San Francisco

Each summer, I pack up the family and take them with me to my annual sports information directors' national workshop (CoSIDA). The workshop moves around to different big cities and it's always a nice way for us to combine both work with a little bit of vacation. (I'll write more on the workshop aspect of my trip in another blog.)

This year's workshop was held in San Francisco and my wife and I were both really excited to return to a city that we first discovered and enjoyed 10 years ago before the kids started to arrive on the scene. With some familiarity for the city, it really helped us to zero in on what we wanted to see again or have our kids experience for the first time, and it also helped us with our packing since the average temperatures were going to be about 64 degrees while it was 95 degrees back in Ohio.

After two smooth Southwest Air flights to get us there, we immediately began to get settled into our hotel and the nearby surroundings. The next morning we picked up our CityPass (which I HIGHLY recommend for anyone who will be in town for a stay of a week or more). This allowed us unlimited access to the cable cars, the street cars, and the buses. It also included an hour-long boat ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and right up to Alcatraz. In addition, there were tickets to the aquarium and several other museums and art galleries. It was a great deal and allowed us to just spend money one time.


Over the course of the week, the four of us were able to see all the sights that we wanted to see. Carla and the girls took in a free circus in one of the parks one day while I was in meetings. They also enjoyed playing in another park near the hotel and riding on a carousel. We made several trips to Fisherman's Wharf that included visiting the sea lions on Pier 39 and also exploring the aquarium. We watched the fireworks on the 4th of July where our view included the Golden Gate Bridge to the left of us, the Bay Bridge to the right of us, and Alcatraz right in front of us. It's funny to look back at our pictures and see us all bundled up with coats due to the windy, cold temperatures on the bay. (The only other time I can remember being cold on the 4th of July was in 1997 when Carla and I went to Detroit to watch the Tigers play a doubleheader against Cal Ripken and the Orioles.)

Our week also included a trip to Oakland on the BART (subway) to watch the A's play the Yankees. I have to send a big thank you shoutout to Debbie Gallas in the A's PR department because she hooked us up with great seats. We got to see four web gem defensive plays that night as the Yankees won 3-1.


We finished our week with a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a great trip with so many great memories, especially for my girls. They were real troopers and probably walked 20 miles each over the course of the week and never complained. They are growing up.

One other fun part of the trip for me was being able to get in three different runs around the city. Along with my SID friends, Kelcey, Cindy, Jay, and Eric, we headed out at 6:00 a.m. one morning and took the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge is 1.7 miles across and it was really foggy the morning that we ran it - you couldn't see more than about 25 feet in front of you. It was really cool to run all the way across and back.


Eric and I also did another 4.5-mile run through Chinatown and UP Lombard Street on a different morning. It really was a great way to see the city. Then, I finished up the week with a run to AT&T Park (home of the Giants) and back by myself and then did it again with Kelcey and Cindy. It's one of my favorite baseball stadiums and I was disappointed that the Giants weren't in town the whole time we were there. Fortunately, Carla and I had seen a couple of games there on our previous trip.

I have to say that the Marriott Marquis, where we stayed, was probably the perfect hotel for us on this trip. The location was great with easy access to all the different modes of public transportation and also for the runs that I was able to do. However, even better than the location was the great staff that they had. It was really one big family working together to make sure that their guests had the best possible stay that they could have. I enjoyed watching Dan at the concierge desk energetically and professionally give the best directions and recommendations to visitors to help them have a great visit. Loren, the doorman, gave us great running directions and then I came to find out that he grew up across town in Gambier, Ohio. The food service staff was also outstanding and we had great conversations with Lisa and Richard as they served our meals and talked about how much they love their jobs. When you can find businesses with employees that like coming to work, you know they are doing things right. I made sure to share my compliments with Greg Nickelson, one of the night managers, before I left, but if you are in San Francisco for a stay I would recommend this hotel.


Well, it's really hard to condense one amazing week into one blog entry, but I've tried my best to do so. I didn't even get into all the amazing food we had, which I know is a shocker to those of you who know my passion for eating. I will say, though, that if you visit Pier 39 on Fisherman's Wharf you have to get a bag (or in my case a bucket) of Trish's fresh donuts. Wow! They were a perfect companion to watching the 4th of July fireworks. Just ask the 12 people who helped me devour them.

Off and Running

Over the past four weeks, I have taken up running. With school out and all of our sporting events done for the summer, I don't have late-night reporting to worry about with my job as a sports information director for a few months. My initial thought was what better way to get my day off to a good start than by going for a run every now and then.

My wife, Carla (at left), has been the biggest inspiration for me when it comes to taking up running. Over the past two years, she has trained and run the past two Capital City Half Marathons (13.1 miles) all while working full-time and being the primary caretaker for our two girls since my hours are pretty crazy most of the time. She sacrificed a lot of what little free time she had with late night runs on the treadmill and early Saturday morning runs at the Kokosing Gap Trail.

Fortunately, my schedule has worked out both times on race day and I've been able to watch her run the Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus each of the past two springs. It's a big event with around 10,000 people taking part. If you have never gone to watch a half marathon, I encourage you to do it. It's inspiring to watch people of all ages and sizes push themselves to be better and to finish the race. For most of them, the race is just the culmination of a personal journey of much training and perseverance that has brought them to the starting line. Cheered on by a great crowd, they are able to reach their goal of crossing that finish line 13.1 miles later and for most the time is not even relevant. They did what they set out to do and what probably a lot of people thought they couldn't do.

After witnessing this twice and being so proud of Carla for doing it (especially the second time when it would have been easy to just say 'well, I did it once and that's that'), I am now contemplating running in the Columbus Half Marathon on October 17th. Since I have all summer to train without the pressure of games going on and since the race is on a Sunday and we don't have sporting events, there is really no good excuse for why I shouldn't do this.

So, on May 26th, I headed to the Kokosing Gap Trail for my first two-mile run. I didn't take an iPod and I really had no idea how to set a pace and just took off thinking that it would be no problem. By the time I got to the one-mile mark and was turning around to head back, I was thinking to myself 'what in the world have I gotten myself into'? I was able to finish and headed for home, but it definitely wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

The next day, I came back to attempt two miles again. Once again, I was fine for the first mile. However, as I approached the half mile mark on the way back, I was ready to just walk the final 800 meters. I passed an older lady who was walking and said 'I think you've got the right idea'. She came back with 'well, you sure seemed to have a lot more energy yesterday.' Well, that was the kick in the pants that I needed to get back into a jog and finish the two miles without walking.

I only ran a total of three miles over the next two weeks as I debated whether this was something I really wanted to commit to doing or not. During this time, I came up with lots of excuses of why I was too busy or didn't need to do it. However, every time I voiced one to my good friend, Jay Stancil (who is the SID at Union College in Kentucky), he would tell me how busy he was, but that he still put in the time to run even if it meant getting up at 5:00 a.m. (He wants to come to Columbus to run in the half marathon in October as well as an early birthday present to himself.)

So, after two weeks of coming up with excuses only to have Jay shoot them all down, I headed back to the trail on June 12th with a new frame of mind. I also took my iPod along this time. I went into my run that day planning to do two miles, but kept pushing myself and ended up running to the two-mile mark instead. Before I knew it, I had run two miles out and two miles back and had four miles under my belt in a time that I was pretty pleased with. I went back the next day and ran three more miles before heading off to Cleveland to watch the Indians face rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals. It felt really good to have done seven miles in the span of two days.

I also have to say that running with an iPod really took my mind off the run and also helped me get into a better pace. My friend, Aaron Conrad (who is a distance running expert now after doing four half marathons in the span of four weeks earlier this spring), always puts together great playlists for his runs that help him do a lot of thinking while he's passing the time. Choosing the right songs for your runs can really help you get through it.

You never really know what songs will help motivate you or give you things to think about as you listen to the words during your run. After taking Monday off, I headed out on Tuesday planning to do two or three miles. The run didn't start very well as my iPod got stuck on the first song that came on - "When I See You Smile" by Bad English. (Yes, I enjoy hair bands from the '80s.) Well, while I like that song, I really didn't want to listen to it over and over again, so I started messing with the iPod while I was running. I also didn't want to stop because once I start it's a race with myself to see how fast I can finish.


Before I knew it, I had messed with the iPod for half a mile and still couldn't get it off the song. However, my legs were feeling great so I decided to really push myself and just bite the bullet and become really familiar with that one song. As I listened to the words over and over again, I realized that they applied to me as a husband and father. Besides my faith, there is nothing more important to me than my wife and girls (Ashley and Kylie). They are what gets me through tough times and their love and smiles are something that genuinely warms my heart and lifts my spirits.

Taking up running has been something that I'm doing to not only get into better shape, but also to become more disciplined in what I do with my free time. For the first time in over 20 years, I'm not playing church softball this summer. While that didn't take up tons of my time (except for all the field maintenance that I would do), it did keep us from planning some family things in the summer when I had games. We've already been able to do some things like our recent trip to D.C. because I'm not playing softball. Getting up to run early in the morning is also a great way for me to get my day started instead of just laying in bed until I feel like I should finally drag myself out and do something productive.

The running bug has biten me pretty good now. After taking the morning off yesterday because I knew that I would need to spend an hour and a half push mowing my yard after work, I went and ran a mile on the trail before getting cleaned up just because it was too nice of a day to miss out on. (I will say that I like the morning runs better, though, because there are a lot less people on the trail then to have to manuever around.)

I got another five-mile run in this morning without incident from the iPod. It was a great morning and got my day off to a great start. I was feeling so good that I was even able to sprint the final quarter of a mile to finish as strong as I have since I started this process.

Well, I'm still a long ways from both 13.1 miles and the October 17th race, but I'm getting closer with each stride. Through the encouragement of my family, friends like Jay and Aaron, and the regulars on the Kokosing Gap Trail around 7:00 a.m. each morning, I'll get there. I also need to put my money where my mouth is and sign up for the race because then it will be official. I plan to do that after a family vacation in July.

If you have any running tips or want to mutually encourage each other with an upcoming race, I would look forward to hearing from you. It's a journey and it's more fun with more people on it.

48 Hours in D.C.

Last weekend, my family and I decided to spontaneously take a trip to Washington D.C. for the weekend and Twitter played a big part in making it happen. Here's how this memorable whirlwind experience all came to be.


A month or so back, I jokingly mentioned to one of my Twitter friends, Niki Murray, who works in season ticket sales for the Washington Nationals, that she should hook me up with some tickets for a game at Nationals Park when the Cincinnati Reds made the trip to our nation's capital the first weekend in June. She had responded at the time and encouraged me to make plans to do just that.

Well, early last week, I decided to see if that ticket offer was still good. I figured that if I got free or inexpensive tickets to a pair of games that it would be worth my time to make the trip, knock off one of the three remaining cities where Carla and I haven't seen a baseball game over the past 14 years, and give my girls their first opportunity to see all the monuments and other sights in D.C.

Niki assured me that she would have tickets waiting for me at will call when we arrived for the game on Saturday night. Then, I cashed in most of my Marriott Reward points by booking a free two-night stay in a very nice Courtyard by Marriott that was located in Navy Yard, about two blocks away from the baseball stadium.


So, we packed up the car and made what turned out to be about a seven-hour drive to D.C. as soon as our oldest daughter, Ashley, got out of school on Friday. A line of storms followed us to the north most of the trip, but we had pretty smooth sailing with just one stop. We rolled into D.C. around midnight. I had joked with my wife, Carla, that we should just go see all the monuments that night since the weather was questionable for Saturday. Well, after missing one of our turns, we ended up seeing all the monuments as we got stuck in the loop much like in National Lampoon's European Vacation before we were finally able to get our bearings and find the hotel. We quickly got checked in and situated and went to sleep so that we could be ready for the next day.

Saturday morning rolled around and everyone got up eager with anticipation to do some exploring in downtown D.C. before going to the baseball game that night. Our hotel was conveniently located about half a block from a Metro station and we quickly purchased an all-day pass for unlimited access to the great D.C. subway. (Quick note: The D.C. Metro is awesome and definitely the way to get around town!) Two stops later, we popped up right in the middle of downtown and we were ready to start walking. We were on Pennsylvania Avenue, so we decided that our first stop might as well be the White House so away we went.

After walking between the White House and the Washington Monument, we headed back to the subway with a quick stop for lunch at one of our new favorite places, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, along the way. It was a welcome break to sit down in the air conditioning for a short break on the hot day.

With our bellies full, we headed off to find the Lincoln Memorial. Abraham Lincoln is Ashley's favorite president and she was looking forward to this stop. We spent quite awhile there and then walked around the reflection pond to the Washington Monument where we also saw the Jefferson Memorial from a distance. From there, we walked past the Smithsonian and then boarded the Metro for the ride back to the hotel. A nice swim in the hotel pool later and we were all refreshed and ready to head to Nationals Park for some baseball.


Heading into the weekend, Washington D.C. was one of only three cities (along with Boston and Miami) that Carla and I had not seen a Major League Baseball game in, so we were really excited to see the ballpark. Add in the fact that the Reds were in town and we couldn't wait for the first pitch to be thrown. My friend, Niki, took great care of us with field level seats just up from first base and we got set to watch a good pitchers' duel between Reds' Rookie of the Year front runner Mike Leake (5-0) and Luis Atilano (5-2) with Leake coming out on top and collecting two hits as well as the Reds won 5-1. We also saw a home plate collision, two ejections, and I caught a ball in batting practice for Ashley. All in all, a very good day.

On Sunday, we woke up and took advantage of the very good extensive all-you-can eat breakfast bar at the Courtyard by Marriott that was a great deal for the price. After packing up the car, we headed to the ballpark again. The girls each got a batting helmet which they then got signed by Jamie Burke, one of the Nationals' players. There was no batting practice due to an on-the-field event, but I was still able to talk to Drew Storen, a first round pick of the Nationals in 2009, for a few minutes for the second straight day and later he would throw me a ball up from the bullpen. Two games, two balls...not too shabby. Drew's a good guy just starting his career and you can follow him on Twitter at @DrewStoren. I would also like to say a big thanks to my friend, Elizabeth McGraw, for helping to get us together.

The Reds rallied to win the game on Sunday 5-4 in 10 innings thanks in part to a pinch-hit, two-run homer by Scott Rolen in the 9th inning that landed a section away from me as we watched the ninth inning from leftfield so we could get on the road as soon as the game ended. So, with two wins and lots of memories from the whirlwind trip, we headed for home.

On the way home, we made a slight detour to see one of my high school friends, April Boulton Amberman, and her family in Olney, Md. We had a great visit with her family and then journeyed the rest of the way home. We were able to make it all the way on one stop as the girls were great. The only real problem on the way home came when we were just 27 miles from home and had to wait for 40 minutes on a train to go back and forth and back and forth and.....well, you get the picture. We finally got back to Mount Vernon at 2:00 a.m.

D.C. is a great place to visit and Nationals Park was a fun place to watch a game. There is really not a bad seat in the place, and with friendly people like Niki making the visit fun it's a must-see for every baseball fan. I can't wait to see what adventure we decide to embark on next time. If you've got a suggestion, let me know and you might be part of the next adventure, too.

A Visit to the Tribe Social Deck

In the continuing saga of how Twitter and Facebook has provided me with some interesting experiences, the latest example happened on Friday night at Progressive Field - home of the Cleveland Indians.

After being gone for two weeks with the Mount Vernon Nazarene University baseball team on the Cougars' postseason run all the way to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, it was time for a fun family activity. My wife, Carla, and daughters Ashley and Kylie loaded up in the van after work and we headed to Cleveland even though it was already raining in Mount Vernon and the forecast did not look all that great for Cleveland for the rest of the evening. I wasn't sure that we would get the game in, but everyone wanted to go and I figured we would find something fun to do regardless.

As we got within a few miles of the stadium, my cell phone rang. It was Rob Campbell from the Indians' PR department. Rob is a recent grad and former baseball player from Northwestern who landed his job with the Indians after seeing a posting by Digital Royalty's Amy Martin. Among other things, Rob is responsible for the Indians' @tribetalk Twitter account as well as for filling the seats in the Indians' Social Deck.

As I talked to Rob on the phone, he informed me that due to some cancellations by other people that there would be room for not only me but my whole family to sit in the special section adjacent to the bleachers on the leftfield home run porch. After making sure that he knew what he might be in for with an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old in the section, he gratiously agreed to meet us at the media gate to get us in.

We arrived and were met right away by Rob, who took us to our seats. The girls were excited to see that we were in the front row and that not only could we watch the game live, but that there was a TV right in front of us too where we could catch replays. The Social Deck consists of two rows of five seats each with wireless internet access. After a quick trip to the souvenir stand to pick up an Indians'-themed stuffed monkey that they each had to have, we settled in for an exciting interleague battle between intra-state rivals.


As the game went on, it was also fun to meet the other people in the Social Deck. There was Terry from Indians Prospect Insider and his nephew, Joe, and also Lisa (@lzone) and Kelly (@kmcglumphy) - two Cleveland area residents and PR pros. We all enjoyed the game including a beautiful rainbow mid-way through. In the eighth inning with the rain coming down a little harder, we moved in behind home plate under the overhang to seats that Rob had secured for us just in case of inclement weather and we finished the game there.


Once the game was over, we had one last highlight when Rob took all of us down on the field and then into the visitor's dugout to watch the postgame fireworks show. We each had a photo taken on the field by an Indians' photographer to commemorate the evening and then a great fireworks show ensued. One of the pictures that Rob took of the evening ended up getting retweeted by the MLB twitter account (@MLB) and my family was famous. :)

As we headed home and even now as I reflect back on the evening, I know that my family was able to have a night that not all that many people get to experience. My daughters have told people non-stop about the game and experience and they think that Rob is their new best friend because he's the kind of guy that once you meet you feel like you've known him forever. We also had numerous people following the game through us on both Twitter and Facebook and that's exactly what the Social Deck is set up to do. (You can check out all of our photos from the night here.)

Rob took great care of us and is really good at what he does. He is working hard to connect Tribe fans and generate as much excitement as possible about a team that to put it bluntly is struggling out of the gate this year. Rob and the rest of the PR and marketing staff of the Indians have a tough job because in today's economy it is really hard to get people to come out to games when the product on the field may not be performing as well as the fans would like. And, we all know that the Indians will never be able to spend money on players the way that teams like the Yankees do.

However, one thing that Rob and his counterparts have going for them is the fact that Tribe fans are some of the most loyal supporters out there. Yes, they want their team to win on the field. But, year after year, they continue to support the team - hoping that this will be THE season. And, through efforts like the Social Deck, the Indians are on the cutting edge in all of Major Leage Baseball at finding ways to connect the fans with their team. Now, here's hoping that the on-the-field product will continue to improve to match the hard work and promotional efforts of people like Rob.

To read Terry's take on the experience on his site, check out his story.

If you would like more information about the Indians Social Deck, follow @tribetalk on Twitter and drop Rob a note.

The Amazing Race 2 - Tennessee Edition

Well, this week officially ended up being the final week of the Mount Vernon Nazarene University sports season as the baseball team was eliminated in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round in Cleveland, Tenn. However, I was able to make the most of the team's postseason run and eight-hour roadtrip one way with my traveling buddy, Joe Rinehart, who called all the action with me on the radio.


First, I must say that this year's MVNU baseball team was special. No, it wasn't the most talented team to ever take the field in the program's illustrious history. However, it may have been the team that was the closest on and off the field. I have the opportunity each year to travel with the team on its spring trip to Florida, and 12 days on the road really let you get to know them. Then, the past two weeks I've been with them on the road at the American Mideast Conference Tournament and now in Tennessee. They are a group of guys that were very welcoming to me and to all their teammates. That's probably what helped them come together for a special ending to a season that was an up-and-down adventure all year. Congratulations, Cougars!

OK, and now back to our roadtrip. Some of you who have followed me on Facebook for awhile now remember that Ryan Halley and I did what we called Amazing Race - Branson edition when we drove to the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship in March of 2009. We let my Facebook friends give us places to stop along the way on our 12-hour trip and it really made it a lot of fun. So, I decided to revive that idea for this week's trip to Tennessee and Joe was a willing participant.

The trip started off with an uneventful drive to Cincinnati where we made our first stop at the home of MVNU alums Paul and Joy Helton. Joy had gratiously made us fresh cookies and left them on the porch for us along with cold milk since they had to leave to go to the Reds' game before we arrived. It was a welcome snack after nearly three hours on the road.


We headed out from there into Kentucky and after a dinner break ran into a bunch of rain which made the drive pretty miserable. We weren't able to stop to see many sights although we did get a picture of a giant dragon at a fireworks store. We rolled into our hotel at about 1:00 a.m. - just barely getting off the highway because it was blocked off past our exit for a bomb scare.

While in Cleveland, Tenn., we were treated to great southern hospitality by the Lee University staff led by George Starr, the sports information director. Joe and I had fun calling three games on the radio as the team went 1-2 and interactions with fans and parents on the school's Facebook fan page was a lot of fun. We set an all-time high for visits and interactions during those three games. It was also fun to spend some time with my good friend, Eric Smith, the Taylor (Ind.) SID, although I'm afraid he might not speak to me for awhile after MVNU thumped the Trojans 21-9.

Through the power of Twitter and the close-knit group that is the SID family, we met up with Owen Seaton from UT-Chattanooga one of the nights for dinner. I've known Owen for awhile now, and this guy was generous enough to treat us to a great dinner over which we all shared a bunch of funny broadcast stories in addition to listening to Joe and Owen talk shop about the future of the MVNU video department possibilities. It was a fun evening.

Well, after the Cougars were eliminated on Wednesday, we headed out on Thursday morning for home. As we neared Knoxville, we decided to see a few of the sights that people had asked us to stop at. We saw the Sunsphere and the world's largest Rubik's Cube, which had both first appeared in 1982 for the World's Fair in Knoxville which Joe had ironically attended. We were so close to the University of Tennessee that I decided to ask my online friends if anyone had connections to get us into Neyland Stadium. Within a few minutes, Jay Stancil called me and had set up a visit thanks to Drew Rutherford and Tom Satkowiak. We got a tour of the field, the media room, and the spacious UT locker room. It was very cool.




After a quick stop at the UT bookstore to see the sea of orange apparrel, we head back on I-75 north. Pretty soon, we came to Corbin, Ky. - the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken. We met Jay there and took some photos and then headed to Sonic for lunch. It was great to visit with Jay, who is this year's Ike Pearson Award recipient as the NAIA Outstanding Sports Information Director of the Year.

After lunch, we continue home with only a stop in Lexington, Ky. to see Rupp Arena and an impromptu filming of Cops. We also listened to the Reds' meltdown versus the Braves when they gave up seven runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to blow a 9-3 lead. However, we quickly recovered as Joe went into character as either 'Danny Carpenter' or 'Vernon Knox' to make me laugh. Some of this was caught on webcam, but some of the funniest stuff wasn't filmed because I was laughing so hard that I couldn't hit the button to start it.



Well, needless to say, we enjoyed our trip and made some memories. We're thankful for those of you who contributed suggestions or met us along the way and to the rest of you who tolerated our silliness. It was a fun time and I'm looking forward to seeing where the next Amazing Race will take us. Who wants to go along for the ride?

Sportsmanship...You Make the Call

This morning, I got a call from my cousin, Robert, asking if I had heard the story about the NAIA golfer who purposely lost on a playoff hole after already qualifying for the NAIA National Championship so that a golfer from another team could make the tournament in his senior year. At that point, I had not, so when we hung up I quickly researched it. This article on ESPN.com presents the facts and I encourage you to read it before proceeding with this blog.


Sportsmanship as defined by Webster is: (noun) : conduct (as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport.

After reading that article, listening to the audio file with comments from Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic and other ESPN analysts, and checking out a couple of blogs with opinions on both sides of the debate, I decided that I was going to post my thoughts. I'll say up front that this blog could go on and on, but I would most like to hear the comments of others. I am also a big fan of true sportsmanship stories such as this story almost exactly two years ago to the date involving the softball teams of Western Oregon and Central Washington.

First, I don't want to be too critical of St. Francis' Grant Whybark for his attempt at sportsmanship. The sports world needs feel-good stories and the NAIA's mantra is Champions of Character. I just think that if Whybark truly felt like this was something he needed to do, he could have gone about it in a much more low-key way that wouldn't call attention to himself. He is obviously a skilled golfer as he shot a one-over-par 145 over 36 holes in the conference tournament to force the extra hole, so he could have just missed a long putt during the playoff without anyone really noticing it. However, by blatantly blasting a ball 40 yards out of bounds and making sure that he told everyone who would listen about his intentions, he decided to draw attention to himself which is really not what good sportsmanship is all about. It is also a little arrogant to think that he wouldn't lose the playoff hole to his worthy opponent playing it straight up. One other question...would Whybark have done the same thing if he had anything to lose? I think we all know the answer to that one.

The person that I really feel for is Olivet Nazarene's Seth Doran. Obviously a well-liked player by his conference peers, Doran was having a great tournament of his own as he matched Whybark hole-for-hole to finish with an identical one-over-par 145 after 36 holes. While I am sure that Doran is excited to make the trip to the NAIA National Championship at nearby TPC at Deere Park in Silvis, Ill., site of the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic, I am guessing that the true competitor in him wishes that Whybark had a mulligan on the hole and the two of them could play it out on the up-and-up. Personally, I probably would have pounded my tee shot into the woods (although it typically goes there without me trying) if I was Doran as I would rather have won the berth on my own merit.

One other thing...the sport of golf is one of integrity - possibly more so than any other sport. It really is about what you do when no one else is looking. Golfers are taught to self-report even the smallest and most obscure of errors that sometimes cost them championships and thousands of dollars just as it recently did Brian Davis. However, it is that integrity that draws people to the sport. While we all like to see people doing things for others, the goal in golf is to shoot the lowest possible score within the realm of the rules. To try to do otherwise really goes against the very nature and integrity of the game. It would be better to withdraw than to purposely hit bad shots.

Finally, the true winner in all of this is the NAIA and the NAIA National Championship that will take place on May 18-21. Typically, this tournament doesn't draw anywhere near the coverage or media curiousity that the NAIA's highly-successful 32-team, one-site basketball national tournaments or even the NAIA World Series in baseball draw. However, I would be really surprised if there are not TV cameras there when Whybark and Doran tee off in 12 days. The best thing for the NAIA to do in order for it not to be a distraction to the other golfers who aren't used to this kind of coverage would be to pair the two of them together and watch the story continue.

I welcome your thoughts on this subject. Was this just good sportsmanship by Whybark or did he dishonor the game? How would you have handled the situation if you were Whybark or Doran for that matter? What ending would you like to see when the two compete at the NAIA National Championship? Thanks for taking the time to tee it up with me.