On This Day in Sports History

A happy Falcons fan.

Twenty years ago today, the Atlanta Falcons selected Michael Vick as the first overall pick of the 2001 NFL draft.

Vick became a fan favorite in Atlanta and his No. 7 jersey was seen all over the city, including at our house. 

Christmas gifts that year included a helmet and jersey.

An exciting player to watch, Michael Vick became Tate’s first football hero. Two years later, Tate even asked his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Podojil, if she would call him “Vick.” As only a seasoned teacher would know to  do, she told him it that would require that she let everyone in the class use a second name which would be too difficult, however she’d be glad to call him him Vick for one full day.  She even let him write his name, Vick, on his papers. He was elated and, no doubt, why he's still a Falcons fan today. 

Tate, fourth from the left, in a kindergarten group shot. 

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Thanksgiving Plans

Our plans this year for Thanksgiving are a little less than traditional. Most significantly, we'll be missing one important family member.  

She's spending the holiday with my parents not far from the college she attends.  

That's not the only thing different about this year. I won't be cooking a turkey and all the side dishes and I won't be decorating the table. 

Last year's table for 4.

And, I won't be making these delicious homemade rolls (but I promise to share the recipe in the coming days, because they are perfect for the holidays).

Blessedly, this year I will not be forced to contemplate the merits of store-bought versus homemade gravy (since that seems to be my real culinary failing).

We will be, however, engaging, in one important time-honored holiday tradition and we'll be doing that here:

Cowboy Stadium

We aren't Cowboy fans though.   We'll be there to cheer for our beloved Redskins and, Texas-raised Baylor graduate and Heisman trophy winner, Robert Griffin III. 

 We're looking forward to it!

XXX Olympics

The summer Olympics begin in less than a week and we're looking forward to it at our house. For as long as I can remember  I've loved the Olympics. Winter Olympics are great, but, to me, the summer  Olympics are even more awesome.

I remember, going way back to 1976 now, Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 inspiring a whole generation of young girls' (me included) interest in gymnastics (dang, those uneven parallel bars are tough). I still love the gymnastics events. Track and field and swimming have our complete attention, too.  

In 1996, the Olympics took place in Atlanta. Most of the sports were practically in our own back yard. Granted, it wasn't the most illustrious of Olympic host cities, but we had the good fortune of attending several events.  My parents even made the trip to attend a few.  

Our ticket to a women's basketball event

We found a spot on Peachtree Street and watched the Olympic torch pass.

We attended the men's marathon (no ticket required)

At the marathon, someone allowed us to hold their Olympic torch.  I was 4 months pregnant and had a bad case of poison ivy (on my face!)

Some neighbor friends of our hosted a party for one of the visiting men's gymnastics teams (Romania?).  They were nice guys but spoke very little English.  One of the team members won the gold medal in the rings event that year - what a thrill it was to watch him win after meeting him in our friends' kitchen just 10 days earlier.   

For the last week of the games, we rented our house to a family from Ohio (a connection we made through Robbie's job).  It was a ton of work getting the house ready but I'd do it again given the opportunity.  

London seems like a great location for the Olympics. Let the games begin!  

Hail to the Redskins

It's NFL Draft Day!  Hooray for that!  More importantly, it's the day Washington Redskins' fans (me included) hope signifies a reversal of fortunes.  If things go as sports pundits predict, today is the day that Heisman trophy winner and Baylor University alum Robert Griffin III will be the second pick in the draft.  And, he'll be headed to the nation's capital to (fingers crossed) rescue the ailing (5 - 11 in 2011) team.  

Sure, maybe Andrew Luck from Stanford has a more pro-team (i.e., Peyton Manning) style of play, but there's nothing like the excitement of watching RG3 spearhead an offense.  I had the pleasure of seeing Griffin lead Baylor's offense in person a couple of times last fall and since I've been cheering for the Redskins all my life (no haters, I spent a portion of my early years in northern Virginia and my life until I was 25 living in Virginia), I'm thrilled my childhood team is going to be the great benefactor of Robert Griffin's incredible skills.  Of course, we won't know until the fall how he fits into the scheme of things, but how can you not cheer for a guy who says things like this?

"The hotter the heat, the harder the steel
No pressure, no diamonds
We compete, we win. . . "

Super Bowl Sunday

My head says the New England Patriots, but I think I'm cheering for the New York Giants today. You?

Nolan Ryan's Birthday

We're baseball fans at our house.  We're also recent transplants to Texas.  So I'm thinking we have something new to celebrate this year:  Nolan Ryan's birthday; his 65th to be exact.  


Mr. Ryan, a native son,  is revered in Texas.  Here's why.  

Ranger Ballpark in Arlington, Texas

My husband and son seek a refreshing reprieve from the summer heat.

We went to our first Rangers game shortly after we moved here in July.  Aside from the heat (the temperature was over 100 degrees after 10 p.m.), the thing that struck me most was the attention that Nolan Ryan drew from the fans.  Taking a photo of Mr. Ryan (not unlike this one that I took) 

Nolan Ryan (right) chats with fellow Hall of Fame member Bert Blyleven

was obviously important to many of the attendees.  He seemed to garner as much attention (perhaps more) as star players Josh Hamilton and Michael Young.  


In addition to being the birthday boy, it's my understanding that he's a great manager and a really nice guy too.  Happy #65 to  #34!

The Heisman

Tonight the highest award in college football will be awarded and I must admit, I'm pretty excited.  


I credit my dad and brother for my love of the game.  While I grew up cheering for the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings (thanks to a 5th grade crush), I now find myself in the heart of Cowboy County. 


These days I'm more captivated by  college football, in particular, the University of Georgia Bulldogs (SEC football, the best) and, this year, the Baylor University Bears.  Don't get me wrong, I'll watch at least part of any exciting game, and I always enjoy cheering for the underdog, but these two teams have me pretty much enthralled.


As a consequence of my fandom for Baylor, I've followed this year's Heisman race closely.  Among the five finalists for the award is Baylor's young quarterback, Robbert Griffin III (aka RG3),  who has been so exciting to watch, put Baylor football (currently #12 in the BCS, thank you) on the map, and seems as impressive on the field as off.   

All this thinking about the Heisman takes me back to another Heisman-related story that involves (long story short): my husband (then boyfriend) on a business trip to Los Angeles, an emergency/unscheduled landing in Ontario, California, a 3 a.m. appendectomy at the Ontario Community Hospital, a 6 day hospital stay, a slow recovery and the Heisman award.  Suffice it to say, in a drug-induced state, seeing Andre Ware win the Heisman was seemingly the highlight of my husband's entire life.  As he wept "tears of happiness" from his hospital bed, I knew three things immediately:  despite almost 5 days in the hospital he was a long way from well, medication does strange things to people and, one day this would be the most hilarious story ever.  This story's been recounted numerous times and always has me laughing.  


Anyway, in it's 76 year history, there have been some pretty impressive Heisman winners.  Saturday night, here's hoping RG3's name is added to that list.  

World Jugglers Day

As promised,

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Yesterday was Opening Day in Major League Baseball.  This had very little impact on our family.  

It didn't affect  her . . .

At a Braves game in 1996

or him . . .

A sports camp photo from 2001 (and he played a few seasons of t-ball too)

though he looks adorable doesn't he?  

or him, really . . . 

My husband played catcher on his high school baseball team. That's him rounding the bases in the spring of 1978. 

though my husband is an avid and lifelong Braves fan and he'll be watching more than a few games this season.

However, hundreds of miles away in Virginia, this guy may be the happiest member of my family to see today arrive.

I don't have a cute photo of him dressed in baseball apparel, but trust me when I say, he's got it. 

My dad is a huge fan of baseball. He roots for the Red Sox and Orioles, but we forgive him!  

Baseball great Rogers Hornsby said, "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball.  I'll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for spring" but it sounds an awful lot like something my dad could've said. 

So hooray for baseball season, the boys of summer and the inventor of the major league baseball network! Right, dad?

Play ball! 

March Madness

The NCAA basketball tournament is underway (3 weeks and 68 teams, but who's counting?) and though we’re not huge college basketball fans at our house, this year, for the first time in a long while, the University of Georgia men’s team is a contender.  

UGA forward Jeremy Price (#50)

The phrase “March Madness” was coined by a man named H.V. Porter in 1939 to describe an Illinois high school basketball tournament. American sportscaster Brent Musburger first used it during National Collegiate Athletic Assocation coverage in 1982.

The tournament is also sometimes referred to as "The Big Dance."

The 6 schools who have the winningest history in NCAA Division I Men's basketball are:

UCLA with 11 championships;
Kentucky -  7 times;
Indiana with 5 Big Dance victories;
North Carolina with 4, including in 2005
Duke with 4 titles, including last year's nail biter over Indianapolis' Butler University

I saw Charles Barkley the other night on David Letterman talking about the tournament.  He was funny.

And if you’re the competitive type, here’s a link to a printable copy of the brackets on the way to the Final Four.  

Go Dawgs!