#2816 weekend wrap-up

One of the best things about working from home on Monday is that I no longer have Sunday night anxiety. That's a real thing, you know? I'm pretty sure I have written about it before, but I am reminded of my thankfulness every Sunday evening when I still feel relaxed and happy. 

It's been a fairly peaceful weekend. Yesterday (Saturday), I was up early to get ready for a haircut appointment. I didn't have any big plans for the day, so Lanna made it look cute, as she does, and I just came on home. It was book club day, and I wasn't done reading all the pages, so I read the rest of the morning. I dozed off a time or two - not that the book was boring, I was just feeling tuckered out! - but I still managed to finish the book in time for our meeting. After that, I did take a serious nap right there on the couch under my weighted blanket. I slept for a couple of hours. Told ya I was tuckered out!

In the evening, I picked up some salads from Chick-fil-A for me and MT. T was at his girlfriend's family Christmas party :) I did some art stuff for the rest of the night until it was time for bed. I was able to stay up kind of late since I'd had a glorious two hour nap.

Saturday was my mama's birthday! She and Lizzie went to San Diego for an overnight get-away. I hope they had a very good time. I wish I could have joined them, but it wasn't meant to be. Hopefully next year, though, because 2023 will be a milestone birthday. :)

I was up early this morning because it was World Cup Final day. Argentina was playing the defending champions, France. I very much wanted Argentina to win because Lionel Messi is awesome. It was an exciting game. France has a player, Kylian Mbappe, who is phenomenal and only 23 years old. The match ended tied 3 - 3, so the winner was decided on penalty kicks. The Argentine keeper blocked two kicks, and Argentina made all of theirs, so Argentina won! HOORAY! 

When I get excited, it freaks out my dogs. Harley was jumping all over the place and trying to put my hand in her mouth. It's a weird thing she does. Mac was barking her head off at me. 

This afternoon, I have been puttering around the house doing some chores like cleaning the bathroom and doing our bookkeeping. I just went outside for the first time today to take the dogs for a walk in the neighborhood. It's freaking cold out there: 21 degrees F (that's -5 C!) but it was okay. I was bundled up. Plus it was nice because it was just getting dark, so I got to see everyone's Christmas lights. I don't have any outside lights, but I do have a pretty wreath on the front door. 

My plan for the next hour or two is to work on a little art project I want to do, then I might watch a movie. It might be more accurate to say that in my mind, I'd like to watch a movie, but the reality might be that I'll crawl in bed and read instead. Who knows? I haven't had dinner yet either. I'm not sure what to do about that. I often don't cook on the weekend. I'll see what MT feels like doing. I'm willing to go get some take-out, if I there's is a drive-through. I don't want to get dressed!

What's coming up next week? I only have to work four days because we have Friday off for the Christmas break. At work, the department I work in will have the annual Christmas breakfast on Thursday, which is always fun. Last year at the breakfast, I got my Keurig Duo and I really like it a lot. I use it nearly every day. Our Tuesday night support group is going to have a little Christmas thing at the meeting. That may be enjoyable. It's a very nice group of people. I want to do a bit more shopping for my menfolk. They are kind of hard to buy for, I think, so I'll just wing it. I asked both of them to tell me something they would like to have, and neither of them gave me any ideas. Does that mean they have everything they could want? We are pretty lucky in that way. 

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Today's IG prompt was "Handwritten." I posted this photo of my journal:

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Have a splendid week!

#2675 one month down

Today is the last day of January. I don’t know if it went quick or slow. It seemed that some days and even weeks went by in a hurry, and some dragged on and on. I feel a strong sense of Covid fatigue that caused January to feel like it lasted 310 days instead of just 31. Like most places, Utah experienced a huge surge in sickness this month. I thought the guidance on how to deal with the surge was unclear, and many leaders seems to think it is nearly inevitable that everyone will contract the virus. I don’t accept that! I don’t want to contract the virus. I don’t care if my symptoms will likely be “mild”. I feel like I’ve been through every emotion that can be felt in these first 31 days of the year, and all of them have been caused by Covid fatigue.

Whew. Lighten up, little Sandy. It’s gonna be okay. What was good about January?

A fun thing about January was Wordle. I have played 21 times and it’s been a pleasure. Today the New York Times announced that they have purchased the game from the creator, Mr. Wardle (that’s really his name). I wonder how long The NY Times will allow us to play the game for free and share the joy with others?

I did something pretty out-of-the-ordinary for me this month: I had lunch with someone who is not family or a co-worker! The woman is a fellow Red Butte Garden volunteer. We became friendly in 2019 when we had shifts together during Saturday night weddings. She and I both love to read and travel. We have similar political views, and are close in age. When I saw her at the volunteer reception in December, I asked her if she’d like to get together one day for coffee and chatting. We ended up going to lunch a couple of Sundays ago and it was really cool! I’m looking forward to doing it again. 

An update on the dogs: Harley has kennel cough. She is on some medication now and she is feeling a lot better. Mac is fully recovered from her stomach ailment. Both of them are eating their kibbles without embellishment and with great gusto. All is well. 

The menfolk are good. T is working at the gas station in Magna and living his vampire lifestyle - up all night, asleep all day. He works from 6pm to 1am, so whatever. I can’t mandate his awake/sleep times. The only request I have of him is that he is quiet during the night so MT and I can sleep. With few exceptions, T has been compliant with that request. MT has worked his tail off this month. We had two units that were vacant, and he spent a lot of time getting them fixed up and ready to lease. I’m happy to say that we are back to 100 percent occupancy! Here’s hoping we have good new tenants. 

In February, I am looking forward to seeing Hamilton. It was postponed from January and rescheduled. I’ll be masked up and ready to go on the 6th. The Super Bowl will be fun to watch on the 13th. I’m surprised by the Cincinnati Bengals, but not by the LA Rams. I don’t really have a preference for who wins. Maybe Cincinnati because LA fans are insufferable enough as it is. 

Also in February, I plan to take the dogs to a doggy daycare, after Harley finishes her treatment for kennel cough, of course. I think they will love to play with other doggos every now and again. I will also be thinking more and more about our April vacation and planning what clothes to take and what activities and excursions we will do while we are on the trip.  It’s certainly not that I haven’t already been thinking about it, I’ll just be more actively getting stuff ready to go. I want to book some of our shore excursions in February because I do not want to miss out on stuff because the tours are booked. (I’m looking at you, Florence, Italy.) In addition, I am continuing to learn about habits, working on my Spanish, taking lessons through Master Class, and of course, reading, reading, reading. 

Since I won’t be chatting with you here tomorrow, I wish you happy lunar new year a day early!

#2117 game night

I had the chance to go to the Jazz game tonight with MT with tickets from work. I am always so thankful when I am given these tickets and I do not take it for granted that I will ever get tickets again. We enjoy each time we get to go to the game and I am grateful every time.

Tonight the Jazz were playing the Dallas Mavericks. The Jazz were up big at halftime, but in the second half, the Mavs picked up their game and the Jazz seemed to be having trouble getting buckets. I'm not sure if Dallas ever got closer than 10 points, but it felt like they could break through until about midway through the fourth quarter. The Jazz went on a little run and put the game away from there. 

It's crazy to say it, but tonight was the Jazz's first home win of the season. Their record in this young season is five wins and six losses. There are still 71 games to go this season. I think they'll be okay.

Friday night the Jazz host the Boston Celtics. It will be the return to SLC of Gordon Hayward. I'm pretty sure the fans will be on fire. There may still be some feelings about the way Hayward left. I hope the Jazz will be feeling strong and superior on Friday!

Fun fact: the Jazz teamed up with Chick-fil-A for a food drive. If you brought a 16 oz. jar of peanut butter tonight, you got a gift card for a free combo meal from Chick-fil-A. I brought two jars of peanut butter, one from each of us, so two gift cards! Hooray! Extra bonus - I got an awesome deal on said peanut butter so I really feel like I got the best of everything.

MT and I feel like we are living large because we went out two nights in a row. LOL

That's all I've got tonight. Peace!

#2115 I went to a soccer match

The prompt for today is "safe passage". I got nothing on that, so I'll just tell you what I've been up to.

Here in Salt Lake there is a major league soccer (MLS) team called Real Salt Lake  (RSL). They are in the MLS playoffs. On Thursday they played a knock-out game against LAFC, which I think stands for Los Angeles Futbol Club. RSL won and advanced to the semi-finals against Sporting Kansas City. The first game of that series (or whatever it's called in MLS) was Sunday, last night, here in Salt Lake. On Friday I was listening to the sports radio station that I listen to during the day and they said, "If you want to win tickets to the RSL game on Sunday night, call now." So I called and I won!

Sunday was cloudy and much colder than it had been on Saturday. The weather forecast was calling for rain, too. I bundled myself up in five layers of clothing and headed to the stadium. MT was still out of town and T didn't want to come, so I just went by myself. I felt a little sad and had a brief pity-party, but then I got over it and decided to enjoy myself.

It wasn't as cold as it could have been. The temperature was in the mid 50s for the first half and the wind was not blowing and there was no rain. It was pleasant. Plus, my seat was underneath the upper deck, so I was a little more sheltered than some other seats. The only bad thing about where I was sitting is that the Sporting KC fans were seated right above me and they had a drum and they banged on it frequently.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Soccer is fun to watch and it's exciting when they try to score a goal and even more exciting when your team actually scores a goal. I'll be honest with you though: when those 90 minutes are over and the score is tied, it kind of leaves you feeling empty. I like a result.

The same two teams play again next Sunday in Kansas City. I think the way it's done is that an aggregate score is kept to see who moves on. I'll keep an eye on it.

The MLS season is super long. I think they have training in February and start playing in March. If you're team is good enough to get to the playoffs, you're still playing in November. I think they take some time off in the summer for international play or something. Plus they don't play as many games as baseball or basketball, of course. Soccer seems extremely strenuous. That's a big field (pitch) they play on!

Here's a fun thing: RSL has a chant that the crowd does before and during the game. It's super catchy and a total ear worm. Take a listen and try to get it out of your head :)

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Oh yeah...and one more thing...

#2099 happy Sportstober!

Hello friends and happy October, or as I like to call it, Sportstober. It's a magical month in which four major sports that I watch are all in season: college football, pro football, Major League baseball and pro basketball. In fact, I am watching the NL wild card game on TV right now (that's baseball). The bummer part is that the game is between the Cubs and the Rockies and I like both of these teams, so I'm not sure who to root for. I guess I'll be happy for the team that wins and sad for the team that loses. Loser goes home; winner goes on to play in the NL division series.

September kinda passed by in a blur but it was also slow. How is that possible?

Tonight we are having a big rainstorm. There is thunder and lightning. I welcome the cooler temperatures and the water is good, too. We had such a dry, hot summer. I love summer but I find as I get older it's more difficult to tolerate the heat. I feel the same way about the cold.

Oh that was big lightning and thunder just outside my window!

Okay, I have to focus on this ball game now. The score is tied in the bottom of the ninth inning. Will there be extra innings tonight?

#2065 weekend wrap-up

The pace of my summer is wearing me down a little!

On Friday night, MT and I went back up to Sundance for the second concert of the Bluebird Cafe series there. It was another wonderful night of music on the mountain. The songwriter/artists were Deric Rutan, Jonathan Singleton and Jessi Alexander. They were all good, but we thought Jessi Alexander was the stand-out of the night. That the was final show for July; there are two more shows in August. We are so glad we bought tickets to the entire series. It's a great venue and there is nothing like acoustic music under the stars.

The downside of the Sundance shows is that the venue is about an hour away, so we don't usually get home until close to midnight. When I get home I have a hard time getting right to sleep, so it's usually well after 1:00 when I finally drift off. I get up early on Saturdays to go to WW and then I'm on-the-go all day.

Yesterday during my docent shift at the Garden, it rained - more of a sprinkle, really - then it got muggy, then it got really pleasant, then it sprinkled again, then it cleared up and got hot. When I left, I stopped for some Mexican food, came home and ate, then took a little nap before I went back to RBG to attend the gate for a wedding. The weather was nice in the evening, then got breezy and a little chilly. One creepy thing is that as I was walking to the gate, I saw a snake on the trail. It wasn't a rattler, but it was still creepy. It kept me on edge because what if it slithered back to the bushes by where I was? I didn't see it, though, so everything was fine. I got home close to 11, then I chatted with T for awhile before getting to bed.

This morning MT and I got up early to go have breakfast. We've been going to Black Bear Diner in our neighborhood, but this morning we were disappointed with the pancakes. They were overcooked and tough. Might have to give it a rest for a week or find another place. We love a pancake on a Sunday morning!

We went to breakfast early because I wanted to get home by 9 AM to watch the World Cup final between France and Croatia. You probably already know that France won the match. After futbol, MT and I went to Costco because we wanted to buy some concert-going chairs.

We are going to a show at Red Butte Garden on Thursday night and these chairs will be super-nice to have!

After Costco, the day gets kind of blurry. I went to the gym to walk in circles for half an hour, then I took a shower and then I read and slept and read some more. I haven't done anything chore-wise like pay the bills or clean up stuff. I was beat and I just wanted to chill.

Summer is great because there's so much going on, but it's tiring too. The next couple of weeks are jam-packed with fun stuff.

I can rest in the winter :)

#2059 World Cup

Like many people in the world, I have been following the World Cup. I have found that I like to listen to the matches while I'm at work, streaming on the radio. I watch on TV when I can. I will certainly watch the final!

I've made myself a little bracket so I can keep track of what's happening. This weekend, of course, was the beginning of the knock-out round, the Round of 16. I'm very sorry to say that my favorite team, Spain, was knocked out this morning by Russia. I was also hoping that Argentina would advance, but they were knocked out by France yesterday. Is it terrible to say that I'm kind of glad Uruguay knocked out Portugal? I don't really like Cristiano Ronaldo. (I may be the only woman in the world who says that.)

I don't know who I hope will win. It would be fun to see Mexico beat Brazil, and I think I would choose Sweden over Switzerland in deference to my family in Sweden. Columbia and England should be interesting. I don't know anything about Belgium and Japan. I was happy for Croatia to beat Denmark today. Not that I have anything against Denmark, certainly. I guess I will just cheer match-by-match since Spain is out.

Sports are awesome!

#1882 movie matinee: The Mummy

It has been awhile since I went to the movies. I think the last movie MT and I saw together was The Circle. It had Tom Hanks and Emma Watson. It wasn't great, but that was when I saw the preview for The Mummy. I thought it looked fun and mindless - a good summer show. The Mummy opened this weekend, and MT said he would go with me, so we went to see it this afternoon.

Usually I'm not a big fan of action/adventure movies, but action/adventure movies seem to be the most common genre to come out in the summer. I was entertained by The Mummy. Tom Cruise plays Nick, a soldier/fortune hunter who along with his buddy Vail, stumble across an ancient Egyptian tomb in the Iraqi village of Haram. Somehow an archaeologist named Jenny who Nick had a fling with shows up in Haram too and they go into the giant hole where this tomb is. Little do they know that removing the sarcophagus subjects London to a really scary mummy with a hot body.

There are zombies and rats and spiders and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There are scenes that made me jump in my seat and scenes that made me giggle a little. It was a good couple of hours for me. MT thought it was "just all right." He watches way more action/adventure than I do.

I like Tom Cruise movies lately. He's got another movie coming out later this year that I will probably see. I think it's called American Made. I also saw a preview for Murder on the Orient Express. I'll definitely see that one! I like Agatha Christie stories! I remember reading the book a long time ago.

Another thing I did today was watch Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Pittsburgh Penguins won, beating the Nashville Predators. I wasn't really rooting for either team. I only watch the Stanley Cup Final and then only when I remember that it is on. The games I watched during this Final were fun. I loved the energy in Nashville. Looks like a good hockey town.

Now, all of a sudden, it is 9:30 pm. Sundays go by so fast!

#1737 lovin' the Olympics

I'm still glued to the Olympics. Even though I know the results of the "marquee" events, I still watch. I did have to nap this weekend though.

You'd think that maybe watching all these amazing athletes that I would be inspired to go for a walk or ride my bike or SOMETHING, but no. What I have learned is that I'll probably never be as good at ANYTHING as Michael Phelps is at swimming. I have really enjoyed watching that guy compete over these many Olympics games. It's kind of amazing that in my lifetime I have been able to watch this amazing competitor and champion.

#1628 #tbt: it's time for the Madness

It is one of my favorite times of the year - the NCAA men's basketball tournament, also called March Madness. Starting today, 64 teams start the tournament. If you lose, you go home. Winners advance to the next round. By Sunday, we will be down to the Sweet 16. Those 16 teams will play starting next Thursday and by the end of Easter weekend, we will be down to the Final 4. Those 4 teams will play on April and then there will be two teams left and those two teams will play in the championship game on April 4.

I think the first weekend is the most fun because there are so many games all four days and the first weekend is when most of the upsets happen. There is so much emotion and passion and competitiveness. It's awesome!

Part of the fun of March Madness for me is filling out a bracket - trying to figure out who is going to win. So far today my bracket looks good because I picked Yale and Arkansas - Little Rock to win. Both of those teams were number 12 seeds going against number 5 seeds. (Every team in the tourney has a seeding - a ranking. There are four divisions, so each division has 1 through 15 seeds. It makes sense if you look at a bracket. You can look at one here.)

The Utah Runnin' Utes are a 3 seed in the Midwest division. I just watched their game, which they won, thank you very much :) I'm feeling pretty tired, but I want to stay up just a little longer to watch a bit more of the Arizona game and the Seton Hall game.

To bring this all back to Throwback Thursday, in 2013, the first round of the NCAA men's tourney was here in Salt Lake City. I was able to purchase a ticket to sit in my company's suite to watch the games. I remember that it was a whole bunch of basketball and that it was really, really fun to be there. My #tbt photo is of the court:

I learned today that Salt Lake City will be hosting the first round of the tourney again next year. Man, I would really love to watch the games here again!

Happy March Madness! And Happy St. Patrick's Day!

#1458 finally, a Triple Crown winner

I am surprised that I didn't write about American Pharoah on Saturday. I don't follow horse racing at all except in May, starting with the Kentucky Derby, followed by the Preakness and ending with the Belmont.

I don't follow horse racing, but I have always enjoyed watching it. When I was a kid, my dad would take me to the fairgrounds and we would watch the quarter horses sprint down the track. I was always thrilled by the noise of the pounding hooves, the bright racing silks of the jockeys and the bugle call to the track. Dad and I would study the racing forms and choose the horses we thought would win the race. We went to the track together for several years and I have good memories of those times.

We would also watch the Triple Crown races on TV. Watching the thoroughbreds run is very different from watching the quarter horses. The thoroughbreds are just so much bigger and sleeker and faster.

After watching the races, I would get on my bike and ride around the neighborhood like I was riding a race horse. I remember pretending I was riding on Affirmed, the last horse to win a Triple Crown back in 1978. Silly, I know.

When I got older, I got out of the habit of going to the race track, but I always tried to watch the Triple Crown horse races.

So there I was on Saturday afternoon after having been out and about most of the day. I was feeling tired and my couch was so comfortable and the air conditioning was on and I wanted to close my eyes, but I had NBC on and the talking heads were discussing whether American Pharoah had a shot at winning the race. The past few years, a horse has won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but came up short at the Belmont. Would that American Pharoah or would we see a Triple Crown winner for the first time in 37 years?

I wanted to see American Pharoah win. I love stuff like that! When the horses came out of the starting gate and American Pharoah went right to the lead, I really hoped he would have enough strength the make it the mile and a half. The Belmont is the longest of the three Triple Crown races. I could see the jockey holding the horse back a little but still staying ahead of the rest of the field. Coming around the first turn I thought he was going to be able to win. Going into the second turn, I thought I saw the jockey loosen the grip just a little and coming down the stretch, he just let the horse go and he flew to the finish line. I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I was crying like a baby and yelling, "Come on, you can do it! You're going to win." Yes, I am a giant nerd.

Then I watched the NBC people talk to the jockey, the trainer and the owners. I watched the trophy presentation. I watched the footage of the horse being led back to the stables.

And then I jumped on my bike and rode wildly around the neighborhood.

OK, no, I didn't do that.

But seeing another Triple Crown winner did make me think of 12 year old me riding my bike around the neighborhood and pretending that I was on Affirmed. It made me think of spending time at the race track with my dad and it made me happy to have seen a little bit of history, even it is something that seems silly to some people. I love sports and I love to see greatness. It was a wonderful afternoon :)

#1411 Opening Day and Championship Monday

Today is a wonderful sports day! It's Opening Day of baseball season and it's the last day of NCAA men's basketball.

I just finished watching the National Championship game: Wisconsin and Duke were playing for the title. I didn't have either one in the finals in my bracket, so I didn't have a dog in the race, so to speak, but I watch anyway. It was a good game. I was hoping Wisconsin would be able to pull it out and win, but Duke was too strong in the end. It's funny because even though I wanted the Badgers to win, I was happy for the guys on the Duke team. They were so happy and smile-y. Good job outta Duke.

Because I was watching basketball, I didn't watch any baseball, but there's 162 games in the season, so I'm pretty sure I'll be watching games throughout the summer. I want to make a point to get out to the local ballpark this summer, too. Maybe even a trip to San Diego to see the Padres this summer? It would be great!

In the NBA, the Jazz have five games left, I think. They won't make it to the play-offs this year, but it has been fun to watch the team grow. And the NBA playoffs are great, anyway.

One of the announcers of the college game tonight was Jim Nantz. That guy has the best job! There he was calling the game and presenting the trophy. Next he'll head over to Augusta, Georgia where he'll call The Masters golf tournament. Lucky Jim Nantz!

Ok, since I was just sitting here writing, I found a baseball game to watch for a few minutes: defending World Champs San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Giants are up 5-1 in the bottom of the 5th. I love baseball.

And basketball.

And football.

And sometimes soccer.

And golf.

Hockey? I like it during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

#1338 three things: data breach, gift cards and RIP Stuart Scott

I've got three things on my mind tonight. Here goes:

1. Data breach. My bank called me today and said it was possible that it was possible that my debit card had been used, or had attempted to be used, fraudulently. After going through a series of security questions, I was asked if I had tried to buy anything online yesterday. No. Was I currently traveling? No. Did I recognize the name of this shop? No and frankly I didn't even understand what she was saying other than the shop was in Arizona. (I asked her to repeat the name of the shop or restaurant, but you know how charges sometimes just have abbreviations?) Anyway, of course I didn't know it; I'm not in Arizona, either. Fortunately, the charge (which would have been around $45) did not go through, but she noted my card as lost or stolen and deactivated it immediately. For the next five to seven business days, I will have to pay for things the old-fashioned way: with cash or a check. With all of the data breaches occurring lately, maybe it's the right thing to do anyway. Less convenient, certainly, but maybe better in the long run. GRR. I hate thieves!

2. Gift cards. MT and I are both terrible at taking care of our gift cards! For Christmas, I received a $75 gift card to Famous Footwear. I was very excited because I really need some new shoes. Unfortunately, when I got home and unpacked my bags, the gift card was nowhere to be found. I asked my mom to look in the guest room where my bags had been to see if I had dropped the card on the floor. Nope. The dear woman looked all around, but couldn't find the card. My sister even looked through her stuff to see if it had accidentally got stuck in her things. Nope. I looked through all my bags and MT's bags and T's bags to see if I had put the card in there. Nope, nope and nope. I went to the store to see if they could cancel the card and reissue. Nope. I sort of lost it and sarcastically and nearly tearfully congratulated them on the $75 they made for nothing as I stomped out of the store. This weekend, while I was writing in my journal, guess what I found? Yep, the Famous Footwear gift card. I had apparently stuck it in there for safe-keeping and it got tangled up with my WW weight booklet thing. I felt elated and idiotic at the same time.

As for MT, I bought him a couple of days worth of skiing at Alta ski resort. He has a re-loadable card, so I put two days on the card. He had the card with him when he left the house, but when he got to the ski lift, the card wasn't in his pocket. He stomped away and drove all the way home, only to find the card had fallen out of his pocket and was between the seats of his truck.

We're both getting old.

3. RIP Stuart Scott. 49 year old Stuart Scott passed away on Sunday after battling cancer for the past seven years. You might not know who Stuart Scott was if you are not a sports fan. Stuart was a Sportscenter anchor on ESPN for 21 years. When I first started watching Sportscenter, I really got a kick out of Keith Olbermann, Dan Patrick, Rich Eisen and Stuart Scott. Their camaraderie, their catch-phrases and the way they talked about the games made sports that much more fun and interesting. I don't watch Sportscenter very much anymore because the current anchors feel sort of like pale comparisons to Keith, Dan, Rich and Stuart. Keith left ESPN, but now he's back (but doesn't do Sportscenter). Dan is independent and has his own radio show (which I listen to daily). Rich is at NFL Network, and Stuart was still working on ESPN doing Sportscenter and other stuff when he could.

At last year's ESPY awards, ESPN gave Stuart Scott the Jimmy V Award. Jimmy V is Jim Valvano, the former North Carolina State coach who also bravely battled cancer and gave a very memorable speech as he accepted the award named in his honor. ("Don't give up. Don't ever give up.) Last year, Stuart Scott gave a speech on par with Valvano's speech. It was moving and wonderful. He was amazing, considering he had just been released from the hospital days before the awards. It seemed like he was going to finally beat cancer. Instead, the talk radio airwaves were filled with memories of Stuart Scott. Everyone was talking about what a great guy he was and how he brought such a unique delivery and style to a typically white man's job - sportscaster.

I don't know about all that, but I do know that I really enjoyed watching and listening to  him. For some reason I can't exactly put my finger on, the passing of Stuart Scott hit me very hard. Maybe it's because he was just a little older than me. Maybe because it was because I had been watching him for so long and he was so familiar. He loved sports and you really understood that when you heard him talk about the games. He seemed so personable. When he told you about the games, it was like he was talking to YOU. I liked his style. I cried and cried yesterday, especially after watching and listening to  Rich Eisen's tribute to Stuart.

RIP Stuart Scott. You truly were as cool as the other side of the pillow.

#1277 basketball and baseball

Last night the three of us went to watch Utah's first pre-season game, but we didn't go together. T attended a leadership conference downtown yesterday and part of the event was getting to go to the basketball game. The business group had the suite last night, so MT and I had a pair of those tickets. What was cool was that we were able to get T and his friend Trent down to the suite for a little while. It was the first time Trent had ever been to a Jazz game, so I think it was fun for T to bring him into the suite. They had a soda and some food and some dessert, then they went back up to sit with their friends.

And the Jazz won, so it was extra good! Of course it is just pre-season, but it's always good to get a win.

It was great to watch basketball again. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite sport. I love the NBA.

When I got home, I was able to watch the end of the Giants/Nationals game. Post-season baseball is so fantastic and I was super happy that the Giants won! Now the Championship Series' are set in both the American and National leagues:

Baltimore Orioles vs Kansas City Royals in the American League

San Francisco Giants vs St. Louis Cardinals in the National League

The winner of each series will meet up in the World Series.

Here's who I hope wins

and

I love you Sportstober!

#1202 World Cup fever!

I've got the fever, friends; World Cup Fever!! I think I have watched at least some futbol every day of the tournament. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I have even sneaked some watching while I am at work using my Watch ESPN app on my beloved iPhone. Mostly I just listen to it because the screen on the phone is pretty small so it's hard to watch the action.

Of course my favorite team in the tournament is the US team. I was so excited when they beat Ghana on Monday! I was listening to the end of the match when I was on my way home from work and I was dejected when Ghana scored to even it up and euphoric when the US scored and hung on for the win. I think that in the last two World Cup tournaments, Ghana has knocked the US out, so it was awesome to get the win. Next up Portugal on Sunday. Hopefully Reynaldo will behave and the US can win that one, too. That would be great!

After the US, I was rooting for Spain, my mother's homeland and the defending World Cup champions. There will not be a repeat. Spain was manhandled by the Netherlands and lost today to Chile. Sad.

After that, I like Argentina mostly because of Lionel Messi. I think he's fantastic! You know he plays for Barcelona and even though I don't see their games, I do follow what's going on with them on FB.

I don't know that much about soccer/futbol, but it's fun to watch and to listen to. I enjoy how excited the announcers get when a play is being made near the goal. The guys on ESPN who were calling the Netherlands/Australia match this afternoon were awesome. They would get so excited and their voices would go up several octaves and then they would get all quiet, almost to a whisper. It made me laugh.

Sports are good!!

#1112 US gets first gold; Jazz win!

Guess where I am? That's right...I'm on my couch, watching the Olympics! I like to watch at night even though I already know the results. When I got up this morning, I had alerts on my phone from both CNN and ESPN that Sage Kotsenburg had won gold in the slopestyle snowboard event. Very cool! He was born in Idaho and now lives in Park City. No, I don't know him. :)

I enjoy watching the Olympics a lot, but the Jazz were playing the world champ Miami Heat tonight. What to watch? We watched the Olympics and flipping over to the game during commercials but I was getting too nervous about the Jazz being ahead during the last few minutes of the game. The team sometimes has a hard time closing games out. The Jazz held on and won tonight though! YAY!!

Oh man. We just watched Hannah Kearney get the bronze medal in the women's moguls. She was the reigning gold medalist and it looked like she was going to win again, but she had a form break after her first jump and got the bronze. Bronze is still good, unless you think you're going to win gold, I guess. Her interview after her run was just heartbreaking.

That's all for tonight. Hope you're having a good weekend!

#1111 let the Games begin!

I'll be busy the next couple of weeks watching the Olympics. MT reminded me that this is the first Winter Olympics we've seen since 2002, the Games here in Salt Lake. In 2006, we were on our first cruise and I think we caught glimpses of some events on the TV in the lounge as we walked around the ship, but we didn't sit and watch. In 2010, we were on Palm Island. I don't mind telling you that I would rather be in either of those places than sitting on my couch right now, but it's all good.

What I don't care for in the Olympics is the subjectivity of the scoring in some of the competitions. I understand that there is not a way to judge ice skating or snowboarding objectively. I mean, the athlete gets points for doing certain maneuvers well and points off if something goes wrong, but it's not about who is faster or scores more goals. It's still pretty fun to watch.

USA! USA!

#1034 my sports viewing dilemma

Tonight is the first night of the regular season for the Utah Jazz and they are playing my other favorite team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Tonight is also Game 6 of the World Series. The Boston Red Sox could win the Series tonight. The game is being played in Boston and if the Red Sox win in Boston, it will be the first time the Sox have closed out the Series in Boston since 1918. (The other times they have won the World Series, it has always been on the road.)

What should I watch? I love baseball and especially the close out game of the Series, but I also love the Jazz and the Thunder.

T made the decision. We are watching the Jazz game and flipping over to the baseball game during commercials. Now it's halftime at the basketball game, so I'll watch a good solid 10 minutes of baseball.

It's the top of the sixth inning and Boston is ahead 6-0. Go Sox! (I've never been a big Cardinals fan.)

At halftime, the Jazz are down by nine points, but they have played pretty well. There have been some good moments. It will probably be a long hard season for the young Jazz team, but as a fan, I will keep watching and cheering and hoping for good things.

Gotta go...I'm watching TV!

#1028 why October is the best sports month

I was listening to a local sports radio show this afternoon and the sports guy said something that I totally agree with: October is the best sports month of the year. I'll tell you why.

1. Major League Baseball playoffs. After a long 182 game season, ten teams are left standing for the baseball post-season. Yesterday was heavenly for me. There were four playoff games, and I listened to three of them on my beloved iPhone while I was working, and watched the fourth when I got home. I really like to listen to baseball games on the radio; I'm not sure why or if I can pinpoint what I like about it, I just like it a lot. For anyone who says that baseball isn't very popular, take a look at the crowds in Pittsburgh yesterday, or the crowd in Detroit today. Mayhem!

2. National Football League. We are now entering the sixth week of the 16 week season.  Teams are settling into who they are and players are getting into their grooves. This year there are still three teams that are undefeated and at least two teams that haven't won a game at all. There are teams that are underachieving (Atlanta, Houston) and teams that are overachieving (Kansas City, NY Jets). It's just fun to watch.

3. College football. The teams are now playing games within their conferences and we are already thinking about qualifying for bowl games and Heisman trophy candidates.

4. National Basketball Association. The preseason has begun! Tonight T and I watched the Jazz play a preseason game (on TV) against the Golden State Warriors. It just felt like everything was right with the world to see the Jazz back on the court, even though we only recognized a handful of the players (lot of new guys this year).

At the end of the month, we should be in the World Series and the NBA will start the regular season. That's all good.

There's also National Hockey League and Major League Soccer and the WNBA finals. I don't watch much of those sports, but I like to know they are out there.

Yes, I am a sports junkie! Now back to the Red Sox\Rays game! :)

#968 Andy Murray wins!

I watch a lot of sports. I love the competition and the glimpses of greatness. I got to see that competition and greatness this morning while I watched the gentleman's final at Wimbledon.

Novak Djokovic was playing against Andy Murray for the title. I'm a Djokovic fan (if Rafael Nadal isn't playing), but I just had a feeling that it was Murray's time this morning. There was so much riding on Murray's shoulders with this match. I remember last year when Roger Federer (hiss) beat Andy in the Wimbledon final and Andy cried. Then he went on to win the gold medal at the Olympics and the US Open. With Federer and Nadal out of the tournament this year, it almost felt like destiny that Murray would return to the final. But Djokovic is good. It wouldn't be easy.

Well, Murray won the final in straight sets and although it wasn't easy, a straight set victory is pretty decisive.

It's been 77 years since a British man won Wimbledon. On those last points, you could almost feel the entire UK holding their breath via ESPN. Sometimes on a close ball, the crowd would start cheering or groaning (unheard of!) even though the point wasn't over.

To watch the joy and disbelief on Andy Murray's face after that last point was great. To see his mother burst into tears and turn to the man next to her, covering her face while her shoulders shook as she sobbed with relief and joy and all of those emotions. To see Andy run over to his players box and embrace his team - his coach, his trainer, his girlfriend and his mom (although he almost forgot about her and had to go back!) - I loved it. To watch the crowds go wild when Murray lifted the trophy; to see the security detail pat Murray on the back as he made his victory lap around Centre Court; to see Murray continually cover his eyes and run his hands through his hair as if he still couldn't believe that he had actually won the title at Wimbledon...that's what I love about sports.

I will never get to experience the thrill of hoisting a major championship trophy over my head, of course. Watching someone else do it gives me a vicarious thrill of victory. That's good enough for me :)

Congrats Andy Murray!

http://news.sky.com/story/1112657/andy-murray-wins-wimbledon-title