And the song remains the same

Well, most of you know by now that I am a huge sports fan. Not to mention I am a huge fan of a certain team that lives above Texass that happens to wear Crimson and Cream on their uniforms. (Seeing I am employed by Baylor in the Big 12, I try to keep my love for this team to a certain level, which is matched by the same love I have to my employer.) I am also a die hard New York Mets fan. I have theories on how both teams can determine the outcome of each team’s season. The Mets won the World Series in 1986; same time Oklahoma won the National Championship. The Mets made it to the World Series in 2000, the last time the Sooners won the National Championship. You see the pattern, if the Mets do well, the other team does well.

Well, as you can tell the past three to five years both teams have been in a slump. One team has made it to the playoffs once, and the other keeps getting pummeled in bowl games. It has been tough for this fan to sit by and watch this, but I have deep roots for both teams, and I have also made a vow to myself of never becoming a band wagon fan. (Like most of the fans for the team that lives above Texas) I have sat through the 1990’s with the Mets and never wavered in my allegiance to them (and they were very bad). I have also sat with my other team through the late 80’s and 90’s and when it was fashionable to take to another team (Florida State, Miami, Nebraska). While in high school, my roots were planted firm, no matter how much crap I got from people (which are now all of a sudden “die hard” fans of Oklahoma). I mean I was at the game when the schooner fell over and I still kept my faith.

Well, as I listen to “Whiskey River” by Willie Nelson, I can help but think that some how my oddball theory is right. That one team does determine the outcome of the other. My poor Mets have limped into the final death throws of a horrible season with a roster of minor league guys and half of the roster on the disabled list. This came to light this past week when the #1 Tight End hurt his knee, then the nightmare of a heisman winning quarterback getting hurt and watching as Oklahoma got upset. Call me crazy, but I feel my Metropolitans tried to tell me this outcome back in June when their season started to unravel. I am praying that this does not rub off on Baylor; we don’t need this bad mojo that is getting tossed around. Baylor has to have a good year to right the ship for me. They are the team I am keeping my faith in to help me out of my slump!

You maybe asking yourself “Does Kristen have to listen to this craziness?” yes, yes she does have to listen to my weird theories during the sports year. (There may be a theory of her and my sports teams as well, but that is another blog all together.) I have started Sloan on this love of sports teams, poor thing thinks the Rangers have always been good, and not to mention the Rangers set her up by winning every time we go and see them play. She has no idea what she is in store for when she gets older. Honestly, the love/hate relationship I have for my sports teams are why I do what I do. I am very lucky to be working in sports, I am glad my Mom and Dad encouraged me to follow my dreams. I just feel sorry for Kristen this year; it’s going to be a long sports year for her.

Music for this week:

Well, as everyone that knows me well, I have been waiting for Jay-Z’s new album to come out. I am a huge fan of Jay-Z. I did get to get a sneak peak listen to his whole album last week, and it is really really good. I would put it up there with the Black Album. I am also waiting like a good little boy for Pearl Jam’s new album to come out. I am ready to bust just to get my hands on it. I really don’t have any new albums to recommend to anyone this week. So in rare form I am going to put down (this is hard), 25 of my favorite albums, at this time. This is not a “all-time” list, that is just too hard for me to put down albums in that category. Here we go…………

25. Beastie Boys- Liscense to Ill
24. Beck- Midnite Vultures
23. Green Day-Dookie
22. Violent Femmes- Violent Femmes
21. Willie Nelson and Family- Live
20. Outkast-Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
19. The National- Boxer
18. Ben Harper- Live From Mars
17. Lenny Kravitz- Mamma Said
16. Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
15. The Roots- The Roots Come Alive
14. Rage Against the Machine-Rage Against the Machine
13. The Black Keys- Attack and Release
12. The Jimi Hendrix Experience- Axis: Bold as Love
11. Sublime- 40 oz. to Freedom
10. Jay-Z- The Black Album
9. Bob Dylan- Blood on the Tracks
8. Kings of Leon- Because of the Times
7. Morphine- Bootleg: Detroit (live)
6. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood, Sex, Sugar, Magik
5. Weezer- the Blue Album
4. (tie) A Tribe Called Quest- Midnight Marauders
Black Crowes-Amorica
3. Jack Johnson-Brushfire Fairytales (Kristen and I listened to this constantly when
we first met)
2. Radiohead-Ok Computer
1. Pearl Jam- No Code (one of my top two albums of all time from them, Ten being
the other.)

And now we all get way too busy

Well it’s now the busy time of the year for all of us. Sloan has just started 1st grade, and I still can’t believe that she is now that old. Not to mention today was her first day of Girl Scouts. She is getting real big and way too fast for the old man, but I just need to stay young with her. I did catch her on Saturday singing some Metric in the car, which totally surprised me. It could be through osmosis seeing she falls asleep with her radio on (but I doubt Metric is a big hit in the HUGE town of Waco). Over the course of the summer she has lost four teeth, and now wears a size 1 in shoes. Not to mention she is now begging me for her to play coach pitch next year for baseball. It’s not the pitching part that scares me, but it’s the catching on the line drives and having the ball thrown to her that does. Something to work on over the winter. She also is ready to play her second season of basketball, which I feel she is going to be great at. Plus she loves to swim, so I am getting an active kid coming out of the summer, which is awesome.

Kristen is now in her last semester of Nursing School, which I feel all three of us are ready to get her to ourselves. She is doing awesome, and her getting through with school while raising a family is just awesome as well. She has the stomach for that stuff; I would tap out as soon as I saw the blood. I tell myself from time to time that my job is not a life and death job and if I mess up no one will die. I feel that is a good way to look at it anyway. I know she is ready to get it over with, she has been working very hard and all of us are proud of her.

As for yours truly, well another cycle begins. It seems sports is a constant with me, of course seeing that’s what I do it shouldn’t amaze me when all the crazy begins. I basically start in September and get everything over with in May. From September to May that spans four sports out of 16 sports that I personally are in charge of the marketing. So when friends tell me I work all the time, I laugh and say at least I somewhat have the summer to relax. My summer still isn’t over until I get to see Eddie Vedder walk on to the stage in Austin and hopefully sing one of my million favorite songs by Pearl Jam. Plus I really can’t wait to see the Artic Monkeys; I am really excited to see them. (FYI, just 33 days until I go) Plus, I always try to make it up to Oklahoma to watch at least one football game a season in Norman. This year, I get to take Sloan to the game and expose her to what still gives me the chills every time I watch them. There aren’t too many things that still do that, and watching them take the field does it to me every time. I think it goes back to my dad taking me to the games, it was our thing we did every Saturday together as long as I can remember. If I wasn’t at the game we were watching them on the TV, ups and downs, and two national championships for me. (It bugs Kristen, but at halftime like clock work we call each other to hash out the first half). Not to mention my boys down in Waco are going to make some noise this season, so watch out for the Baylor Bears.

All in all, it was a great summer, Sloan and I still have two Rangers games to go to before baseball is over. I got to see some family in Oklahoma, not to mention some friends from college. So a good summer, hopefully that will roll into a great rest of the year.

Music for this week:
Well, it’s getting down to the albums that I have been waiting for all summer. The Arctic Monkeys came out with their album last week, this week was the Black Crowes, and next week is Jay-Z. Plus at the end of the month is Pearl Jam. So a good month for me, plus I was just surprised by my boy Q-Tip releasing his album. I can’t wait.

Arctic Monkeys- Humbug
Another great album from AM. This one is really good, I don’t recommend a whole album very often, but this one is worth getting. Check out the song Cornerstone.

The Black Crowes- Before the Frost…Until the Freeze
First listen of this album (I got it early by pre-ordering it on iTunes), and I really like this one. Warpaint was good, but I think this one is getting back to their roots. Amorica is still my all time favorite from them. Check out the song I Am Hiding.

Gomez- A New Tide
A new band for me, but not a new band in the world of music. I love this dynamic they have, they basically have two lead singers that alternate singing different songs on their albums. I got Kristen hooked on them, and that is saying a lot. She doesn’t listen to music I like very often. Another album you should get. Check out the songs Little Pieces and Natural Reaction.

My adventures with Kristen and Sports

Well the last two blogs have had a bit to be desired, but I have actually been busy since athletics have started back up here at work, and everything is starting in about a week. So with everything starting up and Sloan about to start 1st grade, we actually had our last week of free time last week. Sloan went to Abilene to spend a few days with Kristen’s parents and Kristen and I got to spend a few days hanging out as well. One thing I really love doing is going to sporting events (seeing this is my profession) and not to mention my other favorite baseball team is right up the road from us (that being the Texas Rangers, my poor Mets are suffering this season). So with enough talking to Kristen we went on a date to the Rangers game last week to see them play the Twins.

I have to say all wives complain of their husbands watching some type of sport all the time. No one has anything on Kristen; she has to put up with sports year around. Although for her case, I have never been a huge NFL fan or NBA fan (until Oklahoma City got a team) so she does not have to put up with me watching those sports all the time. I am a huge college football and basketball fan so I guess that is a trade off for the NFL and NBA. She takes it in stride and just accepts it with sports, but one season she has to put up with is baseball season. That is one sport that I do watch a lot of, and I get to hear about it as well. (I do know deep down she loves baseball, if it wasn’t for baseball we wouldn’t have met.)

(Back to the story) So I got the tickets and we left early in the afternoon last week and drove up to Arlington for the game. It was a lot of fun and very hot. Of course upon arriving I had to get a customary beer and Kristen went straight for the Chicago Dogs at the ball park (if you have never had a Chicago Dog, you are missing out on the best hot dog invented.). We found our seats (five rows from the field in Center field, not too shabby) and took in the sights and sounds of the game. It is always an adventure when I go to a game with Kristen, because when she watches sports with me, I get the “interesting” questions through out the course of a game. Not to mention during the course of a game I have to remind her that she just cheered for something bad. Also I know I automatically loose her attention once the cotton candy vendor walks past us (which come to find out we can only eat the cotton candy with the cone in it).

So during the game, I always get a good laugh from her from time to time. Seeing where our seats were, I had no idea that her goal was to catch a homerun (bare handed I might add) during the game. I then had to break the news to her that we would also have to catch a doctor to fix her broken hand afterwards. Needless to say, a homerun was hit by us, but she didn’t run out to catch it. So in between eating a Chicago Dog, warm peanuts, drinking some of my beer, and eating her cotton candy (on a stick) she befriended some kids that were sitting by us. This is not uncommon with Kristen, nor is it uncommon to figure out that another family on our row was from Waco, and she had to talk to them as well. (Those of us that are in the Herring family know quite well where she gets this from, but we just take it in stride.) So somehow by the middle of the game she has talked (in length) to a seven year old boy. She has also talked them into catching a homerun for her and giving it to her. We left before the game was over, plus the Rangers were winning 11-1 at that point, and she never got her homerun ball if you were wondering.

The best part about this is although she sometimes does not want to go to a sporting event; she always comes out of it having a lot of fun. I still need to work on her coming to more college basketball games, but once December is here she will have PLENTY of time to watch a college basketball game that her husband does marketing for. I do have to say in my defense, if it wasn’t for sports we wouldn’t have met in Colorado Springs.

Music for this week:
Well, I am now on the countdown for ACL Festival (40 days to be exact). I have started to listen to some of the bands I want to see. Also I hope that three of my friends take me up on some of my suggestions for music seeing they are going to be traveling soon. Dave, Jeremy, and Craig if you need me to hook you up with a travel playlist let me know!

Arctic Monkeys
Well, this is a band I can’t wait to see in Austin, I am very excited to see them. I just got their newest album today and it is really great. Not to mention their previous two are also very good. I hope they live up to my expectations and put on a great show in Austin for everyone. I would recommend an album, but all of them are great. Listen to the songs Fluorescent Adolescent, Fake Tales of San Francisco, and Dangerous Animals.

Friendly Fires- Friendly Fires
This is a good album; I have been putting off listening to it for a while. It kept getting pushed my way so I took a chance and listened to them. It’s not too bad; I would like to hear more from them. Check out the song Jump in the Pool.

Stellastarr*- Civilized
Well this band has been out for a while, and a blog I read each week this is one of his favorite bands. So they had a new album come out not too long ago and upon his love for them I gave them a shot. I have to say, they are a great unknown band that should get some air play. Check out the songs Tokyo Sky and Graffiti Eyes.

Dinosaur Jr.- Farm
I have always been a Dinosaur Jr. fan, just sometimes you forget about them, and you shouldn’t. Without A Sound has always been in my all-time favorite albums list. This is another great album from the old school alternative band. Check out the song See You, it has that classic Dinosaur Jr. feel.

Beck- The Information
This album has been getting some love from me lately. Although Midnite Vultures is my all time favorite album. The Information gets back to some great Beck beats and not to mention his odd but great musical lyrics. My favorite song so far is Cellphone’s Dead and Nausea.

Woodstock and now

So as most people with a TV know last weekend was the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. I actually sat down one night and watched a documentary (that wasn’t Gangland on the History Channel, which that show is awesome.) about Woodstock. The one thing that really stuck out was how it finally came together, and how the politics of the time and the people of the time really made it into something. The whole time watching it, I tried to think of something like that happening now.

Something like that couldn’t happen now. We would get too involved as people wanting the big payoff to let something like that happen again. It’s sad that some of the values of those “hippies” have been lost by now. They ran out of food at the festival, some people stepped up to help feed some of the people there. They introduced granola at Woodstock, not for Woodstock we might not have granola.

So many people showed up they pushed down a fence and the concert promoters decided to just make it a free concert. Not to mention tickets for the whole weekend were just $18. That happened now, police would be called, people would be put in jail, and more than likely the concert would be cancelled. Plus the tickets would be about $200 bucks.

I guess it’s sad that when you think of getting 500,000 people together now, you think of how much trouble is going to be caused. At Woodstock, they just wanted to have a peaceful get together and listen to some music and hang out. Now, it wouldn’t be that easy, and it’s sad. What happened between then and now is the only question I could come up with.

So many people forget (and I do at times) about how to help out other people. Woodstock was put together for a lot of people that believed in the same things to get together and let everyone know there was something more out in the world. I think everyone now forgets that, it’s all about “ME” now. The culture at the time of Woodstock is nothing different than it is now. The Government during then and now is about the same, both are struggling to get the country back in shape, both times had a horrible war going on, and tons of people wanted to be heard then just like now. The only difference between then and now is the “ME” factor comes into play. If we were anything like our parents back then, we would band together and be heard just like they did. What’s scary, we have more resources and we don’t use them. They had less, and were heard much louder than us.

Music for the week:
Well, now I keep having to go back and fourth and remember what music I should put on here. Granted this past weekend I listened to mostly the Woodstock Channel on XM while in the car. Also the dilemma of thinking what I should take off my iPod and keep on it. September is coming up and a ton of great (hopefully) albums are coming out, so I am getting rid of some music to make room for more. Here are a few albums for this week.

The Airborne Toxic Event
I have been on the fence for a while about this band. I think it was the over play of the first single they released off the album that did it to me. A few weeks back Lollapalooza happened and they put on a few acts on the internet to watch for free, and I decided to watch some of them. Well ATE was one of them, and I have to say they were great live. So I got the album, and it is just as good. Some times overplay does not help record sales. Check out the song Wishing Well and This Nowhere.

Flobots- Fight With Tools
This album has been out a while, but I am going back through my iPod and trying to find some bands I haven’t brought up. I always have withdrawal symptoms when I think about Rage Against the Machine. Although the Flobots aren’t anywhere close to the vocals of Zach De La Rocha and the guitar wizardry (had to use that somehow) of Tom Morello, they do fill the void of a good political rant. This band from Denver helps to fill a tiny amount of the void left by RATM not being together. Check out the songs Stand Up and Rise.

Klaxons-Myths of the Near Future
The Klaxons are a band that has been getting some critical acclaim since debuting Myths of the Near Future. I have to admit, this is much deserved. I have been listening to this album for a while, just haven’t brought them up. Check out the songs Golden Skans and Gravity’s Rainbow.

Tanya Morgan- Brooklynati
Ok, granted when you first read the name of this group Hip-Hop is not the first thing you think of. As some of you know, I am a hip-hop fan. I got the luxury of growing up when Hip-Hop was just kind of coming out (yes I am that old). My tastes of hip-hop have changed from hardcore hip-hop (in high school) to listening to more intellectual (if you can say that) hip-hop. Or as a friend of mine called it “college” rap. Tanya Morgan makes me think of Tribe Called Quest, the Roots, De La Soul, and so on. Check out the songs Alleye Need and On Our Way.