Complete Devastation

Where do I begin? It has been many, many years since I have been this devastated after a football game. Possibly since 2003 when the Packers lost to the Eagles in the playoffs...also by a field goal in overtime. However, the knife dug in much deeper this year as the unthinkable took place last night. Mr. Eli "whiner" Manning and the little Giants ripped the Super Bowl right out of the hearts of the Packers community. The players, the coaches, the staff, the Green Bay residents, the fans in Wisconsin, the Favre fans everywhere, the Packer fans all over the country, and especially the die-hard fans in a warm & cozy house in Saginaw, TX. A loss hurts, but an overtime loss in the playoffs is just so much more devastating. Particularly when it occurs courtesy of a team who shouldn't have even been in the championship game. The football life has literally been sucked out of me. I really don't think I can even watch the Super Bowl this year. As much as I hate the Patriots and want them to lose (they certainly could have to Green Bay), I don't want a team like the Giants to even have the opportunity to win or lose. There's no doubt they will get slaughtered by the Patriots, so now we have a wasted Super Bowl between two teams in which only one is deserving to be there. I know I'm spilling bad grapes, but there is some truth to it. I am so devastated.

A few things became clear to me in this time of darkness. I'll admit I've felt somewhat guilty the last few years as the realization has hit me that I'm a bigger Green Bay fan than my good ol' home team Dallas Cowboys. But last week, when the Cowboys lost to the Giants in a very close playoff game, I could care less. I really felt like it served them right for being a bunch of jerkoffs the last 6-8 weeks. I do not want to hash on the Cowboys, because I will always watch them and support them (unless they play the Packers), but the biggest epiphany I've had in the last 24 hours is that they just don't have an identity. Jerry Jones is an idiot and cares way too much about money and not enough about building a solid franchise with people of high integrity and work ethic. I can't even keep up with who is coaching them year after year much less who plays at each position and I even watch the games. There's no reason to be a proud Cowboy fan other than the HOPE of a successful Tony Romo. There's a few other good guys like Marion Barber and Jason Witten, but where is the TEAM? Anyway, this blog is not about the Dallas Cowboys. I just think that the final ounce of hesitation in coming out and admitting that I am 100% a Green Bay Packer fan was removed this weekend. Talk about identity. Green Bay has it. You will not find a more committed and dedicated fan base in the NFL than the Packer fans. Even the team is such a close-knit group of professionals. You never see them in the news for getting in trouble anywhere. But you do see EVERYONE building each other up, even after making mistakes in a game. The coach and the GM and the players and the position coaches are all on the same page. They're the oldest team in NFL history who still resides in their original town, and their ownership's legal documents stipulate that the proceeds of the sale of the franchise would go to a specific charity, so it will never be in anyone's best interest to want to send the team anywhere else in the country. The Green Bay Packers have always been and will always be in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Right there with the spirit of Vince Lombardi and Ray Nitschke and Paul Hornung and Reggie White and Bart Starr and Brett Favre. Talk about history. Wow. That spirit is real too. I felt it when I first stepped foot into the atrium of Lambeau Field and it brought me to tears. There is a presence that resides in Green Bay and in Lambeau Field that will make any unbeliever think that maybe there really are football gods. But despite this rich history and unity of past, present, and future, the games still have to be played. And sometimes, like last night at a bitter cold (-25 to -35 wind chills) January playoff game in Lambeau Field, even with Brett Favre, the football gods allow fate to take its course. Who knows why the Giants had to win that game. Surely it wasn't a cruel joke from Vince Lombardi who once coached with Tom Landry in New York! HA! No, but there is a place and a purpose for last night's loss that is just as much a part of Packers history now as all 12 of their Super Bowl and pre-NFL-merger championship wins. And that is why I can proudly hold my head up high and voice that even though I do not live in Green Bay, Wisconsin, my heart is with the Green Bay Packers. And I am proud to show my colors even the day after a devastating NFC Championship loss to a team who almost didn't make the wildcard round. If this year is for the Giants or Patriots, then so be it. Because my Green Bay Packers are not going anywhere. As cliche as that sounds, the Packers will remain at Lambeau Field and continue to be the example of a true NFL team and will be ready for next year with or without Brett Favre. Aaron Rodgers proved against the Cowboys he is a capable quarterback. However, I don't think Favre can walk away just yet. He'll be back to claim next year's Super Bowl title with the rest of his team, his coaches, his GM, his owners (who happen to be the community of Green Bay, Wisconsin), and his unwavering fans, who all make up one cohesive unit. The fans will still line up next year for the opportunity to sweep snow off of the seats and field before their games. The streets of Green Bay will be completely bare during all of the home games. Fans from all over the country will travel to Green Bay every single home game to experience the incredible feeling of being at Lambeau Field and truly feeling the unbelievable presence of history and tradition.

However, despite my unwavering support, it will take time to heal from this devastating loss. But I have to admit...Caleb made a little headway in that department late last night. I was tucking him in to bed and telling him about the game. He's too young to understand, but he will learn about this game when he is older and I want to be able to tell him that I told him all about it that night. I was amazed at how captivated he was. He listened to me with an unusual amount of sincerity, as he normally will laugh or do something silly to make me laugh. I think he sensed the weight of the conversation. He did say Brett Favre and football a few times, but he took me seriously. It was funny. When I speculated with him over Brett Favre's return next year, he said "Brett Favre no home". Impressed with his statement, I asked "Will Brett Favre go home next year or will he win the Super Bowl?" Know what his response was? "Brett Favre. Super Bowl." I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

I think we'll have to make another trip up to Green Bay next fall.

Which Candidate Should You Vote For?

Check this out. You can take a short survey on key issues and it will tell you which presidential candidates most closely match your views.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/ongoing/select_a_candidate/president.shtml

Go Long

Since my early college days, I have tried to live by the motto, "Whatever It Takes". Whenever you face a challenge of any kind, you examine where you are today, where you need to be to reach your goal, and then you do whatever it takes to make it happen. I relied on this A LOT through my bachelor's and master's degree. Today, I think I discovered a new motto, if you will. "Go long". I'm sure it's because of the versatile connotations it has, namely in football and in running. My childhood and teenage dream was to be a quarterback and I love the deep ball. And now as a distance runner, I love to "go long". I'll try this out in life and see how it works. Endure...persevere...no shortcuts...think big...go long.

Rewind a few months back to last August. You would have heard me saying ridiculous things like "The Packers' defense will be one of the best in the league, and will be a huge surprise to everyone." "If Favre returns, the Packers will make the playoffs, possibly even the NFC Championship." Not so ridiculous now, huh! The Packer defense is playing at a superb level and the Packers are playing the Football Giants this weekend in the NFC CHampionship, led by the NFL's toughest man, Brett Favre! Not only are they in the big NFC game, I think they should be able to handle the Giants and earn a trip to the Super Bowl where they will bring an end to New England's perfect season. I know, people in the know will roll their eyes. Oh Kirk, you're just a hard-core, biased Packer fan. Yes, that is true. But don't write me off...or the Packers. The Packers' defense will slow them down enough for Favre, Grant, Jennings, and Driver to hang enough points on the board to beat the pretty-boy girly-man Tom Brady...as long as they can continuously bring pressure to Brady. Brady will get mad and start forcing the ball. He'll slip a few by you and score some TDs, but I'm telling you...do not count out the Packers. This is gonna be fun...

My Achy Breaky Foot

Here we are, exactly one month from the marathon, and I've been out of commission ever since. My foot still has this nagging case of tendinitis, forcing me to sit on the sideline against my will. Surprisingly it hasn't been as bad mentally as my injury last summer. I'm DYING to start running again but the withdrawal has been much more manageable this time. I guess because I reached my goal and I'm no longer pressed for time to train for my first marathon. I have gained 7 pounds though. I'm starting to get a little antsy too. There's a lot of exciting runs coming up, and I need to be out there training for them. Since I won't be running the full marathon at Cowtown in late February, hopefully I can help my friend train for his first half-marathon and run it with him. If not, I'd like to go up to Lake Texoma that weekend for a half-marathon trail run on a course that has a reputation for being very difficult. I'm halfway considering joining up with "Team In Training" to help raise money for Leukemia and earn an all-expense paid trip to Alaska where I would run a marathon with my team members and running coach. I'd have to raise $4400 which seems like a lot. The marathon is in June, so I'd have 6 months to do it, but I'm not real comfortable asking people for money. Especially since I just did last month. Another ambitious run is the Pike's Peak marathon in August that I would LOVE to do! You run up a trail to the summit and then back down. The difficulty of that challenge really wets my appetite! Anyway, there are plenty of local runs to train for, but these 3 are sort of the "big dogs" I'm thinking about. They may not be feasible logistically or financially this year, but maybe 2009.

I got a GPS watch for Christmas from Jennifer. It is awesome...except for the fact that I haven't even really been able to use it. It will allow me to step out the front door and just run wherever my feet want to take me. I will always know exactly how far I've been and I'll be able to back track if I don't remember how to get back home. It will also give me all kinds of stats like time, pace, calories burned, elevation changes, etc that can be uploaded into a computer program, which makes for a pretty sophisticated training log. Hopefully within the next week or two I can start using it.

We finally bit the bullet and got a new Dell computer. It is so awesome and was a great deal! Initially I selected a base model until I found a coupon code online that allowed me to save $350 if I spent $300 more! So...I beefed up everything a little, entered the coupon code and got a much better computer for the same price as the base model! How cool is that! Some of the highlights of the computer are the 19" widescreen flat panel, Vista Home Premium, upgraded sound card, and stand alone video card with dedicated memory - all of which are very, VERY cool! The coolest thing so far on Vista is the Windows Media Center. It lets you watch Internet TV for free, consisting of all sorts of current news reports and tv shows. It's like TV on demand! Instead of reading news articles or entertainment blurbs, you can watch short video segments! I can see society continuing to become more and more reliant on media and technology...maybe in 75 years we won't even need to learn to read anymore! HA!

With each of the last 3 presidential elections I have become more and more interested. This year I have actually been following the caucus and primary in Iowa and New Hampshire and I'm looking forward to Michigan. It's been interesting to see these candidates and know that one of them will be the next president of the United States. I will be voting republican, but I'm not sure who will receive my vote yet. If I had to guess, I think right now we will probably end up with a democratic president - UGH! I still need to study each candidate's stance on the key issues. I will say this - Hillary Clinton makes my skin crawl. I am not at all against a woman president, so long as it is Condoleeza Rice instead of Hillary Clinton! Too bad she's not running! And that Barack Obama - what an amazingly charismatic speaker! He could be the antichrist that unites everyone together! HA! I can see a lot of fence-walkers, or uninformed republicans deciding to vote for him because he's so likable and sounds so good in his speeches. However, despite not knowing much about his actual stance on key issues, I have to be skeptical because after all...he's a democrat. When he says he will provide a tax cut to the middle class, I'm not THAT gullible. One of two things will happen...he will either classify "middle class" as $20,000/yr income or less...or he will raise everyone else's taxes to offset it. Democrats don't lower taxes. I have heard that his plan to reduce health insurance premiums is supposed to be pretty good, but I'm not sure what his plan is. I'm sure it involves raising taxes though and making the government bigger. If anyone has a good website where I can study the candidates' views, please let me know!

There will be some GREAT football games this weekend! Both Green Bay and Dallas are in the divisional playoffs, so it will be very exciting! I also get to see if my prediction from about 4 weeks ago pans out. Call me crazy, but I think Jacksonville has a GREAT shot at beating New England! If their secondary can play well, their pass rush will knock Tom Brady off his game, making him mad. The Jags will control the game with a successful running attack (remember Baltimore vs New England?) and in the end, I think the Jags just might pull off the upset win! My Super Bowl prediction from 2 weeks ago...Jacksonville vs. Green Bay.

Work sucks. Seriously. Tomorrow is Thursday and I have already put in close to 40 hours this week - about 10 of which was from home. The market finally fell through its support line so we've been repositioning our accounts every day this week. On top of that, the guys from Indata (the software we have been trying to convert to for a year and a half...yes, I know...ridiculous, you're preaching to the choir) are in the office this week wanting to spend most of their time with me. Also, our transfer agent left a few weeks ago (ugly mess) so we are short-staffed and having to pick up her slack. So I've been reviewing resumes, interviewing, checking references, and discussing opinions with my boss all in between helping my trader buy/sell securities and hiding from the Indata guys! HA! All I really want to do is come home, play with the family, run, play with our new computer, run, and dream about what it would be like to enjoy my job!

I didn't make any New Year's resolutions. I just need to heal so I can run again. Sure, I'd also like to be a better husband and father, read more books, eat better, etc etc...but running makes me feel content and I think makes me a better person overall.

One night last week when I was a bachelor, I went to the dollar movie ($1.75 now) and watched Saw 4. I love those movies!! Jenn and I watched the new Die Hard this weekend and it was pretty good. I want to find a cool DVD to watch on our new computer! Any ideas? It has dual optical drives - a DVD-Rom/CDRW and a DVD burner...not that I would burn DVDs or anything. ;)

The last UFC fights were awesome! My man Chuck Liddell won an INCREDIBLE fight against his toughest opponent ever. Also, Matt Hughes lost! He's a cocky dude and I don't like him.

I subscribed to a Quote of the Day service from Runner's World. Here are my two most favorite quotes so far -

"Run when you can. Walk if you have to. Crawl if you must. Just never give up" Dean Karnazes

"If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."

OK, I guess that's enough for this month...