A picture within a picture within a picture

Dawn and I attended the International Fight League card September 9th in Portland. The first half of the card will be featured on Fox Sports Net on Sunday September 24th at Six. The last half of the card will air on Sunday October First on FSN also at Six o'clock. Even though Dawn and I were still trying to figure out our digital camera, she was able to take some very nice pictures. These are some of my favorites. Allan Goes is on the big screen doing and interview with FSN while Devin Cole (in the foreground in the ring and the background on the big screen) is consoled by his Portland Teamates.Cole was domintaing the bout until he was caught in a submission hold and had to tap out.  

The Thrill of victory. Brazilian Ju Jitsu Black belt Alan Goes, Celebrates his comeback victory against Devin Cole. 

The agony of defeat.Devin Cole is still trying to regain his senses after submitting to Allan Goes's choke hold. 

Dan Henderson Is one of the best pound for pound Mixed martial artists in the world. He was in Portland cornering his friend Matt Lindland 

2000 Olympic Greco Roman silver medalist and home town hero Matt "the law" Lindland Was victorious in the main event knocking out Jeremy Horn. Horn has over 75 MMA victories including a victory over UFC Supperstar Chuck Liddle, But on this night he was no match for Lindland. 

Popular Portland Mixed Martial Artist Matt Horwitch Does and interview after a hard fought victory  

The fight of the night was Brad Blackburn(left) vs Chris Wilson(right).  

Would you like a slice of watermellon? Dawn and I drove all over town looking for the perfect pc of wood for this slice. It's also one of the first pictures we took with our new digital camera. 

Portland

Dawn and I had a wonderfull weekend in Portland.
Once we parked our car on friday at the hotel we relied on our feet to explore the city. We visited several museums, stores as well as a market by the Portland Sate Campus.
Saturday night we got in our car and went to the venerable Portland Memorial Colesuem
(The sight of the Blazers 1977 NBA title victory over Philly).We enjoyed an exciting night of mixed martial arts action promoted by the fledgeling International Fight League. We along 5300 other fans in attendance enjoyed 13 exciting bouts.
From these 13 bouts fox sports net will put together two one hour shows. The first is scheduled to air september 24 at six, the second show is scheduled to air october 1stalso at 6:00.Check your local listings as fsn shows are often moved or preempted due to local sports. The shows also appear to be on the same nights as yom kippur and Roshashana. So you may have to set your vcr (whoops that would be innapropriate).
Dawn and I were sitting on the floor level in the sixth row so we may possible appear on camera. Sunday we did some more sightseeing and then headed back to Walla Walla.

Hello!

Sorry I have not been updating my blog.
Dawn and I are both doing very well.
We have been very lucky this month to get visits from both my sister Teri and my brother Mike and my sister in law Debra.
Walla Walla has been very smokey the last few days due to the fires in Columbia county which have consumed 67,000 acres.

A friend saw this on ebay several years ago and thought of me. This is a 1953 issue of boxing life magazine. Not only does it have the cool Marciano/walcott picture on the cover it also has some really good articles about both marciano and Sugar Ray Robinson as well as a recap of the events of 1953, 

The 4th of July at Pioneer Park 1977 

1933-2006
Some People grew up watching captain Kangeroo or
Mister Rogers. I grew up watching Wall Street Week with Louie Rukeyser every Friday at my grandParents house  

I have posted these previously. I figured I would do it again after my Dad's recent posts. The checks signed by Dave are from 1940 the check signed by my grandfather is from 1929, the year my dad was born, I also have a check from 1929 signed by B. Barer. 

George Mason

George Mason was vanquished in the semifinals of the NCAA tourneyment on Saturday. Of course they lost they were not playing against any of my picks. While I love to anlyze and strategize games I have decided that being in pools like this distacts from the fun of just sitting back and watching the games

Fight Fight fight for George Mason and vic-tor-eee!

George Mason better win the NCAA Tournament. On their road to the final four they had the audacity to defeat three of my top picks in the office pool forcing me to be eliminated from the competition.

George Mason is a tremendous story and a fun team to watch. I really hope things go well for them this weekend.

Bracketology, George Mason and the Huckin Fuskies

Darn George Mason, Darn them all to heck!

They are the reason why my boss is two games ahead of me in our NCAA basketball pool. George Mason one of his late round garbage picks
defeated two of my top teams Michigan st and North Carolina. Due to these events I am going to have to root for Conneticut to beat the UW in order for me to have any chance to rally and win the $20 pool.

March Madness

No reality show can match the excitement of the first round of the NCAA tourney.
Unlike pro basketball the college game is one and done. You'll be watching a game go into 2 over times completely exhausting the players and the fans and those watching on TV. Then they will switch to another games where it's a one point game with a minute and a half left the lead has changed hans thirty times in the game and will change hands five more time in the next 90 seconds with each shot being more spectacular then the last. When that game concludes they will switch to a one versus 16 match up where some small college from the middle of nowhere has a five point lead in the second half over the invincible #1 team in the country. Even though your worn out from the excitement of the previous games you become completely rivited.

This year the guys at work decided to organize a march madness pool. I pride myself on my sports sports knowledge. Unfortunately this year I watched virtually
no colege basketball in the regular season. I have watched sports center and I bought into the hype that the big east was the best conference so I stocked up on big east teams. The first day of the tourney this strategery looked disasterous as the big east lost it's first three games. On the positive side I was able to pick three #1 seeds as everyone was busy picking their favorite teams(gonzaga/wash). After the second day of action I am 1 game off the lead in a second place tie. Things are really going to have to break my way in order for me to win the pool.

It' really is a great time to be a sports fan with both the mens and womens tourney in full swing. The Pros getting ready for the playoffs. Even the world baseball clasic is fun to watch even though we (the u.s.) have been beaten in international play once again in one of the sports we created

March 06

It's almost 9:00 as I am sitting here typing. Sportscenter is on my T.V.(highlights of FSU upsetting #1 Duke) abd Dawn is sleeping on my couch.


Six years ago my dad sold the house I grew up in and I really had no emotion about it.A little over a week ago we finished cleaning my grandfathers house. During my grade school years I spent allmost every friday night at that house. AS I walked through the empty house the memories came flooding back. Life was just so darn simple back then and incredibly fun.

My weekend

Dawn and I are big fans of the dog whisperer TV show. On friday we got to see my cousin Burl appear on the show. Burl's dog Isis and his girlfriend's dog Tina were
not getting along. So Ceasar MIlan the dog whisperer was brought in to help the two dogs coexist. Ceasar seemed to have success as he had both dog's were walking on the same leash within minutes. Burl was quite entertaining and he got his books plugged.
Besides Burl's segment they had a segment on a dog that ate evrything in the house and almost died from an ubstruction after eating a large chunk of carpet. Ceasar prescribes more exercise and the dogs behavior noticebly imoroved. The final segment featured dogs that had survived hurricane Katrina. Ceasar took three refugee dogs into his pack. It was interesting to see how they fit in with the other dogs. All in all in was a very good episode of the show.

Dawn and I went to the Animal clinic on Saturday and took home Tag the min pin for the weekend. Tag's owner has been in the hospital for a month so Tag has been bording at the clinic. We decided to spring him for a couple of days. It was quite and adventure for him as he got to hang out at both my place and Dawn's. Which are both nicer then a dog run. While Tag was at Dawn's he encountered Puff the cat. Puff spent the better part of two day stalking Tag. Puff even got so bold as to pounce on Tag a couple of times. By the time the super bowl arrived on Sunday the tide had turned.Puff cornered Tag and the min pin chased Puff out of the room. Dawn then ran up the stairs got Puff and had Puff and Tag sit on either side of her and the to animals looked like Yasir Arafat and Ben Netanyau when Clinton made them come to the white house for cease fire talks.

In February 50 Years Ago

February 26th 1956 my Mom and Dad, Alan and Jean Barer got married. Here they are with my grandparents Israel and Esther Barer, Ed and Marie Granek and great grandmother Gussie Granek and great grandmother Ricy Barer 

My mom and dads wedding party. I recognize cousin Jan, Jean Lillie, Uncle Arny, cousin Stan, Dave Slotnick, and Andy Epstein  

Kind of amazing

I was just looking a the pictures of Grandfather at Thanksgiving with Dawn's neices Kristen and Calen. Grandfather always enjoyed being around kids and kids always enjoyed grandfather. We would occasionally take Dawn's neices over to visit grandfather and a great time was had by both grandfather and the kids.

It made me think of the fact that during the course of grandfathers 99 year life he undoubtedly interacted with people who were born in the first half of the 1800's and he also touched the lives of two girls who will live well into the 21st century and possibly into the 22nd. It's kind of mind boggling when you think about it.

The Endless Pool

I keep seeing these comercials for the endless pool. They are kind of an aquatic treadmill. I don't know if it's the voice over or the bad music the goofy kid in the goggles or the people swimming in place, but every time I see this comercial I feel like I am having a bad dream or I am stuck in an episode of the twilight zone.

Dog Whispering

Dawn and I got the opportunity to work on our first dog whispering case today. We met Jackie the Jack Russel terrior. Jackie has issues with pulling on the leash as well as not liking strangers in the house. Dawn and I along with Jackie and her owner Steve worked on techniques to improve Jackies behavior during walks.
Then we went back to the house and worked on having her sit while we took turns ringing the door bell and entering the house. I think we all made some progress.
We will check back with Jackie in two weeks to see how she is doing.

coincidentaly my cousin Burl will be appearing on the TV show the Dog Whisperer with Ceasar Milan Friday Febuary the 3rd at eight o'clock on the National Geographic channel.

Blogging Barers

If you are looking for blogs that have MORE Walla Walla related content. Please visit my brother Mike's blog. Michael is always adding interesting Walla Walla related trivia and facts.

I would also encourage people to visit my dad's blog abarer.blogspot.com/. My dad is gifted story teller who has a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge regarding the history of our little corner of the world

Pride Fighting Championships

Dawn and I watched the Pride Fighting Championship sunday night.

These fights took place at the saitama super arena in Saitama Japan on new years eve in front of a capacity crowd of 49,000.

For fans who are interested in blood and guts and brutal knockout this was probably not a good card. For fans like me who enjoy watching amazing atheletes with tremendous skills compete against one another this was a very entertaining show.

Fedor vs zuluzinho: Fedor Emelianeko is the Pride heavyweight champion and I think of him as the Michael Jordan of Mixed Martial Arts because he is head and shoulders aboce everyone else. This guy has gone toe to toe with some of the best kickboxers in the world and he's rolled with some of the best graplers in the world and no one has come close to beating this guy. Tonight Fedor is getting a late christmas/ hanukkah present in the form of Brazilian giant Zuluzinho. For 99.9% of the population stepping in to the ring with Zulinho would be their worst nightmare. this guy is 6'7 370lbs. Unfortunatly for zuluzinho he is screwed any direction he goes here as he does not have the skills to kick box with fedor and if the fight goes to the ground Fedor would likely make zuluzinho cry uncle very quickly. Sure enough 15 seconds into this fight Fedor floors the giant Zulinho with a left and continues to pummel him until the ref jumps in and mercifully stops the fight at the 26 second mark.

Yoshida vs Ogawa: This was the second fight shown on the u.s. ppv. In Japan it was the main event that drew the capacity crowd. Yoshida is a 1992 Olimpic Judo gold medalist. Ogawa was a Judo prodigy who was the all Japan Judo champion several occasions. Ogawa retired from Judo and got envolved in japaneese pro wrestling where he became the Hulk Hogan of Pro wrestling in Japan. Over the years when the price has been right ogawa has appeared in legit fights. This is one of those occasions. This fight was an interesting contrast as Yoshida was the technicaly superior grappler but ogawa was considerably larger. The ironic thing about this bout was that for six minutes these to grappled for the dominant/top position and at the six minute mark the larger ogawa muscled his way into the desired top position. then he made a mistake, he posted(extented) his arm for balance. Yoshida took advantage of Ogawa's error and passed his leg over ogawa head and trapped the extented arm in a arm lock. Initially it looked like ogawa would escape but Yoshida the olimpic gold medalist persisted as he rolled though and completed the arm bar leaving Ogawa with no choice but to tap out(say uncle).

Takanori Gomi vs "Mach" Sakurai: This bout is for the inaugural 160lb title. Sakurai
was a big star in the early part of this decade but he has seen his career stall the last few years until he had a successful run last fall in the 160lb tournament.
Takanori Gomi is one of my favorite fighters this guy has a tremendous presence/ charisma that shines through even though he does not speak a word of English. Gomi also represents the new generation of fighters who can do it all weather it's a grappling match or kickboxing. This bout started with a couple of spirited exchanges on the feet. Then sakurai went for a take down. Unfortunately for sakurai, gomi reverse it and ended up taking sakurai's back. Gomi went for a choke hold which Sakurai did a good job of defending. In the process gomi manage to get some good punches in. Eventually Sakurai was able to scramble up to his feet, but he was on rubbery legs and Gomi Poured it on throwing and combanation of punches that sent saurai down and caused the ref to jump in and stop the bout. Taknori Gomi becomes the first pride 160lb champion.


The last three fight on this card went to decisions.

American Dan Henderson won the inaugural Pride 183 pound title with a narrow split decision victory over Brazilian Maurilio Bustamante.

Austrailian Mark Hunt a frormer k-1 world Kick boxing champion defeated pride golden boy "the croation sensation" Mirco "cro cop" Filipovic by decision.

Vanderlei Silva who has held the pride 205lb title for five years reatined his title by controversial split decision over fellow brazilian Ricardo Arona.

USC VS TEXAS

Next Wednesday the USC Trojans play the Texas Longhorns for the "national championship". These are the two best teams in college football. It's darn near imposible to pick this games beacuase both teams have been sleep walking through the season.ESPN has had a series during sportcenter for the last two weeks where
they have compared sc to the great teams of all time. Mark May had sc beating all of the top teams with the exception of the 95 nebraska cornhuskers. Kirk Herbsteit had the trojans beating everyone except the 2001 Miami Huricanes. This could be a bad omen for the trojans. Usc has the best offense I have ever seen in college football
The defense is very talented and athletics but is inexperienced and has been cursed by injuries. The key to this game is weather USC defense rises to the challenge.

Sunday fight night

The Japanese mixed martial arts oraganization the pride fighting championships Will have their big new years show on ppv on sunday evening. The bouts actually take place early saturday morning are time. So I will have to avoid the online spoilers for a bout 36 hours. Here are my picks.

fedor over Zulinho
Arona Over V Silva
Henderson over Bustamante
Gomi over Sakurai
Yoshida over Ogawa
Filipovic over Hunt
Alexander E over Nastula
Thompson over G silva
Sakuraba over Minowa

Truculent

Howard Cosell: "Muhammad you sound quite truculent"

Ali: "I don't I know what that means, but if it's good I'm that"

Truculent: adj. 1.Fierce; Cruel; Savage: Ferocious 2. Rude, Harsh
Mean, Scathing.

Dag nab it!

I make the daily bank deposit for our store . AS the girl was processing todays deposit I asked if she has a nice holiday weekend (as all of you know I just love small talk).The Teller was a jovahs witness and responded by saying she had a nice day off but that she doesn't celebrate the holidays. Embarassed I apologized profusely as I have been on the other end of this conversation before. she was very nice about but it still upset me. I will never do that again,

Holiday shenanigans, Kobe Shaq and Hawk Talk with cameos by Don Merideth and Howard Cosell and a couple of gratuitous Snuka and Flair references

Saturday I drove to weston to pick up grandfathers girl friend Minnnie. I then brought her to town so that she could have lunch with Dawn, grandfather and myself.
It all went very well.

Dawn, and I went to the Davis residence in the evening to help with the preperations for the christmas/hanukah dinner. I peeled potatoes while Dawn helped with the stufffing.

The tradition in Dawn's house hold is to watch a christmas story during the holiday weekend (TBS shows the movie continuously for 24 hours). While I think that the movie is kind of cute. If I was fourced to watch or listen to the movie any further I would have gone completely nuts, If I haven't already.

The Miami Heat played the LA Lakers on christmas day. And shaq and Kobe did not french kiss before the game. I wonder if the reporter feel as dumb as they sound when they repeetedly ask shaq and Kobe why they don't shake hande before the game.THEY DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER AND RATHER THEN PRETEND OTHERWISE THEY JUST GO ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS AND PLAY THE GAME. Nothing irritates me more then when the stories surounding the game become more important then the game itself. In 2004 the Pistons played a wonderfull series and dismantled the lakers and all the media seemd to want to talk about was where shaq, kobe and phil would be the following season as if the soap opera was ten times more important then the championship that was being decided on the court.

The road to the Superbowl goes though Seattle. Not since Jack Sikma lonnie Gus and DJ and jj(oh and how could I forget can forget downtown Freddie Brown) have the hopes of a Seattle championship been so high(i am a big fan of womens sports, but the storm winning the the WNBA title is not the same)(The mariners set the record for victories in a season, but even Steveie wonder could see that they didn't match up well in a seven game series with the other top american league teams ) . Can the monsters of the monorail be any match for the monsters of the midway. Will former Huskie great Mark Brunell derail the hawks. What about the Carolina Panthers Whooooooo!( you could make a drinking game based on pro wrestling references on this blog). Then their are the giants those guys that lost in overtime in Seattle a couple of weeks back. Grandfather told me sunday that Bears Quarterback Rex GRossman is Jewish. Does this mean I should root for the bears after all how many sports heroes and can jewish kids claim. Alright I am kidding.
GO SEAHAWKS!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, or I mean Dawns house. We were supposed to get christmas presents wrapped but it didn't happen. Dawn fell asleep And I went home.
At midnight I came back, Dawn was still asleep and the presents were not wrapped and they were due to be unwraped in about 5 hours. Once again I almost had to do the superfly leap(See my article titled if it's wednesday) to wake up Dawn.
finnaly she woke up and we wrapped stuff. I fell asleep on the couch and the next thing I new I woke up and Dawn's family along with her ex husband were unwrapping presents. I received a sports illustrated year end alamanac, some cologne a reversible throw and a set of cups with cool looking dogs on them. I gave Dawn a pair of earrings.

Latter I was off to pick up grandfather as we were to go over to the davis house for christmas/hanukah dinner.Dawn's mother Darlene is a awesome cook and her skills were on display on sunday, we all had a terific dinner.

AS I started writing this entry the final ABC monday night football telecast was just ending. ABC Monday night football has been around as long as I can remember.
It was funny I was sifting though my monday night memories and Howard cosell
popped into my head "you can start singing dandy don" (I am using my howard voice as I am typing this. A split secong after Howard popped in my head Don meridith 2006 was on my TV screen singing the song( I had forgotten he was still alive). Anyhow
TURN OUT THE LIGHTS THE PARTIES OVER!

HAVE A HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HANUKKAH!

The Hanukkah Song
By Adam Sandler


Put on your yalmulka here comes hanukkah
It's so much funakkah to celebrate hanukkah

Hanukah is the festival of lights,
Instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights

when you feel like the only kid in town without a christmas tree
here is a list of people who are jewish, just like you and me.

David Lee Roth lights the menorah
So do james Cann, Kirk douglas, and the late Dinah Shore-ah

Guess whoe eats together at the karnickey deli
Bowser from sha na na and aurthur fonzerelli.

Paul Newmans half jewish: goldie Hawns half to,
Put them together-- what a fine looking jew

You don't need deck the halls or jingle bell rock
cause you can spin the dreidl with captain Kirk and Mr. Spock-- both Jewish

Put on your yalmulka, It's time for hanukkah
the owner of the Seattle Supersonic-ahs celebrates hanukkah

O J Simpson---- not a jew!
But guess who is... Hall of famer Rod Carew(he converted)

We got ann landers and her sister dear abby
Harrison ford is a quarter jewish not to shabby!

Some people think that Eboneezer scrooge is.
well hes not, but guess who is: all three stooges

So many jews are in the show biz
Tom Cruise isn't, but I herd his agent is

Tell your freind Veronica, it's time to celebrate hanukkah
I hope I get a harmonica, on this lovely lovely hanukkah

So drink your gin a tonic-ah, and smoke your marajuanic-ah [editors note: Walla Walla Barer does not advocate the use of marajuanicah during hanukkah or any other time of the year]
If you really really wanna-kah, have a happy, happy, happy, happy hanukkah.

If It's Wednesday it's er Wake up honey

I rushed over to the animal clinic after work last night. Dawn and I then went over to visit grandfather. On the way home i picked up a salad at safeway and ate it over at Dawn's. then I went home promising to return in time for project runway. At 10:00
I returned. Dawn was sound asleep.Me: "honey wake up the show is on" Dawn "mumble"
"honey the show is on" Dawn " ". Then I went to plan b and started gently shaking her Dawn: "I'll wake up in a minute". A minute went by and she was still not up. I shook her more vigrously Dawn: "love..knock it off ". at this point i was flumoxed
then i asked myself what would Jimmy Snuka do.Then it occured to me, the superfly leap. The famous move Jimmy Snuka did in 1983 in madison square garden against Don Muraco. I know you're asking yourself, what did this move consitst of. Well, No one has described it better then Mick Foley did in his book HAVE A NICE DAY! "A TALE OF BLOOD AND SWEATSOCKS". Take it away Mick

"Immediately, Snuka climbed to the top rope, and the garden stood in unison"
"All it took was one glance upward, at the steel mesh that surounded him, and the garden started to buzz. A loud buzz that grew with each upward step that Snuka made.
After all these years it's still the most impressive site I have ever seen-the muscular Snuka standing bare foot on top the cage, his face a mask of crimson, while flashbulbs bathed him in light. In a moment it was over, but the memories will live with me forever. It was a defining moment in my life-it was then I knew without a doubt what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a wrestler, but even more, I wanted to make people feel the way I had just felt."

So as I stood on top of the dresser in Dawn's room ready to do the superfly leap several things occured to me.
1. I am not Jimmy Snuka
2. Dawn is not the magnificiant Muraco.
3. Unlike Mick Foley I never realy wanted to be a pro wrestler.Although I really did
enjoy pretending to be one when I was nine years old, but darn it I am in my
mid thirties now.
4. I don't think Dawn would aprreciate it much.

So I finally decide to get off the cag... I mean dresser.
OK back to reality, or at least reality TV that is.
Project Runway:

I was not terribly inspired by this show. So darn it all to heck I am not going to review it.

99!

Grandfather turns 99 tommorow.
Tonight we took him out to celebrate.
Dawn and I along with minnie and my cousin
and her husband were in attendance. WE went to the oasis in Milton Freewater.
Grandfather was very happy to see minnie. And a good time was had by all.

If It's Wednesday it's Project Runway

Project Runway is A reality show on Bravo that Dawn watches. Season two of Project Runway started last week and they just had episode three on last night. I know absolutely nothing about fashion, but I am enjoying this show. IN fact next week
I think I will start a Project Runway reveiw on this blog.

AIR! We Love Air!

Last week a law went into effect in Washington prohibiting people from smoking bars.
Dawn and I went to the Stone Hut tavern on Tuesday and I really appreciated being able to enjoy a beverage and watch a game on the big screen without having to inhale smoke from the next table. Even better we didn't smell like ash trays when we got home.

Dawn and I took Dawn's neices Kristen and Calin to see Narnia. The girls really liked it.The adults thought it was visually impressive and very long.  

The Puff Monster

I taut I tah a putty tat. I did I did tah A putty tat.Dawn's cat "Puff Monster" enjoys some fresh air on a cold winter day.  

A friday trip to the Thee-A-Tore and a Saturday wine tour

Rosencrants and Gildenstern.

this is not a law firm
an accounting firm
or the first openly gay jewish tag team(not that there would be anything wrong with that).

this is the play Dawn and I attended at the little theater on friday night.
we enjoyed it although it seemed to drag at certain points.

Saturtday I drug my lazy tuchuus out of bed and went to visit grandfather.WE shoped at super 1 and the used food store. Then We watched the start of the Army VS Navy game. At noon we went to lunch and enjoyed the wonderfull cuisine along with grandfathers friends Tom and Leonard.

After lunch I had to rush home and change because Dawn, Darlene(Dawn's mom)and I were going wine tasting. Saturday was the big Day where most of walla walla 50+
wineries have open houses. We fist visited Amavi cellars then walker across the street to Canoe ridge. Then we got on the highway and drove out to Three rivers
and Le cole. We enjoyed the wine an ate lots of good horse divers.

grandfather stylin and profiling/ doin mighty fine a month away from 99

Here's Grandfather enjoying the Thanksgiving festivities at the home of Don and Darleene Davis(Dawn's parents)  

Heres Dawn Marie at the 2005 Davis Thanks Giving dinner. 

Luuuuuucy!/ GET OUT! (shove)

My beautiful Dawn Marie is sleeping on my couch. Mere minutes ago we were perusing mike's blog. Dawn wanted to leave a comment. AS i was kidding her about her typing skills she said "hold it, wait a minute, LET ME FIND MY HOME ROW!". Something about the way she said that made me laugh so hard I almost couldn't breathe.

Yesterday I walked into her house and I thought I was going to have to call a haz mat team. my lungs were burning my eyes were watering. she had cooked some steak and covered them in habenjero pepper. their is NEVER a dull moment with her.
sometimes It's as if I am dating a combination of Lucile Ball and Elaine from Seinfeld. Yet that description really doesn't due her justice as she is a unique and special person that defies description.

No matter how crummy a day I am having it always gets better when I spend time with her.

Random stuff

Dawn and I watched the fights(ufc ppv) Saturday night. I am now a perfect 6-0 picking fights on this blog. I realize no one reading this understands the significance of that, needless to say if I were in Las Vegas and a betting guy I would have made more money in two nights then I make in a month(don't worry I wont be be running to las vegas and betting my pay check). Although it would be nice if I could put my knowlegde to work somehow. this reminds me about my frustration at work
all my sports knowledge is worthless as it seems that all anyone wants to talk about is NASCAR. NASCAR is one of the few sports that I don't give at rats tuchuus about. It's the same boring stuff no one watched 20 years ago yet some how all of a sudden
it's all anybody(at least anyone who walks into Oxarc talks about). Every sponsorship tie in I have seen regarding welding companies has been race car related with NASCAR being the most common.Half of frigin espn sports center lately seems to be dedicated to Nascar these day. Arggggggh!!!!

Anywho the fight were not as good as I had hoped. The live special on spike TV was considerably better then the ppv. The fighters on the special may not have been as talented but the match ups were far more entertaining. kinda like the huskey cougar game was far more entertaining then the Seahawk 49er's game.

Pro wrestler Eddie Gurrero passed away last week. Mr. Gurrero was one of the very few modern day pro wrestlers that I actually enjoyed watching (if I were flipping the channels I would stop if Eddie was performing). Anyone who payed money to watch mr. Gurerro perform got their moneys worth as he seemed to be giving 100 % anytime I watched him (unlike a certain bald reality show star who spent most of his career mailing in his in ring performances). To many young fans Gurerro was their Jimmy snuka. Eddie Gurerro death is tragic and any sports reporter or columnist who makes lite of it is a $#&*#$%!

I went by grandfathers tonight we watched monday night football until halftiime. He is in good spirits except that his legs are bothering him.

I found it ironic that I read about my brother Danny's fluffy sienfeld shirt and lo and behold I turn on the TV and that particular episode is on.

Goodnight.

The Apple Cup and UFC 56

I went over to grandfathers today and had lunch. Then we watched the Apple Cup. Both the Huskies and the Cougars are far better teams then their records indicate. Congrats to my Cougars. I think Mr. Willingham has the Huskey program headed in the right direction. I think next season will be much kinder to both teams.

Dawn and I are watching the UFC pay per view at 7:00. Hopefully Dawn can stay awake this time. Two weeks ago she slept through the entire spike TV special. Of course that the same day Dawn's ex got maried and we had our vodka and boo koo shenanigans.
Anywhoo here are my UFC Quick picks.

George St. Piere over Sean Sherk (2nd rnd ko)
Mat Hughes over Joe Riggs (2nd round arm bar)
Rich Franklin over Nate Quarry (unanimous dec)

Locked on Sports

My brother Michael has a link on his blog to david locke's blog locked on sport. Mr. Locke's simulblogs are good and his inside the box score entries are very good. If you are a basketball fan i suggest you check it out.

Les schwab k mart and the used food store

I went over to grandfathers yesterday. WE Watched football for a couple of hours. then we ate lunch. Grandfather wanted to get his winter tires on so we went to sears to get the tire changed.
when we arrived we found out that sears automotive dept in ww is closed permanently. So then we went to the used food store. grandfather wasn't looking for food he was looking for a new winter jacket(the store sometime stocks inexpensive coats). They had none in stock. Then we went to bi-mart they didn't have much of a coat selection either. OUR next stop was les shwab where we got the tires changed. Then we went over to K Mart and grandfather got a new winter Jacket. He seemed happy with the days excursion.

Frank Bonnema

Anyone who reads this blog knows I have very fond memories of the old Portland Big Time wrestling show. When I was between the ages of 5-10 I would stay at my grandparent house on friday night and I wouldn't leave until tell Saturday evening. My grandfather and I watched Portland wrestling together every saturday afternoon.I suppose I would have had fond memories no matter what wrestling program I had watched with grandfather, but Portland wrestling wasn't just any wrestling program. During the period that we watched the show the northwest had an amazing array of talent. Pro wrestling icons like Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper, and Jesse Ventura hit their stride as performers during their time in the northwest . When I first got on the internet I started looking for old Portland wrestling tapes.I seemed to find tapes from every rinky dink promotion from around the country but nothing from Portland from the time period I was interested in. The reason for this was that Portland promoter Don Owens recorded over the master copies every week. Could you have imagine if Lorne Michaels and NBC recorded over the master copies of Saturday night live during it's early years and all that Belushi, Akroyd, Murray stuff were lost for ever. Any way Don Owens kids can't be to happy because those old tapes would have been worth a fortune. Last year I finally found some tapes from the late 77 to early 80 time period. The quality of these tapes leaves alot to be desired. I still really enjoyed watching them. My first thought was how nice it was to hear announcer Frank Bonnema's voice again (when the audio acually would work). Bonnema hosted the show from 1967 until his death in 1982. Bonnema had a classic deep raspy voice that added to the drama of the action. The show was never the same after he was gone.

Diego Sanchez prevailed in the main event on Saturdays TUF 2 season finale on Spike TV 

My Tuf 2 Season Finale Review

The Saturday November 5th season finale of the ultimate fighter on Spike TV was a tremendous show.

All three predictions I posted on Friday were correct.
However I did not expect this card to be anywhere near as good as it
was.

Kenny Florian vs Kit Cop
I didn't make a prediction for this fight because I had not seen Cope. Cope
is an accomplished muay thai kick boxer. Florian is a submission grappling wizard.
Florian has shown a willingness to stand and trade in previous fights. That was not in his best interest in this fight as he was definently outclassed while standing. Florian wasted no time closing the distance and forcing a clinch. Florian was trying for a take down but cope was defending well. Florian persisted and eventually got the take down. Cope was able to hold and stall for a while. Then florian got free improved his position and applied an arm bar. Cope tapped out but the bell sounded a split second before the tap.
Florian did not waste any time in the second round taking Cope down and securing back control
he then worked for and attained a rear choke hold forcing Cope to submit early in the second round.

Joe Stephenson vs Luke Cumo
There was a funny moment after ref John Mcarthy finished with the pre fight instructions. Stephenson looked at Cumo and said "LUKE I AM YOUR FATHER". I got the feeling Joe was expecting to have an easy night. When I think of Luke Cumo it reminds me of the scene from the first Rocky movie where Apollo's going over all his personal appearances with his staff while his trainer is watching a news report on Rocky "champ you might wanta take a look at the guy you're gona be fighting.. he means business" and Apollo blows him off and says" I mean business too" as he continues to talk about the Non fight related topics with his staff . While Rocky Baboa was a fictional character you do sometimes see examples of athletes who seem to overacheive
in a almost unbelivable fashion. Luke cumo is one of those guys. Cumo was portrayed on the reality show as a unathletic nerd who was the last of 18 fighters picked when teams were chosen. Luke (using some stiff muay thai kickboxing and solid defense on the ground)willed himself through two very tough fights on the reality show. Despite Lukes success on the show It was expected that Jow Stephenson would easily outclass Cumo. While Stephenson quickly took luke down he could not break the will of the stubborn cumo who demonstated very nice defensive ju jitsu. Throughout the first two five minute rounds stephenson spent alot of time in the top position unloading hard punches and elbows on cumo while at the same time constantly trying to improve his position and finish the fight with submission locks. Cumo showed tremendous heart, toughness, conditioning, and some nice technique as he was constanly blocking and slipping strikes at the same time avoiding and escaping numerous submssion attempts continually working his way out of bad positions. Cumo was even able to scramble up to his feet on a couple of occasions which is almost unheard of against a grappler of stephensons caliber. Cumo had expended a tremendous amount of energy staying in the fight yet at the begining of third round he looked to be the fresher fighter. Sure enough as stephenson went for a take down early in the third round Cumo stuffed the attempt and put stephenson on his back. At this point the crowd was going nuts as the underdog had the highly decorated grapler on his back. Cumo went to town throwing everything but the kitchen sink at an exhausted stephenson. To stephensens credit he absorbed the punishment got a second wind and finished out the round in the top position.
Joe Stephenson went on to win a unanimous decision as well as the three year the six figure UFC contract that went along with winning the 170 lb weight division on the reality show. while Luke Cumo lost a tough fight he was able to captured the hearts and imaginations of the fans.

Rashad Evans VS Brad Imes
This was the heavyweight final for the reality show. Nice visual as they are both getting instruction from the referee you get a sense of the size difference between the two. Imes is 6'7"
260 while Rashad is 5'10" 220. This fight could have been considered either a sloppy kick boxing match or a stand up war. Even though these two didn't have the greatest striking ability in the world I really enjoyed this bout. My prediction for the final outcome for this fight was correct but this fight was way better then I expected. I thought Rashad a former all confrence wrestler at Michigan st would take the taller Imes (a former offensive lineman at the university of Missouri) down to the ground and just do enough to win.I was very wrong. Their was very little in the way of grappling or take down attempts in this fight. At times Imes was able to use his sizeable reach advantage to land stiff jabs and right hands other times rashad was able to use his supperior quickness and handspeed to land explosive left right combinations.
(I find as I get older I am more appreciative of a good game/ bout/match and less of a rah rah fan). A Great game or match occurs when two teams or individuals have styles that match up well and truly want to win and in the prosess the two sides bring out the best in each other. On this evening Brad Imes and Rashad Evans pushed each other to limits of their skills and endurance. Both of these guys at different time in the bout looked like they were moments away from being knockout and everytime this happened weather it was Rashad or brad they were able to reach down deep and get themselves back in the fight. In the end Rashad Evans one a narrow split decision winning himself a three year six figure contract with the UFC. Brad Imes lost but their really wasn't a looser in this fight.

Diego Sanchez VS Nick Diaz
Diego Sanchez was the 185lb winner on the first season of the ultimate fighter reality show. After the show he dropped down to the 170 lb division. Nick Diaz is a Mixed martial arts veteran. Despite the fact that Daiz is only 23 he has several impressive victories on his record (more impressive then Sanchez). Due to the fact that Sanchez won the reality show he has a far more lucrative contract then Diaz. This has caused Diaz to be more then a little bit bitter.
Both of thesse guys had something to prove.
This fight featured some truly beautiful submission grappling with all sorts of twists, turns, submision attempts, escapes, sweeps, counter and reversals.
In a way this fight was simmilar to the Cumo Stephensen fight I described earlier but at a much higher skill level. Sanchez was able to use his superior take down skills to put diaz on his back. Once the fight hit the ground Diego through visicious strikes at Diaz and was doing everyting in his power to end the fight. Diaz a slick ju jitsu practitioner skillfully defended himself blocking and slipping punches constantly scrambling to get a better defensive position. On several occasion Diaz was able to use is excelent ju jitsu technique to reverse Sanches and get the top position. Unfortunatly for Diaz he was never able to stay on top for long as diego was always able to grapple his way out from underneath diaz. In the end Sanchez one a very exciting unanimous decision. This figh gave an example of how exciting ground grappling can be.

All in all this was a very exciting nigh of fights and it made for great TV. UFC and Spike TV should be very happy.

Vodka and Boo Koo

Dawn's ex husband Pat got married today.
Dawn not only attended she also did the floral arranegments.
Neither one of us are really drinkers. Today was
a special occasion though. To get us through this joyous
event I stoped by the liquor store and picked up some vodka
then I went to the conveince store and picked up some boo koo energy drink.
Before we entered the chapel we had some very stiff shots. As I recall
it was a very nice ceremony.

Saturday Night UFC Predictions

The TUF 2 season finale will be on Spike TV Saturday at 9:00.
Steve's predictions

Diego Sanches over Nick Diaz
via decision

Rashad Evans over Brad Imes
via decision

Joe Stephenson over Luke Cumo
2nd round via arm bar

I'll have to pass on picking the other fights because I have not seen enough of their bouts to make an informed prediction.

A Wednesday visit to Grandfathers

Dawn and I stopped by grandfathers after work. He was happy to see us and he looked to be in very good spirits. When we arrived he was just finishing dinner. When he was done
we worked on the crossword puzzle. Between the three of us we were able to finish it in a reasonable time. Grandfather then gave us both oranges a couple of cookies before we departed.

top left: Dawn's pumpkin at the end of the week. top right Dawn's pumpkin at the begining of the week when the spider still had straight legs. Bottom: DR. kress's totem pole.  

Dawn Marie remains undefeated undisputed pumpkin carving/ decorating champion!

The Animal Clinic of Walla Walla has a pumpkin carving/ decorating contest every year during the week proceeding halloween. The staff bring in their pumpkins and the clients vote on their favorites during the week. For the sixth straight year Dawn won the competition. Dawn's pumpkin decorated to look like a giant spider was able to hold of a spirited challenge from Dr. Kress and his pumpkin totem pole. Dawn Marie was gracious in victory "Dr Kress has a great pumpkin this year, He likely would have one if he had gotten it in on time". Dr. Kress did not get his pumpkin in tell wednesday giving Dawn a two day head start in votes giving her the cushion she needed to retain her championship.

Steve's Mixed Martial Arts FAQ. Part 1 The UFC

I am a big fan of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

What is MMA: I think of MMA as the decathlon of combat sports. It envolves techniques from Boxing, Kickboxing, Greco Roman Wrestling, Judo, Freestyle Wrestling, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, Russian Sambo and a variety of other martial art including my beloved Karate.

The fighters: These are not just local tough guys who fell off a bar stool. To be successfull in MMA a fighter needs to be skilled at both stand up fighting(boxing/kickboxing) as well as submission grappling. They also have to be tremendous athlete with unbelievable toughness and amazing conditioning.

Why is Steve a fan: What fascinates me about the sport is the variety of techniques that can be used and how one person uses his or her skill set to counteract his opponents

let's say fighter A has a strong background in boxing and frestyle wrestling, fighter B has a strong background in kickboxing and judo.
At the begining of the bout their is usually some stand up action. How will fighter A use his boxing skill to offset fighter B's kickboxing and vice versa. What will happen when they invariably end up in a clinch will the judoka be able to throw or sweep the wrestler to the ground or will the wrestler use his balance to stop the judokas techniques and the employ some sort of wrestling take down. Once the fight hits the ground will the wrestler be able to use his skills to get on top and control the judoka or will the judoka be able to counteract the wrestlers strenghts with judo grappling techniques such as joint locks and chokes.

The main organization in the USA

The Ultimate Fighting Championship(UFC)
owners: Zuffa LLC
Based in: Las Vegas NV

Where do you see the UFC:
The UfC has six Pay Per View shows year on indemand ppv

The UFC also currently has three shows on Spike TV
1. TUF: The Ultimate Fighter reality show (they are currently showing season 2)
2. UFC unleashed: A weekly show that shows classic fights from the UFC archives
3. Ultimate Fight Night: Six live fight specials a year.

The comentators:

Mike Goldberg(no relation to my cousins) is the play by play man. He does a solid job. The WWE recently offered him big money to jump ship and commentate Pro wrestling matches. After some thought Goldberg turned them down.

Joe Rogan is the color comentator. Yes this is the same Joe Rogan of News Radio and Fear Factor fame. Alot of people online don't like Rogan because he gets overly excited at times. I think genuine enthusiasm from a comentator is good. Rogan also does a good job of explaining the intricacies of grappling to the uninitiated.

The champions and top contenders:

Andrei Arvloski:The current heaveyweight champion. Mr. Arvloski is an imposing figure at 6'4 240 lb. He has strong backgrounds in both kickboxing and Sambo(a russian grappling art). He won the title from Tim Sylvia with a big right hand followed by a beautiful ankle lock that forced sylvia to tap out(say uncle). Recently Andrei defended his title with a fifteen second K.O. of top contender Paul Buentello. The key to Andrei's recent success is in his tremendous quickness (along with ample punching power) I don't think Sylvia or Buentello has any concept of how quick Andrei is for his size. He has all the tools to have a very long reign as champion.

Tim Sylvia: The former heavyweight champion. Tim is 6'8 265. He is a big powerfull man who has good technique (he has had excellent coaches). Tim has gotten himself in trouble when he has underestimated his opponents. He got sloppy on the ground with a slick sub fighter in Frank Mir and got caught in a arm bar. Then he fought Andrei (see above). If Tim learns from his mistakes and continues to improve he may be able to regain the title.

Chuck "The Ice Man" Liddel: Liddel is the current 205lb champion and likely the most well known of the UFC fighters. Liddel has a back ground in collegeiate wrestling and pro kickboxing.
Chuck is not the geatest wrestler around but he does have tremendous take down defense .
He is not the greatest technical kickboxer either but he does posses one strike KO power in all four limbs. Liddel uses his strengths very well. Although MMA fighters are becoming incresingly more well rounded, few want to go toe to toe with liddel. Fighters often waste alot of energy trying to take liddel down to the ground and keep him their. By the time guys realize that their take down attempts on liddel are futtile they are usually completely exhusted. At this point liddel's opponents usually wilt under his potent striking power. This leads to a lot of spectacular knockouts.

Randy "The Natural" Couture: Randy Couture is considered an icon in the sport. He is former 2 time UFC heavyweight champion and a 2 time light heavyweight champion(205 division). Couture is a world class Greco Roman Wrestler who has developed solid boxing technique. Three years ago many people had given up on Couture. He had suffered back to back ko loses in the heavyweight division and he was 39 years old. Then he got the chance to fight lidell. At the time liddel had an aura of invinciblity (using the skills I discussed above). No one gave Randy much of a chance. Randy fought a beautiful fight, not wasting any energy trying to take Chuck down instead he used solid boxing technique and repeatedly beat Liddle to the punch. Through much of the fight Liddel stood flat footed waiting for take down attempts that never came, mean while he was loading up trying to land that one big punch or kick(it never landed). As the fight wore on liddle got increasingly frustrated. When liddel was sufficiently hurt and tired Couture closed the distance executed a nifty greco roman throw and finished Chuck Liddel on the ground with strikes.
The rematch almost 2 years later was a completely different story. Lidddel didn't stand flat footed wating for take down attempts and he didn't load up for a one strike ko. Liddel moved latteraly and used a good jab. Liddlel improved technique in the rematch led to Couture charging in off ballanced and being caught with a chopping right hand the ended his evening. Couture and liddle will have their rubber match in february on super bowl sunday weekend.

Rich "Ace" Franklin: (Nicknamed Ace because he looks like a very buff version of Jim Carey) Franklin is the champion in the 185 lb division. He has an undergraduate degree in mathmatics and a masters degree in education. He is a former Cincinnati high school teacher. Rich is a coach on the current season of the ultimate fighter reality show. Franklin represents the new new breed of fighters, these guys are tremendous athletes that are equally comfortable in a stand up fight or a grappling match. Franklin has spent most of his career fighting at the 205 weight limit, but dropped down to 185 this year and won the championship from Evan Tanner. While Franklin seems equally comfortable standing or on the ground he seems to prefer the stand up (much to the promoters delight). Franklin defends his title November 19th against Nate Quarry.

Nate "The Rock" Quarry: Nate Quarry was the most popular fighter on the first season of the ultimate fighter reality show. Nate (who trains in Gresham Oregon) comes across as a genuinely
classy down to earth guy. Quarry like Frankling Is a jack of all trades. He is listed as a Brazilian Ju-jitsu expert(submission grappler) , trains with two world class Greco Roman wrestlers ( Randy Couture and olympic silver medalist Mat Lindland) and has one his last three bouts with his boxing skills. Nate gets his opportunity to fight for the title at 185 lbs on the 19th of November. It should be a very exciting fight.

Matt Hughes: Hughes is the champion in the 170 division. He was an all american wrestler at the university of Iowa. He is also a two time UFC welterweight champion. At the start of his career he was a one dimensional wrestler. This has changed over the last few year. He has improved his striking and has developed an impressive submission grappling repetoir. Hughes can still be dull if he is in with a slick sumission grappler(charuto verrisimo). But if you put Hughes in with some one who takes the fight to him you are almost guaranteed an instant classic. Hughes almost always seem to rise to the challenge often times in spectacular fasion as he showed earlier this year in his match with frank trigg (which has to be seen to be believed).

Joe "The Deisel" Riggs: Riggs started his career as a 280 lb heavyweight and has morphed into a 17o lb welterweight. Riggs is a great athlete a very good wrestler and has tremendous power in his strikes. I have seen Riggs fight twice both times in the 185 division. In one fight he defeated the very talented Joe Doerkeson when he overwelmed him with strikes on the ground in the second round. In the other fight he was manhandeling Ivan Salaverry until he got over exuberant and dove in to throw a punch and caught an up kick in the face then fell into a triangle choke hold that he could not escape from. Riggs surpised many recently when he was able to make the 170 wgt and defeat the very talented Chris Lytle.
The holiday season came early for Riggs as he has been called in as a replacement( judo prodigy Karo Parysian the #1 contender has a severe quadricep injury) to fight for the title on Nov 19th against Matt Hughes. Riggs may not be a better all around fighter then Parysian, but his incredible power and striking prowess are far more dangerous to Hughes then anything Parysian could have thrown at the champ.

The UfC's Ultimate fighter season 2 finale will air Saturday Nov 5th at 9:00 live on Spike TV

Why we root for certain college teams

Washington St: where Mike and I went to school

University of Washington: Dads school as well as both of my uncles

UCLA: Danny school, which happens to be undefeated this season

San Jose St: My moms school

Oklahoma: where my grandmother was born

Alabama: Where my mom was born

Tennesse: the college that produced mike's lovely wife Debra

Syracuse: Grandfathers favorite school

welcome once again to the game that never ends

I got home at about 5:30 last night and they were just throwing out the first pitch of game three of the world series. I really wasn't watching the game. At seven I went over to Dawn's
and the game was on the fourth inning and houston was leading 4-0. An hour later I went over to see grandfather (who, seems to be doing very well ) and we decided to turn on the game.now the game was in the 7th and the white sox led 5-4. We watched the game untill 9:00
when the game went into extra inning. I left did some shopping andwent home and logged onto the computer. I did'nt even check on the game figuring it had to be over. At about 10:45 I stopped by Dawn's (she was still up watching a movie with her daughter) . Just for the heck of it I switched the channel to the game as I joked it might still be on. Much to my amazment is was still in in the 13th inning. The game continued on into the fourteenth inning lasting almost 6 hours.
It reminded me of a tennis match where John Mcenroe played mats willander and when the match started I was in Walla Walla and five hours latter I arrived in Seattle BY car and the match was still going in the fifth set.

SEAHAWKS WIN!?!

This in and of it's self is not news. The hawks when have won lots of games in the last 15 years. Most of these wins have been againt week teams in boring games where the seahawks managed to fuster cluck their way to victory.

It's not the curse of the bambino (the boston red sox) or the curse of shooless Joe (the white sox) but hawk fans are long suffering.

Season after season of high expectations have turned to mediocrity and ineptness.
First round draft picks have been spent on quarterbacks (stoufer, mcguire) who have had a cup
of coffee in the leauge and disapeared into obscurity. Big money has been spent on wide receivers who new how to get open but never quite figured how to catch the darn football.
Everytime the hawks have drawn in the fans and made them start to care. The Hawks have either pulled defeat from the jaws of vitory or simply gotten their tucchuses kick.

Today the seahwks came through for once. In front of a enthusaistic crowd at qwest feild (including Dan our UPS guy). The seahawks defense did a wonderfull job keeping the team in the game. The offense came through at the end scoring a late game tying touchdown. Then the hawks recieved an early christmas/hannukah/qwanza present as our friend Drew Bledsoe did what cougars are prone to do (He coug it) throwing an interception that set up a game winning hawk field goal on the last play of the game.

Will this change the hawks (and their fans) luck. Or is this another case of the team raising the fans hopes only to leave them feeling like they have been kicked in the solarplexus ( or slightly lower)?

This is the cover art for the 1998 Rose Rowl parade program. I have seen the official game program that was sold at the stadium and it's cover is nowhere near as cool as this portrait. 

top: In the summer of 1980 dad went with Mike and Danny to San Diego mean while mom and I went to Hawaii. Here I am standing next to the crater of kilauea volcanoe. Bottom: sitting in my high chair wondering if Ali would win the title back from Joe Frazier.  

The top picture is my sisters birthday in 1972 This is one of the rare pictures that has all six of us in it. The bottom picture was taken at ice harbor dam in 1969 and features my brother Mike and sister Teri 

You just can't have to many "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka pictures on your blog

When I was between the ages of 5 and 7 years old their were sports heroes and then their was Jimmy Snuka. Jimmy Snuka performed on the North West wrestling circuit from 1972-78. what I find amazing is that Snuka was still around in 77-78. Snuka had a star quality that few have. He certainly payed his dues performing in front of a few hundred people a night in national guard armories in towns like Prosser and Pendleton.Within in a year of leaving the NW Snuka became main eventer all over the east coast performing in front of 10 to 15 thousand people a night in venues like the Omni in Atlanta, Madison Square Garden, and the Philadelphia Spectrum. This picture is from his days in the NW. Thank you DutchSavage.com

Whooops I lost my links.

I didn't realize you lost your links when you changed your template. I promise I will have them back up shortly.

why we love sports

Yesterday was a great example of why we enjoy watching sports.

USC and Notre Dame played one of the greatest games in college football history yesterday. Two colleges with great traditions, they have had a storied rivalry through the years.
More importantly in 2005 these are two well coached and extremely talented football teams who played their hearts out for sixty minutes. Along the way they brought out the best in each other. Throw in the fact they were playing in a magical atmosphere at Notre Dames home in South Bend Indiana and the fact that the game came down to the very last play. This game transformed a regular fall Saturday afternoon into something special. For three hours you could forget all your problems and just sit back and lose yourself in a game. A game fans will remember for along time. This is why we love sports