Hopefully I'll be seeing this again soon.

As a lifelong New York Football Giants fan, I’m very happy to see them back in the Super Bowl. It’s crazy to think that after the way they were playing mid-season that they would be in position to win another Super Bowl.

On the Men’s track and field team here at W&L, we all have our favorite football teams. During the fall, Monday’s often become a time for joking around about how each of our teams faired that Sunday. I personally took some shots when the Giants were on a long losing streak and their coaching staff was on the hot seat.

Now that the Giants have obviously righted the ship and the coaching staff has saved their jobs for another year, I could tell everyone how great the Giants are and be that overzealous fan. That’s not my style; I like to remain quietly confident in the Giants.

That’s exactly what they’ve done as a team and coaching staff.  When it seemed like they were down and out, they started getting healthy and playing with confidence. They became a team on a roll (eerily similar to 2007 postseason run).

As fate would have it, there’s now the rematch of that same Super Bowl back in 2008 against those Patriots, lead by Brady and Belichick. I personally like Belichick;  back in 1986 and 1990 he was the Giants defensive coordinator, and those defenses were nasty, just like the one they have now can be.

The rematch has me a little worried. Everyone knows the Patriots haven’t forgotten about the Giants ruining their perfect season. I’m also in a little wager with an athlete on our team who is a Patriots fan from Foxborough, MA. If the Patriots win the game, I have to wear the cut off sleeved hooded sweatshirt like Belichick wears at our first outdoor meet. That could be funny to see!

However, wearing that goofy sweatshirt hopefully is not going to happen. Hopefully, Eli Manning is going to prove that he is an elite quarterback like he said at the beginning of the year and caught tons of flak for doing. The defense will hopefully cause Brady to have flashbacks to 2008 when he was flustered and out of character.

All that being said, let’s hope for football fans everywhere that it’s a good game and the commercials are funnier than ever. To all the Giants fans out there, ALL-IN!

There was a time when...

When I was a young girl and people would ask, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I never responded “a field hockey coach at a highly-academic Division III institution.” Up until about six months ago, my honest response would have been a whale and dolphin trainer at Sea World, but here I am, in my second year of coaching at W&L and very happy.  While coaching may not come up as an answer to that common question as often as teacher, doctor or astronaut, I would assert that it’s an equally satisfying and challenging choice of career.

During the summer of 2009, I worked as a summer associate for a big law firm in a big city.  Before returning to school, I started plotting my next step with my aunt.  The firm I worked for was great, and I loved D.C., but I went home every night that summer worrying that I had overlooked some critical case and that the memo I had just submitted to a partner was completely wrong.  I spent all my daylight hours inside in a nice office with a view of a beautiful of a city I could only explore a couple of hours on the weekend.  I wore suits that felt more like costumes.  Butterflies of anxiety had taken up residence in my stomach for three straight months.  I knew I couldn’t sustain the lifestyle, despite the fact that I liked the firm a lot and I really, really liked the paycheck.  So, I sat down with my aunt and made a list of things I didn’t like about that job that were dealbreakers in my next one.  This was my list:

1.    I don’t want to do the same thing all day.

2.    I don’t want to do the same thing all year.

3.    I want to be able to go outside.

4.    I don’t want anyone to lose any money if I make a mistake.

5.    I want to be able to wear an elastic waistband to work.

This look just wasn't for me

Really, #5 should be higher on the list, because it was pretty important to me.  Once in writing, it became pretty clear that coaching was the right fit.  Wendy, my former head coach and my forever-mentor, welcomed me back to W&L and the past eighteen months have been a blast.  We have a graduating student-athlete who is interested in going into coaching, and I can’t encourage her enough to pursue a career in athletics.

Wendy and I just got back from our National Field Hockey Coaches’ Association Convention, and it got me jazzed about what I do all over again.  I have learned so much about how to motivate, persuade, and unite people by coaching.  As far as I know, no one has suffered financially when I have messed up.  No day since I have started has been the same as any other, and not only am I allowed to go outside a couple hours of day, it’s a job requirement.

So, I hope that I have, at least in part, proved my thesis that coaching can be satisfying and challenging.  If anyone out there is considering coaching at any level, but feels like he or she has to yield to the expectations of others, I would say coach.  While I do sometimes think about what it would have been like to swim with Shamu, I remember about how much I hate the smell of fish and feel contented again.

Wow!  Where has the time gone?  My last blog entry was way back on November 4 and so much has happened in that time.  Unfortunately, I did not win the lottery (see my last entry), but I’m still trying and I now have been entering to win the HGTV Dream House 2012 since it appears the numbers just aren’t aligning for me.

Since my last entry, I took my parental leave, an extended leave that the school has been so generous to allow for.  I was off for better than six weeks and I enjoyed every minute of just me and the little guy.  In truth, I never imagined how hard and rewarding it would be (as evidenced by how I could look at the clock and realize it was 2 PM and I had yet to make the bed or shower).  There’s certainly a blog entry to be had about my time home with Parker, but I’m going to choose a different path today.  I’m going to write about another life-changing event that occurred some five years ago this week.

I had one of these in my pocket every day for 18 years

Actually, life-changing may not be the proper term, perhaps I should say life-saving when referring to giving up something I did at least 10-15 times per day for all of 18 years.  I’m amazed that now there are so many people that don’t know this, but I started smoking at the age of 15 and continued to suck down heaters all day every day until this week in 2007.  There were so many life experiences that I had during those formative years and every step of the way was that comforting friend (or so I thought at the time) that came along for the ride.  When I woke up, when I went to bed, after each meal and when I was stressed, the old Marlboro Reds found their way to my lips.  After a while, you begin to feel like smoking is as much a part of you as eating or breathing.  I got trapped into thinking I couldn’t live without them and for many years the beat went on.

Friends, family, perfect strangers, they all tried to tell me what I was doing to myself, but I hadn’t died yet and after so long, it didn’t seem like taking another hit was doing any damage at all.  It wasn’t until New Year’s Eve 2006 that I decided it was time for a change.  Let’s just say things happened, I looked in the mirror and decided that I needed to make some changes for the better.  It still took me a couple of weeks to work up to it, but I announced to friends and co-workers that the time had come.  I had tried many times before, but this time I actually did some reading and research.  I read that all the times before, I didn’t give in because I was weak, I gave in because the addiction was stronger than I was.  I realized it was okay to want a cigarette and to want to quit at the same time.  Once I had armed myself with the facts, I gave myself the support system to help make it work.  My staff of Austin Calhoun and Molly Reid were my most closest supporters and encouraged me throughout the long days.  The worst though were the nights.  Cold sweats and nightmares that I had given in to my desires were rough, but eventually one day led to two and one week led to one month, etc.  I rewarded myself with gifts by making each goal.  First was something small like buying a movie DVD and I worked up to bigger more expensive things (which was okay because I was saving the money I had spent on cigarettes).

The biggest challenge was when I headed to the bars with friends since smoking and drinking definitely went together.  I almost gave in the first time I went out for drinks, but another former assistant and then avid smoker Scott McGuinness talked me out of my urges.  Scott would also later quit and has probably two years under his belt.

The next thing I knew the following fall had begun and I was counting down the days to one year.  I’m not going to lie and say I never tried another cancer stick, but whenever I did (which was rare, I’ve maybe had three since quitting), it only reinforced why I had quit.  As one year approached, I decided to grow a beard and not trim it or my hair until I reached the magical one year mark.  I’m not sure any pictures exist of this unflattering look (they did at some point but I don’t really have the time to go looking), but I can tell you it was heaven when the barber took it all off (though she talked me into leaving a mustache and Austin laughed at me all day and told me she couldn’t take orders from someone who looked as silly as I did).  The ‘stache came off a day later.  I also bought myself a $250 present, a vintage 1980 Philadelphia Eagles Ron Jaworski jersey from Mitchell & Ness, which still gets me high fives at the local BW3’s on football Sundays.

As I look back, I can’t begin to understand why I ever started or why it took me so long to quit.  I am only comforted by the fact that despite being older and probably still a few pounds heavier, I feel so much better physically than I did.  I also know that as a smoker I would have never met my wife and my son Parker would never have been a reality without the decision that I made and the support that I received some five years ago.  To those who helped and encouraged me I say thank you.  To those who read this and have yet to quit, I say there’s still time.

P.S. I’ll try to be less deep and meaningful with my February entry.

That's me, right behind Paul Hewitt, doing the official TV stats for our game against Georgia State.

It’s been just over two months since I left Washington and Lee and headed to George Mason University and the Washington, D.C. area, one of my favorite places in the country.

The transition to Division I athletics has been pretty smooth, and I’m enjoying my new surroundings and coworkers. It helped that I arrived right as the men’s soccer season was drawing to a close and my spring sports don’t start until this weekend, so it’s been an easy couple of months adjusting to the office and department expectations. But ask me again in three weeks when three of my four sports are in action and I’m traveling with the baseball team five out of seven days of the week and my opinion may be different 

A lot of the responsibilities are the same: stats, player bios, maintaining the website, media guides. Those responsibilities belong to anyone in the SID world, no matter the division.

Then there are the differences. The biggest one for me is that I no longer have to do PA at games!!!!!! (Anyone who has worked with me in the past knows why I gave that line an excessive amount of !). In fact, many of the responsibilities I had at W&L (PA, warm-up music, stat spotters, scoreboard ops) are now taken off my hands.

This new phenomenon may throw me into some sort of panic mode on Friday, my first men’s volleyball game. I can see it now: I arrive at the arena and immediately question why there isn’t music playing, or freak out because I don’t have a script prepared and wonder if I really talked to the spotter/scoreboard op to make sure they are going to be there.  I’m sure I’ll adjust over time, but for now my coworkers have to tolerate me asking a million questions about gameday responsibilities that are no longer mine.

Increased media coverage is something I’m also learning to embrace. Knowing the D.C. sports media base from my time with the Washington Capitals is a big benefit, and it always feels good to see a story I pitched in the newspaper a couple days later.

I’ve also had the opportunity to do official stats for MASN and CSN during our televised men’s basketball games, watch Marquette practice twice at the RAC (they had an unofficial scrimmage in the fall and practiced here again last week in between games at Georgetown and Syracuse) and help produce video content for our website in addition to doing a lot of feature writing showcasing our student-athletes, which I love.

One of the coolest events I was a part of was with our men’s volleyball team in December. As a part of the SportsUnited program, our men’s team hosted a group of female volleyball coaches from Iraq. I’ll spare you a lot of the details (if you want to read the article here is the link http://www.gomason.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=611148&SPID=84995&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205345766&DB_OEM_ID=25200), but it was absolutely amazing to sit down and talk with one of the women about living in Iraq and how sport plays an important role in her life. It really opened my eyes to sports as a cultural bridge, looking beyond the superficial placards Americans often place on their athletes and seeing that down at the grassroots level sport can be used to unify people from diverse backgrounds.

So what’s next on the docket for me? Like I mentioned earlier, this weekend will be my first foray into stating men’s volleyball and then mid-February brings baseball season…which I’m really excited for because the coaching staff is great (two of the assistant coaches played at ODAC schools), and baseball is my second-favorite sport behind hockey. During the baseball season I will also have the opportunity to do some color commentary for the team on the road, so if you want to hear Uecker-isms and me waxing poetic about my Milwaukee Brewers during a college game be sure to tune in!

Outside of the sports world, well it seems like the possibilities are endless for things to do. Just a short Metro ride away in D.C. is concert venues (I’ve become a regular at Black Cat and 9:30 in addition to Jammin’ Java in Vienna), Kennedy Center performances (already been to an opera and have tickets to the ballet next week), a plethora of museums to peruse and of course Caps, Nats and Georgetown games. Add in the fact that it’s an election year (which is awesome for a political junkie like me) and I’m sure I’ll manage to stay out of trouble.

Of course, Lexington will always hold a special place in my heart, and I’m hoping to make it back soon to see everyone. A person can only live so long without the sights of the beautiful mountains, a sandwich from Blue Sky or chocolates from Cocoa Mill.

Hello blogging universe!  I am very pleased and excited to be apart of this ongoing dialogue.  When W&L Associate Athletic Director Shana Levine asked me to opine on my thoughts and experiences as a legal extern, I was a bit uncertain.  I have never contributed to a blog, and the opportunity to share my perspectives through this type of medium is new territory for me.  So with this in mind, I think a quick introduction is in order.

Law School Football League Champs!

I am currently a W&L third-year law school student from Fort Worth, TX.  An interesting factoid (and an effective conversation starter among coaches) is that prior to attending law school, I played football for one year at Baylor University and tennis the following year at Jackson State University (it’s a long story and potentially blog worthy, but I’d be glad to share it with anyone who stops by the athletic department office on Monday afternoons this semester).   Additionally, I am basking in the recent glory of having won the Law School Football League championship (Go L-SACK!!!).  For anyone who is unaware of the fervent intensity involved from week to week in the LSFL, it is amongst one of the extracurricular highlights of the school year (and yes, after overcoming two years of playoff disappointments, I can FINALLY graduate in peace, lol).  Ok, so having laid out my general background (and the fact that I equate the quality of my legal education with LSFL success) I can now begin to delve into the experiences I’ve obtained while externing for the athletic department.  First off, it has been a sincere pleasure working in the athletic department office with Director of Athletics Jan Hathorn, Bryan Snyder, Carolyn Mayo, Emily Nicely and of course Shana.  There is a reason that Washington and Lee student-athletes have enjoyed such tremendous success on the playing fields and in the classroom, and I truly believe that it originates from the leadership and assistance provided by the individuals listed above.  I have also enjoyed the frequent contact and discussions with various coaches throughout the department as they stop by the office or during staff meetings.  Their insight, diligence, and dedication to their respective sports and student-athletes serve as an additional testament to the prevailing culture of success within the W&L athletic department.

The legal externship program is a collaborative educational initiative between the W&L law school and various employers throughout the state of Virginia.  The overarching goal of the program is to give participating students a practical legal working experience prior to their graduation.  The program includes student placements with state courts, law firms, corporations (two of my classmates got a really cool placement with Rosetta Stone), and government entities.  Although I’m not totally sure as to which area of law that I’d like to practice after graduation, I’ve pretty much decided that I don’t think I’ll fall into the conventional Perry Mason/Matlock category.  In fact, I was overjoyed when I met Shana and discovered that while she possessed a law degree, she wasn’t restricted to working in the traditional legal setting.  She has incorporated her training as an attorney with her passion for collegiate athletics and fashioned it into a successful career in higher education and athletic compliance.  Needless to say, as a former athlete I was eager to garner any experience that would allow me to the merge my education and interests into a rewarding and fulfilling career.  And thus far, I have not been disappointed.  I have had the opportunity to sit in on staff meetings and observe the inner workings of the athletic department and how it strives to serve the best interests of its student athletes.  I have attended meetings discussing Title IX compliance and how coaches and administrative figures can actively help to ensure the safety and well-being of both students and the university’s interests.  Additionally, I have become more knowledgeable about the NCAA governing process and the varying compliance issues that an athletic department must address on a daily basis.  I have a profound respect for the department’s ability to the balance multiple moving parts and keep everything in order so that W&L can continue to experience athletic and academic success.

Having this alternative educational experience has really helped to broaden my perspective about possible career options.   As I near the end of my placement, I can honestly say that the externship process has accomplished its main goal of exposing me to an area of interest that I may not have considered otherwise.  I am pleased and thankful for the opportunity to work with such wonderful people and gain lasting experience and insight.

During this time of thanks, I hope everyone is able to enjoy each passing moment with family, friends and loved ones.   It has been a pleasure writing to you all, and I hope that everyone has a wonderful and blessed holiday season.   HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Coaching track & field is much better than loading trucks!

I’m often asked by my mother, how’s work going or how was work today? My response to her is typically, “I don’t work”. When I say that, I don’t mean that I don’t work at what I do. I just mean that what I do doesn’t seem like work to me.

Coaching and teaching is a passion for me and the normal day to day responsibilities I have don’t seem like work to me. I have the flexibility to do what I need to do when I want to do it. I have the opportunity to help young people, I can stay in shape, and I can meet great people. Most of all, every day is different and I look forward to it.

For 40 years my father had a job in a factory doing some of the same stuff day after day. I know he worked for a living and he didn’t often look forward to it. He did it because he needed to and wanted to help support our family.

When I was getting my bachelors and masters degrees, I would get jobs in the summer to make some money to have during the school year. I had the opportunity to see what many people do for a living, like my father, and it was work.

Here is what I did for my summers. I had a job changing fire alarm sprinklers, painting, cleaning big steel furnaces, stocking bread into crates, loading and unloading 20 foot stacks of bread crates onto tractor trailers (praying I wouldn’t tip it over and make fool of myself). I pulled weeds and did some landscaping.  My personal favorite; I drove cars from dealers around NY back to an auction site for Friday auctions, where I drove cars through a line and the auctioneer spoke so fast that I didn’t know when to pull away.

I remember thinking to myself; I’m going to college so I don’t have to do this work for a living. Believe me, it made me appreciate what they do and what I do for a living now; made me realize that people do work for a living and they don’t always like what they do.

People ask me how I’m doing now and my response is, “Living the dream one day at a time.” It’s a real joy when you can wake up each day knowing you’re doing something you want to do and love to do.

Just a heads up, I am about to abuse this forum for blatantly personal purposes.  I will discuss sports only in passing, and only for the purpose of crafting a metaphor or two.  But, then again, isn’t that what blogging is all about?  A little corner of cyberspace for verbose self-indulgence?

My sister Taylor

Well, today is a very important and special day.  It’s 11-11-11 and exactly thirty years ago, Antigua and Barbuda joined the UN.  Also, my sister, Taylor, was born.   My sister rules and she is my best friend.  You know those pillows that say, “God made us sisters, love made us friends?”  My sister and I make fun of that crap all the time.  And that’s what really makes us friends.

In honor of her birthday and her favorite number, here are 11 things about Taylor.

1. She will “like” this on Facebook.  She’ll probably be the only one, too.  And you know what?  She will genuinely like it, because she is my biggest cheerleader and thinks stuff I do is awesome.  At least once a week, I’ll call her with some kind of harebrained idea, like “I’m going to invent a coffeemaker for your car!” or communicate my new left-field life plan of rehabilitating sick elephants in Thailand, and Taylor’s responses will be, respectively, “Oh, I’d buy one of those!” and “I can’t wait to visit!”    Everyone should go through life knowing that at least one person thinks you are awesome.

2. Taylor doesn’t see the glass half full or half empty.  She just quietly goes to the sink and fills the glass back up.  She doesn’t wallow or complain, and she doesn’t deny there is a problem, she just goes and finds solutions.

3. She is the only person on planet Earth who can shop with me.  I am the worst to shop with when I have a particular item I need.  I can be – on the same shopping trip – both a frantically irate semi-human and uncooperatively catatonic.  When Taylor starts to see my mood barometer leaning toward one or the other, she can gently suggest that maybe I have lost a little bit of perspective and should probably get myself together.  And then we get iced coffee at Starbucks and a scene is averted.

4. I normally would send this to her to read and give feedback on like I do with everything else I have ever written in my life, but this post a surprise and comprises most of her birthday present (happy birthday, Taylor!) so if it’s sub-par, it’s because she has not given me her constructive notes.

5. My sister is one of the smartest people I know, hands down.  She was accepted at every college to which she applied, turning down Dartmouth to be an Echols Scholar at UVa.  By her third year, she was a part of the elite poetry program there and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in her third year.  She was accepted into UVa’s MFA program, which is ranked in the 4^th most selective program in the country.  After realizing that fiction writing was not her passion, she left to pursue teaching.  Taylor now teaches IB English at a high school in Richmond and is crushing it.  She is dedicated, tough, and fair.  I hear her lesson plans and wish I could take her class.  I am comforted and optimistic about America’s youth knowing that someone like Taylor is out there on the front lines, educating them.

Here we are at Christmas time

6. Taylor can knit and crochet.  For Christmas, she is going to crochet me two panels.  One is going to say, “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose” (which is a famous phrase from one of our favorite shows, Friday Night Lights).  The other is going to say “Shut Your Whore Mouth.”  I plan on framing both, and putting them side-by-side in a place of reverence in my home.

7. She hates driving.  I hate passengering.  Another reason why we’re best friends.

8. One of our favorite things to do together on a beautiful Sunday is to go to an 11 AM movie that has been running for a couple of weeks and split a popcorn for our lunch.  We both appreciate the beauty of having an entire movie theater all to yourselves.  We also appreciate delicious popcorn.

9. When Taylor was a baby, she didn’t really ever crawl.  One day, she just started to walk upright like a civilized human.  It was the same thing with talking – when she was ready, she just started talking in complete sentences.  That is so typically Taylor.  When she decides to do something, whether it’s talking, walking, or putting together Ikea furniture, she does it excellently.

10. Taylor does not really like music and she hates watching sports, but she loves The Sing-Off and can name all of the pitchers in the Braves’ early-90’s pitching rotation.  The girl is a constant surprise.

11. We can tell each other anything, but we usually don’t have to.

Happy birthday, Taylor!

It’s November 4 and I’m up for a blog entry.  Aside from wondering where the time went between now and my last entry on October 4, my brain is pretty much dead when it comes to ideas.

I could write some more about my son Parker and truthfully having him in my life has been more than I could have ever expected.  I’m sure there will never be a dull moment for the rest of my days on this Earth.  But, my last entry was pretty much about him and I’d like to write about something else.  Then it hit me.  Today is Friday and the day is nearly done.  Besides making my 45-minute commute home, there’s one other thing on my agenda for today – something that I have done every Tuesday and Friday since I heard the words “I’m Pregnant”.  Before I leave town, I need to stop at the gas station and get a Mountain Dew so I have enough of a caffeine rush to survive the aforementioned commute.  I also purchase a ticket for the Mega Millions Lottery.

This outdoor kitchen/bar area would do

I know this sounds nuts, but I’ve always believed that I would someday win the lottery.  I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but I believe that I was meant to spend my days playing golf and barbequing on the patio between my pool and the french doors that lead to the game room and bar area of my palatial estate.  Problem is that it’s hard to win the lottery unless you actually play.  I may have bought a ticket a total of 5-6 times (let’s clarify, a real ticket, not the scratchers that I sometimes give to family around Christmas time) over the first 36 years of my life (actually 18 years since you have to be 18 to play).

It wasn’t until I heard those two words in January that I started playing for real.  I guess it is that immediate sense of knowing that you’ve got to provide for your family and knowing that an SID salary is barely more than the cost of day care these days. So, I chose to start playing on a regular basis in hopes that this could set us up for good.

Of course I know the chances of winning are one in a gazillion, but tell that to the person in California that won $78 million in Tuesday’s drawing (I barely missed having the mega ball for a whopping $2 winner).  As I think about buying today’s ticket, I can’t help but think about what I would do with the money if I won.  So, here is today’s blog topic: What I would do if I won $12 million in tonight’s drawing.

The very first thing that I would do, aside from driving to Richmond to claim my loot, would be to set up a trust for Parker that would take care of his college education and provide a little start up cash for the beginning of his adult life.  I’d want him to have to work towards making his own way in life, but helping provide the platform and a little something to get started could do wonders in his life.

The next thing I would do is split up some cash to divide among family members.  You know, enough to take care of nieces and nephews’ college educations and perhaps pay off a few mortgages for brothers and sisters, moms and dads, etc.

After Mindy and I researched where we would like to call home (yes, this means I would likely leave W&L and look to move to a slightly more metropolitan area), I would build the house of my dreams on the hole of some pretty nice golf course.  I wish I already had the cash in hand and the architect renderings to show you, but that will have to wait for a little bit.  I can tell you Mindy would have the run of most of the house with regards to design and décor, but that gameroom/bar/patio/pool area is going to be all me.  She’d definitely be down since she asked me the other day if I had a five-tap kegerator, what five beers would I have on tap (perhaps those could be revealed in December’s blog entry).

I’m not big on buying a ton of cars so I’d probably settle on a nice luxury sedan (like a Mercedes or BMW), along with a full-size, four-door pickup truck.  Mindy could pick whatever she wanted, but I’m sure there would be an SUV in her queue.

As I mentioned earlier, I would quit my job.  Let me be clear that it’s not because I don’t love what I do.  I love my job.  It’s just that I wouldn’t want to continue doing it for 45-55 hours a week like I currently am doing.  I’d probably look to evenly split my time between the golf course, volunteering for some charitable organization (where I’ll also probably commit some cash resources), and volunteering my services to some SID office in the area on a game-by-game basis.  That would continue to fulfill the yearnings to continue being a stat nerd.

Lastly, I would probably set some money aside or invest some money to pay for a vacation schedule of 1-2 months per year that would allow for me to travel the world over the next 30 years taking in plenty of sights and foreign cultures for my family and I.  I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my days.

So there you have it, what I would do if I see six matching numbers when I look up the Mega Millions website tomorrow morning before my trip to Hampden-Sydney to see the Generals win their second-straight ODAC Championship.  Feel free to write in and let me know what you would do with $12 million.  Have a great weekend everybody!

In January of 1998, Brian Logue asked me to come down to interview for an assistant sports information director position at a small university I had barely heard of in an even smaller southern town I had never heard of.  As a recent college graduate my response was “why not?”  Bold words from a young man who had just graduated from a school of 30,000 at the University of Maryland and was used to the big city feel of the Baltimore-Washington corridor.

I took that job at Washington and Lee University and 14 years later, both the school and the town of Lexington hold prominent places in my heart.

The fondness I grew for Lexington and its charm grew so much after the 15 months I spent at W&L, that I decided to return after a year away and spend four years on the other side of town at VMI, where I also had an incredible experience.

It was the personal friendships that I developed at both schools that have had the most impact of my life and continue today.  Brian Laubscher, who I worked with at W&L for the final nine months convinced me to come back and work at VMI.  We spent countless workdays as co-workers and colleagues meeting for lunch and discussing the challenges of our business.   Today, he is still one of my most trusted friends and I was honored to serve as a groomsman in his wedding, which was held in where else, but downtown Lexington.

Brendan Harrington was a freshman at W&L when I started.  Our unique interests in sports led to an instant friendship.  It became stronger when I returned to Lexington.  Although I live in suburban Washington, D.C. and he lives in upstate New York, we manage to talk at least once a week.

Rich Campbell had not even enrolled at W&L when I was working there.  Our paths crossed when I was in my final year at VMI and he had returned to work at the Lexington News-Gazette, fresh off a four-year career in the W&L Sports Information office.  We also became friends instantly and when we returned to the Washington area the next fall, he helped me make professional connections and created career opportunities that have led to my gameday position as the Washington Redskins internal public address announcer.  He is also a cherished friend.

Quite honestly, this list could go on forever: Scott McGuinness, Greg Murphy, XaK Bausch, of course Brian Logue…and this is only people from the W&L side of things.  Please don’t get mad at me if I leave you out.  I could write a whole other column about how much my friends at VMI mean to me.

And W&L follows you everywhere.  Five years ago, I was walking around Brookline Avenue, on my way to Fenway Park to see my beloved Baltimore Orioles lose again.  From across the street, I heard the most undeniable New England accent I have ever known.   Of course, it was then-W&L athletic director Michael F. Walsh, who was in town to visit family and enjoy the game.  I crossed the street and we discussed all of our W&L friends for a good 10 minutes, shook hands and went about our merry ways.

W&L’s contributions to my social circle are truly a testament to students it attracts and the people it hires.  I have always felt nothing by welcomed when I have walked around campus.  People are always, friendly, inviting, intelligent and just fun to be with.

I try to make it back to Lexington once a year and usually make it.  It is more than worth it to catch a game on either campus, but even more worth it to catch up with old friends or even loose acquaintances.   I am reminded daily of the town that means so much to me by the painting of North Main Street that hangs in my Silver Spring Easter Seals office.

The mountains, storefronts and fall foliage are all beautiful…but not nearly as much as the friends that I have made for life!

If growing up in the infamous snow belt and on a great lake has taught me anything, it’s always be prepared for bad weather! I can’t count the number of times I’ve ended up experiencing all 4 seasons in one day…it’s honestly absurd. Rochester, NY is a wonderful city and I will always have a place in my heart for home, but when I think about the 10 month long winter, I have a harder time reminiscing fondly. I can recall all the mornings before school getting up early and running to the TV to see if my we had a snow day…it never happened. There would be 5 inches of ice accumulation and/or 4 feet of snow and the school district would be like, “Oh no big deal.”  You can’t even walk on the sidewalks or the road because it’s so snowy (not to mention at this point it’s still a blizzard and white out) but life goes on.

Then I started to look for colleges, and somewhere along the way my brain thought: “Since Rochester winters are clearly so great, let’s go some place even worse!” That’s when I ended up in Erie, PA…Dreary Erie as it’s also known as. Or little Chicago since the wind almost never stops! Don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoyed my 4 years there, but the weather is honestly atrocious! It was like high school all over again when we’d get 4 feet of snow overnight and the city would pretend that wasn’t ridiculous.  I can’t get my car out of the 15 foot long driveway it’s stuck in, but don’t worry it’s definitely safe to drive around! I really do love driving in the snow; it’s like a new, fun challenge every time you’re out there. My favorite part is finding an empty parking lot, putting the car in neutral, pulling up the emergency brake, and cranking the wheel: thus the E-Brake Turn. That’s all hypothetical of course, I’ve never done that in my life…

The moral of this whole schpeel on wintery wonderfulness is the north (for the most part) knows how to battle a good blizzard when necessary. We have gargantuan snow plows on standby all day and night with lots of salt to de-ice the roads and rust your cars. Most of the neighborhood owns a sidewalk plow or snow blower or the most intense, ergonomically correct/back-pain-saving-shovel you’ve ever seen. And everyone is required from birth to know how to make a snowman, snow angel, and a great packed-ice snow ball that will inflict the most damage/pain possible.

In the south however, this is all a foreign language or concept. Not saying that there aren’t transplants from the north down here that know how to deal, but the vast majority of people are honestly terrified of snow! There is a threat of 0.5 inch accumulation and you would think a Category 5 Hurricane or F-5 Tornado is coming our way! Sleet or heavy wet snow starts falling and people are having panic attacks and breathing emergencies in their cars even when they’re 20 feet from their driveways! The first snowflake hits the ground and some crazy chemical in people’s brain goes, “Start slamming on your brakes, swerving erratically like you have a BAC of 2.3, and close your eyes while upping the speedometer to 73 mph all at the same time!”

That may be a slight exaggeration…but you get the point.

I really do love living in Virginia though. There are still four distinct seasons and the sun is actually out for than 3 months out of the year. I just never cease to be amazed how mind boggling yet endlessly entertaining everyone’s reactions are when the snow threats begin!

Just a flurry or two created this effect!

FYI this picture was taken in Oswego, NY a little over an hour from where I grew up…That’s what 12 feet of snow looks like!