A Special Wedding

We had the great honor to attend a very special wedding this weekend. Emily, founder of the BYC Spirit special needs cheerleading squad, got married.

Emily founded the Spirit squad while she was still in high school, and Julia was one of the original members.

BYC Spirit with the Happy Couple

The Spirit squad was, and still is, an amazing thing. Kids with all sorts of disabilities get to be part of a cheer squad, have very nice uniforms, practice every week, and attend 5 or 6 weekend cheer events over the course of a school year.

Grace and Bella

They generally open the competitions with their routine, get big trophies and standing ovations wherever they go, and serve as an opportunity for these kids to be special. In the good way. As I have written before, the reception the Spirit squad gets everywhere they go is amazing, and never fails to bring a tear to my eye.

Kings Mill, Aston PA

Emily graduated high school, went of to college, and never missed a beat with the Spirit squad. She comes back for practices, and still runs the whole thing. Designs the routines. Organizes the volunteers. Runs practices. Runs fundraisers. Schedules competition appearances. Goes to the competitions.

As I told her Dad at the wedding, Emily has done more in her young life to help others and have a true impact on their lives than most people have in their whole lives.

The wedding itself was wonderful, on a hot day in June. It was at the King's Mill renovated old mill building on 452 in Aston, along the creek. The facilities were very nice (and I loved the old building). The wedding was outside, and then we headed in for the reception as it started to drizzle.

The importance of the Spirit squad as a thing in Emily's life was apparent. Maybe a third of all attendees were past and present Spirit squad members and their families (including us). As befit the occasion, there was music and dancing, food and drink, and a good time was had by all.

It was an honor to celebrate the big day of someone who has had such an impact on Julia's (and our) life.

Footnote: Julia stopped doing Spirit a year ago, but Grace continues on as a helper coach volunteer. Grace helped out in Julia's last couple of years, and when Julia stopped doing it Grace surprised us a little bit by saying that she wanted to continue. So for one practice a week during the school year, and 5 or 6 weekend competitions, Grace goes and is the helper-buddy of a few of the littler ones.

Turning Pages...

It's been a busy week around here, with Grace finishing up her middle school days, and looking ahead toward high school.

Hard to believe.

Doors close. Others open. Time passes. It's the way of life, but sometimes difficult to wrap your head around. Especially for parents...

And pardon the gushing to follow, but she has made us very proud.

Last night she had her last practice for the Xcel Gold gymnastics team at Roth's Crosspoint Gymnastics. She loves gymnastics and would like to continue to do it, but the team practices are a 100% overlap with marching band practices in the late summer and fall, and it is more important that she be a part of this school-based activity with all of her school friends. So after the practice last night, there were many tears, lots of hugs, and a generally bittersweet time. It's nice to know that so many of the team members like her.

CPG team banquet, early June

Leaving something behind that you still care about is difficult. To say the least. But the friends she has made will continue to be her friends. While many of them don't go to the same school as her, they live in the area, and she will be able to keep in touch. Some will inevitably fade away. A few won't. That's life. There is already a sleepover on the calendar for next week...

Grace and her buddies

She has grown a lot through her short competitive gymnastics career, and made a lot of good friends. She is part of a gymnastics team, but ultimately, when it is time to perform, it is just her and the judges, and facing that challenge for two years, and ending up on the podium often, has been terrific for her self confidence. And there have been those handful of times when she was number 1, at the top of the podium, when mommy and daddy pride really got to shine.

And I can't say enough about Coach Bill and Christina at the gym. Bill was an olympic caliber gymnast for over a decade, a member of the US national team for many years, the first US men's gymnast to score a perfect 10 in international competition, and he has a skill named for him in the "book of rules". Beyond all that, he is a caring and compassionate coach. CPG is what you would want a gymnastics program to be - a community.

Grace and Coach Bill Roth

Today she had the final 8th grade awards assembly, and the official end of middle school. She's had a good run, and has done herself proud. Today she got the team Social Studies award (4 people selected out of ~90 kids), to go along with a team English award in 6th grade and a team Science award in 7th grade. I'm proud that she has done so well in different subjects over her three middle school years.

Social studies subject award

She also got a distinguished honor roll award (straight A's in all 4 quarters of the year), making 11 out of 12 quarters of distinguished honor roll in middle school. She's still bitter about that one B+ in math for one quarter last year... Which doesn't bother me at all, but I kinda like the fact that it bothers her.

Distinguished Honor Roll all 4 quarters of this year

A note on parental expectations. We like that Grace does well. She is bright, and we expect her to do well. At this level, if she doesn't do well, it only means one thing - she didn't put in the basic amount of work necessary to do what she should have been able to do. Things may well change as the years go by and things continue to get more and more difficult. And that's OK. As long as she is putting in the effort, and doing the best she can, then I am OK with that.

Lastly, I have greatly conflicted feelings as I watch my little girl grow up. Maybe we should have put her in the pickle jar when we had the chance, but that opportunity is gone. So I guess we just have to watch her grow up and enjoy it for what it is.

8th grade send off dance (Grace at right)

But as for today... It's been a good 36 hours. A very good 36 hours.

Mariano Rivera Foundation, 2nd Annual

Last spring, Julia's special needs baseball team had the opportunity to have Mariano Rivera pitch an inning to them during one of their games.

This happened as part of the day's events that were the first annual Mariano Rivera Foundation 5k run   as a Brandywine Youth Club event.

BYC Phillies with Mariano Rivera

We were lucky enough to get a repeat of this as part of the second annual event. It was a rainy day, but rather than cancel the game part of the event, they moved it to a school gym in Wilmington. The baseball game turned into a wiffle ball game.

Julia and Mariano

None of that mattered, as the kids had a lot of fun. Julia, leading off for the BYC Phillies, lined a nice single into the outfield, and can claim to have a perfect 1.000 batting average against the best relief pitcher in baseball history. Go Julia!

It's a shame that Rivera pitched for the hated Yankees, but he's a really nice guy nonetheless. If there's a third annual next year, I'm sure we'll be involved.

Fallingwater

After leaving Grace's Xcel states gymnastics tournament, we had plenty of time left in the day, and were able to do something that we (especially Amp) had been wanting to do for a long time - see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. The Wikipedia entry for Fallingwater is here, and is worth a quick read. I won't recap it in any great detail other than to say that it was designed and built in the 1930's as a vacation retreat for a wealthy department store owner and his family.

Fallingwater is best known for its use of cantilevered concrete terraces built around a central fieldstone core. This was an ambitious and new construction technique, and was not entirely successful. Immediately upon the removal of the construction supports, the cantilevered terraces "showed significant deflection" (they sagged pretty badly). It got worse over time. A major renovation in 2002 fixed this.

Fallingwater from the main entry bridge

The main things that struck as we went through the guided tour were (1) this place is super cool, and (2) this place is TINY.

Girls at Fallingwater

The house looks large from the outside, but almost all of this square footage is contained in the public and private terraces that are attached to every different space (common areas and bedrooms). The common area on the main room that is the dining room, living room, sitting room and library is one open space that would still be considered small by modern standards.

Three levels of Fallingwater

Compared to the common areas, the bedrooms were tiny and would be dwarfed by many college dorm rooms today. The design was really interesting, the way things flowed was fascinating, and the overall vibe was amazing. But everything was small. And this was a rich family's retreat house. The whole thing highlighted how different things were in that time than they are now (with regards to size/space).

Iconic view from downstream

This house is on many "places you need to visit before you die" lists, and I would agree. I like visiting special places such as this, and it was a treat.

Photobombing the iconic view

It also isn't a huge commitment to visit, if you happen to be near Pittsburgh. The cost of the guided tour is not excessive, and goes to the conservancy that maintains the landmark. The tour is less than an hour in length, and there isn't a whole lot else to do here, there than wander some paths through the wooded property (which in and of itself isn't any different than any other stroll through some paths through the woods anywhere...). A single morning or afternoon is all you need to do this.

So you are really just here for the one hour tour (which is the only way into the house).

You should do it if you can, and you like design or architecture or history.

Pennsylvania States - Xcel Gold - 2018

We knew that Grace had qualified for States, and would be going no matter what, but we didn't know exactly what date and time her Xcel Gold group would have their reporting time. It turns out the answer to that question was 7:45 on Friday morning. So that meant a day off from school on Friday, and a departure after school on Thursday afternoon.

The trip out the turnpike was uneventful (other than the fact that Grace doesn't like tunnels, of which there are 3 or 4). We had picked both girls up around 1:30 and were on the road by 2:00. This got us to the hotel in the northeastern suburbs of Pittsburgh by about 6:30.

Running into a teammate of Grace's, and one of her good friends, they told us that their family had eaten at a Primanti Brothers chain outlet just a few minutes down the road from the hotel. We went there to do the tourist thing. I know that Primanti Brothers is the famous place in Pittsburgh where you get a sandwich and they put cole slaw and french fries in the sandwich.

A Primanti Brothers chain store...

We pretty much universally agreed that the classic Primanti Borthers sandwich was....meh. Not bad. But not particularly good either. Bland. Nothing special. Meh.

...and an overrated sandwich.

As for the meet itself, Grace did very well. 9th in beam. 13th in the all around. No bad for a state-wide competition.

My baby's name in lights at States!! 9.2 in Floor.

As always, I am happiest knowing that she is part of a team, doing the best she can, and having fun doing it.

My baby at States!!

This will be a great memory for Grace.

Grace and teammates

The meet started around 8:30, and all the awards ceremonies and everything were done by about 1pm.

We left the Pittsburgh Indoor Sports Arena and headed southeast to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater... but that's a story for the next post.

Late spring Ryder Cuteness

Alright. I'm becoming the crazy dog person.

Looking out the front

I blame the kids.

On the trail of prowling squirrels

Seriously.

This is how we sit on sofas to watch TV, right?

Remember, I'm the one that said dog over my dead body.

Chillin'

But I'm still here, and the better for it.

Hall of Fame Night, 2018

Maybe Justin Hayward and the rest of the Moodies, and Dire Straits (or at least Mark Knopfler, who probably won't show up), or others don't think much of being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (class of 2018), but I do.

The Moody Blues are my favorite band from that era. My adolescent years. Great memories. Good times. A lifetime ahead and a world of possibilities...

Dire Straits might be second.

Good Stuff. And a connection to which will always keep me young. Young at heart anyway...

Moodies... The Story in Your Eyes, also at Red Rocks, 1992. Puffy pirate shirt and all... And more recently, at the Mann Music Center in 2107, at a show that Leo and I attended. If you listen carefully, you can hear me singing along in the background... Or Gypsy, when I was about 4 years old....

Dire Straits, Tunnel of Love, the Alchemy era...

Congrats and welcome to the Hall of Fame.

Don't Speak

Musically, I'm an old fart. Let's get that out of the way. Most good music (but not all, grudgingly...) was created before 1990. Or before 1975...

But on the evening of the day that the Moody Blues, Dire Straits, Bon Jovi, the Cars, Nina Simone and others get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, there are reminders that some great music was created after 1990. Barely. :-)

Gwen Stefani and No Doubt, Don't Speak, 1996 at Red Rocks outside of Denver, Colorado...

There is something visceral that speaks to basic fundamental human emotion here.

Which is what transcendent music is all about...  (And as always, live music is the best music)

Sketching Fun - April

Nothing much to say here by way of explanation...

As noted previously, I like sketching random towns and settlements for our Dungeons and Dragons games (even stuff that I will likely never need or use). This also gives me the chance to try out different markers, pens, pencils and artists paper, and to try different styles and looks. The below town of perhaps 500 souls is in the style I find myself using currently.

A New Town

The other bit of doodling I like to do, on a grander scale, is world maps. Again, for D&D games that we will never play, and worlds I will never use. Often these are nothing more than evening spare-time killers. The map below is the first sketch of a new world on a 24 inch by 18 inch sketch pad, at 96 miles per inch. So this is a decent chunk of a continent, with islands in the middle and hints of other continents to the west and south.

A New World

I do have the intention of one day coming up with a D&D home-brew fantasy world that has a better overarching design thought process behind it (as opposed to the build as you go world we are playing in now). I like parts of the world we are playing in, and am frustrated by other parts of it.

Oh well.

Sketching and doodling and daydreaming is fun. Not the most productive thing in the world perhaps, but a fun way to spend some time after the kids have settled down and the house is quiet...

Map Work - Underdark

As noted previously, I enjoy sketching out town and location maps as a means of mindless winding down at the end of a long work day.

A recent project has been to begin drawing an Underdark city, the city of Nurgilokk. Nurgilokk exists in the upper layer of the Underdark, and has connections to a number of other locations, notably the human above-ground city of Crygar.

Underdark city (Nurgilokk) in Progress...

I envision this city as a meeting place of many races and cultures. A tense but civil trading location where disparate peoples come together to do business regardless of what their more widespread racial conflicts might be.

I envision connections to the surface at Crygar to the northwest. Connections to a small drow (dark) elf city to the southwest. A river connection to a large underground lake to the south, where kua-toa boatmen would guide small rafts and boats back and forth. Kobold farmers in caves to the east and southeast. And the "main road" connection to the deeper Underdark to the north/northeast.

Whether or not the characters in our campaign, or any characters in any future campaigns, ever visit this place is irrelevant. I will sketch it out and have fun doing so. Maybe I'll finish it. Maybe not. Perhaps it will get used at some point in the future in a way different from what I originally intended. That's fine too.

If I ever finish the map, I'll post it here as well...

West Chester University 2018

The third and final meet of Grace's 2018 spring season was held at West Chester University on 3/18.

She placed 1st in the vault, her favorite event, but this was still a very pleasant surprise. She definitely had a set back in vault (and everything) after spending 5 weeks in a boot during December and January (stress fracture of the 4th metatarsal). Plus two weeks hurt leading up to the boot and a month or so of getting back into shape. All the strength training in the world doesn't make up for not being able to be practicing your skills and routines on the equipment.

First place, vault

More important, for me anyway, is the sense of team, and the fact that Grace is a part of something bigger than just herself.

Excel Gold team, 1st place, 2018

It's always nice to bring home a big trophy. Lots of medals for Roth's Crosspoint Gymnastics.

All that's left for the 2018 spring season is States, in Pittsburgh in early May. Grace has qualified and we will be going!

Gratuitous Dog Cuteness - March

It's been a while, so it's time to subject the great beyond to doggie cuteness.

Ryder thinks he's human...

Grace likes to take pictures of Ryder, and she takes some very good ones.

...but he sure is cute!

It's odd. We will have had Ryder for one year on March 19, which hardly seems possible. In a way it seems hard to remember a time when we didn't have a dog...

Evita, GVHS 2018

GVHS's spring musical was Evita. It was strange, as this is the first one in 4 years that Julia has not been involved in. Amp is still doing the costumes, and if anything is becoming more involved and not less. This is the risk of being a great volunteer I guess...

I am familiar with the show, as we have a couple of different CD versions of it, as well as there having been the Madonna/Antonio Banderas movie version. I would not hesitate to say that it is not one of my favorites. And it was also an interesting choice for the school production, as it is basically a one-role star turn, with a couple of other major (minor?) roles.

Curtain Call

As always, the production was fabulous, and I liked it more than I expected to. We had some very talented seniors in most of the lead roles, and they all did a wonderful job.

As far as the costuming goes, it isn't the best show in terms of opportunity to do great things, but everybody looked exactly as they should, so it was a great success in that regard.

The set was especially well done, with a semi-permanent two level stage with lots of movement and lighting variants.

Show after show, I continue to be amazed by the quality of the productions that the program is able to produce.

Postscript: It was Amp's intention to stop doing costumes when Julia was done with the shows; the two of them riding off into the sunset together... That hasn't happened. She did Evita just now, and has been talked into taking the job of Head of Costumes (as an actual sub-contracted school district employee - including the extensive required background checks, criminal history, FBI fingerprinting etc). She has accepted, and signed on for two years. At least. So instead of a volunteer riding off into the sunset, she's now a sub-contractor helping to run things. Funny the turns life takes.

Grace has expressed some interest in the Drama Club, and for her freshman year has picked an Acting elective taught by the English teacher that runs the Drama Club. Personally, I think she's the Drama Club producer/director who also teaches English rather than vice-versa. Anyway, now Grace might be doing the shows in her first year in high school. And Amp's committed for the near term. So now we're doing High School Musical in the fall and Annie in the spring... Plus the upper class late spring production that hasn't been named yet. Annie is a good classic show, and High School Musical should be a blast. I'm looking forward to it.

Eric Johnson - Cliffs of Dover

I get caught down the rathole of YouTube live music every so often (OK, a lot), but the one thing that always makes my jaw drop is this one. Perhaps the greatest piece of live guitar work I have ever come across.

I've probably posted this before, but so be it.

Eric Johnson, Cliffs of Dover.

I was lucky enough to see Eric in Phoenixville with Brother Dave a bunch of years back. He played this, which made me happy. And didn't play SRV, which made me sad.

Oh well. Life is a compromise.

National Sales Meeting - 2018

For the sixth year now, my company has done a large national sales meeting for our commercial sales organization and related support functions.

General Session

Being a commercial operations support function, I get to go. These meetings last from a Monday to a Friday, and have been mostly at Gaylord (Marriott owned) resort/convention facilities.

Dinner Party in the Atrium

In those 6 years, we have done the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine Texas 3 times (including each of the last two years), the Gaylord in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry twice, and the Disney World Dolphin and Swan once.

Alternate reality in the Atrium

In the interests of recruiting and maintaining a world class sales organization, the meeting is first class, and has been both productive in terms of content as well as a boost to morale.

This year, we didn't have any major weather complications around the country, and everyone was able to get in and out of the meeting with no real problems.

I used to travel more for business than I do now, and I can't honestly say that I miss it much, but it is nice to get to go to a first class facility for a productive and informative meeting every now and then. But now back to my office until next year...

Parkettes Invitational 2018

Overshadowed (I admit) by the Eagles appearance (and victory!!) in Super Bowl LII, was Grace's gymnastics meet at the Parkettes Invitational in Allentown PA.

Grace did what she often does, which is to not place extremely high in individual events, but to be consistently good enough to have a very good all around score.

4th place, vault

The Excel Gold team from Roth's Crosspoint Gymnastics also did very well, placing 3rd (??)

Team happiness

Go Eagles! (sorry)

World Champions

It's hard to describe the effect a Super Bowl win has had on Eagles Fans.

As noted previously, I didn't see a single play of the game live due to Grace's gymnastics meet, but having taken today off well ahead of time, I have been spending a decent part of the day watching the game on DVR, and watching all the commentary on the local sports stations.

It's funny how much less stressful watching the game is when you know how it will end. I find myself taunting Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels all throughout the Tom Brady lovefest that was the NBC broadcast. They wanted a Brady comeback victory so very very bad...and didn't get it...but I digress.

It is remarkable the number of adult Eagles fans who are brought to tears by the victory. Calling in to the radio stations. Or interviewed on TV. As happy as I am in the victory, I'm not one of them. Necessarily. Or at least for the personal joy of having won a Super Bowl (to the degree that a fan can win a Super Bowl)...

What I do find moving, and what has brought a tear to my eye on more than one occasion, is the reactions of others.

Beloved Hall of Fame Eagles reporter Ray Didinger's son David coming out to embrace Ray on the set of NBC Sports Philadelphia during the after-game show, bringing Ray to tears. I love and respect Ray...the ultimate gentleman. I have to be happy for Ray.

Stan Hochman, another old school newspaper reporter who died a few years back and never got to see this.

Bill Lyon, yet another of the old guard of newspapermen who is suffering from the onset of dementia (publicly acknowledged), who did get to see it.

Brent Celek, Eagles tight end and the longest tenured Philly athlete, finally getting a taste of the ultimate victory. Brent may well choose to retire after the victory. There couldn't be a more fitting way to ride off into the sunset. Seeing him in tears on the field during the celebration made me tear up.

Jon Dorenbos, 11 year veteran long snapper of the Eagles (and famous magician), who was traded to the Saints prior to the start of the season, failed a physical due to the discovery of an aortic aneurism, retired (had successful surgery), and was invited to the Super Bowl by Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, and who was told "when we win the Super Bowl, you will get a ring." A classy move and well deserved. As noted in other posts, "Ohana means family, and family means no one left behind..." Kudos to Jeffrey Lurie.

And all the Eagles fans who have stories that go something like this: "My dad had season tickets for 30x or 40x years. We always went to games together. He never missed a game. He wanted a Super Bowl win so bad and never got one. He died "x" years ago and we buried him in an Eagles jersey..."

My dad was't THAT degree of Eagles fan, although he definitely was a Phillies and Eagles fan. He saw Eagles games at Franklin field. And never saw a Super Bowl win. He lived through the pre-Super Bowl championship in 1960 (and 1947 and 1948 for that matter). He saw the loss in 1980. And the loss in 2004. But never a win.

So I think of this Super Bowl victory as being for Ray and his son. And Stan. And Bill. And Brent. And Jon. And all those other nameless dads and granddads who passed before getting to see one. And my dad. And yes, lastly, for me.

E A G L E S Eagles!!!!!

The Moment of Victory

I had "watched" the first three+ quarters of the Super Bowl on ESPN's Gamecast while watching Grace's gymnastics meet. Play by play text updates were better than nothing, but...

The Patriots took their first lead of the game, 33-32, while they were doing the awards ceremony (Grace didn't have a very good meet but tied for second for score on Vault, getting 4th place because of overall score tiebreakers). I will have to admit that my reaction was probably similar to most other Eagles fans: "uh oh...please don't do this to me again..."

We finished up and got in the car to head home, going west on 22 to get to the Northeast Extension south. Thankfully all in range of WIP, the Eagles flagship radio station. Merrill Reese and Mike Quick. Familiar voices. Friends to all Eagles fans.

We were somewhere between the Lehigh Valley exit and the Quakertown exit when Nick Foles threw a TD pass to Zach Ertz to put us back up 38-33. The Patriots had taken the lead and then we responded. We came back. Foles playing like Brady. A minor whoop and a fist bump with Grace. But still a lot of time on the clock. Only a five point lead...

Ertz touchdown, 38-33

Then nearing the Quakertown exit when the Patriots got the ball back, had Brandon Graham strip-sack Tom Brady, and the fumble was recovered by rookie Derek Barnett. A big whoop and several fist bumps. A touchdown would seal the deal. But it wouldn't be that easy.

Passing Quakertown when rookie Jake Elliott hit his third field goal of the day, a 46-yarder, breaking his own 42-yarder rookie Super Bowl record for a kicker, set earlier in the game.

Elliott from 46 yards. Eagles 41-33.

Eagles up 8. A one-score game to tie (a TD and a two point conversion), but no chance of losing the game short of overtime. Feeling pretty good, but this is Brady and the Deflatriots. So anything is possible. Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels on NBC rooting HARD for Brady and the miracle finish...

With the score 41-33, Brady and the Patriots got the ball back, gained some yards, and were near mid-field with 9 seconds to go.

Only 9 seconds. Maybe 2 plays. Probably only one.

This can't happen. But every Eagles fan knows it can. We're bred with that gene that says if it can go wrong it will go wrong... And often has.

We were just north of the Lansdale exit.

Brady dropped back. Was rushed and almost sacked again by Graham. Stumbled. Rolled to the right. Longtime Eagles play-by-play man Merrill Reese called the Hail Mary. Ball in the air. Deflected. Batted again. Hung in the air. And fell harmlessly to the ground. There was a moment of silence before Merrill announced that time had expired and that the Eagles were Super Bowl champions. Color guy and ex-Eagles great wide receiver Mike Quick went nuts in the background.

I looked over at Grace, unsure of what had just happened. She gave me a big (tired) smile. I let out a big whoop. Or two or three. Super Bowl champions. For the first time in my life (or anyone's life, for that matter). Super. Bowl. Champions.

Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles

The last 10+ miles of the Northeast Extension were surreal. Fireworks to the right. Then ahead to the left. Then behind to the left. Then ahead to the right. All over the place. Fourth of July in February.

Justifiably happy Eagles fans everywhere. First championship since 1960. First ever championship in the Super Bowl era.

A few words stuck in my head. "You can't beat Brady in a shoot out".

Well, guess what. Nick Foles and the improbable Eagles just beat Brady in a shoot out.

In the immortal words of 2008 Phillies world champion Chase Utley: World F#$*ing Champions!

Super Bowl Sunday

The Eagles play in the Super Bowl today for the third time in my lifetime. We lost to Jim Plunkett and the Raiders in 1980. And lost to Tom Brady and the Patriots in 2004.

Maybe the third time will be the charm. If it is, this city is going to go nuts. As well as we support all of our teams, we are first and foremost a football town, and winning a first Super Bowl after all these years would be (fair to say) the biggest pro sports event of my lifetime.

Nick Foles and the suddenly improbable season

It's almost hard to believe that we are where we are after our MVP candidate Carson Wentz went down late in the year, but having gotten here, I actually think we will win.

I'll be keeping tabs as best I can from the Parkettes Invitational gymnastics meet in Allentown, where Grace will be competing, starting at 6:30pm, which is exactly the moment of kick-off.

In related news, it was announced last night that Brian Dawkins ("Weapon X") was voted into the Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility. It is a fitting tribute, as Dawkins was the heart and soul of this team for 13 years, was probably the best safety of his generation, and became the blueprint for what the ideal modern safety is.

20 leads the Eagles onto the field

Congrats to Brian and Go Eagles!

Blogging Catch Up

For anyone with an interest, I have spent the last few evenings trying to catch up on blog posts that should have been written in 2017 but weren't.

There are about 15 new posts from August 2017 onward.

More to come (and a commitment to do better in 2018 than I did in the back half of 2017).