Kansas City Royals Baseball... Can you Feel the Excitement?

Although it does not feel like it, baseball season is right around the corner. The Kansas City Royals had their first Spring training game of the season today. This has to make it feel warmer where ever you are at knowing that the Royals are taking the field.


I find myself once again excited for the season to start. To be able to go out to the ball park in the middle of the Summer and sweat. Last year I only made it to one game and it was the second game of the season. We froze at that game and the Royals lost the game. Not surprising seeing how their season finished up last year (69-93). OK, so last year they did not lose the 100 games that had been lost the previous three seasons, but still it was a miserable season.


In 2008, the Kansas City Royals have a new manager. Trey Hillman, who comes to the Royals from Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan, has no MLB experience. This will be his first true test in the majors. However, he proved himself in Japan winning titles and taking the Nippon Ham Fighters to the post-season. Will the same continue for Mr. Hillman in Kansas City? We will have to wait to see what happens.


Today, Kansas City lost the game today 1 - 6. Ouch! Tough opening Spring Training game, but what do you expect when Grudzielanek and Guillen did not play. Grud not expected to attend his first spring training game until March 8. Still, I find myself being excited for baseball season to inch closer and closer.

Car Totaled and Wreck Update

We received the final word from insurance yesterday that our car has been totaled. We are now finishing up the paperwork to make everything official. Carrie and I will go out Thursday evening to look at new (or old) cars.


Today, Carrie went to the court house to determine a court date for the ticket she was issued. We were to pay it, but now we think we are going to fight it. More information on this later. While the ticket is not expensive, it is the principle of the matter that it was not our fault. The fault was that of the snow and ice on the highway that caused the wreck. Hopefully we will have a judge that agrees with us.

Update to the Car Wreck

As you may recall, the car wreck for our 2007 Honda Accord took place back on February 6 (What a Snow Day!). We have gone all this time not yet knowing the fate of our Honda. The car has been at a local shop for the past week being evaluated to see about repairs and up until this morning we did not have any news other than it was not being totaled.

Well, after they started pulling things apart, it was recommended that the car should be totaled. They have to tear apart the firewall between the engine and the interior. By doing so, this will cause a lot of work to be done on the dashboard. The body shop is recommending that the car be totaled, so it is back to our insurance agent to determine the next step.

I was told by our insurance agent that the car being totaled is on the fence. He is leaning towards totaling it out, but has to wait for more details to come in from the body shop. We are obviously hoping for it to be totaled, but time will tell.

Carrie and I are still trying to decide how to proceed with the ticket that was issued. It still makes no sense to us, but having to go to court to try and refute it seems crazy too. Odd Topeka law that requires a ticket to be issued.

Anyway, things are progressing and hopefully we will learn before the end of this week what is happening with our car.

Basketball Thoughts through Monday Evening

What a weekend it was for Washburn mens and womens basketball. WU played Emporia State on Saturday and won both games. The men won 76-58 and the women won 78-52. Both are playing well coming down the stretch of the season and playing when it is the best time to be playing well so they can go strong into the post season.

The Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon did not perform well. They never got things going in the game against going in a 60-61 loss to Oklahoma State at OSU. This is the third loss on the season for the Jayhawks and about the forth or fifth time this season that they did not appear to be playing as a team. Nothing was clicking early on in the game and they certainly did not get their typical half where the team clicked. Nothing seemed to go well for them on Saturday. There was discussion that I heard about on Monday that it was caused by the death of cousins (or relatives) of two Kansas players; according to Coach Self, this took away from the focus of these two players on the game. If this it in fact the reason, perhaps those two players should have been left behind to deal with their grief.

Saturday night found the Kansas State Wildcats losing to Baylor. Beasley and Walker combined for seventy plus points and lost the game. I did not see any of this game, but looking at the stats afterwards it would appear that no one else showed up for the game except for Beasley and Walker. Scoring that many points between two players and not able to pull out the win; something seems wrong with this picture.

Tonight found Kansas State playing the Texas Longhorns on Big Monday at 8 pm on ESPN. It was overall a good game, but once again K-State could not close the deal. They let it get away from them late in the game while leading some of the first half and starting the second half tied. Beasley had a double-double in the first half to keep that streak alive. Meanwhile, Walker only had one point in the game. So I go back to ask what happened in the KSU vs. Baylor game? Seven-five points combined and then Beasley/Walker only combined for 31 points in this game which was another loss. What is wrong with this picture?

The next game for Kansas is Wednesday night and then next Saturday it is Kansas State vs. Kansas in Lawrence, KS. After the way these two teams have been playing, it is going to be a interesting weekend!

I have to point out that there are no undefeated teams left in the NCAA. Memphis finally lost on Saturday night to Tennessee. So, as we are a week away from March it is only going to get more interesting.

Kansas State Loss to Nebraska Corn Huskers... Beasley and Thoughts

There is no doubt that Michael Beasley of Kansas State is a great freshman and that he has done wonders for the Kansas State team. However, you must admit that the guy is a little into himself. Pre-game, it is not obvious who he is speaking to, but ESPN caught him talking to someone that "tonight was going to be a good night" and that he was going to score 50 points. This after coming off 40 points again Missouri last weekend. Come on now, he is good, but not that good to be predicting how many points he is going to score.

Well, Beasley ended up scoring 17 points on the night and getting his twenty-two double-double to tie Carmelo Anthony for the most double-doubles for a freshman. K-State still has five games left in their season. That is a great stat and certainly something for Beasley and company to hang their hat upon.

Still, it takes me back to Beasley commenting before the game that "it was going to be a great night" and that he was going to score 50 points. This from the same guy that said he would beat Kansas at "... home .... their house ... or beat them in Africa" (see post from January 30 titled Wednesday Night Woes for Kansas... Huge Win for Kansas State!). He tends to make some huge statements and so far has not been able to live up to the 50 point statement; the other statements, well, it is too early to tell on those statements. I am still waiting for March 1 to see what happens at Kansas.

Tonight in the loss to Nebraska, I could see freshman characteristics stepping on the floor. Walker who seems to always cry at every foul set things off and Beasley was not far behind crying over a foul he received. Walkers' technical was just plain silly because he has already scored the basket. This had Walker sitting on the bench for almost the remainder of the game with four fouls.

Believe it or not, but I was pulling for Kansas State in this game. I want there to be no excuses when K-State plays Kansas on March 1.

One Better... The Other One Not So Good

It is Sunday morning.  I awoke to Carrie coughing and saying she was cold around 4 or 5 am.  Just in time to hear thunder and see the lightening.  That's right!  Carrie is now sick.  She started feeling bad last night with a slight cough.  Mine had started out much the same way Wednesday night with a cough that became worse by the time I got to work on Thursday morning. 

 

Anyway, I got more covers for Carrie and we went back to sleep.  Around 7 am I got up and checked my temperature and found it to be below normal.  Which is not odd for me as it is normally not the "normal" temperature.  We then took Carrie's temperature and found hers to be 100.8; she was burning up and chilling something horrible.  I went and gathered all of the blankets I could find to pile on her.

 

It is now about 10:45 am on Sunday morning and we have moved Carrie to another bed where there is a television.  We moved all of the blankets too and we are going to keep her in there to hopefully get rid of this flu bug today.  She is still burning up and running the 100.8 temperature.  I hope her flu bug does not take the three plus days that mine took to get rid of it.  Granted, I am still not feeling 100%, so I will probably nap on and off today while I try to make sure that Carrie is doing OK.

 

Stay well and be safe on this wet snow filled Sunday!

 

Saturday... Sick... and Basketball...

What a weekend it has been so far. I ended up going home sick on Thursday with a temperature of right around 100. I had not been feeling well for most of the day and I did not feel any better in the car ride back to the house. I had started acking mid-morning and had the feeling that I was running a temperature. Sure enough, I took my temperature and it was 100. I called into work to let them know that I was staying home to try and break the fever.

Friday I woke up with the same 100 degree fever that I had on Thursday. I notified work around 7 am to let them know I would not be into work. I went right back to bed and slept until about noon. Well, I should say I tried to sleep. Insurance called about the car and a question we had about how something worked; Carrie called a couple of times to check on me and see how I was doing. I did sleep most of the morning, but it did not feel like it.

At about noon on Friday I could not sleep any more, so I moved downstairs to watch television. I watched part of a movie and took another hour or so nap. When I woke up I took my temperature again and it read about 101. Crazy because the day before and that morning I had been taking Tylenol and other meds that Carrie said would help me get better. So far medication, sleep, or time was doing anything to get rid of the fever.

Carrie got home from work around 5 and found me watching a movie. She asked when the last time I had taken my temperature. I told her it was probably back around 1 or so when I had a 101 temp. So we took it again and it read 102. So, I took more medication, drank some fluids, and lay back down on the sofa. I was not getting any better and starting to feel slightly dizzy.

We spent the evening flipping channels and Carrie said she was going to make some chicken soup for me. Nothing sounded good to eat at all. The last time I ate was earlier that day when I had a left over donut from work. I said that I was going to head to bed, so Carrie wanted me to have more of this lemon tasting stuff that warms up and is supposed to make me better. I drank it and went to bed about 9:30.

Carrie kept coming up to check on me during the evening. At about midnight she woke me and took my temperature. This time it read 103. It is getting ridiculous and nothing seems to be having any effect on how I was feeling or the temperature. We agreed that if it had not improved by morning we would go to the doctor.

I slept well for the most part. Although I woke up at 5 am and could not sleep. I was dying of thirst and my head was hurting. I got up and went down to get a drink of water. I decided I better try and sleep some more because I could tell just the way I was feeling that I still had a temperature.

So when I finally wake up it is about 8 am. Carrie takes my temperature again and it is 102. Ok, so it had come down one whole degree. Crazy! I went downstairs to watch television and sleep. Taking another nap and drinking some more of the lemon flavored stuff that Carrie had we took my temperature again around noon or so and finally my temperature was under 100.

With a temperature being lower, it sure did not feel like it since I was still aking and felt like I had a temperature. I started to watch the Colorado vs. Kansas game and ended up falling asleep for the first half. I awoke to find Kansas leading by a large margin over Colorado. I do not recall the final score, but Colorado definitely did not deserve playing Kansas a second time. Colorado has played Kansas twice both times after KU comes out of a loss the game before.

So, now I start watching the Missouri vs. Kansas State game. Carrie is starting to get sick and I am about ready for another nap.

Until next time....

Tough Night for Kansas

It was a good game tonight for the Kansas Jayhawks. Did they finish it off strong, no? Out of timeouts and no set play to try and tie the game was not the way to finish the night at Texas. The Longhorns looked strong and played Kansas well.

While the game was being played I was playing poker (Blackjack and Texas Hold'em). Hold'em was going well, but a friend wanted to go to play Blackjack instead. This was not for real money of course, but all for free on Face Book. Granted my attention was diverted toward the end of the game while trying to watch the KU game and also focus on what I was going to do with my hand.

Going back to the basketball game, the Jayhawks simply could not contain the Longhorns. KU got off to a slow start and and could only tie it up most of the time. They never really got the lead or were they able to keep it.

Until the next game....

What a Snow Day!

I went to bed Tuesday evening to snow falling and the chance for a lot of it to fall through the evening hours. I awoke Wednesday morning to the sound of NPR saying that all area school were closed, University of Kansas was closed, and various other places were either closed or canceled. Still no word about Washburn from NPR at 6:45. I called the main number for Washburn to check announcements and nothing. I started getting up and about to get ready for work. At 7 a.m. came the announcement that Washburn University was closed for the day because of snow. I went ahead and got ready for the day. Carrie checked her work (Payless) to see if they were closed and no such luck. She was ready for work and left around 7:15 or 7:20.

I went downstairs to wish her a safe day and turned on the computer. I decided to do some work (e-mail and tickets). I looked out the window and saw all of my neighbors out shuffling their drives, sidewalks, etc. It was still snowing and had been doing so all night. Carrie sent me a e-mail message around 8:10 to ask a question and I knew she had gotten to work ok. I called her and she said the roads were not bad, but they were not great either.

I finished doing work and checking the Internet before around 11 a.m. I decided to go out and do the driveway. I first had to search for my snow boots and then started the driveway. By 11 am the snow had stopped and the sun was out. It took me about an hour to the do the driveway and walks before I went back inside. Carrie and I had talked twice during the morning and a few times via e-mail. I spoke to her last at 10:45 or so when she was heading out to get her nails done.

After finishing the drive and walks I came inside to warm up and get something ready for lunch. I called Javier to see how his trip went to Kansas City and he was on his way back. I finished talking to Javier and got a call at 12:20 p.m. from Carrie. She did not sound like her usual self and all she said was "I was in a wreck. I am OK, but my head and right knee hurt. A abmulance is headed to the scene and I will call you later." My heart sank and I asked her where she was at. She told me on I-70 & California. I told her I would come out there and she told me I would not be able to get to her because of the traffic. She told me again she would call me with more information.

An eternity seemed to pass. Meanwhile, I called around to let various people know. While I was waiting for Carrie to call me back. After calling a few people I tried calling Carrie. No answer. I waited a while longer and called our insurance company to let them know what had happened. Still no word from Carrie. I tried her again and again it went to voicemail. Finally at 12:50 p.m. my phone rang and it was Carrie. She told me the ambulance was there and they were taking her to St. Francis. I told her I would be leaving the house and see her there.

I had brushed off my car while I was doing the driveway, so it was ready to go. I got my things and headed to St. Francis. I was trying not to rush so that I would not end up in a wreck myself. I came down 6th street heading East and I think I saw them taking Carrie out of the ambulance. I asked at the front counter if she had arrived and they did not yet have a record of her arriving. They directed me through a set of doors where she would be coming into the emergency room.

I stood around for a few minutes waiting to talk to the reception desk as they were busy with some other people. About that time a woman came walking to the counter asking if they knew a "Brenda" that worked there. The lady said that the woman from room #3 was asking for "Brenda". No one knw a "Brenda" in St. Francis emergency room. I knew that was Carrie and I walked around the corner to see her in the bed.

She looked fine except for a scrape next to her left eye. The nurse finished her work and Carrie started crying. The nurse ("Kim" I think) told me that Carrie had done just as she was instructed to do... not to cry until she was done with what the nurse had to do. She said had done good! Carrie started crying and she started talking about what had happened.

Carrie was headed East bound on I-70 between Adams and California. A line of vehicles were all using the slow lane (right lane) because there was still a lot of snow on the fast lane. She was going 30 - 35 mph as well as everyone else. There was a car in front of her and apparently a semi in back of her. the car in front slowed and Carrie did too. When Carrie did her breaks the car slid to the right, then to the left, and then did a 360 before coming to a stop. Carrie said she was calm during the whole thing until she looked out her drivers side window to see the grill of a semi coming directly at her. There was nothing she could do, but she recalls throwing her hands up as if to stop it. The side airbags as well as the drivers seat air bag all went off. We think that she got the cut from the side air bag opening to protect her and getting caught her sunglasses caught between the bag and her face. The glasses broke in two. In the hospital she was upset about her sunglasses because they were her favorite pair.

Two guys found Carrie in her chair half laying over on the right passenger side. One asked her if she had passed out and we think that she probably did. As soon as she was able to do so she found her cell phone and called me to let me know she had been in a wreck. By the time I spoke to her the second time she said the fire department was there and the ambulance was getting ready to take her to St. Francis.

After speaking to her I got in my car and drove to see her. I called and left a message for Brenda who was at work. I was almost to the hospital when my phone rang and it was Brenda. Or course she thought it was social call, but I told her Carrie had been in a wreck and was being taken to St. Francis. Brenda said she would watch for Carrie's arrival. I got there shortly after that to find Carrie.

Anyway, I am starting to repeat myself. It was a very interesting day and one we will not soon forget. A day that I hope we, or anyone else, ever has to go through. It was scary for Carrie and for me. Carrie is doing well, but she is sore from the wreck. She is taking pain medication and will hopefully go back to work soon.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this interesting time on what was a snow day for me. Definitely not a snow day that I will ever forget!

For a complete listing of pictures of our car, visit my site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/havertyj/sets/72157603865284754/.

Be safe and watch for more little less serious posts in the future...

Hawks Bounce Back to Action

The Kansas Jayhawks bounced back to their look and feel we have come to know and love this season.  After a not so hot performance last weekend against Colorado, tonight, they stepped it up against Missouri.  They had bounce in their steps and lit it up against the Missouri Tigers.  Great job tonight Kansas!  Lets keep it one game at a time and march our way into tourney time!

 

On other notes, Bob Knight stepped down as the head coach for Texas Tech.  He is letting his son take the helm and he stepped down after 900 wins.  He was fun to watch and have in the Big Twelve.  He will be missed as a coach for college basketball.  It will be interesting to see what happens for Knights retirement.  He has definitely entertained and worked himself into legendary status.  Thanks Coach Knight for the memories!

Bad Weekend for K-State Too

Kansas State did not have a good weekend of basketball either. I was able to watch the first half of the game and grew concerned when Michael Beasley went out of the game for a few minutes with a bad ankle. He came back into the game later in the second half which I was relieved to see. Now you might be wondering why I would care if Beasley is out of the game. Well, the reason is simple. When March comes I want Kansas State to be a full force so there are no excuses when they play Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. I want all the players present and no excuses.

This does lead me to another thought that I have discussed with Kansas fans and Kansas State fans a like. I find it interesting how it seems that Kansas State fans want KU to lose no matter what. Whether we are playing another Big Twelve school or out of our conference. They simply want Kansas to lose. Why is it that KSU fans have this mentality? When Kansas State plays other non-Big Twelve teams I pull for Kansas State. Overall, it helps all Big Twelve schools if all Big Twelve teams succeed. This includes Missouri! The one team I dislike in all of the Big Twelve is Missouri. However, I still cheer for them when they are playing a non-Big Twelve team. In talking to other fans I do not hear this from them when those fans follow other teams from Kansas State.

I know parents, friends, and general posting I read on boards where Kansas State fans simply want Kansas to fail. No matter what sport and no matter who they are playing. It makes me wonder why there is so much hatred toward Kansas from Kansas State fans.

OK, so I am generalizing and this obviously does not cover every KSU fan out there. I know that the majority that I have talked to this has been their mentality towards Kansas.

For that, I say go Kansas State and get into the NCAA Tourney!

Monday Thinking Back to the Past Weekend

Another weekend down and we move into the first week of February. Wow! Hard to believe that it is already February. Carrie and I are trying to decide on an additional vacation possibility, but it would mean not doing some other things. Decisions need to be made so we can let our friends know our plans.

Our vacation plans are not what this post is all about. No, this post is about the weekend, sports, and having fun. Friday night was After Hours at Washburn University which is a great even that our Alumni Association puts on here at Washburn. To attend, you do not have to have gone to Washburn or work there. It is open to anyone and it is a lot of fun events. The first Friday of each month (usually) is After Hours. Free food, beverages, and fun with people from all over Topeka takes place here.

This Friday I had lunch with a longtime friend Shayne. I told him that in the evening we were going to After Hours. He and his wife, Autumn, decided to attend. They might just join to be paid members after the fun we had Friday night. Susie kicked us out shortly after 7 when the event ended. Carrie and I invited people to our house for snacks and drinks. We ended up playing games and had a great time. Some of us drank a little too much and we were hurting Saturday morning.

Saturday morning I had plans to go into work and do some serious work. Well, I did make it into work, but my serious work did not materialize until Sunday around 11. I went into work and checked e-mail, browsed web sites, and then went to lunch. I took a three hour nap in the afternoon so I could be ready for Brenda's b-day party that night.

Carrie and I got over to Brenda's a little later than we had expected. We were sitting having a good time when our good friends that we do not see often enough knocked on the door. Brian and Kim came to Brenda's party. It was great to see everyone! We played Guitar Hero II which is becoming a common event for us at gatherings. Some of the people at the party did not seem to like that we were playing Guitar Hero, but it was the birthday girls wish to play the game at her party. We had to grant her wish!

Great time at Brenda Beans! We ended the night after playing some tennis on PlayStation. Fun night and Brenda was another day older. Poor Brenda!

Sunday I finally made it into work and got a lot completed. I worked from 11 - 1:30 and was ready for the week. With work behind me I went home to watch the Jayhawks barely squeak by the Colorado Buffalos. Wow! KU almost lost that game and talk about not being in sync throughout the game, they did not look good at all. Now, I admit that I feel asleep during the first half and part of the second, but I did wake up in time to see the last minute of the game. I then quickly fell asleep again. As I write this I believe the game was actually on Saturday when I am saying Sunday. As you can clearly see, I am mixing up my days from the weekend. It was a relaxing weekend, but also stressful knowing that I had to finish up evaluations for a deadline.

Sunday was a great night for NFL football. It was the best Super Bowl I have ever seen. I was not really pulling for either team, but come the end of the game I was cheering loudly for the Giants. They pulled out a huge game and made Tom Brady eat his words from a previous interview that week. Making a comment joking that someone said he would not score over 17 points in the game. He laughed and told the reporter that was crazy and it should have been something more like 40+ points that he would score. Well, the joke was on him and the Patriots. Still, it was a great game and a fun one to watch.

So, it was a fun weekend and also a stressful one. I am already looking forward to next weekend! Have a great one yourself and until next time...