Kansas Football Finishes Season 0 - 9 on the Season and Finishes Second Season for Les Miles as Head Coach going 3 - 18. #blog #KUfball

A friend and I were talking the other day about Kansas football. Yeah, it was a slow sports day and a frustrating season to be a Kansas football fan. We were thinking it had been three or four years since Les Miles started as coach for Kansas. Well, sure enough while listening to the news this morning of the Texas vs Kansas football game scheduled for Saturday, December 12 being canceled because of COVID positive cases; the news reported Les Miles is finishing up his second year as head coach for Kansas.

Much like 2020, it seems like Les Miles has been the head coach for Kansas longer than just two years. He was hired by Kansas on November 18, 2018. He coached his first full season 2019 and then completed his second season this year. He is 3 - 18 in two seasons for Kansas. Granted, this year (2020) has been an unusual year not only for fans watching sports but for athletes and coaches trying to maneuver the unusual realm of sports in our COVID world.

Les Miles did not win a single game this year. The closest he came to a win was on December 5, 2020 playing Texas Tech where we lost by three points. The other games throughout the season we averaged 17.8 points a game and lost on average of 30.2 points per game.

I remember back in November 2018 when Les Miles was announced and we all had hopes of a better football team. Here we are and did not win a single game in 2020. I get it that it is an usual year, but good grief, this is pitiful! I read a tweet saying that good thing this weekend game was canceled as it looks worse to be zero and ten rather than zero and nine. Both look really bad!

We have another year, or more, with Les Miles, so settle in and hopefully for his third year we can win a game or two. Even better, maybe we can win more than three games in his third year as head coach. Stay tuned but do not hold your breath.

Update on Riding Peloton Bike, Working Out, and Struggles Have Gone Through to this Point in my 23 Day Riding Streak

 

After getting our Peloton bike on Friday, November 13 (see post), I have been working out daily with a streak of 23 days. I have biked everyday since getting the bike. Some long rides (45 minutes), a few medium length rides, and then a few short rides too. Overall, I have felt great during all of my rides. The first week, or week and half, my behind hurt from the seat (saddle). That eventually went away and do not notice sitting in the saddle much any more. 

What is hurting right now are my legs. Even during a 20 minute ride, my legs start burning and doubts start cropping into my head that I am not going to be able to finish the ride. I can barely push the peddles which made me wonder if maybe I am riding too much or too long of rides each time I ride. So, Friday, I did an easy ride of only about 15 minutes. It worked! Saturday, I did a 45 minute (see stats) ride and felt great! It was a tough 45 minute workout that was intense, but I felt really good throughout the ride. Later in the day my legs did hurt, but it was a good kind of hurt letting me know I had done a good workout.

One thing I have been battling is that my left foot becomes sore during a ride. Almost as though it falls asleep. I have looked for answers and might have found what is happening, but I have not done anything yet to fix the issue. For my bike rides, I wear special shoes with cleats that snap into the bike peddles. I think on my left foot the cleats might be up too far on the sole of my feet. I have no issues with my right foot, but left foot becomes uncomfortable on longer rides. So, I am going to try and move the cleat up, or down, to see if that resolves the issue.

I plan to keep my daily streak going. As we get back to "normal" later in 2021 (hopefully) I know it will take planning on my part to either make sure I get up early and ride or ride after getting back from an event. But, I think I can keep it going and keep the streak going. 

The picture on the left is my new profile picture on the Peloton site. Snapped it Saturday, December 5 prior to my 45 minute ride. I figured I had my previous picture as posted in my November 15 post since Carrie took that picture that it was time to post a new picture. 

Happy riding and be sure to connect with me if you are a Peloton member. As of today, I am following 15 and have 14 followers. It is fun to connect with others giving high fives in rides and receiving high fives as I ride.

On another note, today is my mom's birthday so wishing a big Happy Birthday Mom!

Thanksgiving Turkey with Pictures and my Experience

This was posted on the Big Green Egg Forum too at https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1226480/thanksgiving-turkey-with-pictures-and-my-experience.

Had a fun two days preparing for Thanksgiving. Nothing special, but did a turkey back-to-back days. I used the same process on both. A pecan seasoning we got from our local BGE store a year ago which is really good. We used it all up and I forgot to get the exact name, but I know our local store carries it, so I will go back to get some more.

Both turkeys were about 12 lbs. I did the first one on Wednesday after I got home from work. Sprinkled the pecan seasoning all over the turkey. Stuffed it with celery, carrots, and apples. Pretty simple, but it worked out well. I put it on the BGE with a raised rack. Cooked about 2.5 to 3 hours. It turned out good, but a little black on the top. No pictures from this one cook, but the meat tasted good. Nice and moist but a little black on the top.

For the second cook, yesterday, I did not use the raised grill and kept the bird down a lower. Again, this was another about 12 lb turkey and cooked it for 2.5 to 3 hours. Lower gave it a nice color on the outside. Used the same seasoning and stuffed it with everything we did the day before except for apples.... we ran out.

Pre-picture before going on the grill. Had it in a pan to catch drippings for gravy. Some onions, celery, and chicken broth in the pan. Did this for the turkey the day before too although did not keep it filled throughout the entire cook. Started it off to give a little moisture and basically to catch drippings.

Had to get a picture of my dog helping me with the lookout. He wears himself out going in and out of the house with me anytime I grill. He gets very excited each time I grab the lump to take out and start getting ready.

While it was cooking, did not open the lid at all. Let it cook and trusted the process as I have seen on here many times. Target temp was 325 which it went to immediately for this cook. In the cook the day before, I had a difficult time getting the temp up to 325. Odd how some days I go to cook and it is easy to get high temp and other days it is difficult.

I think it came off looking really good. Better than the one the day before. It had one of those temperature pop-out sticks in it. My wife pulled it before I snapped the picture. I was pleased with how it looked as a final product.

A final picture of everything on the table. Made a lot of turkey this year as we were giving it out to my family as we were social distancing and sharing food with one another. We made the turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy for us and shared it with everyone else too making plates for them and delivered on my in-laws driveway about 3:30 during the day. Ham was done by my brother-in-law and then two different kinds of dressing. I forgot we also did giblets and neck in the gravy which we had not done in a long time... it was so good!

Following dinner, we played Yahtzee and I probably had way too much to drink. It was a good day even though completely different from any other Thanksgiving, it was the first Thanksgiving that my wife and I had together with just the two of us since we were married which in a way made it special.

I wanted to share as I had not done pictures of previous turkey dinners I had cooked. Last year was the firs time I had ever done a turkey on the BGE and it turned out great, but did not take pictures or document it at all. I wanted to get this one recorded so I could reference back next year to what we did.

Finally Have some "normal" back to our lives with College Basketball Start up... For How Long is the Question?

We have had the last few months feel a little more "normal" with sports happening. We were able to watch baseball throughout the summer months which includes regular season, postseason, and of course the World Series. Watching from home on our televisions as fans in the stands was still not allowed made it feel a little better being restricted to home. Then as fall approached, we had the NFL start up and even college football started playing. Again, helping to bring some normalcy back our lives.

I enjoyed following Washburn basketball this past week as we improved to 2- 0. Today, Thanksgiving Day, marks the start of the season start for Kansas basketball. We will be playing Gonzaga at 12:30 pm CST (KU vs Gonzaga). Excited to see the Jayhawks back in action after having the season ended early in March when tournaments were starting. 

While I am excited to be able to watch basketball on Thanksgiving Day, I am concerned with how long we will be able to play. Before the season started, Washburn said they would allow fans to attend and then as the season approached, cases got higher in Shawnee County, it changed where only team, refs, parents, and that was about it would be allowed into home games. Granted, I did not intend to attend the home games prior to the change, but as cases in crease, how likely is it that we will continue to have teams playing? It does not seem likely at all as case rise across the country.

During the MLB season, we would see teams throughout the summer months that could not play because of COVID-19 positive tests. Throughout the NFL season, we have seen players restricted from playing. Now, as we go into college basketball season, a player or two quarantined and that is almost half the team. We have already seen games canceled before they start as players, or coaches, tested positive for COVID-19. 

So, we will see games postponed, or canceled, as we start the season, but hopefully everyone can remain well and safe during the next few months. If the cases continue to rise, I would anticipate to see more cancellations of the season. So, while I am happy the season is starting, I will not be surprised if we start seeing the season is canceled as we move into December and January with COVID-19 cases continuing to increase.

For now, we will enjoy the start of the season and cheer on your respective team. Stay well and stay safe!

Happy Thanksgiving in these Unusual Times... Stay Connected to your Family and Know You are Loved!

 

Thanksgiving from a Few Years Past with Pies from Mom Shirron... So good!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a wonderful and safe celebration. 

We will have an unusual Thanksgiving to say the least. We all know that COVID-19 has changed how we live every day. We were told back in March, April, and May when we were stuck at home that the worst was yet to be seen. They said it would be bad once it started getting colder and they were not kidding. Here we are on Thanksgiving Day and the hospitals here in Topeka are at near capacity or full with preparations being made for additional beds in our convention center as it is expected to get worse. Yes, worse!

It is going to be an odd Thanksgiving not spending time with family in Topeka or Lawrence. We were planning to meet with family in Topeka, but had to change plans the day before. I am sad as I have not been able to see my mom in months. We did see her a few times over the summer where we would visit on the patio being sure to keep our social distance. I saw my sister Betsy and Dina a few times over the summer in the same fashion as well as my brother Tim on the patio while we were visiting Mom. I do not recall the last time I saw my sister, Jennie. It was probably last Christmas the last time I saw Jennie.

Yes, we tried a few times of doing Zoom to connect with everyone. The first time was back early in the pandemic when we connected with just my mom and siblings. The next month we tried doing all siblings and grandchildren. I think I spent most of the time troubleshooting why the session was not working for my Mom, but we got it worked out. 

As we approached Thanksgiving this year, I thought for sure my Mom would want to do a Zoom session to be able to see all of our faces and connect. When I asked her about it last week, she laughed, and said phone calls will work. 

I am going to make a point to call my siblings not only on Thanksgiving at least once a month... I miss them! The only good thing we have going is that Kansas basketball will be starting up today (Thanksgiving), so Dina and I will start talking more often as long as there is Kansas basketball and we continue to play. 

Granted, I speak to my Mom every night on the phone. I talk to my siblings occasionally, but we need to do more talking just to interact with one another. I cannot wait until we are able to be in a room and spend time together talking about anything and everything.

All of this to say, Happy Thanksgiving to my whole family, my friends, and everyone. I hope you are able to enjoy some Thanksgiving favorites even in these unusual times. Stay safe and stay in touch!

SCOTUS Blog, Podcasts, Information, and Understanding the Supreme Court of the United States with Tools to Hear and Read Cases

I have a new found interest in the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). After the nomination and appointment of Amy Coney Barrett, I realized that I really do not know or stay up-to-date on cases that go to the Supreme Court. So, I started checking on what information was available to keep me updated on court opinions and came across SCOTUSblog that sends a daily news letter with cases that were reviewed as well as a weekly podcast (SCOTUSTALK) on typical discussion.

I signed up for the newsletter through the SCOTUSblog site and read over, or skim, the daily email notices. They typically arrive middle to late in the afternoon. Sometimes I skim over the summaries and other times I read in detail. I enjoy the articles that are submitted from various sources which they include that discuss news articles talking about the Supreme Court. It is interesting to be able to tie in the coverage I am reading with the articles from NPR, Reuters, etc. I feel like I am getting a better idea of what SCOTUS reviews and rules on each and every day.

Having been subscribed to the SCOTUSblog for a few weeks, I feel like it is helping me to better understand SCOTUS. There is a wealth of information on the SCOTUSblog site, but I have also found I am interested in going to the SCOTUS web site (https://www.supremecourt.gov/) as it is possible to listen to oral arguments or even tread through transcripts going back previous. Granted, some of it is rather boring, and not being a lawyer, probably is well above my head, but I find it interesting to read through the arguments and ultimately the decision by the Justices on a case.

I would imagine I will likely write more on this in future posts. My interest was certainly peaked at the most recent nomination and appointment to the Supreme Court which sent me down this path to understand more about their cases and the Justices that serve on our High Court. I am reminded of a trip I went on when I was younger with my parents and sister, I remember looking into the chamber for the Supreme Court although they were not in session when we went through the tour, I have always had an interest in the process and cases.

New Peloton Bike+ Delivered on Friday, November 13, 2020 and Cannot Be Happier... Let the Exercising Begin! Let's GO!

I am so excited that we got a Peloton Bike+ this past week. We ordered it a few weeks ago and it finally arrived on Friday, November 13, 2020. I have already done four rides and trying to ride daily. I had been looking at Peloton for many years and could not be happier with our purchase. 

We went with the Bike+ as it can be used for other classes where the screen will spin around and allow for other classes to be done. Although, we are also able to use Peloton on Roku although I have not done any of those and then there is also an app for the iPhone where we can take it on the go to do classes away from the bike.

I have connected with the Peloton Reddit Community and already made a friends through my initial post. If you have a Peloton and are interested in connecting with me, my ID is Havertyj. The whole idea behind Peloton is to encourage you to ride and the more you can connect with and have the ability to be in classes together helps to encourage to ride more. While I have not done a live class yes and only done on-demand classes, it is cool because I can still interact with others that are doing the on-demand class at the same time as me. Today during my ride, someone hit their 300 mark and it popped on the display so I was able to give them a high-five and they gave a high-five back to me. Whatever can be done to motivate to ride they have built into Peloton.

If you are on the fence about getting a Peloton, three days into my use of the bike I would say do it. I am sure I will be posting much more about the bike and my progress.  So far it is going great and I cannot wait to ride again!