A couple months ago I put out a quick post about Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame nomination.

Well, here is the actual Hall of Fame Speach.

From the Chicago Tribune:

DETROIT – Michael Jordan accepted a Hall of Fame jersey, looked at former competitors John Stockton and David Robinson and threatened to make another comeback.

“Every time I see these guys, I want to put my shorts on,” Jordan said.

The former Bulls great was elected to the 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame class along with Robinson, Stockton and his coach in Utah, Jerry Sloan. Rutgers women’s coach C. Vivian Stringer was also elected.

As remarkable as Jordan’s career was, a five-time MVP who won six NBA titles, he said this day was one he never imagined.

“I would never have envisioned myself at any point being in any hall of fame,” he said.

The announcement was made in Detroit, site of the men’s Final Four, on the day Jordan’s North Carolina Tar Heels will face Michigan State for the national championship. He won a title with North Carolina when current coach Roy Williams was an assistant in 1982.

Induction is Sept. 10-12 in Springfield, Mass., home of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

I also found this video on ESPN.com today that says it all. He is the greatest of all time.

I blogged about this before but one of the things I like about living here in Utah County is the depth of the sports program. I think that it is very valuable to the youth, as well as to us older guys. It is fun to get out and play sports with other members and get a little exercise in the process.

Our Men’s basketball team took 2nd place in the Stake tournament and were then invited to play in the Regional tournament. We were excited about that and knew that we would have some fun games. Cami has been at all of them except the one tonight, which was probably a good thing.

We have won 4 in a row in the Regional tournament and had some really good games. The team we played tonight though completely dominated us. They had one player that played for UVU last year, another that played at some college out of state and then another one that could have played in college. It was just bad from the start. The one guy that played at UVU had their first 20 points in about 4 minutes and we never had a chance.

No big deal though, we had fun and still get to play one more game (it is double elimination). We will play next Wednesday, so we will see how that goes.

We went to bed n Friday night with a full day already planned for Saturday. We got up and got going and didn’t seem to slow down until the kids were in bed for the night.

Here is what we did:
Because I coach the young men basketball team here in our stake I have games this time of the year. I usually take Koby and Spencer with me and let them run around. Koby is getting where he can throw a normal size ball up and make it most of the time. He is getting strong and likes to shoot when there is a break in the game or at halftime. The kids on the church team are nice enough to let them be there in the middle of the action, so that is nice. A couple of them even chase him around and pretend to try and block his shots. It is fun for them.

After that, we got ready and went to a really fun swimming pool here in Lehi called the Legacy Center. There are all the standard fun things like a lazy river, kids area and a really big water slide that the boys can go down all by themselves. There are two really nice things about it:

1. The deep end of the pool is in a seperate part that you have to get out and walk a little bit to get to.
2. The water is really, really warm. It almost feels like a spa. I think it was the warmest water in a pool I have been in in a while.

I forgot my camera, but will take it next time we go. They have a rock wall that Spencer saw some kids trying to climb. He said he wants to check it out so we will go next time.

After we got done swimming, we got showered off and headed to the BYU basketball game. One of the good things about being here in Provo is there are two University’s with pretty good sports teams. We have been to two BYU basketball games and two UVU basketball games. The boys love it, mostly because we get treats and they can wear their BYU or UVU t-shirts. BYU played Wyoming and beat them pretty badly.

After that we went and met Cami at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and had dinner and dessert. By the time we got home, it was after 9:00 and ready for bed.
It was a lot of fun and I love hanging out with my boys.

So here is another thing about Utah that is different than anywhere else I have lived.

I am in the Young Men’s program and am the volley ball and basketball coach. They not only have a very organized and well run sports (youth and adult) program, but they have tournaments all the way to regionals.

About three weeks ago, we had the stake volleyball tournament, which our team won.  Then, the last two weeks have been the regional tournament. Last week we played the first two rounds, and then yesterday we played the championship game.

I am proud to say that our young men won the entire regional tournament. It was very fun to watch and coach. We had practice every week after young mens and most of the time we just messed around and had fun.

We came into the final day of games in first place and  in a good position to win the entire thing. Because we had beaten the other team already, we only had to win one more match. If they had beaten us in the first match, we would have had a chance to play them again for the championship.

The first game of the match we lost. Then the second game we won. The third game we were losing 11-3 and came back and won 17-15. It was really great and the boys were so excited. They even gave us championship t-shirts to commemorate the victory.

It was a lot of fun and now we look forward to basketball season, in which the boys are predicting another regional championship.

Ever since my dad turned 50, we started a tradition where we play one hole of golf for every year of his age and today we played 58 holes. It was three rounds, plus 4 extra holes.  For those that don’t know, one round usually takes about 4 hours, so we were in for a marathon day. It was a lot of fun.

We have had as many as 25 to 30 people play with us in the past and that has extended the length of time that it takes to play, so the last few years we have slimmed the umber of people that come to a more reasonable number and today we had 10 people that played. It allowed us to play in two threesomes and one group of four. The last round, someone had to leave so Jaris and I played it with just the two of us and really played fast, in about 3 hours. In all, it took us about 10.5 hours.

We started at 6:20 and were done by 4:45 or so. The weather was mostly pleasant with a breeze most of the day. There were not a lot of clouds so it got pretty hot, but we tried to stay in the shade as much as we could. Another good thing was we found a few holes where they had just mowed or the water level had decreased so we found a bunch of golf balls, but we also lost a bunch. I am not sure, but we might have about broken even. It that sense, it was a good day.

We played at the Mad Russian, in Milliken. It is a treacherous course that has tons of hills  and uneven  greens. We spent a lot of time three putting and looking for lost balls that seemed to be safe when we hit them. For the most part, it is not that good of a course, but they let us play for $1.00 per hole, including the cart. It is a great deal and we cant beat it anywhere else. They seem to be doing some upgrades to the course, but it still has a ways to go.

Here are a couple pictures.

This is the first shot of the first hole of the first round.

2nd round, 16th hole

Here is the whole group.

For more pictures, see the Flickr set here.

I have always been drawn to stories of people doing crazy things and have blogged about a few of them here (& here, & here). There is something about pushing oneself to the limit and accomplishing something remarkable that is appealing to me (to watch and read about, not to actually do myself).

Here is another one.

In the August 08 issue of Outside magazine there is a story about an ultra-marathon runner named Karl Meltzer that is attempting to cover the Appalachian Trail (2174 miles from Maine to Georgia) in the shortest amount of time. To do so, he needs to cover 45.7 miles per day. This will put him in under the current record of 47 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes. His website (http://www.whereskarl.com/) publishes an RSS, so I will be following his progress.

45.7 miles per day for 47 days. That is nearly 2 marathons per day on a hiking trail. Amazing!

There is a great book by Bill Bryson called A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail that I read a month or so ago that talks about the trail so when I saw this article, it caught my interest.

Every once in a while you tend to have one of those days that is just a great day from start to finish.

This last Saturday was one of those days.

Actually it started on Friday night when we went with some friends of ours – the Jacobs to their lake to camp Friday and play all day Saturday.

Our family is just made for the beach and since we do not have an ocean in Colorado, a lake is the next best thing. Actually, the lake has some benefits that you do not get with an ocean, one being the waves (expecially with little kiddos). Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade a day by the ocean with my family for much, but not having to worry about the kids getting too far out in the ocean is one less thing to worry about.

Anyways, we spent the day playing in the sand and on the dock, digging in the sand, eating, waterskiing, etc, etc. It was just a fun day all around.

It has been a couple years since I slalom skied, but I got up on one of the first times and it was great, but the best time of all was watching Spencer (4 years old) ski for the first time. He kept bugging me to go ski, but when he realized that he was going to be pulled fast behind the boat, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to go through with it. He did though and was great. He learned to kep his center of gravity pretty low. So low infact that he never even stood up, just crouched the whole time. It was pretty cool. Koby then wanted to give it a try but didn’t make it as far as Spencer but at least gave it a shot. We were proud of them. They also went on the tubes and really liked that part of the boat.

 Thanks again to the Jacobs for a great time.

Here are a few pictures.

Spencer was ready to go early in the day.

This is the shot and moment of the day. Way to go Spence!

Clay just enjoying the sunshine (and a little chocolate).

Koby and Spencer enjoying a ride on the tubes.

Koby giving the “GO FASTER” sign.

Feel’s good.

For all the pictures, visit my flickr set.

The NBA season is far from over, but from my point of view, it was a major success.

There is one reason and one reason only that I measure it as successful.

1. The Utah Jazz are out!!

This is a huge positive. I hate the Jazz and everything about them. I don’t care who wins, but whoever the Jazz are playing, I will root for them. Perhaps its not necessarily the organization – they have had some great players in the past – but maybe it is more about the fans. 

Here is some proof: 

• http://www.ath1337.net/dealing-with-bad-fan-behavior/
• http://bleacherreport.com/articles/22893-Utah-Jazz-The-Most-Disgusting-Fans-In-The-NBA

Regardless of the reasons, the Jazz did not win the title this year, and that is a major plus in my book.

This time of the year in the NBA is always fun. First you have the All-Star game, which in my opinion is not as cool as it was when I was younger. It is probably because I have gotten older and have lost a little interest in that aspect of the game. Who knows?

The other cool thing that I always look forward to is the trade deadline. There have obviously been some major trades this year with Shaq, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion & Pau Gasol. Today was the deadline and there was another pretty big trade involving 11 players, most notably with Ben Wallace going to Cleveland and Drew Gooden going to Chicago.

Pretty cool and probably good for Cleveland.

I just read an article on Sports Illustrated saying that the Suns and the Nuggets will play the first outdoor basketball game in over 35 years. It will be at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on October 11, 2008 during the NBA preseason.

Here is the article link.

I am looking forward to it.

Koby and Spencer have begun basketball this month (actually they had two practices before Christmas) and they have done well. They both are fun to watch and coach. I am their coach again and have a good time with them.

They got team pictures the first week, and we got them back this last Saturday. This is one of the two of them. I also have one of the team that I will put on here shortly. I also want to get pictures of them in action, but the lighting in the court is weird so I need to figure out how to adjust the camera to make decent photos.

It only happens once a year.

Granted, the season lasts for 6 or 7 months, but the first week is the best and that is where we are at right now.

What I am talking about is the start of the NBA season. I am an avid Nuggets Fan and have been for the better part of 15 years. I remember when I could buy a $5-$10 ticket up in the cheap seats. We would then make our way down to the lower levels and have great seats for a cheap price. One time I actually met Chris Webber when he played for the Washington Bullets. These were great times that I will always remember,

This week of Halloween is the best time of the year because it is opening week for the NBA and that means getting back into the excitement of the game.

I argue with people from time to time about favorite teams of the past (I loved the Bulls of the past and still can’t stand the Jazz or anything about them) and this is one of the reasons I enjoy this time of year.

I am excited for the upcoming year.

I am sitting here watching the Red Sox and Indians in game 7 of the ALCS and thinking about the Rockies and their chances in the World Series. There has been a lot of talk in the national media about how “lucky” they are and how it is a fluke they are in the world series. Ever since they swept the Phillies and Diamondbacks, they have been getting more respect and attention, but up until then it has been less than favorable.

I do not claim to be any type of a baseball historian or anything, but watching this season in Colorado and listening to the local media it seems like they have a really good team that is very focused and team oriented. Not saying that the other teams in the league are not, but we are certainly not in a major market like some of the other teams are. On top of that, their payroll is the sixth lowest in the majors (as of 2006 statistics).
So how do you explain their recent success and whether or not it is a fluke thing or if they really have a great team that was built to last? As I thought about this, I was reminded of an email that I got recently. Here is a copy of it:

Subject: The Secret to the Colorado Rockies Success

Body: The Colorado Rockies baseball team has been pretty mediocre for most of their 14-year history. They only went to the playoffs once back in 1995, where they lost in the first round. Now, suddenly they have won their last 10 games in a row, and 21 of their last 22. They swept the Phillies in the division playoff series, swept the Diamondbacks in the NL championship series, and are now waiting to play in the World Series starting next Wednesday.

What happened?

About 4 years ago in the middle of the Rockies worst 3-season slump ever Charlie Monfort, Rockies CEO and part owner (who lives in Greeley), and Clint Hurdle, team manager, both converted to Christianity. As time went on, they were so impressed with the power of Christian values that they decided to adopt similar values on a team level. They now consider character to be just as important as performance stats when recruiting new players. Their new clubhouse standards remind me of “For the Strength of the Youth!”

Here’s an article that was published June 1, 2006 in USA Today just as the Rockies were starting their turnaround last year. If you don’t know who to root for in the World Series, this ought to help you decide.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/rockies/2006-05-30-rockies-cover_x.htm

Whether they win or lose the 2007 World Series I am sure proud of them.

I agree with the content of the email 100%. No matter what happens in the world series, I have been proud to watch the run of the Rockies and excited that they are representing Colorado on the biggest stage – As long as they beat the crap out of the Red Sox!! (They just one the game)
Go Rockies!!

I have been thinking about training for a triathlon a lot lately. I tried to start swimming and realized that it is one of the hardest physical activities that I have done, ever. I have a new respect for swimmers and am amazed that they can go like they go.

I have started to swim more and more, but with the birth of Clay, I have been somewhat sidetracked. No need to worry, I am starting to get back into it again. Yesterday I went to the Greeley Family Funplex and ran a 5K on a treadmill. It took about 30 minutes, which is slow. I felt good afterwords though and it will get faster.

Today I rode my bike to work because it is "Bike to Work" day here is Colorado. I figured that I am only about 5 miles from home to work so I decided to ride on down. It felt good. I think that I will do it again from time to time.

I started to keep track of my activities on RunnersWorld.com. I started a training log that is currently available here. We will see how everything goes. I had a log on Nike.com, but have not kept it up too good. Maybe I will go back and check that one out and resurrect it if it has better features then the current one that I use.