Happy New Year!

It has been a nice week around the household. We went back to the in-laws for Christmas for the cousins on T's side of the family. We went to Christie and Mike's for an evening. We also did some running around. We bought a fish tank for the kids. It is set up and waiting for the fish to move in. B spent more night away from home than home this week. She stayed with grandma and grandpa for a couple night and last night at a friends house.

We got word today that Dawn lost her baby early this morning. She was so happy on Christmas with the news and now this. I wonder if they will try again.

The wrestling team did well yesterday at Waterloo. A 2nd place, two 3rds and a fourth. Sixth place as a team, not too shaby. Hopefully, we have turned a corner and will continue to improve the rest of the year.

Til next year,

See you down by the Bayou!

Merry Christmas!

The family had a wonderful time today opening and exchanging gifts. We were up at 7:30am to open the gifts from Santa Claus. He brought us a new computer. Everyone was glad he brought it to us. Then it was off the Nana and Papa's house for the gathering of the Brackens. It was announced by Nicholas's shirt that Dawn was pregnant. She is due in late August. Then it was off on the task of unwrapping every gift in sight. When the dust settled, everyone was happy with the gifts they received. Then on to grandma and grandpa's house. Grandpa had the drinks ready when we arrived and we start off on another round of unwrapping gifts. Again, we all loved what we received.

On a side note, the Bayou Steelers won MNFFL Super Bowl VIII over the Donut Holes 70-39. It was the first time since MNFFL II that the Steelers won the big game. Congratulations to me!!!!!Now I will have to go order my Championship ring.

Til next time,

Merry Christmas from the Bayou!

What a week. There are things they cant teach you in school, and one of them is how to deal when tragedy hits your school. I did not hear about it til Wednesday morning on the radio while I was driving to school. One of Mogadore's graduates raped his ex-girlfriend, who is in one of my classes this year. She is 17, so I will not write her name. Once he left her house, he was chased by police. He ran his car off the road. Before the police could reach him, he shot and killed himself.
The school was shaken up, but relieved that she was going to be ok. She was treated and released from a local hospital the same night. She was not in school either wednesday or thursday. My prayers are with her this Christmas season. Also, my prayers go out to Doug's family. He was one of my first 7th graders I had in class as a teacher. He was always kind and polite towards me. It was truely a sad day in Mogadore.
So, Thursday had to be better right? Well, it was not on the scale of the day before, but the day was weird. I had been getting the idea from Chris Adams, Mogadore's treasurer, that we would be getting new mats for the wrestling team. Well, Rich shot that down again. I got word that Bretton was in a fight. He will be out of school for the first three days of the new year. That means he can not wrestle in the Northwest Tournament. Then Josh quit the team, saying he does not have fun anymore. So, the team went to Streetsboro and got waxed by Streetsboro and Salem. What a way to start Christmas break.
Yesterday, the coaches talked Josh into stay on the team. We had a team meeting and got something cleared up. Hopefully, thing will be better for the Waterloo Tournament next week. After practice I did finish Christmas shopping.
Tonight, we are going out with the Yosts. We will meet them somewhere near Chapel Hill. It should be fun. Also, we are the two teams left in the MNFFL Super Bowl VIII. It would be the Donut Holes' first championship or Bayou's third. We will have a fun night.

Merry Christmas from the Bayou

Its beginning to look a little like Christmas......NOT. It is nearly 60 degrees again today. THe mild weather has been with us most of the week.

The wrestling team faired well at the Hornet Holiday Classic. We finished 6th as a team. Joe Bailes, Josh Bailes, Shayne Stewart, Zack Glagola and Phil Everett all placed in the top 4. We will battle Streetsboro and Salem on Thursday.

We are going to put up Christmas decorations today. I would like to have them up for a nice long time, but Jarret's little hands would get them. Next year we will be able to have them up longer.

We are also looking into a cruise next year. It would be on Carnival. However, we are running into issues with the cruiseline. Most of the ships only allow no more than 4 per room and those rooms are the pricer suites. The good price on the cruise would be offset by booking multiple rooms.

We probably will wait til our "08 Crusie" for our next cruise adventure.

What happened to winter? It was back into the upper 50's yesterday and today. The 8 day forecast does not have 1 day in the 30's. Santa might have to use a delivery truck this year instead of a sleigh.

The wrestling team is at Malvern Hornet Holiday Classic this Saturday. Last year, Bretton, Shayne and Josh all placed. We should have those 3 plus Joe place. Zach and Zack might make some noise. The coaches should be busy going from mat to mat.

B and I are going around about homework again tonight. T has a dinner tonight, so she is missing out. B doesnt want to do the homework for me. T gets to help her in the morning. Most days she wont do her homework until I get home. I dont understand her at times. She will fly off the handle when she doesnt get her way.

Anyways, until next time,

See you down by the Bayou

Sorry it has been so long since my last blog. I wish I could update this blog at school.

I did manage to attend all 6 state championship games last weekend. Keith did not attend 1, so I have that hanging over his head. He will hear about this all next summer. I did save some $$ along the way. I bought a ticket to the D4 game ($7) and 2 tickets to the D6 game and 1 to the D2 game for $25. I paid for parking at PBTS for the first game ($3) but not at Fawcett or the night game at PBTS. I sold my extra D6 ticket ($7), so day one cost me only $28 for 3 games and parking. Saturday was even cheaper. I paid to park at Fawcett for the early game ($3). A guy gave me a ticket to the D5 game. I sat with someone I meet walking to the stadium. He had a group of friends to sit with, so I joined them. He ended up giving me tickets to the D3 and D1 games. I paid for parking at PBTS ($3) for the afternoon game. I avoided the pay lots for the night game back at Fawcett. So, I spent $34 and tickets and parking, and $6 on food....$40 for 6 games, not too bad.

The wrestling team finally had a meet this week. We wrestled at Waterloo on Thursday. The weather turned bad on Thursday but we had school. The team lost to Woodridge but beat Waterloo on a tie-breaker. Zack Kittle pinned his kid from Woodridge in his first ever wrestling match.

The team was at Conventry on Saturday. The beat Conventry and Ellet. 3-1 on the year....not toobad. The junior high was at Northwest Tournament. Joe Scarlaro placed 4th.

The Buckeyes finally know the Gators will be in Glendale, AZ on Jan. 8th. Good Luck Bucks!

Til next time, hopefully sooner than later,

See you down by the bayou.

Winter starts tomorrow, but the preview is tonight. The temp has been in the 60's all week, until shortly after 3pm today. The temp is dropping and the wind is picking up. The forcast includes thunderstorms, rain, ice and snow over the next 48 hours.'

The state football finals start tomorrow. There are 3 games tomorrow and 3 games Saturday. The change in weather will effect how the games are played. I will be at all 6 games. I will be able to rub it in Big Keith face that I went to all games while he was off picking up a door in Amish country.

We went out to the Olive Garden tonight. We had some gift cards to use and T did not want to cook dinner. She will be cooking chilli tomorrow for me. I will grab a bit to eat between games. I might need dry clothes as well.

It was a tough week for my brother and brother in law. Both spent time at Aultman. Jeff went to ER with a heart thing. Its wasnt a heart attck but he should see Dr. Rowley often to get checked out. Tim had a blood clot in his lungs. He is now out, but got a 3 day stay at Hotel Aultman.

B went to her first othodonist appointment today. She will go back in 6 months. They dont seem to be in a rush to do anything to her mouth yet. I cant relate to any of this because I never had braces.

Til next month.....See you down by the Bayou.

The season ended for the Cats friday night. They looked bad. No running game. No passing game. Good Luck to Shadyside next week. I cant wait to go to all the games. 6 games in 2 days...not much better in high school sports. I will miss talking football with Big Keith. He will not be able to go to all the games. I will go solo, but I bet I hook up with some others fans.

We had a good Thanksgiving. We split time between Dawn's and the in laws. Too much food, but that is what the day is all about. Plus, the Cowboys won!

I got the lights up on friday. The weather has been in the upper 50's since wednesday.

My brother in law is in the hospital. He is having trouble with blood clots. This not the first time, but still serious heath issue.

I hate the fact Mogadore blocked blogger.com. The kids today watched "Kramer" yell the "n" word on youtube.com but we have to block blogger.com

Anywasy, tonight was part 2 of parent/teacher conferences. I had 3. That is the most I have had in one night in years. I am glad parents take time to come in a check on their students.

Wrestling season is underway. We will have to wait until football season is over to have a full team. We should have 9 varsity and 3 junior high. That is a tad bit down from last year. Our first meet is at Waterloo with Woodridge on Dec 7. The football player might only have 3 days of practice if they make it to the state game.

Eddie Roberts might have me take pictures at the Mogadore game this friday. He doesnt want to drive to New Phil for $20 a picture. It would be nice to see my work in the newspaper.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from the Bayou.

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!!

Friday Night Lights: The Cats defeated Columbiana 21-14. They played one of their best games of the season. They will play Shadyside in New Philadelphia on Friday night.

Saturday Afternoon: First, I hate Brent Musberger as an announcer. He should never be allowed in a TV booth again. With that said.......The Buckeyes are Big Ten Champions and heading to Glendale, AZ for the National Championship game. The victory over the school up north was sweet. However, it was difficult to watch at time. Troy Smith and the Buckeyes did it again. They hit big play after big play to win the game. A thank you to Massillon Washington's Shawn Crable. He hit Troy Smith in the helmet with his helmet. The result was 15 yards and a first down.

The Pick 4 in Ohio yesterday was 4239. The final score of the Ohio State game 42-39.

Today....The Cowboys beat the Colts 21-14. I figured there was no way the Colts would lose to the Cowboys. I was wrong. My cousin Wes went to the game today and cheered the Boys on to victory!!!


Til tomorrow....See you down by the Bayou.

Ok, first off, Mogadore Local Schools blocked Bloggger.com. You can still watch youtube.com but blogger. com is blocked. Figure that one out.

Second, this is the greatest football weekend I can remember in a long time. It might never get this good again. Tomorrow night Mogadore plays Columbiana for the Reg. 21 Championship in Ravenna. The 'Cats have not won the regional title since 2002. Then about 17 or so hours later, The Buckeyes from The Ohio State University will play the team up north for all the marbles. Then less than 24 hours later the Cleveland Browns take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. It doesnt get better than that!

Third, I had parent/teacher conferences tonight. It was a waste for me. I requested 7 or 8 conferences and had none scheduled for tonight.

Latestly, wrestling practice started this week. We are not able to workout in the fieldhouse until football season is over. It is a good problem to have. I will gladly wait unitl December to have a full team and the mats out to stay. Right now we are rolling them out, practicing, then rolling them back up. We have 3 junior high team members and 10 varsity. I think we will lose 1 junior high and 2 varisty before the end of the season.

Go Cats!

Go Buckeyes!

Go Cowboys!

See you next time, Down by the Bayou.

Thursday and nothing new going on today.

We are spending the night at the in-laws. T took the kids (no school today) to her parents. Their mission is to clean out boxes in the garage. These boxes were placed there 12 years ago when they moved into the house. I am guessing there is not much in these boxes. If you havent used it in 12 years, you might not need it now.

We are also going to fix the brakes on my Ion. The front end need some work as well and it needs tires before the snow flies.

Tomorrow is the big game. We are playing Cuyahoga Heights in Bedford. We are 4-0 agains them, all in the playoffs. We beat them at their stadium last year in round 1. Go Cats!

We had parent-teacher conference last night. 99% good things said about B and K. B needs to work on neatness when writing. It is good to hear good things about the kids. It validates what T and I are doing as parents.

Til Tomorrow---

See you down by the Bayou

It is over......Election season ended yesterday. I cant wait for 2,4 and 6 years when we can vote out all the Democrats that promise everyone the world then fail to deliver. I am glad to see Ohio is going smoke free. Now, if we can work on getting casinos to Ohio without messing around with the constitution. One day only Ohio and Utah will not have casinos.

Let's start off with the bad...........Perry, Kent State and Dallas......enough said.

Ohio State avoided being on this list. They will need to step it up when Michigan rolls into town in 2 weeks.

Mogadore handled Lucas 33-14. They will meet Cuyahoga Heights Friday at Bedford Stadium. The Cats are 4-0 in the playoffs against the Redskins.

We went up to Streetsboro for the weekend. We had a clam bake. The weather was beautiful for November. John wanted just family for a retirement party.

Is it me, or can you not wait until Wednesday? I hate political ads on TV, radio and in the newspaper. I can only think of one "positive" ad I have seen. Mind you I plan to vote tomorrow, but not many if any, ads sway my vote.

Get out and vote tomorrow!!!!!

Welcome to November. Tonight is the first night of the OHSAA playoffs. Division 2, 4, and 6 play tonight. Mogadore will host Lucas tonight. Massillon Perry will host Massillon Washington tomorrow night. It will be the first time Washington has played at Perry Stadium. The game is a sell out, 10,000+. The weather will be cold. The temp is around freezing right now, and only will get colder. Good thing I have my long johns to keep me warm.

Sunday we will go to the in-laws to celebrate my father in laws retirement from GE. He does not want a big party. He is not yet 60, so he doesnt think he is "retired" from working. Right now he is working at Kevin's hobby shop. He only wants his family to have a nice dinner together to celebrate.

Found out today our neighbors are asking $116900 for there house. Good Luck. There are several houses in the neighborhood for less than that. I hope for them they get it, but they may have to wait awhile.

Have a good weekend...see you down by the Bayou!

Just a note about yesterday in Ohio...When I drove to work is was 32 degrees, on my return trip home it was 72 degrees. Where else but Ohio can you have a 40 degree differential in temp in one day?

I did mow the lawn and mulched up the leaves as well. Also, saw a real estate agent put up a sign in Sean and Chelsey's yard. That puts the number of house in our neighborhood at a dozen. It will be sad to see them leave. The kids love playing with Tristan and it is nice have neighbors our age.

T worked last night. She will not get to work many weekdays when wrestling season starts in a couple of weeks. We will start practice in 2 weeks. I cant believe this is my 4th year coaching wrestling. I did not think I would go past the first year.

If it is Monday then it must be sunny. NE Ohio will be in the 60's today. Of course this is after a weekend of everything from lighting to snow, in the same afternoon. The Kent St/Ohio U game was suspended because of weather.

My neighbor's tree fell onto the fence and bent it up pretty good. I helped Sean and his dad clean up the mess. That makes 6 trees that have come down this year in my yard. I will have to mow today. I need to mulch up the leaves.

Yesterday was trick or treat. I had a cheerleader, pirate and a skunk this year. We had a good party at mom and dad's. All the cousin, except Noah, went trick or treating together.

Mogadore beat EC 6-0 in a mud pit. Perry beat GlenOak and Massillon beat McKinley. Mogadore will play Lucas in the first round of OHSAA playoffs. Massillon will travel to Perry and all the Massillon fans are whining about not enough seats for ALL their fans. Too bad for them, maybe if they won more games they could host a playoff game.

Tony Romo for President. If he keeps this up, the Boys have a shot a the playoffs.

Rainy weather will hamper my sports weekend. Rain is scheduled for tonight's Mogadore/East Canton game and tomorrow's Kent St/Ohio U game. Sunday the sun is scheduled to shine for trick or treat. My kids should be good at trick or treat after the haul they got at Atwood last month.

The Bayou Steelers are in the playoff hunt. We are 3-4, but have won our last 2 games. Leon Washington has been a great help to the team.

See you down by the bayou....

Happy Hump Day.

Welcome to another week in your life.

Busy weekend. I got up early Saturday morning and drove to Ann Arbor. I was at Jared by 11:30. We headed over to this parents house and tailgated and parked cars until the Michigan game started at 3:30. Then we headed into Detroit for Game 1 of the World Series. Appartly someone forgot to tell the Tigers, Game 1 was on Saturday. Reyes mowed down 17 Tigers at one point. It was fun to be the stadium for a World Series game.

I now have been to a Super Bowl, World Series, All-Star Game, College Bowl Games, NCAA Tournament games, and a D3 National Championship game. Not to bad.

TGIF

This week was nice and long. I had to head to the camper to help put away the camper and boat. The weather was not nearly as good as it could have been. I am just hoping for good weather for Game 1 between St. Louis and Detroit.

Mogadore plays Waterloo.......ho hum. It should be over early. It is senior night and all senior will start. Perry is at N. Canton. OSU is playing IU. The Cowboys are on MNF.

B is cheering in the Panther Bowl. It is one last game for the 8 year olds. I will miss the game, because I will be driving to Michigan at the time.

Til Monday...See you Down by the Bayou

Good Monday morning.

Last week was nothing to write home about, so I didn't.

Today, the sun is shining and it is another (near) perfect sports weekend. Mogadore, Perry, Ohio State and Dallas all won over the weekend. Also, the Mogadore golf team finished 6th at the state meet. It is their highest finish in 33 years. Congrats to Nate Tater for his runner-up finish!

The Detroit Tigers are in the World Series. Someone needs to send the Dolans a message that mid-market teams can make the world series. I will be heading to Detroit to see game 1 on Staurday. If the Indians can't win it, then lets keep the title in the AL Central.

The weekend got off to a slow start. Mogadore lost to Streetsboro (the wife's alma mater) 35-33, but the weather was great for a football game. Saturday was great. B had cheerleading. Her team is going to play for the Championship next Saturday morning. Go Flag Gray! We finally made it to Atwood around 5 saturday. We had my cousin's son with us. It was his first time camping. All he wanted to do was have a campfire and go for a boat ride. I think he had a good time. I am sure all his kindergartener friends in Texas will here how much fun he had in Ohio. he even learned a couple of cheer from B. I am sure my cousin will appreciate that.
Sunday afternoon we had an end of the year camper cookout. Good food and good fellowship was had by all.

Rumor has it......SNOW by Thursday :(

Nice and warm today. It was in the 70's today. A front will roll through tonight and drop the temp into the 50's tonight and in the low 60's tomorrow. The weather looks good for the weekend. It is the fall festival at Atwood. My cousin's son is coming to Ohio with my aunt and we are taking him to the camper on Saturday. All he wants to do is go on a boat ride and have a campfire. I think he will have a good time.

Tonight I am going to dinner with my in-laws. T's birthday was last week, but today is the first time they can come down for dinner. We are trying Cheeseburger in Paradise. It is a Jimmy Buffett type place. Should be a good time.

Perfect football weekend!!! Perry won on friday. Mogadore distroyed Woodridge and Massillon lost. Kent beat Akron. Ohio State rolled over Iowa. Cleveland and Dallas won on Sunday. It doesnt get better than that.

The kids went trick or treating at the camper on Saturday. It was bit rainy, but still fun.

It is Homecoming week at Mogadore. Today was "Team Day". Tomorrow is "Twins Day"

Get out the sweaters and blankets for tonight's football game. The temp in NE Ohio will be close to 45 at kickoff. The Mogadore Wildcats are 4-1 heading into tonight's game against Woodridge. it should be over before halftime with the Wildcat JV playing most of the second half.

T and I went out to dinner last night with Jason and Amanda. We went to the Olive Garden. It was a good time. T's parents will come down next week to celebrate her birthday. Speaking of her parents, her dad is retiring from GE today. He started working for GE the day T was born. Today is finishes up his 36 year and 1 day career with them. (Did I just give away T's age?)

We are heading down to the camper tomorrow. It is Halloween at Atwood. The kids have their costumes ready to go. B will be a cheerleader (no big surprise there), K will be a pirate, and J will wear a cute skunk outfit. T and I will be dressed as parents of 3 kids.

The Buckeyes go on the road to play the Hawkeyes. Go Bucks! The Cowboys return to action against Tennessee. The past 3 days are the reason the Cowboys should not have signed TO in the first place. The Cowboys could do without the media circus he creates.

The Bayou Steelers are 1-2 on the season. We are having a difficult time scoring points. I need Randy Moss to get it together and score some TDs. The Raiders play against the Browns, and the Browns secondary is weak, so come on Randy!

Til Monday....See you in the Bayou

YEARBOOKS HAVE ARRIVED!

It is a big day in Mogadore. The 2006 yearbooks arrived today. It is a busy day for me and the staff. We spent most of the second half of the day organizing and passing out the books. They look great, if I do say so myself. BHull is helping pass out them out.

It was great to see football back in New Orleans last night. I was able to see a game in the Superdome back in 98. The Cowboys lost to the Saints that game. T and I flew down for a long weekend in NOLA. It is a beautiful city.

The Bayou Steelers dropped to 1-2 on the season. I will post the standing tomorrow.

I think I golfed for the last time this season. It was not the best round. Oh well....There is always next year.

Sorry, it has been too long since I updated this blog. Since the 14th, plenty has happened. Mogadore continues to win, the Buckeyes won twice and the Browns lost twice. This week is going to be less busy than last week. Last week I had golf on Monday and Tuesday, school open house on Wednesday and the first every varsity event in the new gym.

This week I have T's b-day. She is 29 again this year. Send her a card.

The weather is beautiful now, but at 3:52 it will be raining. Guess what time I tee-off today?

Not the best weather in Ohio this week. The weekend looks better. I can blame the cool/rainy weather on my aunt from Texas. Whenever she visits ohio, we have bad weather while she is here.

I forgot to post the final scores from week 1 of MNFFL.
Bayou 39 TCF 27
Deez 50 Vicodin 44
Donut 38 Pimpin' 30
742 73 Basement 51

This weeks schedule is as follows:
Donut at TCF
Deez at Basement
Bayou at Pimpin
742 at Vicodin

WE WILL NEVER FORGET
Five years ago today, I was on jjhuddle.com when I learned about the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon and then the crash in PA. It is hard to believe it has been 5 years.
It was a mixed bag in sports this weekend. Perry beat Hillard Darby 31-24. It was good to see my old friend Doug Schmidt. It may have been 10 years since I saw him. He and I play neigborhood sports together from junior high to high school.
Mogadore was down 14-0 to Newark Cath at halftime and come back to win 20-14 in OT. Good job 'Cats. they play Rootstown this friday night.
The big game between Ohio State and Texas was not really a game at all. The Buckeyes rolled 24-7. They play Cincinnati next week. I listened to the game at our camper. It was a treat listening to Paul Keels call the game.
The Bayou Steelers are winning their MNFFL game against TCF. We can still score points with Randy Moss and Antonio Gates (Kent State grad). TCF has TJ Duckett.
Of course Dallas and Cleveland lost. The Cowboys game was so bad, it caused me to mow my grass so I did not have to watch.
Today is golf Monday. I will let you know how I did tomorrow.

Another beautiful day in Ohio. It is football friday, but Mogadore plays Newark Catholic tomorrow. That game kicks off about an hour before the game between The Ohio State Univeristy and Texas. I will be taking K to the Perry/Darby game tonight. Perry is celebrating 50 year of football.

I will be heading down to the camper for Camper Wash Day. B has cheerleading in the morning and then we will head south to the campground.

Dallas opens there season against Jacksonville on Sunday. The Cowboys need to return to the playoffs and the Superbowl.

Here are the starters for the Bayou Steelers:

K: Vanderjagt
QB: Brady
Def: Tampa
Position Players: S. Jackson, R. Johnson, L. Fitzgerald, R. Moss, A. Gates.

Day 3 and counting....

It is a beautiful day here in NE Ohio and only 2 more days til the Buckeyes take on the Longhorns. Go Bucks!!! Also, there is the Mogadore vs Newark Catholic game Saturday night. I am not sure who picked the game time for this one. I doubt there will be a big crowd for a high school game while the Bucks are playing.

Day 2 of school and Day 1 of my newly created blog.

Yesterday started year number 8 at Mogadore HS. My class schedule is the same as the last 6 years. I am still in the same room as last year, but my new room will be done by spring break.

Tomorrow starts the MNFFL season and the NFL season. The Bayou Steelers, Basement Boys, Pimpin' Pioneers, Deez Nutts, 742 Ho's, Vicodin Addicts, Donut Holes and Tony's Chicago Family will be competing for the MNFFL Super Bowl VIII.

The Bayou Steelers will be lead by Tom Brady, S. Jackson, R. Johnson, R. Moss and others to win their third MNFFL Superbowl. We have not won it since SB II.

(Please excuse any typos in the blog. I generally type first and dont alway catch my mistakes)