Today's football game between SF and Cleveland meant almost nothing and SF played like it. The Browns won 20-7. I went to the game with Jeff, Brian, Chad, Molly and Gary. We started tailgating about noon. The weather was in the mid-30's but no wind or rain.

Uncle Gary enjoying the beverages before the game.

I used my cell to take this picture of me and Jeff. Doesn't Jeff love the Steelers?

Phil Dawson's extra point after Kent State alum, Josh Cribbs, returned a punt for a touchdown.

Ok, you really can't see the player's number, but trust me, that is Brady Quinn under center. It was his first snap in an NFL game. The Browns traded their first round draft pick in 2008 to the Cowboys for Brady Quinn this year. As a Cowboys fan, I was hoping the Browns would be bad this year. But it look like the Cowboys pick from the Browns will be between 18-22.

I thought about writing a recap of the year, but you can read my blog from the past 12 months. So, there is no reason to re-write about the past year. In case I don't blog tomorrow,

Happy New Year!

This light display was spotted last night on our way to a friends house. They had an old truck lit up like Mater from Cars. Too bad I only had my cell phone and the picture is very low quality.
But the Clark W. Griswold Award goes to this house a few block from our house. Again, it is a cell phone picture, but you get the idea.

Stay tuned for my year in review for the Bayou family.

Merry Christmas from the Bayou. You can see one of the gifts my children gave me yesterday, the Jim Tressel sweater vest. I had a very Ohio State Christmas. The kids seemed to like everything Santa left for them. They were up by 7:15 and opened gifts at home before heading to Nana and Papa's. It took nearly 2 hours to open the gifts there. We had 19 in the living room, plus gifts for 19. We did slow down this year and watched everyone open their gift before someone else opened a gift. I loved taking some time opening gifts. J was so excited when it was his turn to open a gift.
We arrived at T's parents about 1:30. We had a quick snack before opening gifts. We let the kids open their gifts before the adults opened their gifts. Again, we had time to relax and enjoy opening the gifts. Afterwards, we had a big dinner. 'Tis the season to gain weight.
We journeyed out today to Target to return a duplicate gift and see about getting some Christmas decoration bargains. Also, we took K to pick out a couple of fish for his new fish tank Santa brought him. T saw one fish she really like, so we added him to the main tank.
Other than that, we stayed home and cleaned up from yesterday. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. We sure did. We are blessed to have a wonderful families we can spend time with during the holidays.

The "Eating of the Beignets" went off without a hitch this morning. Here is a sample of T's beignets. Now, as with most of my pictures I post on my blog, this picture was taken with my camera phone. B ate the most beignets with 6. She also made hot chocolate for everyone. T think we first held the "Eating of the Beignets" Christmas 2003. So, this was the fifth annual EotB.
Now, being a Seinfeld fan, I love festivus. It was created by Frank Costanza to protest the commercialization of Christmas. I love that part of Festivus. We all need to remember the true reason for the Christmas season. Now the Aluminum pole, feats of strength and undertake the airing of grievances are the TV celebration of Festivus. But it is a great episode of Seinfeld. So, Happy Festivus everyone....albeit a day late.

Christmas Break is here. The talent show at school was not as good as years past. But, it was a fun time watching the students showcase their talent.
I have finished all my shopping this weekend. I had some time on my hands because I did not schedule a wrestling tournament this weekend. I would let everyone know what I got my family, but I know they read my blog and that would ruin the surprise. We have a full couple of days ahead. Tomorrow is the annual "Eating of the Beignets". This family tradition started a few years ago. If you have every been to Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans, you know what a beignets is. http://www.cafedumonde.com/ If not, check out this website. T and I ate their when we went to NOLA with John and Kelly. T purchases the mix from a store in Aurora Farms. It is almost like being in there. We will head over to mom and dad's for Christmas Eve lunch before going to church. Then, Christmas Day will be busy as well. We will head to mom and dad's in the morning and T's parents in the afternoon/evening. Then on the 26th, we will rest.
Changing gears to sports. The Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers last night. I did not get to see the game because it was on the NFL network. I did follow the game on the computer. Thanks to that victory and a Green Bay loss, the Boys have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Browns could have clinched a playoff spot, but they gave away the game to Cincinnati. They can still get in with a W next week. I will be heading to the Cle-SF game with Jeff and Brian. Hopefully, the weather will be sunny and 50. Yea right, but I can at least ask for next weather. Maybe Santa is still listening.
Merry Christmas from the Bayou.

It was a weird kind of day. Wrestling practice was almost a waste of time. I am afraid of how we will wrestle against Streetsboro and Dalton on Thursday. Speaking of wrestling, I think were got screwed out of second place at the Malvern Hornet Holiday Classic. We had 2 winner and 4 runners-up. The team we were leading by 7 points going into the finals had 2 winners, 1 runner-up and 2 third place winners. We had more placers and a lead of 7 points, so I am not sure how we dropped to third. I have sent an email to their coach about this matter.
Then I heard about Roy Williams of the Cowboys getting suspended, without pay, for his third personal foul "horse collar" tackle of the year. So, does this mean now every player should get suspended for 3 personal fouls in a year? You pull a face mask twice and hit a player out of bounds, you get suspended. To me it doesn't seems fair to single out Roy for his personal foul penalties. I don't normally get on a soapbox about rules, but this ones seems a little out of whack!
Think about it. Think about players how hit a QB to "send him a message" early in a game. If that player does it 3 times, then suspend them for a game without pay. It just seem like the punishment fit the crime in this case.

That is all for now----Bayou out!

Always the bridesmaid? THE Ohio State University lost to Wake Forest in the NCAA Soccer Championship game today. The Buckeyes have lost their last 3 National Championship games. (football, basketball and soccer). Speaking of bridesmaids, Mount Union lost the D3 championship game. It was their first loss in 4 years.
I made it through the storm that hit Ohio. I spent most of Saturday at the Malvern Tournament. The team finished in 3rd place. We had 2 champions, Josh Bailes and Shayne Stewart and 4 2nd place finishers, Dan Smith, Joe Bailes, Zach Glagola and Phil Everett. After the tournament, I drove to my sister's for the annual Santa party. This was the first party I attended in 3 years. It is fun watching the kids sitting on Santa's lap.
This week should be a quick week. Only 5 more school days until Christmas break. I love being a teacher, but having to take vacation at a certain time sucks at times. Teachers always take vacations during "peak" seasons. The cruise we are taking next summer is $700 cheaper if we could go in Oct, Nov or the beginning of Dec. Oh well, I will enjoy my vacation next week. I guess I am lucky to have Christmas and New Year's off every year.
Somebody forgot to tell the Cowboys they had a game today. Hopefully, this is the last L of the 2007-2008 season. If that happens, then we will win Super Bowl XLII.

--Bayou Out

K's boy scout den went roller skating on Tuesday. I am not sure when the last time I was on roller skates. I have been ice skating, but roller skating, I can't even remember. I never got into in-line skates back in the 90's. I thought about getting a pair when I lived off campus, but got a bike instead. I do remember the day when I was in 6th and 7th grade, my school would have roller skate nights at The Skatery. But, once I entered Edison Jr High, my skating days where behind me. Well, almost. I do recall going to Texas to visit my aunt and uncle and going skating with my cousin at 8 Wheels. I have no idea how I remember the name of the place, but I do. I forgot to look for it during vacation this past June. I doubt it is still there. It has been a few years since that trip. Fuss up, Wes, what was your favorite memory of 8 Wheels?
This is not "Where's Waldo" Both K and B were in the school Christmas program Thursday night. I was a good program, just under an hour. K has a speaking part and B played an instrument in a small group. The program explored December Around the World.

Tomorrow is a wrestling tournament in Malvern and the Santa party. I will miss the party for the 4th straight year. I will survive. I will need to email my wish list to Santa later. We should do fairly well at the tournament. The Cats had 4 guys place in the top 3 last year and all of them are back this year.

It was a big week in sports this week. It started off with the Cowboys coming from behind to beat the Lions. Later in the week, I was surprised with the amount of names in the Mitchell Report. I think it was more or less a witch hunt. I don't think any of the report would stand up in a court of law, but we now know who cheated. The big question will be, does Roger Clemens get into the HOF? If McGwire isnt in, then Roger better not get in. The week will end with the Mount Union Purple Raiders will go for there 3rd straight year and 10th in the last 14 years. They are playing UW-Whitewater again for the 3rd straight year. My brother and I went to Salem, VA in 2002 and saw MUC beat Trinity (San Antonio, TX). We had so much fun on the drive down and back. I would like to take mom down there one year. She, her brother, her dad and her oldest daughter all graduated from MUC. She doesn't go to games,. but will listen to them on the radio.

Well, it is time to go to bed. I need to get up early tomorrow.

-Bayou

I was up early this morning for another home wrestling match. We go 8 years without a home meet and then have 2 in 3 days. We lost to Coventry but beat Akron North. We look good, but still have plenty of work to do.
After wrestling K and I went to Kent State to see the Golden Flashes in action. The were taking on George Mason. GM went to the Final Four 2 years ago. KSU played them at their place last year and beat them. GM's head coach coached at BGSU when I went to Kent. The band use to heckle him while he coaches.
We got ticket from one of my student's parents. I figured they would be nose bleed seat, but they were really good.

After halftime, K was in the "Dress like a Flash" contest. He had to pedal to center court, put on a jersey top, shorts, and really big shoes and pedal back. He had fun and everyone cheered him and the other boy along.

Kent State went on to defeat GM 73-55. I did see Uncle Gary at the game. He does not like his new seat this year. KSU placed a $500 premium on his court side seat. He told them to stuff it. The Flashes are 8-2 so far this year. If they win 20 games this year, it will be the 10th straight 20+ win seasons.

The Bayou Steelers are the #2 seed in the MNFFL playoffs. This is the first week of the playoffs and the Steelers have a bye.

See you Down by the Bayou.

We had our first wrestling match at Mogadore in 7 years. We ended up losing to both Woodridge and Waterloo. We won 6 out of 9 matches against Waterloo, but lost due to forfeits. Look at the coaches in the background. They are all doing their best to help Phil pin his opponent using a cradle.

Winter snow arrived this week. Wednesday and this morning it took me an hour to get to school. The roads were covered with snow and everyone was cautious getting to work. We are looking at another blast of winter tomorrow night. K will be joining me for our morning match against Coventry and Akron North. We are planning on seeing Kent State take on George Mason at the MAC Center.

We are planning to put up our Christmas tree this weekend. With all this snow it sure feels like the Christmas season. I really like the Christmas tree and presents out in our front yard. Of course, the lights in the backyard look good as well. The light reflects off the snow, so it is bright in the yard.

Til next time,

Bayou

Football time in Stark County. This past weekend was the 4th straight year I saw all 6 state championship games. The picture below is from the Division 6 game, Newark Catholic beat Hopewell-Loudon 28-14. HL beat Mogadore in Round 2. The weather was good until the D1 game.

Here is a picture of the Louisville-Cincinnati Anderson game. My sister is a teacher at Louisville Elementary. Louisville lost the game, they brought a huge crowd.

The snow started to fall just as the D1 game between Cincinnati St. X and Mentor. My brother and I left at halftime to see the Oklahoma-Missouri game.

Congratulations to the Ohio State Buckeyes! They are the only 1 loss team in major college football. Ok, so you say Hawaii is a major college. Fine, OSU is the only BCS school with 1 loss. They will play LSU in New Orleans for the National Championship. They now have a shot a redeeming themselves for last year's defeat at the hands of the Florida Gators. I personally think Oklahoma got screwed. They won their conference and beat the number 1 team in the nation at the time. LSU won their conference but against #24 Tennessee. How does LSU jump from #7 to #2? Only in the BCS world I guess.

Thanksgiving is over and back to school. Well, today was an in-service day for teachers. It will be a short week for me. The 6 state championship games are this weekend. Me and my brother will be going to all the games. There is one local team, Louisville, in the D2 game. Paul Brown Tiger Stadium should be packed for that game. All the games look like good games. This will be the 4th year in a row I will be seeing all the games. It really is a great weekend. This is the second best football weekend in Stark County.

We did make it out to dinner with T's aunt from PA. She loves taking us out to a nice dinner. It reminds me so much of the dinner with my aunt and uncle from Texas. It is nice to go out without the kids as well. When we left, I was surprised it took over 2 hours for dinner. It seemed like an hour. The food was good. T and I both had the surf and turf. The surf was better than the turf, which surprised me. But, it was better than Outback or LoneStar.

Yesterday, we put up some Christmas lights. Now, I am not Clark W. Griswold, but I enjoy having lights on during the Christmas season. We are adding some light this year. If I can get a good picture I will post it later.

Til next time...Bayou out!

O H I O

The Buckeyes won the Big Ten and will be going to the Rose Bowl or the BCS Championship Game. They need some help to get to New Orleans but it has been a crazy year in college football. So if you want to help the Buckeyes get back to the BCS Championship game then, root against LSU, Kansas, Missouri, and West Virginia. Actually, only 3 of them need to lose a game in the next two weeks.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

We have been busy the last few days. It doesn't look like it will be settling down til Monday.
Saturday:
The Ohio State University defeated Michigan 14-3. I did not see too much of the game, because I was shooting a wedding. The groom and groomsmen were getting ready in front of TV. I will add a picture of the them in the familiar O H I O pose. It was an overcast day, but the ceremony was beautiful. The reception was fun.
Sunday.
It was a sports type day. The Browns won a crazy game over Baltimore and the Cowboys beat the Redskins. T had to work.
Monday.
I went to school, then on to my in-laws. There was a dinner after the afternoon calling hours. All the relatives from out of town were there, except for Shelly. Then it was off to the funeral home. The kids did really well for the 2 hours.
Tuesday.
The funeral was at 10am. My brother watched 7 kids while the cousins went to the funeral. He then joined everyone at the lunch hosted by the church. My mother in laws is doing pretty well. Jim asked her and Carol to help him with all the decisions that needed to be made. I think that helped her deal with the loss. We will see her today and see how she is coping.
Wednesday
I went back to school. I could have taking 2 day off, but I only took one. Maybe I should have taken both of them. It just did not feel like Thanksgiving week. I went to Brian's for cards. I finish 3rd in the 4th annual Leon "Turkey Day" No-Limited Hold'em tournament. This is the first time I did not finish either 1st or 2nd.
If I don't get to blog; here is what is going on for the next couple of days.
Today, we will be at my sisters and in-laws for big turkey dinner. Tomorrow, T wants to shop in some door busters deals. After that we will be visiting with T's aunt from PA. Then Saturday night we will go out to dinner with her. She loves taking us (adults) out to dinner. I am not sure where will be go but it will be a nice place. By the end of the weekend I will need to go up a pant size or two.

Til next Time,
Bayou

I have been in touch with my mom while she has been on her cruise. I found a neat website, cruisecal.com, that lists where cruise ships are in the world. There are even some web cams from ships and ports. I was able to see her ship in St. Thomas.
T received some sad news today, her aunt (her mom's twin) passed away. She was battling cancer. She was just 60. We are waiting to hear funeral arrangements. T thinks it will be Tuesday. I imagine it will be difficult for my mother in law to handle, especially this close to the holidays.
On a brighter note, I am shooting a wedding tomorrow. It is a former student. He did not check the calendar first, because he is getting married on OSU/UM game day. I am sure I will get updates throughout pre-ceremony pictures.

Til next time,

Bayou out

Here are a couple of images from yesterday. My mom and aunt travelled to Florida to enjoy a week on the high seas. I am sure they will have an enjoyable week. I cant wait til our cruise next summer. I start earning money for the trip on Monday. Wrestling practice starts. We have a bunch of wrestler that need to turn in paperwork. It will be a slow start to the season.

Do you remember what you were doing 15 years ago? I do. T and I went on our first date. It was a Wednesday night and we did not have a KKPsi meeting. We both were so busy with school, work and fraternity and could not find a night to go out until Kent State was closed for Veterans' Day. We went out Friday night for dinner. B's girl scout troop need K and J for a unit on child care, so we had 2 hours to ourselves.

Til next time,

Bayou Out.

The Cats season came to end tonight. They played better than the 40-16 score.

Ohio States reign as the BCS #1 is over. I think everyone outside Ohio is happy the Buckeyes lost. So far this is not a good sports weekend. I will blog more later.

Bayou is off to bed.

Big news today:

Both B and K were named on the Honor Roll. Plus, they both had perfect attendance. We had conferences with both teachers on Monday. We received good reports from both teachers. K will have a speaking part in this year's Christmas play. They both will be in the play. The first and fourth graders put on the play. It will be nice to see them both on the stage together.

Bayou out, again.

A few things from yesterday...

1. It was election day. Jim Holmes was upset in his bid to retain his seat as a Perry Township trustee. He has served 28 years as a trustee. I do remember when he first ran back in 1979. The winner was my 6th grade science teacher. He lost his seat as a trustee 2 years ago and put up all his re-elect signs for this elections. There was some confusion about who the incumbent was and how many trustees to vote for. Thank you Jim for your 28 years of service to Perry Township.

2. It snowed.

3. I went and picked up the new mats for the wrestling team. Wrestling team will wait til the football team is done before we can get into the swing of practice. Also, we finally finished the schedule. We added Ursuline and Akron North. We have a tougher schedule this year. I think this will help us com e tournament time.

4. Did I mention it snowed? It did not last very long or stick to the ground, but snow fell from the sky. Could snow days by to far away.....

5. The Bayou Steelers won there MNFFL game. The Pittsburg Steelers' defense scored 14 fantasy points and I won by 1 point. We are currently in 3rd place. I am not sure how I am doing it, but hopefully, it will continue to a repeat championship.

---Bayou out!

Playoff time...

Mogadore 25
Columbiana 14

We will be playing Bascom Hopewell-Louden. Until this week I had no idea where Bascom, Ohio was located. I am not sure where we will play them, but there will be a week 12 for the Cats.

In case you ever need to go to Bascom, head to Tiffin on 224 and then ask for direction. It is located west of Tiffin and south of Bowling Green.

See you Down by the Bayou

What might have been. It is a sunny day with temps in the low 60's and temps in the 50's by game time. Tonight would have been Game 7 of the 2007 World Series between the Colorado Rockies and Cleveland Indians, if the tribe could have won 1 more game against Boston. I was lucky enough to win the chance to buy tickets. The face value of the ticket was $175. I would have loved to take K to the game, but it is "wait til next year" again this year. The 2008 season is the 60th anniversary of the last World Series won by the Tribe.

Ok, this might not be our Christmas card this year, but we had fun taking some pictures today. The temp was about 65 degrees today, not to bad for the last day of October. I had to mow the yard yesterday. I think that will be the last time until March. Well, I might mow again just to mulch up the leaves from my neighbor trees.

B and K received their grade cards. K earned to 2 O's (Outstanding). B earned 3- A's and 3-B's. She is still putting up a fight to do her homework, but she is getting it done. Plus, she is taking a Gifted and Talented online class. It is a 5th grade advance Social Studies class. She did not do well on her first assignment, but she will re-do it. Her teacher explained what kind of work is needed for the class. I think she will do well with the extra work. She gets time during school to do work and I help her as well at home.

See you Down by the Bayou

It has been a few days since my last blog. Not much has happened since last week.
Trick or treat was yesterday. We had Hannah Montana, baseball player and a firefighter. Everyone was at mom and dad's before hand to have lunch. We watched some of Browns games. They won. They are 4-3 and on a 2 game winning streak. The Cowboys had a bye. But lets talk about the Buckeyes. They passed their first real "test" with flying colors. They are #1 in the BCS poll and Boston College is 2nd. The Buckeyes host Wisconsin on Saturday at noon. IF they win their next 3 games, then it is off to the Big Easy for another shot at a National Championship. Of course Coach Tressel will have them focused on the Badgers.
It is playoff time in Ohio. The Mogadore Wildcats are #4 seed in Division 6, Region 21. They will host Columbiana on Saturday. They beat them last year for the Region Title, 21-14. It will be a tougher road this year to a state title. But I know Coach Adorni will have them focused on Columbiana and not anyone else this week.

Well, we wondered when fall like weather would hit and it hit today. Temps will be in the 50's all week. I am glad T and I did most of the fall packing up. We filled the barn with stuff we will not need til spring. T wants to clean out the garage. Hopefully we can do that soon.
Today in school we had yearbook order taking day. I think it went pretty well. Hopefully, we will sell a ton of books. The staff has a deadline Friday. We should have most of the fall sports done by then. The school pictures should be arriving soon. Once they arrive we can finish about 12 pages.
I did forget to mention the picnic we attended, minus T, on Sunday. Matt Slaw hosted a gathering of KKPsi/KSU people. It was a beautiful day and it was amazing to see my fraternity brothers with their children. It seemed like I was the only one with kids there for a long while. But now, there are little ones all over the place. Hopefully, we wont wait years to do this again. Here is the list of who made it to the party: Brain and Pam Dean, plus their daughter; Carrie and Herb Dean, plus their 3 girls; Carolyne Strand, John Paydo, Dave and Laurissa Roth, plus their daughter; Mark and Rose Bradbourne plus their daughter; Scott Smoot, and Bayou with his 3 children as well. I am sorry I dont remember all the children's name. We did not have name tags. But a big thank you to the Slaw family for hosting everyone.
Don't look for too much more on the blog this week. Life has slowed down a bit. At least until wrestling season starts on Nov. 12th. Maybe I will add a couple of picture blog for everyone's enjoyment this week.
Stay tuned,
Bayou

First things first, the sun came up today and I went to school. It was difficult to get out of bed, but life goes on. It will be a long winter remembering losing 3 straight to Boston. I doubt I will watch any of the WS, but I hope Colorado wins it all. There is hope in Cleveland. Read this from the Indians website:

BOSTON -- They were built to get here. And they were built to be here again.
The Indians don't anticipate that their Game 7 loss to the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series will linger as a momentary tease. Their expectation, rather, is to be right back here in a year, with the learning experiences of this 2007 defeat in tow.
"I hope guys realize how special this was," third baseman Casey Blake said. "The experience was so valuable."
So, too, is the rare roster stability the Indians are expected to enjoy this offseason.
This Tribe club is built around its young, core players -- and that core will remain intact in '08. A glance down Game 7's starting lineup reveals as much.
Designated hitter Travis Hafner and second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera are under contractual control through 2013; center fielder Grady Sizemore, first baseman Ryan Garko and right fielder Franklin Gutierrez through '12; shortstop Jhonny Peralta through '11; catcher Victor Martinez through '10; and Blake through next season.
The only potential free agents from the crop of regular starting position players are aging corner outfielders Kenny Lofton and Trot Nixon.
Game 7 starter Jake Westbrook was signed to a three-year extension through '10 earlier this year. Dual aces C.C. Sabathia (signed through '08) and Fausto Carmona (under control through '13) are also on board for next season.
In the bullpen, setup men Rafael Betancourt (under control through '09), Rafael Perez (under control through '12) and Jensen Lewis (under control through '13) are all coming back.
"It's exciting to know that I'm going to be a part of that and part of a lot of guys who have signed long-term deals and the core group of guys who are going to learn from this and do better," Westbrook said. "We'll continue to build off what we've learned the last few years and get better."
What remains to be seen is how the Indians will handle the club options they hold on fourth starter Paul Byrd, closer Joe Borowski and left-handed reliever Aaron Fultz.
Fultz could be deemed disposable, now that Perez has emerged. Borowski, who would make $4 million next season if his option is exercised, is almost certain to come back, having notched an AL-leading 45 saves this season and two in the postseason.
Byrd is the most intriguing case. He seemed like a lock for '08 and the $8 million he'd make after a 15-win '07. But Sunday's revelation about his use of human growth hormone has the potential to affect his standing with the organization.
"I haven't had time to process how this affects anything," general manager Mark Shapiro said when addressing Byrd's situation before Game 7. "I don't feel like we have the full landscape of what's going on."
What the Indians do have is a better feel for their '08 composition than most clubs at this time of year.
"We'll probably have less turnover than any [playoff] team," Shapiro said earlier this month. "I know it will be less than anyone in our division."
That information wasn't going to take the sting away from the Game 7 defeat. But when the clouds clear on their collapse in the ALCS, the Indians might wake to find they have a team built to last.
"We were running a bunch of kids out there at times this year, and we accomplished a lot," Garko said. "This team has a bright future. Our core guys are real young, and we had a lot of first-time contributors -- myself included."
The Indians will have to make some tough decisions on a number of players.
Does Cabrera's emergence bump 24-year-old second baseman Josh Barfield down to Triple-A Buffalo? Can Cliff Lee and Jeremy Sowers reclaim the spots they once held in the rotation, or will one of them be dangled as trade bait? Has Aaron Laffey earned the right to maintain his starting spot?
And what of Andy Marte, the key acquisition in the 2006 Coco Crisp trade? He was expected to be the everyday third baseman by now. Instead, he's out of Minor League options and must either be exposed to waivers or kept on board by the end of Spring Training next year.
These are all questions that Shapiro and his front-office staff must begin to ponder, now that the playoff run is complete.

There were a couple of high points to this past weekend. Mogadore won big. Ohio State beat Michigan St and Dallas won. It was another beautiful weekend. It seems like I have said that more and more lately. But it will change this week. Rain and 50's for the next couple of days.
I did play golf tonight. Shot a 44 for the last round of the season. Or I think it is the last round of the season.
I did forget to write some bad news from last week. Sadie passed away last Tuesday. She was 12. We all were saddened by this news. I will miss her coming up to me and pushing her nose under my hand until I petted her. I am surprised I dont have a picture of her to post. But mom has plenty of pictures to remember her by. There will be a service next week for her.

Til next week,

Bayou

PICTURE TIME

Me and K went to an Akron Aeros Championship Series games against Trenton. The Aeros won the game we went to, but lost the series.
The Wetter's bonfire. Keith said it was smaller than years past.

J played with all the cats at the Wetters.

View from our seats last night. The tribe is up 3 games to 1.

The fans went all out in their dress for game 4.

I will write more later.

--Bayou

Reader's Digest version of my blog.

The ugly: Kent State not even showing up against Ohio State.

The bad: Dallas's defense against New England......I hate Bill Bellacheat. He is a classless jacka$$. I hope the 'Boys remember this beating when we play then in Super Bowl XLII and get some sweet revenge.

The good: The TRIBE!!!!!!They are up 2 games to 1. They won tonight 4-2.

The bonfire at the Wetters was ok. The kids wanted to go home pretty early. The food was good and the fellowship was good as well. We went to Atwood after the party. We did some cleaning before heading home. The weather was more like fall.

I golfed again tonight. I was "on". I shot a 39, but I was even through 6 and then shot 4 over on the last 3 holes. We will try to golf another week next Monday.

Bayou Out.

Fall arrived this week. We even received some rain this week. The leaves are starting to change color and fall. It was a bit chilly standing on the sidelines last night at the Mogadore-Windham game. Which the Cats won 45-8 for their 7th staight victory.
The yearbooks re-arrived yesterday. The staff passed some of them out after school. I am sure the students will pick them up first thing Monday morning. They look pretty good. This year's staff have big shoes to fill. They need to produce a good book to top this book.
The Indians did not look good last night. They need to take it to Shilling early tonight. They need to split in Boston. We will see Byrd on Tuesday night against Wakefield.
Kent State plays Ohio State today at noon. Then Sunday, the Cowboys play the Patriots. It could be a Super Bowl pre-view. Tony and the boys need to play better than they did in Buffalo.

Bayou out---to enjoy sports and a bonfire tonight.

Somehow I made it through today at school. 6am came a little to early today. My allergies kicked in today and I was sneezing and blowing my nose most of the day.

Back to last weekend, we made it down to the camper by 6pm. The Indians' game 2 was still on. We walked to the Festival and looked around. I would stop every so often to check the score. We watched the extra innings at Whitt's camper. The place went nutz when Hafner singled home the winning run.
Saturday was laid back. T took B to a Girl Scout thing, so it was just the boys for the afternoon. While they were gone, I helped Tim W prepare his world famous trashcan turkey. It was ready by 5:30pm. My mom made it to Atwood again this weekend and she brought some goodies for the picnic. By the time the picnic was over, the Buckeyes game was starting. They went on to beat Purdue.
Sunday was sad. We packed up our stuff for the winter. It looks like we are done camping for the season. Again, the weather was more like July, than October. We even got into the lake to wade around for a little bit. There were plenty of people at boater's beach and tubing. The water was not that cold.
I cant believe I forgot my camera at home for this weekend. Our aim and shoot camera is at Canon getting fixed. I hope we get it back soon. I felt kind of lost without a camera. I normally have one or the other with me at all times. I could have taken pictures with my cell phone, but those pictures are good for here, not printing them out.

The Bayou Steelers are 3-2. Last year at this time we were 1-4 and still went on to win the MNFFL Super Bowl VIII. This year Tony Romo is leading the Steelers and he racked up some points last night by throwing 2 tds and going over 300 yards passing. Rudi Johnson and Steven Jackson have been hurt this year and if they get healthy, then watch out for the Steelers to repeat!

Go Bayou!

Where do I start?

Well, lets go in order of finish. Congratulations to the Cleveland Indians! They beat the NY Yankees 3games to 1 and advance to the ALCS against Boston. They won 6-4 but is was not an easy win. It seemed like NY could score in most innings, but Byrd pitched out of it and the bullpen was great.

Then about 20 minutes later, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills 25-24 on a last second field goal by Nick Folke (also of the Bayou Steelers). Romo played like a JV QB. He threw 5 int, 2 of which where returned for a TDs, and lost a fumble. They scored with 20 seconds left, but missed the 2 pt conversion. They recovered the onside kick and were able to get close enough for a game winning field goal, twice. Bills coach Dick Jauron called a TO just before the snap of the first kick. But, it did not matter...The Cowboys will play New England next week, with both teams 5-0.

I will have to write more about this awesome weather. It was a record 88 degrees today!

--Bayou is out. I might have to call in tired tomorrow.

The beautiful weather continued today. It was in the 80's again. It will be a beautiful weekend at Atwood for Fall Festival. K had another game tonight. Again, they lost on the last play. It is fun watching him play and learn the sport of football.
Perry beat McKinley in football tonight. The game was on FSN.
Game 1 of the ALCS is going to the top of the ninth and Cleveland is leading 12-3 over New York. My "buddy" Jensen Lewis pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th. This will be a big step for the tribe. With a win, they know they can hang with the big market, big payroll team. Funny thing about watching the game and talking to my mom, she was about 4 seconds ahead of me. Massillon Cable was ahead of Time Warner. She knew what was going on before I did.
The Mogadore golf team won the district title today with a 328. That was 10 strokes higher than they thought they needed to shot to win. They are going to the state tournament for the second straight year.
Today was the first day for students to purchase a lunch in the new "Wildcat Cafe" I will purchase my first meal there sometime next week. Tomorrow is the Jostens workshop, so I will be eating out for lunch tomorrow.

Game 1
Cleveland 12
New York 3
Final

Bayou out!

We had a beautiful weekend at Atwood. We ended up with about 30 people for T's birthday party/trick or treat. Almost all campers have some kind of decorations up for the Fall Festival this weekend. It looks like another beautiful weekend coming up.
Yesterday was supposed to be a big day at Mogadore. The yearbooks arrived. Terry Byers was in my room for an observation when Kathy gave me the news. When I looked at them 8th period, I noticed the printing mistake. They printed 112 pages of the MHS yearbook and 8 pages from a school in PA. I talked to both Holly at Jostens and Terry Leek, my rep. It looks like it was human error. The books are heading back to State College to be reprinted. The kids are upset that they need to wait even longer now. How can I take orders for next years book, when this year's book is going to be arriving in late October?
I got tickets today for the ALCS! Now, the Indians must make it to the ALCS. I hit the lottery for tickets. The Indians are holding a lottery for all playoff tickets. I still can win the lottery to buy World Series tickets. It would great to go see the Tribe in the series. I missed out on seeing them back in 95 and 97. I was working for the Tribe in 2001, the last time they were in the playoffs. It also would be great to repay Jared for taking me to the series last year.

How 'bout them Cowboys!!!!4-0


--Bayou Out

It has been a beautiful week. It was hot playing golf on Monday. I am glad Bruce last the scorecard. The weather continued until today. It was rainy, but cleared up in time.
Tuesday K had his first boy scout meeting. T took him to it, because I took B to a meeting about taking an on-line class. She scored high enough on her achievement test in Social Studies to be offered this class. She will have the rest of the year to complete 27 assignments. We are happy she is getting this chance to take part in this pilot program.
Wednesday was Open House at MHS. I think I had 8 parents come and visit my classroom.
I have been spending more time with my brother lately. He has mowed the grass and did some other work in the yard. I am happy to be spending this time with him, but hate the reason why I get to spend the time with him.
The Bayou Steelers are 2-1 after beating the Donut Holes last week. I still am not sure how we did it, but we did. The Mogadore Wildcats are 4-1. The Cats play at Woodridge this week. Ohio State is getting better and better each week.
The Indians will not know who they play in the playoff til this weekend. It looks like the Yankees will be the Wildcard and play Cleveland. The Bronx Bombers are 6-0 against the tribe this year. But I think I will take the Indians in a short series with CC and Fausto going in 4 games.

Bayou Out

Flag Football Pictures

K was the center on the play above, but then received a shovel pass from the qb. He would have scored the extra point but his friend Anthony tackled him. Below, K had pass coverage on Anthony.

The picture below was from action earlier this year against the Bengals.

K scored a safety against the Bengals.

K's team has not won yet, but are so close to winning. But it is fun watching the boys play.

What a beautiful weekend. It all started with a fun night Friday. Aunt Helen came to town for her high school reunion. So, she was able to see Jeff and I march with the first ever Perry Alumni Band. We played pre-game before Perry beat Austintown Fitch. Saturday, we headed down to the camper after J's football practice. It was a sunny, cloudless day in the low 80's. Today, we left the camper early and had a campfire here. The family came over and we had pie iron sandwiches for dinner as we listened to the Brown lose a close one in Oakland. I hope the weather is this nice next weekend for T's birthday.
CONGRATULATIONS to the Cleveland Indians on winning the AL Central Division!

First of all, I forgot to wish Jeff "The Pimp" a Happy Birthday the other day. We had a gathering at mom and dad's.

I don't think the tribe will be calling me anytime soon. The tribe's magic number is 3 after sweeping the Tigers. Maybe it is our turn to go and win the World Series.

Hang on! This pumpkin is growing through our fence. This picture was taking about 10 days ago. The pumpkin is getting bigger and bigger. It will not have a normal pumpkin shape. It will be more oval shape.

This will be the back of our yearbook staff t-shirts. The kids really liked it. I think the front design looks good as well.
The Bayou Steelers are 1-1 after getting pounded by the Pimpin' Pioneers.

If you have time, check out this article in the Massillon paper. http://www.massillonindependent.com/index.php?ID=20107&r=0&Category=8

It will be the first time in 20 years I have marched on the field at Perry Stadium. It was neat to play the Alma Mater and fight song again. I am glad Jeff is playing in the band as well. It would have been great if Dawn and Kerri would have joined us.

Til next time,

Bayou

So you are wondering why my name is on the scoreboard at the Jake. Well, it all started with a simple on-line auction on continental.com. They were auctioning off a one day fantasy camp. Well I bid, never thinking I would win, but guess what? I did. I invited Jared to come down and take part in this as well. We went through pitching, fielding and batting. It was an unbelievable time. We both made it through with just minor aches and pains.

I did a pretty good job in the batting cages. I am not sure what the speed was of the pitches, but they were moving pretty fast. I think I will head to the batting cages just for fun.

We got to see almost all the parts of Jacobs Field. Here I am calling the bullpen asking for Borowski to get ready. After the clinic we had lunch and autograph session with Jensen Lewis. It was well worth the 14,000+ it cost me. Jared and I then went back to the hotel and rested until the Tribe-KC game. The tribe won 6-0. Their magic number is 9.

CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER WILLIAM RUTH
KILLED ON 9/11 DURING ATTACK ON PENTAGON
SERVED AS MARINE HELICOPTER PILOT IN SOUTH VIETNAM.
SERVED AS A NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIER IN THE PERSIAN GULF.
TAUGHT SCHOOL IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. FOR 23 YEARS.
WAS COMMANDER OF MT. AIRY VFW.
News paper article:
"William R. Ruth, 57, Army Chief Warrant Officer
A memorial service for William R. Ruth, an Army Chief Warrant Officer who died in the Pentagon terrorist attack, was held at 3 p.m. at the Calvary United Methodist Church, 305 S. Main St., Mount Airy. He was 57 and lived in Mount Airy.
He was a helicopter pilot in the Marines during the Vietnam War. He retrieved the wounded and the dead on combat missions. A member of the Army Reserve, he was called up to serve in the Persian Gulf War.
On the evening of Sept. 10, the night before the terrorist attack he led his first meeting as the newly installed commander of the Mount Airy Veterans of Foreign Wars. That night he awarded a Bronze Star to a post member.
An amateur astronomer and ham radio operator, he also fished on the Crowe River in Ontario, Canada, where he had a cottage.
Born in Knoxville, Tenn., he was a graduate of Bowling Green University in Bowling Green, Ohio. He had also studied at Ohio State University.
He taught social studies for nearly 30 years in the Montgomery County School system. He last taught at John T. Baker Middle School in Damascus. In 1997, he took the Army job at the Pentagon.
He is survived by a son, Sean Ruth of Mount Airy; his mother, Jane Ruth, his brother, David Ruth, and a sister, Martha Ruth, all of Alliance, Ohio. A son Chad Ruth, died in 1999.

William Ruth was my mom's second cousin. She remember playing with him at family function while she was growing up. My mom, for years, had gone to cousins lunch in Alliance and she would have lunch with Jane Ruth and other cousins. Although, I am not sure I ever met him, but it bring home the events of today. When we were in DC 2 years ago for Labor Day, we went to the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery and saw his name on it.

God Bless all who have fallen in the line of duty and the innocent live lost 6 years ago today.

Picture Time

In this day and age of Homeland Security, how secure is CAK? This is a picture from the rental car location. If you can scale a 8 foot fence, you can get onto the tarmac. By the way, that is not the SUV we had for the weekend in NYC.

This picture is from our seats at Yankee Stadium. They weren't too bad, except for costing $40 per seat. The weather was beautiful for the entire weekend.

B is modeling our gameday shirts. I made up the design and Ritchies printed them. I thought it would be a neat idea for all 8 of us to wearing the same shirt for the game. Even, Jared had one on.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET. Hopefully, that still rings true. Sometimes I wonder. Six years ago we were attacked. Thousands lost their lives that day and the days following. Now, we are losing soldiers everyday. We need to get the job done. I doubt this will happen with the Democrats in control of the House and Senate. They want to be done with this war. Yet, if we leave now, we will be open to future attacks. I guess I hope I'm not in New York, Chicago, or LA when the next wave of attacks happen. We knew Osama bombed the WTC in 1993 and President Clinton did basically nothing to stop these attacks.

Kudos to MSNBC for replaying, in real time, the events of Sept. 11, 2001. It was bone chilling to watch the events unfold again. We went into the PATH station located in the WTC site and you could not help but feel like you were on hallowed grounds. Being there last weekend, brought a new sense of what happened 6 years ago. Please, President Bush and congress get the job done right the first time.

Til next time,

Bayou

Today was the first day of school. This is the first day in the new building. There are minor things to be completed, but the building looks nice. I have a new schedule for the first time in 7 years. I have 2 junior high class to start the day. There is no longer rotation class, but full semester junior high technology education. I still have yearbook, photo and high school technology education class, but at different times than last year.
New York Trip review.
This was the 13th Labor Day trip. We returned to the Bronx, mainly for my sons. They needed to see a game in Yankee Stadium, before it becomes the "old" Yankee Stadium. I picked up our rental SUV (Durango) on my way home from school. The kids loved it. T and I loved it. It has 3rd row seating, which our kids love. It took about 8 hours to drive to Piscataway, NJ. The Drive was peaceful. The kids had plenty to do during the drive. We stayed at the Radisson.
Saturday we slept in. Jared and his family arrived at the hotel about 10. We drove over to Staten Island. We took the ferry into New York. The kids saw the Statue of Liberty as we sailed by. We walked to the WTC center. It was moving to say the least. We then headed to Coney Island for a Nathan's hot dog. We could have stayed there and watched a minor league game, but we headed back into the city. We went and found a statue to Balto. B read a story on Balto last year and wanted to see the statue in Center Park. Jared spotted Abe Vigoda walking just outside Center Park.
Sunday morning we left early for Yankee Stadium. We were able to get into Monument Park. It was like walking into a baseball history book. The game was a blow out for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The won 8-2. The Rays are K's second favorite team right now. We saw them play last year on the cruise.
Monday we let the kids swim before heading home. We only made one stop near State College. The kids slept most of the first part of the trip so I kept on driving. We arrive back around 7pm. All in all, it was a fun trip. It is now time to start planning next year's trip.

Labor Day Trip 2007! We just got back from our annual baseball trip. It was a full group this year, 8 in all. I don't think we will take the kids again next year. It was a handful with them. Normally, it is an adults only trip.

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

Something is missing. It was difficult to look at the NYC skyline without the WTC buildings standing over Manhattan. We did walk to Ground Zero. It was an unreal site even 6 years after the attacks. We went to the church that withstood the attacks. It has a very small sample of stuff left at the site in the days and months after Sept. 11, 2001. This was my first trip to NYC since 1999 and seeing a big hole brought back memories of that day.

After we visited Ground Zero, we hoped an a subway and went to Coney Island. Jared thought it would be neat to at Nathan's Original stand. We picked the wrong day. There was a ton of people eating hot dogs. BTW, the hot dogs were pretty good.
Sports news today: Michigan lost to Appalachian State (1AA). It is the first time a 1AA school beat a ranked 1A school. Ohio State beat YSU handily 38-6. Mogadore won 42-0 over New Middleton Springfield Friday night.

The highlight of the trip for me was visiting Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. It is really a history of baseball. One day I will be able to tell my sons about some of the people honored there. I thought of my uncle while I walked around the park. I am not sure he ever visited it, but it would be a place he would have enjoyed. I always seem to forget his birthday was Sept.1 I am always on a baseball trip on his birthday. He really got me started on visited baseball stadiums in 1991 with a trip to Chicago. I think we went to 2 games at Wrigley, 1 game at the new Comisky, and a basketball playoff game at the old Chicago stadium. I still miss him. I will post a couple of more pictures later and a full trip recap as well.

Bayou Out!

Today was painting day. We bought all the paint and stuff yesterday and we finished 2 coats today. We will trim all the wood in white. The shed is painted to match our house. We hope to have it finished next week.

This has been the summer of detours. First of all the bridge over Perry has been closed for 90 days. This little detour forced us to use Nave Rd to Genoa Rd. That was until Genoa was closed at the school or the other side of Lincoln Way. At different times this summer Perry was down to one way while they repaved it. Jackson was closed for most of the year. I hope we don't run into any detours this weekend.

I forgot to report the final score of the Mogadore-NL South Range game. The Cats dug a hole in the first half. SR had a 12-0 at halftime. But, the Cats clawed back to a 15-12 lead. The lead did not last. The Raiders won 26-22.

Also, the MNFFL held its draft this past weekend. The league welcomed Full Throttle as a new member. We are going on line this year. It will be easier for all of us. The Bayou Steelers are looking to repeat as champions this year. We did win the first two MNFFL Super Bowls and our the only team to repeat as champions. I will post the Steelers roster later.

Til Next Time---See you Down By the Bayou

Here is the birthday boy.

This is the backyard where Rich's party was held.

Today was the first day of school for the kids. B is in the 4th grade and K in the first. I went to Mogadore for a CPR class. Then it was off to Price Park for some picture taking of my nephew, Nick. The pictures turn out great. Kerri loved them.

K had flag football practice again tonight. I need to work with him on throwing and catching. It was about 90 degree during practice. Thankfully it only lasts an hour.

Football time!

I met up with Keith Moore tonight at the Canton South game. It was good to see him. We need to get together soon with them. I missed having them at Atwood.