Spring Break will end in a few short hours. I think I packed plenty into my break. It is only 10 weeks until summer break.
Here is a recap of the last couple of days. Friday, I picked up a rental car for my weekend in Detroit. Thrifty gave me a 300 to drive. I enjoyed driving in style. The Sweet Sixteen games at Ford Field were not that good. Davidson took control over Wisconsin and Kansas pounded Villanova. But, we had a great time at the games. I had to get up early Saturday and drive to Austintown for a track meet. It was a "pre-season" meet. They did not keep score or post time. Coaches needed to time their own kids. We looked ok. The throwers looked good. We might have some competition for the top two spot in shot and disc. My brother came over and watched UNC and UCLA advance to the Final Four.
Today was just a relaxing day. It is back to the grindstone tomorrow.

We had a fun time at Great Wolf Lodge. I think the water park was just right for our kids. I have heard some other water parks have "better" water slides, but for us, this was the place to be. We were upgraded to a big suite with a fireplace. We had plenty of room for everyone, but we were not in the room too much. It was great to spend time with Craig and his family. We are going to have a great time on the cruise with them. We are going to look at going again next spring break.
We left around 3pm, but we could have stayed until 10pm if we wanted. However, K and I went to see the Cavs play the New Orleans Hornets. I had won the tickets through Continental Airlines on-line auction. We (k and I, plus 28 other people) had dinner with Cavs GM Danny Ferry before the game. It was neat to talk to him about the state of the Cavs.
Today is a rest day. There is not much on the schedule which is nice. I put plenty into this spring break and it is not over yet.

Til Sunday,

Bayou

Papa helped J find his Easter eggs Saturday morning. There was a covering of snow overnight, so finding the eggs was a little bit harder than other years. After the hunt and brunch, we drove to Austintown for a family gathering on T's side of the family. We went to Easter service at Trinity and my niece was baptized. All the kids did really well at church. J did announce, loud enough for everyone to hear, that he had to go pee. We made it to Streetsboro after we had lunch at my sister's house. It was a busy couple of days.

The yearbook staff got a late start to State College. We even had to go back and pick someone up who overslept. We made it to Jostens around 12:30. We did the plant tour. I thought I knew how they printed books, well, I was wrong. We have a 4 color book, so they print it 4 times. One time each for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Then we had lunch near the campus of Penn State. We did tour the campus and visited the Joe Pa statue and the Nittany Lion shine (above). I bought a shot glass to add to the collection. We made it back to Mogadore around 9:30. I will gladly take another group again in the future.

Bayou out, for now.

Well, Kent State looked like a high school team in the first half of their game against UNLV. They scored 10 points in the first half---yes, I said 10 points. They did manage to make the game close in the second half. The lost 71-58. UNLV will take on Kansas tomorrow. I am doing ok in my bracket at school, I got 14 of 16 picks correct. Hopefully, I will do that good or better today.
Today started spring break. We will be busy over the next 10 days. I will be heading to the Jostens printing plant in PA next week as well as taking the kids to Great Wolfe Lodge in Sandusky. I will also be heading to Ann Arbor to see the NCAA South Regional games. Plus, I have an earlier season track meet on Saturday the 29th.
Before we can do all that stuff, we have a couple of gatherings this weekend. Tomorrow is an egg hunt at my parents house, plus a birthday party for my 1 yr old niece. Then, it is on to another party for T's cousin's little boy's first birthday party. On Easter, my youngest niece will be baptized. After the brunch we will head to T's parents for Easter dinner. So, you can see we will be busy for break. But, after break there will be about 50 days of school left til summer break.

I don't think I will be going to see the Flashes in Omaha. They are playing at 2:55pm. I doesn't look good for me to travel 14 hours to see them play. They need to beat UNLV and Kansas and I will be able to see them in Detroit the following week.
The OSU Buckeyes will host UNC-Ashville in the first round of the NIT tomorrow night. I might head to C-bus with G. The tickets are only $20. Akron will head to Florida St for a game tomorrow night in the NIT.

KENT STATE IS IN! They will be one of the 65 teams in the NCAA Tournament. They won the MAC Tournament tonight with a 19 point victory over the Akron Zips. This is the fifth time the Flashes have played in the tournament. The closest location is Washington DC, so I am not sure I will be able to attend the first round game. I did talk to Uncle Gary and he said he would go if it is close and I wanted to go. I am going to the Detroit Regional semi-final games on March 28th. Jared is going to get tickets for us.

Happy Pi Day! (3.14). It is a math thing and I am not a math teacher. During my first few months of teaching one of the math teachers told me I was not a "real" teacher, I was just the "shop" teacher. It is one of those things that stays with you. I know she was kidding, but I still played along as if I was mad about the comment.
Gas has gone down to $3.29. The snow has melted to the point I can see grass in my backyard. I also see a small pond back there as well. I am sure rivers will be flooding soon.

$3.45 a gallon. Unbelievable!

We all survived the storm. We got about 19 total inches of snow at our house. The airport said only about 14.5 fell there. We did go out Sunday and picked up B from her overnight on Friday night. K went to a birthday party for a neighborhood kids Sunday afternoon. He had a fun time. The weather was sunny and warmer. T did make it to work both days. Track practice starts today.

There was 18" of snow in my backyard at 2:00pm. The snow is still falling and we could get 8 more inches. T went to work after the snowplow finally went our street and I could dig the car out of the driveway. Several people got stuck in the street before the plow made its way here. It is time like this I ask myself....Why in the bald-headed hell, don't I live somewhere else?

It has been a relaxing week. Well, almost. The wrestling team rolled up the mats on Monday and Tuesday and then we had the end of the year awards night last night.
The was a busy week for birthdays. J turned 3 on 3/4 and my niece, Leighah, turns 1 today. This week also marked the 5th anniversary of my uncle's passing. It is hard to believe it has been 5 years. It seems like it has been just a few months. I can remember so many times I spent with him and my aunt. I take time, when I hear the National Anthem, to remember time spent together.
Here is one of my favorite quotes from my uncle:
"Why in the balded-headed hell didn't we go to San Diego?" He said this to my aunt when we were in Chicago in May of 1991. I do recall the temps in the 50's when we went to the 'new" Comisky Park. We did end up in San Diego a couple of years later.

Here is my aunt, cousin, uncle and myself at Superbowl XXVIII. The Cowboys defeated the Bills for the second straight year.

66 degrees and sunny. Now, we will see what tomorrow brings. I did not mention yesterday I went to a volleyball tournament at Jackson HS. I meet a family from the Youngstown area that will be on our cruise in August. We meet up on Cruise critic and have been chatting for a few months. It was fun to meet them and watch their daughter play some volleyball.
We also celebrated J's birthday. He will be 3 tomorrow. We had a "small" family party. But, we still had 30 people at mom and dad's house. There is no way we could have held the party here.
Tomorrow is election day. I will be happy to see all the TV ads stop til later this year.

Here are a couple of pictures from this past weekend. Shayne went 2 and out. He got a taste of state wrestling, hopefully, he will take a big bite next year.

He is a champion! Dustin Carter won 1 match in Columbus before losing his next two. He finished his senior year 40-4. The entire arena gave him a 3-4 minute standing ovation. He lost his limb when he was 5 due to a rare blood disease.
Saturday afternoon, we headed to downtown Columbus to attend the Arnold Classic. This is a sporting event that over takes the Columbus Convention Center. It was packed. We only stayed a couple of hours, but we did get a chance to shake "The Governor's" hand.

I got word today, around 2:30, that my wrestler would be able to compete in the state tournament this weekend. He was able to get an injunction allowing him to wrestle. It has been a busy few hours getting everything ready for the weekend. I will give you an update when I get back from Columbus.

SNOW DAY

The kids and I went out this afternoon and played in the snow. "Snowy" came to life with the hard work from all the kids. We stayed outside for about an hour. It is still snowing and isn't going to stop anytime soon. This is the kids' fifth snow day. They will have to start making them up in June if school is called off anymore. I still have 1 more day in the bank.
I haven't heard anything today about my wrestler. I will call him later tonight if I don't hear from them by dinner time.

Picture Time

Here is the clock at Maple Heights HS. I took this picture as we left the gym Friday night.
During 12+ hours at a wrestling tournament you can get bored. Someone tried to connect the dots on Ryan's head.

We went to see Enchantment at the Palace Theatre. I don't think I have been in the Palace since the Perry Symphonic Winds played there senior year.

This is Seymour. He lives in the Winking Lizard in Independence. The wrestling team wanted to take him home. He lives the high life. His enclosure is huge and he has his own TV.

Recap of the weekend.
Friday. Every wrestler won at least one match today. We did not leave Maple Heights until 11:20pm. We did stay at a Holiday Inn Express. The moms are going to pay me back the money for the rooms.
Saturday. I got a call from Rich that one of my wrestlers will be ineligible next week. Well, that wrestler advance to the state meet. I had to tell him before we left Saturday night. It was a crazy day trying to help his parents see if there is anything they can do to get him to wrestle.
Sunday. The family went to see Enchanted. It is a cute movie. The first part of the movie was a very classic Disney cartoon, then it turns into a "real" movie. T then went to work. It was nioce to spend time with the kids.
Today. It was filled with a couple of meetings with the AD and principal. I don't know if anything can be done to help my wrestler. I am very disappointed with him. He has worked his but off and earned a spot in Columbus. It is too bad he can't get his grades up.

I did it! I am now a season ticket holder of the Cleveland Indians. Well, a 20 game plan anyways. It was the Pronk Flex plan. I selected the 20 games I would like to attend and in the price range I wanted. I purchased 2 tickets in the Upper Reserve sections. One of the benefits of being a season ticket holder are playoff tickets. I will be able to purchase them when the Tribe makes a run to the World Series.

--Bayou Out.

Snow, wind and low temps returned today. It was 15 degrees on my drive to school. I thought it was going to be good day. Well, it turned to crap quickly. I will spare you all the details, but today was one of the days that would drive anyone out of coaching. The AD was all over the wrestling program. It ended up with me at the Board of Education meeting with some of my wrestling moms. Hopefully, things will work out.
I have not written much about the Kent State basketball team. Tonight they won the school's 1,000 game. They also won 20+ games in a season for the 10th straight year. They are heading to California to play St. Mary's in the BracketBuster game. The game is on ESPN2 at midnight, Saturday. I hope to see them play again this season, either in the MAC tournament, NIT or the NCAA tournament.
The position player reported to Winter Haven today. The tribe looks strong again this year. I am thinking of getting a partial season ticket plan, so I can buy post-season tickets.
For now, Bayou is out.

Saturday.
The Mogadore Wildcats finished in 6th place in the sectional tournamenet. This by far is our highest finish in many, many years. We finished with 103.5 points, just 3 points behind South Range. Joe, Shayne and Phil all lost in their championship match and Josh lost the 3rd place match. However, they all advance to the district meet this weekend. Bretton and Dan finished in 5th place and will be alternates at the district meet. If you are counting at home we placed 6 wrestlers out of the 8 we entered...75% of our team placed.
Sunday.
We went to a family birthday party. I had to leave early to head back to Rootstown for the All-PTC voting. Joe (112 pounds) and Shayne (160 pounds) were voted to the First Team. Dan, Josh and Phil were voted to the Second Team. Zach and Bretton were Honorable Mention.
Monday. The was reading 60 degrees F on my drive home last night.
Today is the last scheduled day off until spring break. We are heading to the movies today with the Tolins and T's cousin's family. I am sure it will be packed. After that, I think we all will head to bed early. The temp when I got up this morning 32 and snow, only in Ohio.