Life without Pujols

I haven’t written about this at all since Albert left the Cardinals last year. Frankly, I don’t really blame him. Money is money and I get that but I feel bad for him in the sense that he is going to miss out on being something that transcended the game and money. Yes, he is laughing all the way to the bank but I think that he will never be as loved as he would have been here in St. Louis and the statue he gets there or even here in the Lou, will never be what it could have been. And that’s a shame. He had a chance to be a good guy, take a pay cut (if you can believe that) of $20 million a year and yet still be seen as a God among men. His loss, I guess.

Hockey update

Well, the boy ™ is doing great with youth hockey this year. He scored five goals in his last game and tore it up on the ice. So much so that the coaches had to tell him to stop scoring and pass to the other kids. Of course, as daddy and a coach, I was thrilled. But more importantly than scoring, he was skating well, looking up ice and passing to the kids on his team. Something has clicked in the past few weeks that I don’t get.

The boy ™ has always loved to go out on the ice and skate but he was never that competitive. In fact, in the two plus years of his hockey career, he has never scored that much in a game. Ever in the history of ever! And he was never one to watch hockey on TV or care that much about it. He would tell me that he liked to play the game but not watch it.

Well, lately, he wants to watch games on TV, he wants to listen to games on the radio when he goes to bed or on the computer if it’s not a local game. And he’s paying more attention in practice. For three weeks, which is a lifetime for a kindergartner, he has not gotten in trouble for bad ears or not listening. He has been trying hard in practice, skating hard and at games, busting his tail. He dove to block a shot into the net. Wow. Personally, I love it but I hope he doesn’t get burned out at the age of 10. I want him to play hockey for a while as well, I like the sport. He’s going to do soccer again this summer and I hope T-ball. I figure the more sports he is in, the more well rounded.

And the girl ™. Well, she’s getting ready to take skating lessons when she turns three this spring. She can’t wait though I don’t think she gets what she is signing up for when she says she wants to skate. But she loves hockey, loves the ice rink and cries buckets if she thinks we are going to the rink without her. My guess is that she will hate it initially like the boy because she’s too young and then later, pick it up. But she is just like he was at this age, playing with floor hockey sticks, watching games at the arena or at the rink and loving all the gear either I or the boy ™ has. We’ll see.

The snow last week

I know, I have been bad again and again and again. I promise to blog more and share with the 12 people here about my life but let’s face it, I am not that interesting. And well, unlike other bloggers in town, I do have a life outside and not on my computer. Enough about that.

The new year has been pretty good so far. Wish we had more snow. The five inches we got last week was, well, crappy and the city did a terrible job of clearing the streets. I know, it’s the first storm. I know, it was snowing all day and it’s hard to clear when it is snowing. Fine, it’s five inches. Our Town ™ should be able to clear five inches of snow even if it is snowing and even with cars on the road. And I will give credit to say the streets were fine the next day. But come on, I was driving around town and it was sloppy, snow-packed and just a mess.

Mrs. Conductor, however, was happy as our new van, the Mazda5 of Love, did fine in the snow. Apparently, it has some type of traction control on it and she felt like she wasn’t going to die. This the woman who moved from the Deep South 10 years ago and still has never learned how to drive on snow. To her, there is black ice lurking everywhere.

Then, the snow is gone within a day or two and the weather is back to being downright balmy. Only to plummet again to freezing cold. Dammit, make up your mind. If you want to be cold, fine, stay cold. If you want to be hot, stay hot. I can’t get used to the weather and I can’t figure out how to dress. Annoying as hell.

But on the plus side, we park our cars outside and haven’t had to scrap our windows that much nor warm up the cars that much. The kids are okay with it as they don’t have to deal with the snow when they go to school. Oh, they love to play in it but don’t want to have to walk through it to get to the car. That’s the weather update. I’ll report more later.

Mrs. Conductor takes to the ice

yep, the wife has taken the plunge a few weeks ago and decided to learn how to ice skate. A quick rewind. The boy ™ learned to skate about three years ago and someone needed to go out on the ice with him (he was three). That was dad — me. So I taught myself how to skate. I am not great but I have progressed to where I can play in an adult men’s hockey league and at least not completely embarrass myself. Anyway, Mrs. Conductor would sit in the stands and point out how I was “wobbly” or had a wide stance compared to the guys who learned to skate when they were kids. I would respond, ” you go out there.” Well, now she has.

It’s been two weeks now and she’s been clinging to the wall. She has made it five times around the rink with each time taking about 10 to 15 minutes. She’s getting better but it’s going to take some time. I give her all the credit in the world as it’s hard to get out there when you are in your mid-to-late 30s and hoping to not to embarrass yourself when kids like our son will come up and hockey stop in your face, spraying snow on you.

The hope is that she learns how to skate before our daughter, the girl ™ turns three which is when she can begin to take skating lessons. Assuming she does and assuming she wants to go on, at some point, at least three of us will be on the ice so the wife wanted to learn before the girl ™.

I’ll keep you posted on how it is going. But when she asked how she looked out there, I said with a straight face, “you looked kinda wobbly out there and your stance was a bit wide.” She wasn’t pleased.

First hockey games

I really do want to blog more about what is happening with the family but who has the time, really. The holidays completely snuck up on me and now I am scrambling to make things right and still make it to work each day. So what’s our big news? The boy had his first two hockey games the past two weeks and did great. He’s scored three times, which is kinda low but more importantly, he’s passing the puck, and watching the plays develop. Scoring on an empty net isn’t the most important thing. For his age level, there are no goalies and no one keeps score. It’s a learn to skate, learn to play program which for six, is just fine.

But he’s passing the puck, helping his teammates and staying focused in the game which is super. And the girl is loving it as well. she’s his biggest fan. Which is another issue because she can’t wait to get out there on the ice. Yet, I have this feeling that when she does, she’s going to realize that ice is cold and hard. Falling sucks. We’ll see but she’ll be three in March so that’s when the lessons start for her.

And of course, we have “that parent” on our squad this year. By “that parent,” I mean the parent who doesn’t get that we don’t keep score, that their son or daughter (to protect the innocent) isn’t going to be the next Wayne Gretzky in one year and for the love of Pete, don’t worry so much. Yes, I realize that you don’t want your child to be the worst on the team (they aren’t) but you don’t have to yell about the coaches, the other players and how your child should score every time they touch the puck. At this age, just enjoy the game, learn the basic idea and move on from there. Ugh. Mom of this child was screaming their little Johnny or Jannie should be in the green dots, the highest level of skaters. Of course, he or she (the child) can’t stop, has trouble turning and falls a lot which is fine for his or her first year on the ice. Oh well, I guess it adds to the experience.

It’s Potty-time, yeah yeah

The girl ™ went on the potty twice this morning and now is at the daycare in underpants. She’s thrilled and so proud of herself that it is comical. She’ll walk up to people and tel them, whether she knows them or not, that she want on the potty. Great stuff and now we have a few weeks of lots of soiled clothes but I am seeing an end of the diapers within a few months. That’ll be nice. Though, it does mean that I have to figure out how to take her in the men’s bathroom when she has to go. For you ladies out there, it’s often not the cleanest place in the world and not some place you want to sit down or touch anything. Sigh.

But she’s thrilled, and she’s wearing the boy’s old underwear. yes, we washed it in hot water and yes, it is Spider-man or Cars or something boy like. But she loves it and didn’t want pink princess stuff. Frankly, I think that’s good. I have raged about this for years. Why do girls get the short end of the stick and are forced into only two or three colors and the same Disney Princess images? Let her wear Cars if she wants. Think Danica Patrick of NASCAR. She’s all woman. Just ask Go Daddy.com…

The boy ™ is annoying

ARGH!!! Yep, that’s what I was thinking last night and possibly this morning when the boy ™ had a freakin’ meltdown at the ice rink last night. Why, you ask? because he refused to wear his mouth guard to practice, so he had to throw a fit in the locker room (in front of parents), in the rink (in front of coaches, players and staff) and at home. I was thrilled. Some background.

Last week, the boy ™ was at practice and fell on his head, suffering a mild concussion or at least, concussion-like symptoms. He’s fine now and was fine without any symptoms two hours after the fall but at the time it was scary so we took him to the ER. They told us no physical activity for a week and then on the ice, he needs his mouth guard. It’s a good idea anyway but we never used it because, well, he’s six, they don’t check and no one really hits too hard. So he hasn’t really worn it and I confess, it does suck but we are mom and dad (and I am a coach) so when we say wear it, you wear it right?

Errr. no. Instead, he decided to throw a fuse, not get onto the ice and sulk, cry and just being a tired six-year-old. Of course, Mrs. Conductor and I weren’t pleased for a few reasons. We took off work for practice so that’s annoying. He embarrassed us in front of people see regularly, and three, he was listening when we were trying to do what was best for him.

So we left practice, lots of crying and what not. He gets home and decides that he will wear his mouth guard (the threat was hockey was gone for good), and then wore it around the house for much of the night. Loved it. He wanted to try to eat dinner with it. Sigh.

Riddle me this

Why does the boy ™ who is six demand toys like Legos and other things that cost some coin and then not want to play with them. Instead, he likes to play with toys for the girl ™ who is two. Yes, they are his old toys from four years ago but really, a pink building block is fun for a boy? Or an Elmo car? Really?

We threatened to take his toys away and he said fine. Do it. I don’t know if he thinks he can call our bluff or if he doesn’t really care. Wow,  he outbluffed me. I am upset.

World Series, Rally Squirrel, Start of Hockey Season and just life

Wow, the Cardinals win the World Series and I Called it. Seven games. Wonderful. The boy ™, Mrs. Conductor and I watched the final few innings. we had gone to a hockey game that night. I know, how can you do that. Well, first off, my kids love hockey first. And while the Rivermen lost, it was still fun. Second, I am trying to ease the boy ™ into baseball as he hasn’t played yet and he doesn’t like watching sports on TV even hockey. So forcing him to sit through the game wouldn’t have been good.

But with a few innings left and the tension and seeing all the fans going nuts, he got into it. And by the end of the game was going nuts just like his mom and dad. I don’t know what to say about that series that hasn’t been said. Wow. I confess to all 12 people who read this. I thought the Birds were done with two strikes in the Ninth. And I thought they were done in the 10th after Hamilton hit that dinger. Game 6 was a terrible game for the first two-thirds but that ending will live forever. A friend at the game said he’d buy the game on DVD. I don’t know as part of the fun and the excitement was not knowing. If you knew the outcome, the tension just isn’t there. And then game 7. Carp. You are the man. Freese. Wow. Rally Squirrel, I love ya.

After the win and on Saturday, we had to go out to Dick’s and get the boy ™ a hat. He wanted it and hasn’t taken it off since. He went Trick or Treating in it. He was the only Knight with a baseball hat on. Not the best armor but who cares. He’s a Cards fan. Our friends whom we went ToT with are diehard Cub fans so it was even better. The girl ™ was a dragon, btw.

So now that Halloween’s done and we are moving on to winter, it’s hockey season. I am officially a hockey dad now as I have entered the portion of hazing that is 8 a.m. practices. The boy ™ is 6 and we have 8 a.m. practices? Are you kidding me? It takes us longer to get to the rink, get dressed and then get undressed than the practices last (45 minutes0. Ugh. But he’s doing well, and skating hard. My dream is not the NHL, that’s silly to think about when a kid is still. I have two dreams. One real and one fantasy. The fantasy is that he get a hockey scholarship to Harvard (who actually does have a good team). Real is that he just doesn’t burn out by 10 and continues through high school.

Okay, an open letter to the Cardinals

I admit I am not a professional baseball player, and I admit there is no way I could ever hit a sinking curve. But you are and you know how. There are guys in scoring position. Please stop hitting into double plays. Please advance the runners. You can’t win games if you don’t score runs. Our pitchers can only hold off the Rangers for so long before their bats wake up. It’s not over by any stretch but the situation is grave. Bats need to wake up. Matt Holliday, I am talking to you. Rafael Furcal, you too. Batting a buck and change in the World Series can’t cut it if you want to beat a  team like the Rangers. Now, I know it’s hard. And it’s supposed to be  so this is a time to call upon one o the greatest speeches of all locker room speeches. Herb Brooks. Take it away, Herbie. Listen up Cards.