Posts Tagged ‘Cooper’
Fantasy Football 09-10
I’m only doing one league this year. It’s a severe drop from years past but my life is to crazy (in a good way) to do much else. I’ve got a love-hate relationship with my draft. I like who I got in terms of where I got him…but there are some players I didn’t want to draft but given where they were in the draft…I just had to take them. You’ll see what I mean in a bit.
I had the 11th pick in a 12 team draft. I normally don’t like this position because it means you either have to take a player that fell that you don’t necessarily need/want OR you pick a player you need a bit too early. My game plan going in was – take a QB and WR early because I figured the great RBs would be gone by the time 11 came around. Pick up RBs in round 3 and 4. That was the plan anyway.
Reality always is so much different, isn’t it? Here were the first 10 picks in front of me…
Adrian Peterson
Michael Turner
Maurice Jones-Drew
Matt Forte
Drew Brees
Tom Brady
Calvin Johnson
Chris Johnson
DeAngelo Williams
Randy Moss
Not what I expected and both QBs that I was hoping to draft a bit early ahead of everyone else were now gone. But the flip side was it left some great options for me at 11. 3 of my top 10 players that I thought I had no chance at were still on the board. Cooper had the 12 and 13 pick. Knowing Coop’s favorite player, I did what any loving dad would do in my position….I drafted him.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR – my first pick. In a league that gives a point per reception…pretty good pickup. Coop had the next two picks and when he saw Fitz come off the board…let’s just say I won’t be nominated for any Dad of the Year awards by him. I felt bad for putting Coop in the position of being so close to getting the player he wanted only to have it ripped from his heart at the last possible second. But this is fantasy football and the sooner he learns that happens all the time, the better. I consider it my job to prepare him. Prepare him I did. I got over it by pick 14.
Cooper – with no help from me – realizes that WRs are about to go like crazy and probably RBs and after these two picks, he doesn’t have one for another 24 picks. So he drafts Frank Gore, RB and Andre Johnson, WR. Not bad picks, really. Pretty solid and safe.
That left me with one of those “You have to draft him because no one is going to believe he is sitting there” picks but you’re not sure how much mileage you’re really going to get – LaDainian Tomlinson. I’d have a couple more of those picks in front of me. Here’s the team in order of where they were drafted:
11 Larry Fitzgerald, Ari
14 LaDainian Tomlinson, SD
35 Thomas Jones, NYJ
38 Brandon Marshall, Den – one of those “I don’t really want him, but I’ll drink the poison anyway” picks.
59 Knowshon Moreno, Den
62 Jay Cutler, Chi – see above.
83 Steelers D/ST, Pit
86 Carson Palmer, Cin
107 Patrick Willis, SF
110 Tim Hightower, Ari
131 Patrick Crayton, Dal
134 Kevin Boss, NYG
155 David Akers, Phi
158 Willis McGahee, Bal
179 Shawne Merriman, SD
182 Laurence Maroney, NE
203 Limas Sweed, Pit
Games start tonight…let the waiver wire fun begin!!!
Day of Reality
We normally don’t make a big deal about the first day of school…but this was a new school, our 3rd school this year, new friends, new teachers. It was also the first time this year that our schedule is somewhat normal. Summer was great fun. Then the bus dropped the kids home from school today.
“I have HOMEWORK!!” one kid cried through her tears.
“Our bus driver wouldn’t listen to what we were telling her what to do!”
And the third just kept talking so fast, I couldn’t really make anything distinct out. Amy and I looked at each other. Summer officially ended at 4.07 pm, Monday, August 17th.
The kids started in a brand new school today – brand new to them, brand new to the city, brand new staff. I walked up there today. It’s pretty awesome. High ceilings, bright colors, lots of windows, very modern feel, big hallways. It will be a great place for the kids to go to school but at the moment, we had 3 very tired kids, 2 of which were having a hard time with reality. The third one was just creating her own to anyone who would listen to her.
“Welcome to school, honey. That’s what they do to help you get smart – give homework.”
“So explain to me why a grown woman should listen to a busload of kids under the age of 11 on the first day of school?”
“And you — I want you to breath. Stop talking for 30 seconds, and breath.”
Logic was not going to fix this. Qdoba might. So off we ran to Qdoba where one of the most hilarious exchanges in Camber history happened. To really get the feel of this, you need to imagine her talking as fast as she can with the most extreme level of confidence.
Cam: “My favorite football player of all time is Michael Jordan.”
Amy: “Wait…what sport does Michael Jordan play?”
Cam, without hesitating: “Hockey.”
Cooper about spits his coke, chicken burrito and lunch out at the window he is laughing so hard. Camber looks at us like – “What? Didn’t you know that?” And continues talking about butterflies or her new teacher or the smell of the color purple.
I had a long day as well. 7 am meeting, had a list of things to get done that didn’t but what I did get done was good. It was my good friend Stephen’s birthday. I was going to take him to lunch, I asked him what he wanted.
“A burger….or Indian food.”
Wow…that’s quite a pair. It was his birthday so there was no way I was going to make the decision. Besides that – choosing where to eat with the friends is more difficult than choosing a college.
Stephen picked the Indian place.
“I guess we’re not eating cow today.” He laughed hard.
We showed up and guess what was on the buffet? Beef. Obviously they weren’t orthodox Indians.
All of that to say that today was good in spite of what I didn’t get done.
God reminded me of this as we sat upstairs playing Skip-bo with the fam. I was tired, about fell asleep when Cayden came out with lime green wristbands on, her gold high heel shoes, one white baseball glove one, ear muffs, and sunglasses and started singing the “I’m going to Barf” song.
The hip action and jazz hands and facial expressions were too much. I wish we’d filmed it. One night, we’ll have to ambush video her as she gives us one of her concerts.
So the day of reality is over. Kids are in bed. I know this scene was played out all over our city, this country this week. Families getting into the groove again, early bedtimes, and afternoons filled with tears, homework, and laughter. And you know what? I wouldn’t trade it. I wouldn’t trade a thing of it.
Let Your Light Shine…
I cried over the phone today.
Then again at dinner.
But let me back up and tell you why first. I get a phone call today, 3pm.
“This is Grant.”
“Hi. My name is Sue (not real name), I’m with 501 USD (school district that kids are in) and are the father of a 5th grade boy at McCarter?”
“Yes.”
My heart gets very heavy, very quick.
“And you’re the new preacher in town, right?”
“Yes.”
I can’t count the number of parents I’ve talked to, listened to, cried with, sat with when they get news that their kid has done something utterly, profanely stupid. I’ve seen the hurt, frustration, anger, confusion. I’ve comforted as best as I can but right now in this instant all I can think of is — I’m about to be one of those parents.
“Well, Mr. English….I don’t know how to say this. I really don’t. I’ve seen a lot of Christian families, dealt with a lot of Christian parents. Almost all of them have been very combative, very judgmental and their kids hellions.”
“But I’ve never seen anything like your son. He’s respectable, honorable, likeable, and honest. He’s smart as a whip and he’s not one of them sissy boys either. Do you know that I overheard some boys talking with him and they asked him about why he didn’t do something and he told them – “Because I love Jesus.” And since he’s a good athlete, they left him alone and respected him.”
“So…Cooper isn’t in trouble?”
“In trouble? No! Well he did get in a little trouble for playing in the water fountain after gym. But when we confronted those boys about it – he was the only one that said he’d been throwing water and he’d clean it up. He was just being a boy, no big deal…but I also heard about what you and your church did for McCarter at the school fair.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now, I’m a pagan. Never saw much use for God but after seeing your son and actually your girls as well plus what you guys are doing at McCarter…I may have to rethink this Jesus guy. You wouldn’t mind if I showed up at your church one Sunday, would you?”
I can’t really answer her because I’m crying. I’m humbled beyond measure. I stumble out yes, love to talk with you, answer any questions. We just wanted to help McCarter out. That’s it. No big deal.
We talk for a few minutes more, hang up.
At dinner tonight, I replay the whole conversation for the family. Amy tears up. I tear up. The whole family tears up. So I’m becoming a cry baby as I get older but I’m also astonished at how God moves. I shouldn’t be…but I am.
We’re not great parents. We’re parents who love Jesus and love our kids and are trying to figure out how not to ruin the gifts God gave us. I take shortcuts at times…get lazy…get frustrated. I’ve spanked the wrong kid, yelled when I’ve should have listened, and pushed when I should have hugged.
But tonight…I’ve never been prouder of my kids.
Shine…Let them wonder what you’ve got.
Broken, But Not Beaten
We skied Keystone today and I have a brand new respect for Amy and ski poles. But I’ll get to that in a minute. Here we are at the top of Keystone – River Run Gondola. There is Breckenridge in the background. Not crowded but very, very warm. And we’d like a few inches of snow…but doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
Here we are at lunch. Late start, late lunch, everyone is great and happy. No lines, no crowds…
Then it happened. I had just skied off to chase Cayden, saw that Amy, Coop, and Camber were good. We get over the hump and wait for the rest of the crew. And we wait…and wait…and wait. I call. Not good. Cooper got blasted by a snowboarder. I mean…blasted.
Amy saw the guy and starts hollering at him. Threatens to beat him with her poles. Of course, I’m not there, just over the hill. Not knowing what is going him. I’m sure the guy passed me. He’s lucky. Amy decides (wisely, I might add) to stay with Cooper. As God would have it, there were two ski patrol guys on vacation from Philadelphia. They stop and help Coop get sitting up, put some ice on his wrist. They call the Keystone Ski Patrol.
Sol (pronounced Saul) was the ski patrol guy. He was awesome.
In fact, he was so awesome, Amy felt comfortable enough to take pictures. I’m glad she did. Coop got a ride in the yellow sled. It wasn’t as fun as he thought it would be. And the guys FLYYYY down the mountain.
It’s hard to explain to your girls that their brother is okay, he’s not going to die when he’s wrapped up in the yellow sled and their zooming down the mountain. I took the girls, got the car, skis and gear to meet up with Aim at the Medical Center. Cooper got to pick the color of his cast – orange. And within a couple of hours, the adventure was done.
We bagged him up so he could sit in the hot tub. Keepin’ it elevated and the good news? He can hit the slopes on Wednesday. And we will…
Pray that I don’t run into that snowboarder…
A Religious Experience?
Had a friend call me today and give me two tickets to the KU-Texas game. It was senior day at the Phog and I took Cooper with me.
I’ve been to 3 games at the Fieldhouse. My first game was a Texas game, back in ’97. Amy and I went. Cooper was there too, inside Amy. My second game was last Sunday. This was my third. I think I can honestly say that Allen Fieldhouse has to be one of the best atmospheres in all of college sports. Maybe in all sports.
It’s like going to church for the first time after not going in a while. They have their own songs they sing, when they sing it, and how they sing it. They have their own ‘order’ of worship, their liturgy if you will. And the benediction…
Rock Chalk, Jayhawk KU.
At any rate, going there with Cooper today was incredible…to see it through his eyes. The intro video, the cheers, the student section, the noise, the intimacy of the Phog. After the game was over and the fans were leaving he looked at me and said – “I don’t want to leave. Do we have to?”
What makes a sports place sacred? Stories like today when a dad gets to take his son or daughter and share a memory that is larger than them both. When they can yell and scream, wave the wheat, boo the refs, and laugh together – that makes a place sacred.
And I’m thankful for these times.
Steamboat Arabia
I got to go with Cooper this week on a field trip!! I love field trips. And this one would rank in the top 5 of all time.
There was a brother that worked for his dad at the family owned HVAC company. At one particular service call, he learned that there were over 100 steamboats that sunk on the Missouri River between St. Louis and Omaha. Talking with his other brother and dad about it, they decided it would be cool to find one of these ships, dig it up, sell the stuff from it and do it again. A treasure hunt in the middle of Kansas.
Here is one of the brothers. He was at the museum this day and he told us the story of how they found it (45 feet deep in the middle of a corn field) and what they found.
As they dug the stuff up – they quickly realized that they had found a fully loaded boat from 1853. It was in essence a time capsule of life before the Civil War. They knew that couldn’t sell all this stuff. It had to go into a museum. So they built their own.
The artifacts are amazingly preserved. Plates, shoes, boots, saddles, guns, knives, dolls, over 200 tons of stuff – basically looking at what Wal-mart would have stocked in 1852.
After the Steamboat Arabia, we headed to Kaleidoscope in Crown Center. It was awesome as well. Basically it was a bunch of creative stations that they turned the students loose to experiment and explore with. I would love to have a space like this at church.
Good time. I love hanging out with Coop. I’m glad he still thinks I’m cool enough to hang out with.
Van Cooper
Cooper seems to be doing very well at his new school.
First, he won the school spelling bee and is now his school’s rep in the county spelling bee.
Second, his piece of art was hanging in the hall this morning when I dropped him off.
Pretty humbled to have the kids we have.
The Week with Nana and Poppy
Last week I felt like I was running from one even to the other – didn’t even have time to blog like I normally do. I covered some of our activities…here’s the rest of the week…
Gymnastics
Camber loves this and Nana got to go with her and see her strut her stuff.
Opening Up The New Climbing Wall
We have a climbing wall in your student room. Cool, huh? It’s not so cool if you never use it. So we got that running this week. That’s Cooper being my lab rat. The man got to the top.
Flying W Ranch
If you’ve never been to the Flying W Ranch, you ought to go at least once. It’s not cheap but the food is great, it’s all you can eat and the entertainment is incredible. It’s a place you can take all the kids and they’ll have a blast running around the Cowboy town they’ve got set up there.
Plus, the sell $1 ice cream cones. Can’t beat that.
3 Generations At Coors Field
I had 3 Rockies tickets from a game that was rained out earlier this year. Last night, we decided to use them.
At the ticket office, the guy said – “Hey, can you wait a minute? I want to go talk to my manager.”
A few minutes later we were holding tickets 13 rows up from first base. Talk about an upgrade! Coop got 4 autographs before the game – Chris Iannetta being one of them.
Some pics from the game…
Poppy and Coop enjoying batting practice. Yes, those were are actual seats.
Dad snapped this shot as Coop and I were watching BP. Completely unaware, we look like two little boys at a baseball game…which is pretty much what we were. It’s one of my favorite pics.
Here’s a close up shot.
Bases loaded, bottom of 6th. Grand slam for Chris Ianetta.
Things you can get away with on a ball field but nowhere else.
Cooper having a good time.
Cooper’s Game
I thought the fall was supposed to be slower than the summer?
Saturday was Cooper’s 2nd flag football game of the season. He played quarterback last year and this year he still playing a lot at quarterback but he’s actually getting much better at safety. I’m sure part of that is he has a much better coach this year.
Anyway…here are some unbiased opinions of Cooper’s football skills.
What he lacks in speed, he more than makes up for in intelligence, determination, and just flat out grit.
He threw two interceptions on offense. One of them was a hail mary pass that acted like a punt, the other one on an extra point try. But…as a parent, I was wondering how he would handle having a bad game. Would he tank? Turns out I shouldn’t have worried. He turned around and got both of them back on defense. Playing safety, he took one pick back to the house and the other one I still don’t know how he caught. It was a tipped ball, looked like a punt and was heading to the ground when Coop dove and somehow came up with the ball.
They won again (2-0) but what is cool about this team (and it’s a credit to the coach) they are focused on learning their jobs and doing the best they can. As a result of that, we saw one of our kids that normally doesn’t get a lot of attention get an interception. On offense, he had a running play that he took for 50 yards, so close to getting a touchdown.
There was a semi-tense moment during the 4th quarter. We were fairly dominant in the game and the other coach started really complaining but the truth of the matter was it was his fault. His team was unorganized and he kept harping on them and they kept sinking worse and worse.
Our team didn’t let up. We just kept scoring and driving. After the game, I heard the other coach kinda talking to their parents about how we should have let up.
I didn’t say anything but I am glad our coach didn’t let up. I’ve been on the other end – getting your brains beat out. You learn alot about yourself and your team in those moments. Who gives up early? Who keeps playing? How are you going to handle being humiliated? Are you going to quit or learn from it? Who shows up and practices the next week? You don’t like getting shut out, you don’t like being the practice squad for the other team but you can learn some things there.
The flip side is this – every time you come on the field no matter what the situation, you do your best. Don’t turn it down a notch, don’t short change your effort. Every play, every down – all out, do your best. If the final score is 45-0, good for you. If it’s 0-45, still hold your head up because you gave all out effort the whole game. Those lessons translated to the adult realm for me – 10 students to 100 students – every time you teach, do your best. Give your best no matter if it’s 3 or 300.
Our coach and I were talking after the game and he said when he coached high school, he repeated the phrase – “Take a beating, give a beating” to his teams all the time. His first year he went 2-7, lost a lot of games by double digits. He told his team – “Take the beating like a man. Learn from it. Grow from it. One day, we are going to be on the other side and we’re going to give the beating. We won’t back down. No matter who I play, I want all out effort, every play, every down.” Next year, he delivered the beatings.
But I like the fact he didn’t back the team down once we were up big. It’s a great principle – you do your best no matter if your up or down, close or far. We don’t do it to humiliate the other team. We don’t flaunt it or get arrogant – you do it because to do less would be disrespectful to the game.
Lots that we can apply to our spiritual life from that.
The 3 C’s at REI
Friday was a free day.
Kids were free from school.
I was free from work.
We had free tickets to Elitches…but it poured down rain all day long.
We had free zoo passes…but it poured down rain all day long.
What to do?
We joined REI this year. $20 for a lifetime membership. Get a minimal discount on their high priced gear BUT it’s free rock climbing. One trip rock climbing would have cost us $50 so it’s more than paid for itself. REI in downtown Denver has The Pinnacle – 47 feet of sheer climbing bliss or terror depending on your perspective.
Camber tackled the backside of the rock and made it to the top.
Cooper has tackled the rock climbing thing a couple of times now. The first time he went, we learned that he’s scared of heights. I’ve seen a lot of people just punt the whole thing after that. They tried it, it scared the life out of them, it’s over.
Not Coop. He keeps putting on the harness, getting tied in, and attempting to climb. Today – he had his best climb ever. Here he is just an arm’s length from the top. When I showed him this picture, he said – “Is that really how close I was?” Yep. “I can definitely get it next time.” Gotta love that.
Cayden needs to grow about 3 more inches before they turn her loose on the Pinnacle in downtown. She had a great time playing on the playplace and running up and down the ramps. It’s the little things, right?
Afterwards, we had a kids eat free at Jason’s Deli. We love this place. We first discovered in Little Rock and it was a fam favorite. We’d probably eat there once a week. Of course, we can’t eat out as often now but when we do – we still love Jason’s Deli.
A rainy day salvaged.