A Very Merry Christmas!!

What a GREAT Christmas we had this year!! It was so much fun to play Santa again and this year I think Marlee actually understood it better and had more fun. It was the first one where she actually knew what she wanted and got from SANTA! I have a video of it and some pictures I will post below.... I had a great one too as I recieved not ONE but TWO FATHEADS! I got a "Big Papi" FATHEAD from my brother and a Boston Red Sox one from my wife. I also got a MSTATE neon logo light for my room and a cool MSU neon clock as well. I got a nice electric razor, a new slim pocket bible and some clothes. It was good for me. Shelley got some perfume she wanted and a new hair straightner as well as clothes and Bath and Body works stuff too. We had a GREAT Christmas but most of all is the greatest gift of all in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and celebrating his birth.

Haines Family Christmas today!!

Today my brother, Matt, and his family are coming over to Columbus to have our family Christmas! It should be a fun time to get the kids together and open PRESENTS! YEA!!!!!! I will post pictures as soon as I can.

Christmas Time at the Haines House!

We took some family pics in front of the tree. Sometimes Marlee wouldnt cooperate and smile but when she did it looked good. Forgive the ugly guy in the vest. I had to be in the picture.

OK Im sorry....

Ok so things have been so crazy the last few months that I totally got away from the "Blogosphere" but Im going to get back up and going as best I can now.... Alot has happened since my last blog.

1.) I started my new job at Weyerhaeuser on September 22 and really enjoy it.... I work in the Pulp Machine which is where we get the pulp prepared and finalized for the shipping. They are a good company that have good benefits... Im starting on bottom so I have to work my way up. I hope to be able to be where I want to be out there in about 5 years. The roughest part is being away from my beautiful girls and working the swingshift. I only work 14 days a month but its crazy at times. I work 7 days and 7 nights a month and during the night shifts I dont see my girls which makes me sad. And even on my days by the time I get home Im so wore out that I only have about an hour to see them before I have to hit the sack. But the days off allow me to make up for it.

2.) Shelley started her new job at Citizens National Bank. She loves it. She has better hours and gets to do some of the things she wants now. Before, at Trustmark, she didnt get off until 6 and she was always so wore out that we didnt get alot of time together. SHe loves it at Citizens and we are happy for her. By the way she did a radio commercial for them and you can hear it here. Click on the Poinsettia commercial.

3.) Marlee is now 29 months old and is the joy of our life just like all of your children are to you. She has such a fun and outgoign personality. She is counting to 15 by herself, says all her ABC's, is almost all the way potty trained and she loves her baby dolls. She has 13 in all now and she is a good mommy.. LOL!

More to come so please stay tuned... I promise I will have it updated more frequently...

A touching video about Steven Curtis Chapman and his family dealing with tragedy

Watch CBS Videos Online

Birthday Girl!!!

Happy Birthday to the woman who is my world and my love! I am so thankful to have such a mature, beautiful and loving wife who is a great mother to our daughter. I couldn't imagine anyone more perfect for me than you. You keep me in check and I love you so very much!! I hope you have a wonderful birthday and Thank You for taking a chance on me 7 years ago and stealing my heart!

I LOVE YOU!! YYY

When my life changed forever..... 6 years ago tonight....

6 years ago this week my life changed forever. Some of you may remember and some of you may not even know this about me but I thought I would share my story with you.

First to give you a little background....

It was August 2002 and I had just wrapped up my summer by coaching my summer league high school team to the state title. It was an exciting summer and my first year as a coach. I had met a beautiful girl who I immediately fell head over heels for and started to date. It was a very busy and extremely stressful summer. We had spent 3 weeks in hotels playing ball and in the state tournament we had to defeat all odds by winning 5 games in 3 days and ultimately beat a Tupelo team with 5 future Division 1 players who we had not come close to beating all summer. And we had to beat them twice in one night! I never thought my kids would win it all because we had everything go against us. We had gone from 20 kids to 11 and if any of you know about baseball then you know it is hard to play competitive ball with only 11 kids and in a tournament day after day none the less. After we won the title game, there were some words exchanged by one of fans and the Tupelo coach that led to an all out fight on the field that was on every news channel in MS. Talk about going from one extreme to another...... Here I was 25 years old and I felt like I was 50 with all the stress of coaching, school, work and personal life.

Six years ago, on a Saturday night, I was at the races here in Columbus watching one of my friends get ready to race his open wheel modified race car. Earlier that day I had gone to a friends house to visit and hang out with their kids. While playing with them, I noticed a rash on my upper thigh. My friends wife noticed it and said it looked like Shingles. I decided to go to my local doctor and let him take a look at it. He said he didn't think it was shingles but maybe just an allergic reaction of some kind. He gave me some antibiotics and sent me on my way. So, back to the races. While I was there, I started to feel sick and got real tired. A friend of mine noticed that I had some whelps on the back of my neck and I felt of them and then decided to just go home.

I got home and took at look at my body and it was pretty red and the rash had started to grow across my body. I took a hot bath with Epsom salt in it and then went to bed. Around 1:00 that morning I woke up and couldn't breathe very well and couldn't see much at all. I made my way towards the bathroom and looked in the mirror and it was horrible. My face was twice the normal size and my eyes were almost completely swollen shut as well as my throat. If you have ever seen any of the Rocky movies then imagine Rocky's face after a fight and triple that. It was that bad. I woke my mom up and we took off the the emergency room. I'm sure many of you have experienced the emergency room and sitting there for hours waiting to see someone. Well, as soon as we walked in the nurse grabbed me and rushed me to the back. They took some vitals and gave me an IV drip and we waited to see the doc. The doctor admitted me to the hospital for test and observation. For the next 4 1/2 days, i spent the time in the Baptist hospital getting tests done to determine what happened. My entire body from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet were covered in huge whelps and rashes. I had skin doctors, brain doctors, cancer doctors and many other people coming in to see if they could figure it out. No one knew what happened. Well, slowly but surely the meds started to help and the whelps and rash started to disappear but still no sign as to what caused it.

On Wednesday night, my friend Jep Cole came by to spend the night with me and give my parents a rest. We ate supper from Peppers and we were watching the Little League World Series. A little after supper I told Jep my stomach felt really tight and bloated and it was unlike just having indigestion. Jep also said it looked as if I was pregnant. (I know, go ahead and insert smart comment here.) He called for the doctor and they decided to do another CT Scan and found nothing. The doctor then decided it had become too much out of his field and made a request to transfer me to UAB in Birmingham. They called but there were no rooms available and I was put on a waiting list. We went on to bed with plans to go to Bham by car with my mom the next afternoon.


The next morning came and I felt better than I did since the whole episode began. I was up and walking around and just getting ready to head out to Bham later. Several friends and some of my ball players had come to visit. My grandmother was there as well. Earlier that morning we still had not received a room at UAB and we desperately needed one so I could have all the tests done. Now here is where it all went wrong......


I was sitting in the chair in my hospital room and talking on the phone to a friends wife. She was asking about info on the situation. I remember saying goodbye and hanging up the phone. I stood up out of the chair and when I did it felt like I had been shot in the back of the head. The most excruciating pain that I cannot begin to describe. Imagine a migraine times 1000! I told Jep something wasn't right and I couldn't breathe and was in pain. He ran to the nurse's station and they came running. They tried to calm me down and took my blood pressure. I will never forget the look in my mothers eyes when that machine beeped. She looked as if she had seen someone killed. I knew then it wasn't good. Now I don't remember exactly what it was but it was in the neighborhood of 220/130 I believe. They immediately gave me meds to calm me and called for the doctors. They rushed me to have a CT scan done and found that my lungs had started filling with fluid. I was having trouble breathing and they placed me on oxygen. Dr. Waller made the decision to transfer me via ambulance to UAB and immediately we went on our way. While they were taking me out I remember seeing all my family, friends and players standing out in the hallway telling me to hang in there. I don't remember much from this point on except that I couldn't breathe hardly at all and the paramedic kept placing the mask on my face and it was forcing air in and out my lungs and it was very uncomfortable. I was really scared. I guess I kept going in and out cause I don't remember the ride at all and the last thing I can remember is laying on a cold table in UAB with my brother at my side. There were several nurses and doctors working on me and sticking me with needles, IV's, catheters and such. I kept fighting them because I was so panicked and scared and I don't know how they handled me because I called them every name in the book. The very last thing I do remember is looking at my brother and him giving me an odd look and while I kept fighting the nurses and doctors at one point the doctor grabbed my head and forced it onto the table and they tied my hands down to the bed. He looked from above me and said "Mr. Haines, if you do not cooperate with us, you are about to die!" I stopped and that is all I remember.

They intubated me and put me on a breathing machine. I was out. The only thing keeping me alive was that machine. I was placed in the CCU and they informed my family that the situation looked bad. My mother said that the doctor came in and told her "If there is anyone who needs to be here then you need to get them here tonight. We don't know if he will make it through the night." How hard that must have been on her. From the stories I have been told, word spread around Columbus and prayers were being sent up from everywhere. Several of my friends left out of Columbus around midnight to make the trip. There must have been 30 or 40 people in that waiting room waiting and waiting and waiting. Every hour that went by it didn't look any better. In the early hours of the morning my mom, brother, my pastor (Bro. Mick), my Aunt Brenda circled my bed and held hands to pray. My mom tells my Bro. Mick led a desperation prayer asking for a miracle. More hours passed and by morning the doctors said that it was looking slowly better. My tests were showing better results but there was still a long way to go. Somewhere after lunch, my brother made my mom go with him to grab a Subway sandwich. While they were gone the phone rang in the waiting room and my aunt Brenda answered. They wanted my mom to come up immediately. My aunt said she felt as if it was not a good thing. She ran to get my mother and they took off to the elevator. When they reached my floor and walked into the CCU unit, my doctor was there and said they needed her to sign some papers. My mom said "Ok". Then he said, "But first, would you like to see your son?". They thought at first that maybe it wasnt good news. It was not visiting time but they of course said they would like to go and see me.

They made their way around the corner and to my room. When they reached the room they pulled the curtain to my room open to enter and when they did they saw me sitting up in the bed staring at them. My aunt said my mothers reaction was priceless. She jumped onto the bed and hugged me for what probably was hours. They were shocked. How did it go from so bad just hours earlier where they called the family into the room you dont want to be in to hours later I am awake, sitting in my bed and breathing on my own? They asked me how I was feeling and they tell me I said "I want a hamburger!"

The news spread quickly and all my friends and family came up to the room. The doctors and nurses allowed everyone in. That's the first thing I remember. Sitting there looking at them and them looking at me. I remember saying "What in the heck are all you guys here for?" That's when they told me what happened. I didn't know what to think. Well to make this extremely long story short, I was later moved into a regular room and spent another week at UAB having tests done by every specialist they could find. One night while I was sitting in my room, my doctor walked in and wanted to speak with me. He looked me in the eyes and said "Brad, I don't know what happened and I can't explain it. We did nothing medically to save you. We thought you were gone." After our talk I spent all night awake and talking to God. I always believed in God and was a Christian but God had never revealed himself to me and what he did those long 3 days was a miracle. I have no doubts about that at all. I always wondered why God saved me that night. What is his plans for me? Well, 6 years later I sit here somewhat healthy and married to that beautiful woman I had just met before that happened. We have a beautiful 2 year old daughter named Marlee Grace who is my angel and reminds me everyday why God worked a miracle in my life in that hospital 6 years ago. Im still searching for God's plan for me. Maybe he has revealed it and I am not listening. Im not sure. I can say that I haven't taken full advantage of my second chance. I long to know him more but I kept getting myself in the way. Maybe I should get out of the way and just let God work.

I'm sorry it was so long but I wanted to go into detail about it. I hope you enjoyed it and may God touch your life like he did for me. If you don't get anything out of my story then please get this: God is real and he is powerful! He works miracles everyday and so many of us just go through our ordinary little lives and so many of us don't make the time to spend with him as we should. I am so guilty of that. God deserves our ultimate devotion and love.

Thanks,

Brad

Updates..... Sorry ive been absent..

I have been busy with alot going on and wanted to come in and give you guys an update on the family.



1.) Shelley got a new job at Citizens National Bank. She had a tough decision to leave Trustmark but ultimately it came down to the fact that she got off at 6:00 at Trustmark and now gets off at 4:00 so we have more family time together.

2.) I am in the process of trying to get on with Weyerhaeuser. It is a paper mill company here in Columbus that has great benefits and is an excellant career oppurtunity.

3.) Shelley's sister, Brittney and her husband Johnny, had their first child Davis Kade Lambert. He was born on the 12th and weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long. He is doing well and they are at home now.

4.) My 92 year old grandmother, "Mama Alice", moved into Homeplace last week. It is a wonderful nursing home and the people there are great. It was a tough decision and she has made the adjustment surprisingly well. She left her home of over 50 years and where so much of her life and our lives were spent in that house. It just wont be the same anymore.

5.) Marlee is without a doubt the best thing in our life these days. She keeps us busy with laughter, cartoons, hugs and kisses, bath time and best of all our evenings walks around the neighborhood.

6.) A belated Happy Birthday to my "Pops" who is the greatest man I know and turned 67 last week. Happy Birthday Pops and we love you!


More to come.....

Marlee Grace's 2nd B'Day Party

We had a blast at Jumpers! Marlee and all her lil friends just ran around and had a great time. My brother and his 3 boys came from Birmingham and we had alot of fun with the 4th of July and fireworks and also we had the boys spend the night for several nights and that was also a ton of fun. To follow it all up we went to slip-n-dip and tore it up some more.... Here are some pics.....

New pics

sorry ive been absent...

I have been somewhat busy and whatever time I have had I have used to get my other blog up and going. Check it out. I posted the link in the post below.

Not much going on in the Haines family these days. We are getting ready for Marlee's 2nd birthday party which will be at Jumpin G's Saturday July 5th. It should be lots of fun and we are all excited. Marlee has grown up so fast and I have alot of new pictures that I will put up soon.

Hope all is well with everyone and God Bless!

Another Blog!

I have started another blog with a friend of mine, Dustin Dollar, that is sports related and we give opinions, advice and critiques on sports related issues. Please check it out at http://2sportsgurus.blogspot.com/

Thank you Tommy Raffo!

I wanted to take this chance to say "Thank You" to Coach Tommy Raffo for his 14 years of devoted service to MSU baseball. I had the chance to meet Raffo in 2003 while serving as a coach for an all star team comprised of some of the top players in Mississippi high schools. We took those teams to Oklahoma to compete in the Junior Sunbelt Classic against 8 other states and a team from Canada. I went out there for 5 years and had a great experience every time. Coach Raffo was very instrumental in putting those teams together. He gave us a list of the top prospects in the state that he was recruiting for MSU and also traveled to the tourney to scout the players. I also had the chance to talk with Raffo while he was recruiting one of my former players at NH. He was such a great guy and a class act if their ever was one. I spoke to him every year while at the MSU games and while in Oklahoma and have some very good memories with him. He was my hero at State growing up and the reason I wore #22. He could have very easily snubbed his nose at a little ol assisstant high school coach like myself but he never did and I will always respect him for that. Coach Raffo I want to wish you the best and I hope you go to another program and continue to mold young lives and teach baseball to the kids the way you do. Good Luck!

Below are the videos of the story I posted about earlier.

It is a 2 part piece done by Outside the Lines of ESPN.

OTL: Charleston, SC Firefighter Basketball Coach (Pt. 1)

OTL: Charleston, SC Firefighter Basketball Coach (Pt. 2)

Inspiring Story of a Coach

Please read this article... I saw a profile on ESPN this morning of this man and it brought tears to my eyes. They didnt get the storybook state championship ending they wanted and deserved but it is a great story of a man who put his life on the line in his work and his boys gave everything they had for him.

In the state title game the Summerville team lead by 2 with 1.7 seconds left and they were at the foul line and had a chance to put the game away. One of their players had a 1 and 1 and he missed the first shot. The defending team got the rebound and shot a 3/4 shot and it hung in the air for what seemed like hours. And then..... it went in.... The dream was shattered and their hopes of winning a state title that Louis Mulkey (their coach who had promised a state title by 2008) had promised them was gone.

But wait.... The refs had to review the shot to see if it beat the buzzer. While the Summerville players shed tears of sadness and the other team was still celebrating a miracle shot. How could this be? This is supposed to be a storybook ending. A coach who loved his boys so much and gave them so much of himself. A coach who promised a state title 5 years earlier and was killed in a fire the year before their senior season? After all this team had been through, How could it end like that? Well......IT DIDN'T. The refs reviewed the shot and it didnt count. The player did not get the shot off in time and Summerville were the State Champs. The promise their coach made had come true. And he wasn't there to see it but I like to think he was there the whole time and so do the boys at Summerville High. The got their medals and celebrated with the coach's wife Lauren at center court but there was one thing left to do. On the bus ride home they went by the cemetary and gave Coach Louis Mulkey his state championship medal and placed it on his tombstone. What a story!

I have pasted a couple of links of the story written on ESPN.com. The first was written before the title game and the second was written afterwards... If you would like to know more about the death Google Louis Mulkey and it will have links to how he died and more....
I just had to share this...


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/columns/story?id=3269083

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/columns/story?columnist=thompson_wright&id=3272028

Smooth Move Jep!

My friend Jep was at the river with some friends this Memorial Day and while they were at the sandbar he got the genius idea to dive off the back of the boat. Well, right when he was about to dive he remembered he had his expensive sunglasses on and went to take them off right when he dove. That caused him to pretty much go head first to the shallow rock bottom river bottom below. He messed his face up pretty bad and has a very sore neck.



Of course he is so hard headed about getting x-rays done but lets pray there is nothing seriously wrong with his neck and spine. Im not worried about his face because it is actually an improvement from before!




I love you bro!

Holy Double Knockout Batman!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqGsZzwPD94

Check this site out...

My friend has a site that sells patio furniture and they have lots of nice stuff.... Go check it out and see what the got if your interested....
http://www.mypatioworld.com

Pictures from the beach

Shelley and Marlee went to the beach for a friends wedding with her family and they had a great time. Marlee really enjoyed the beach and they had a good time. I love the picture of Marlee with her sunglasses and hat. I am so blessed to have 2 beautiful girls in my life and I thank God for them everyday. I dont know what my ugly butt did to deserve those 2 precious girls......

Marlee is starting to become so grown up... She sings Jesus loves me and im predicting she wins American Idol season 23!!


Sorry I have been absent so long but I will be posting lots more so please keep coming back....

God Bless!!

Me and My Girl!

WORLD SERIES CHAMPS GET THEIR RINGS!!

Congrats Red Sox!! Man those are some sweet looking rings!!

Welcome back Bill Buckner!!

Yesterday at Fenway Park, Bill Buckner returned to a rousing ovation by the Fenway faithful. It was Opening day at Fenway and the Red Sox had many old players return for the World Series celebration. Dwight Evans, Jim Rice, Yaz and Buckner were among the many old timers who returned.

Now for those of you who didn't know, Bill Buckner has long been hated by some Red Sox fans. Buckner made a very critical error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series vs. the Mets. Many of Red Sox Nation blamed Buckner for losing that World Series. I am not one of them. You win as a TEAM and you lose as a TEAM. Yes, Buckner's error was very costly but Bob Stanley could have done a better job on the mound too and we still had game 7 to come out and win the WS and break the curse.....but they lost. 86 years of futility ended in 2004 when the Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in 4 games to win the World Series. But many could not forgive Buckner even then. But after last years sweep of the Rockies, the Sox have now won 2 WS titles in 4 years. Many fans can now put that painful 86 World Series behind them and by the way yesterday went I think most all of Red Sox Nation has forgiven Buckner and welcomed him home to Boston. But most importantly Buckner has forgiven Red Sox Nation for the many years of anguish and heartache caused by many of them.

Welcome back Buckner!

Sorry I have been absent lately

I have been busy, busy, busy! I have been to Jackson 3 times the last 2 weeks on business and when I have had free time I have tried to spend it with my family. I will be back going with some posts now though.

Since my last post alot has happened!

1.) New Hope won the 4A boys state title in basketball! Congrats Trojans! :)
2.) My daughter had to go to the ER with 102.5 fever. :( It wasn't as serious as we first thought! Ear infection and upper respratory infection. She is back to normal now playing and saying HUH? She gets that from her goofy momma! :)
3.) Mississippi State played in the SEC tourney and had to endure a tornado at the Georgia Dome! Eventually they got beat out by UGA! :(
4.) Terrelle Pryor (#1 QB in the country) committed to Ohio State over Michigan. :(
5.) MSU made the NCAA tourney as a #8 seed. :-/

So as you can tell it has been an up and down couple of weeks and really busy!


More to come.....

I got to meet Paps!

Well last night I got to meet my favorite player in MLB, Jonathan Papelbon. I was able to get 3 autographs and shake his hand. I didnt speak to him much because I froze up. There were alot of people in line and Bo and I were at the very front so we didnt want to hold up the line. There were about 100 people who could not get autographs because they had to get the program started so Paps could get back on the plane and head to Fort Myers, Fl for spring training with the Red Sox!

Congrats to the Trojans!

What an exciting ballgame last night between New Hope and Jackson Lanier. New Hope lead throughout most of the game. With about 16 seconds left, NH hit 1 of 2 free throws to take a 2 point lead 79-77. Lanier came down and missed its first shot but got the rebound and tied the game with 8 seconds left. NH had no timeouts and inbounded the ball to Dale Hughes who got trapped but somehow found a wide open Rashanti Harris who leaped from about 2 feet inside the free throw line and threw down a thunderous dunk with no time left!!! NH won 81-79 over the 2 time defending state champs and went on to face Oxford on the road Thursday night!

Congrats Trojans and Coach Byrd! You guys deserve it and we wish you the best of luck Thursday!

Check out the video on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAYfbskvGB8

Big Win for Dawgs at "The Hump"!

Yesterday's game was and up and down game.
We came out on fire and Rhodes was absolutly on
fire. We jumped out to a double digit halftime lead and we were well on our way to blowing the Hogs out. But to the Hog's credit they came out and went on a 16-4 run and took the lead on us. But this year's team has gelled together nicley during the SEC season and they weathered the storm. Jamont Gordon didn't have his best shooting day but he sealed the win with 7-9 free throws and 2 BIG BLOCKS of Beverly and former bulldog Gary "Turnover" Ervin at the end of the game. Jamont was hilarious at the end of the game also. Patrick Beverley and Gordon were talking smack the whold game and Jamont got the last laughs. Beverley shot a horrible free throw on a one & one chance at the line and Gordon gave it to him hard. He went down and sank his first free throw and looked at Beverley and told him "That's how its done!" and gave him a big smile. He then proceeded to block Beverley's 3 point attempt into the 3rd row.


Big win Dawgs! Now let's go beat those crappy Rebels at the Tad Pad!

Future SEC WEST CHAMPS!!

Holy Gut Beckett!

This is a photo of Josh Beckett's gut during spring training.... What in the world did he do during the offseason? Did he eat all the Chowda in Beantown? I hope this doesn't affect his performance on the bump at Fenway because I expect similar numbers to his season last year. He should have won the Cy Young over CC Sabathia last year. He got screwed. Let's hope Beckett can get on the "Subway" diet with Jared and lose that gut!

Big game at "The Hump" tommorrow!

At 3:00 tommorrow, Mississippi State squares off against Arkansas to try and gain a 2 game advantage in the SEC Western Division. The crowd will be electric and I look forward to one heck of a ballgame. I think we will avenge our butt whooping in Fayetteville just a few weeks ago. That game was not MSU basketball and an average 3 point shooting team in Arkansas shot the lights out from behind the arc. I don't believe that will happen tommorrow! We play well at home and I think we will come out victorious.

I look for Jarvis "SWAT" Vanardo to control the game down low on the defensive end and look for Jamont and Charles Rhodes to control the game on the offensive end.

My prediction? I will go with MSU 74 Arkansas 67. Jamont will be the player of the game with 19 points, 7 boards, 9 assists!

GO DAWGS!

Spring Training Arrives.....

2008 baseball is upon us and the DEFENDING (Man it feels good to say that) World Series champs have arrived. It is time for the pitchers and catchers to report and all looks good on the Red Sox front. Of course, Schill is not gonna be doing anything in spring training, which sucks, but he will be ok I believe.

My only wish is that we would be looking at Johan in the Sox uniform but not at the expense of Jacoby! I guess now I will go ahead and give my prediction for this years playoffs and World Champs, so here goes:

National League:

East - Mets

Central - Cubs

West - Dodgers

Wild Card - Braves

NL CHAMPS = METS

American League

East - Red Sox

Central - Indians

West - Mariners

Wild Card - Yankees

AL CHAMPS = RED SOX

World Series = Red Sox vs. Mets and Sox win in 7! *Payback from the 86 series!

Happy Valentines Day to All!

Happy Valentines to everyone! Marlee Grace enjoyed her Valentine. She got a new outfit which she is wearing in the picture and also some new pajamas and her favorite was the Valentine's M&M's! She loves those M&M's! Anyways....Hope everyone had a good one.

Marlee Grace is growing up so fast.....

Just the other day we were playing in the house and she looked up at me and said, "Mon daddy...". And I thought did she just tell me to come on??? Then she grabbed my hand and took me to the backdoor and said, "I wan go outsie daddy." It was so funny. So we went outside and played on the swing and ran around with Chipper (Our yellow lab).

She is getting so big and just amazes Shelley and I everyday. She tells Shelley, "I wan tak a bath momma." Or "I want bite." Or "I want nack (snack)"

And she loves to dance and sing. Anytime music comes on she breaks it down and dances and sings. I have some videos on youtube of her dancing and posted on on this blog last week.

I hope all is well with your families and God Bless!

Schilling Gone?

Yesterday I got an email on my phone that Curt Schilling may miss the 2008 season with a torn shoulder! What a bummer! I like our rotation with Beckett, Dice K, Schill, Lester and Wakefield. I really wish we could have gotten Johan now, but not at the expense of Jacoby "Taco" Ellsbury.

No doubt this will be a blow to our rotation, but as 'ol Schill' has shown us before (i.e. the 2004 ALCS vs the Yanks) he can battle through some injuries and adversity.

Best wishes Curt!

OUR LITTLE GIRL!

How great is this video?

We are getting ready for her audition for American Idol 20!

Super Bowl Sunday!

Welcome to Super Bowl 42! It's time to break out the hot wings, coacktail weenies and cold drinks. It's time to get ready to watch over 50 million dollars worth of Super Bowl commercials that I can't stand and it's time to watch the Patriots absolutly destroy the Giants and make history by being the first team to go 19-0 in a season! I'm pulling for the Patriots for several reasons. Like my brother said on his blog, http://matthaines.blogspot.com/, I'm rooting for the Pats because of:

1.) Tom Brady - He is a Michigan Man and he dates supermodels for a hobby!

2.) I hate any team from NY!

3.) I can't stand Eli Manning because he is overrated and living off of daddy and brother Peyton.

4.) Because the Pats are from Boston and that is where my beloved Red Sox hail!

I'm not a diehard Pats fan but I did decide to rrot for them when Brady went there. I don't live and die by the Pats like I do the Red Sox, but I really dont have an NFL team so I figured why not root for a Michigan Man?

My predition? Pats 38 Giants 20

Sorry I have been MIA lately....

I apologize for not making any posts lately. I have been busy and just havent had the free time to post. More to come soon....

LSU wins BCS title!

Well Michigan found a way to beat OSU! Except it wasn't Michigan vs. OSU, it was a "Michigan Man" vs. OSU. Les Miles won his first BCS national title with a beatdown of the Buckeyes! Congrats to the Tigers and to Coach Miles! I couldn't think of a better team for you to beat to win the title!

Update on my Fantasy Football Championship Game

I lost by 1 point!! Are you kidding me? 1 measley, lousy and little point? Why? Because Vince Young hurt his widdle quad muscle and had to come out of the game! He was 1 point short of me winning the title for the first time in 7 years! I could have won if he got 1 more rushing yard or 14 more passing yards or even if his reciever would have caught a TD pass right in his hands! (As my ex-youth minister, when I was a child, Wes Cantrell, or my brother Matt, would say; It hit him in a bad place! THE HANDS!!

I could have won if the Bengals RB, Kenny Watson, would have rushed for 1 more yard! There are so many ways I could have won! But I guess I have no one to blame but myself. Why?

Because I decided to sit Plaxico Burress and Brandon Jacobs, both members of the New York football Giants, because it was very unknown if 1.) They would start the game at all. 2.) If they did start, how long would they play or contribute?

So I sat them both and they put up 36 points combined! I decided not to start Jacobs because he had been hurting and it was thought that he may rest as well as Plaxico.

Well it cost me the title but I will live because: MICHIGAN BEAT FLORIDA AND I CAN TALK SMACK TO MY BOY CHIZ UNTIL THE NEXT TIME THEY PLAY!

A class act goes out on top!

In my opinion, Lloyd Carr went out the way he should have gone out; A WINNER!

He was a winner on and off the field. He caught alot of heat for being conservative. (Starting with me) He was told the game had passed him by and he was too old. But let's just review a few of his accomplishments for one second:

1.) He coached Michigan to a 122-40 overall record.

2.) He coached Michigan to their first national title in over 50 years!

3.) He coached a team that sent over 100 players to the NFL.

4.) He coached a team that ran a clean program and was never placed on probation or investigated by the NCAA.

Lloyd Carr's players will be the first to tell you that he is like their second father. He instilled class, discipline and a love for Michigan football to each and every one of his players!

Here's to you Coach Carr! Thanks for ringing in 2008 on a great note for all of us "MICHIGAN MEN"!

Hey Urban Cryer, CHOMP ON THIS!!