One Lucky Guy

It was either this, or the football player.

I have considered myself a very lucky guy for a long time. Whether it was good or bad, it always seemed to work out.  I do think I’ve worked hard for my luck, but either way, I am pretty lucky.

I distinctly remember the first time I felt like I was lucky (get your mind out of the gutter). I was sitting in Mr. Bowman’s science class in 7th grade. I have always considered myself a smart kid, even when I lie about my past. I sat towards the back of the room, and we were going over the periodic table of elements. The textbook we were using (remember those?) had the table spread over two pages right in the middle pages of the book; so the  binding was visible, and a slight space appeared vertically down the center of the elements. 

Now, for all of you that haven’t looked at, or thought about, the periodic elements since that day in Jr. High, there are also a group of elements that were separated and moved below the table as man-made elements (I’m not looking this up by the way, my wife can vouch. Pure memory, and probably wrong). 

Added photo after text was written. I think I was right...

So Mr. Bowman was talking the Charlie Brown teacher talk (c’mon: wah wah wah, wah-wah wah wah); and I was probably just starting to pay attention when he asked the class if there was something odd about the periodic table. There was some silence. I looked, raised my hand and said, “This is easy. The table is split down the middle.” Of course, Mr. Bowman said I was right. I think you can see where this is going. I thought it was split oddly because I had never seen it split vertically before. He thought (or at least played it off as) that I knew the bottom elements were the man-made ones. I got lucky.

But my luck didn’t stop. Oh no, it kept getting better. I was lucky enough in high school to have people that wanted me to succeed. I was the sportscaster on a TV News team that won the All-State competition. I wasn’t considered rich growing up, but I got by with what we had. For the news broadcast, I didn’t have a sports coat, or even a white button down shirt. I did have a black shirt and tie though (used sparingly throughout high school). The judges at the competition said our newscast stood out because of our commercial, and it was hilarious. But he also made a point to say that the sportscaster took a chance and stood out by wearing a black shirt and no coat. Sometimes you remember the little stuff.

Just getting into college was luck for me. But I got there, and after semester one I needed to get my act into gear if I wanted to stay. Sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know. And I had a good crew in college that were more focused on academics than not. And that support was beneficial. I ended up in a great place because of it.

I also remember in college when my luck wasn’t so much good. Long story short: I lost a “bar fight” with the glass from a fire extinguisher case. I had the pleasure of spending the night in the tank. But, it led to some good. When I went to my broadcasting class later that week (and the beginning of Triple Threat TV at ISU) a cute girl was eyeing me. I found out later that she was trying to figure out if I really was the kid from the paper she read about in the blotter. Good news for me, she liked me anyway, and now we are about to celebrate our 5th year of marriage together (June 2nd). And you know how we’re celebrating? We’re going to run a 20K in Des Moines. I have a feeling I’ll be lucky to finish.

Addiction.

Now with Faith almost 2-years-old, I decided it was time to get rid of the pacifier. We had talked about it anyway when I was out of school. But it was just as big of a crutch for Nicole and I as it was for Faith. So, last night, when we were on our way home I got stubborn, and pretty much told Nicole we were going to go sans-binky right then. Cold Turkey.

She said that I would be the one in charge for the night. And I got lucky. It initially took about 10 minutes to get her to calm down. We have a giraffe that makes music, and so I decided that would be her replacement. So when she was upset, I wound it up and made sure to give it to her, then rub her back. Then she was out. She woke up once at 5am, for just a moment. I repositioned the giraffe and she was out again. And that was it. She woke up at 6:30 (about normal) and was ready to rock and roll. Nicole gave her presents for making it as a “big-girl” and our day has commenced.

Duck, Duck, ALLIGATOR!

You know the expression, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch,” right? This was night one. We still have two long car rides today - and probably nap time too. But, I’m lucky. We’ll see I guess.

By the way, I didn’t mention being on (and winning) Wheel of Fortune, falling into a wonderful career (I literally replied to a newspaper ad that said, “Tired of your current job? Did you always want to become a teacher?”), getting to jump out of a plane and tell about it, visiting Ireland, and a myriad of other moments in my life. 

The family with ISU women's basketball coach Bill Fennelly and his 2028 recruit. Oh, and yellow skinny jeans.

As I often say (to anyone who will listen), I am the luckiest guy I know.~Rob

We Were There

And that, my friends, is why they play the game. Because on paper, Iowa State is a 27-point underdog to #2, undefeated Oklahoma State. But paper doesn't account for a Friday night game on ESPN. Paper doesn't account for needing that sixth win to become bowl eligible. Paper doesn't account for a stadium filled with fans armed with gold "terrible" towels.

Rob's towel picture.

My attempt at a towel picture, just as Rob bumped my arm and my phone almost went flying.

Going into Friday night's game, I thought the setting just might be wacky enough for a Cyclone victory. Sometimes you just have that feeling. It's one of confidence in your team and being an Iowa State football fan, it's not exactly a familiar feeling I get at Jack Trice.

Rob, Lukey and I had a good feeling. Summer - not so much.

If you saw the game, Iowa State dug themselves a hole of 17 points. But it never felt like 17 points and slowly but surely, the Cyclones stormed back to tie the game. Credit "Sandstorm" for about half of those points. It made the crowd go nuts and by that I mean Rob Lindquist broke out his air glowsticks.

(Damn me for not taking a picture of this).

By now you probably heard Iowa State won in double OT.

In case you can't read it, it says 37 - 31. Cyclones Win! Let me repeat, CYCLONES WIN!

Let me put that in perspective for you.

Earlier this year we took Faith to the Texas game in Ames. Let's just say our corndogs were the highlight of her first time in section 18.

Seriously, the Longhorns just scored again?! says Faith.

 We left at halftime because even if the Longhorns had left for Austin, the Cyclones could not have scored enough points to win. It was fugly, as it sometimes is for our beloved cardinal and gold.

The game was ugly but Faith is always cute.

Despite being on the losing end of many an Iowa State football game, Rob and I still chose to get season tickets every year. We enjoy tailgating with our crew whether it be a game of bags, giant Jenga or the occasional Flip  Cup that we are too old for never gets old.

And the food. Beer bread and fruit salsa. Summer's famous Monster cookies not pictured :)

Guys and horseballs.

You do not want to cross this angry bird at horseballs.

Me, Luke, Summer, Eric and Kaylee! Diehard Cyclone peeps.

Nick and Brooke. They missed the victory, but stayed warm in Jamaica!

But it's not all about what happens in the parking lots. As the loud dude on the big screen always says during a third quarter timeout, "We love Ames, Iowa and WE. LOVE. THE CYCLONES!"

 We went to school for four years at Iowa State. It holds a special place in our hearts. Hell, even my license plate says 05CLONE. Not only do we owe our family to that place, but most of our best friends in the world graduated from there too, so they understand how big of a deal Friday's win is for us. There is NOTHING like cheering for your alma mater. Especially when they upset a team they weren't supposed to and especially when something like that happens for the FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY. I liken it to the UNI victory over Kansas during March Madness in 2010.


The pride in our team was so overwhelming that when the clock struck 0:00 fans young and old, short (me) and tall (Luke) bounded down the bleachers, hopped over the wall and ran onto the field to celebrate and scream our hearts out.

 The chorus of "Sweet Caroline" echoed around the place. It was 11 o'clock at night, but no one cared about sleep right then. The smiles from the crowd on the field could've been featured in one giant Delta Dental ad. Eyes were glued to the screen waiting for a Paul Rhoads speech. No one wanted to leave. It was definitely a "life on pause" moment for me.

Warning: REALLY bad, annoying singing by yours truly. And that's being nice.

The victory is one I won't ever forget. I can't wait to tell Faith the story of the time the Cyclones beat Oklahoma State on a crazy Friday night in my favorite college town. Hopefully she'll realize that I'm SO PROUD to be a Cyclone.

I wanna close by acknowledging the most important thing about the game on Friday: the moment of silence for the two women's basketball coaches killed in an airplane crash. When I heard the news, it made me sick to my stomach. How awful for those families, their players and the rest of the Okie State community. I know how much it would have affected our football team if we lost one of my favorite coaches of all time, Bill Fennely, the Cyclone women's b-ball coach. While I am happy my Cyclones won, when I was watching the game the next night on our DVR, it made me want to cheer for the other team, so they could have something to smile about. It sucks their national title hopes were dashed, but that is insignificant compared to the difficulty Oklahoma State faces as the other coaches and players of the women's basketball team pick up the pieces. An Iowa State fan's sign said it well, "Our Thoughts Are With Stillwater." And our hearts go out to the Cowboys as well.

Ramblings of a crazy man

I decided I would free write for a post (since I am reminded I haven't done one in a while). The first thing I noticed was the new blogger interface. Very scaled back... kind of throwing me off. I had important stuff to say (I'm sure) but now most of it's gone.

So Nicole and I finally watched "The Social Network" and we both really liked it. I think I'll make a list of random thoughts that come into my head, and if someone creates a website from it, I'll sue for $65 million.

- We need to watch more movies I've decided.

- You know, now that I'm the dad of a one-year-old, I really do wish there was more time in the day so I could sleep it away.

- Howie seems to know when to bark at the most inopportune times. This can be applied to train whistles as well.

- Nicole and I would like to move away from the trains eventually, but then our bobble-head collection would lose its charm... (ba dum).

- Our friends are having twins, one boy and one girl. Wife doesn't have baby-fever quite yet...

- Add to above... My neighbors dogs bark at the most inopportune times.

- I finally feel like I'm teaching... and it's awesome! As a non-math guy, working with budgets all day is tough, but I'll manage.

- I dare you to find a more beautiful campus than Iowa State in the fall... Go Cyclones!

- Tailgating rocks.

- I'm very eager for basketball season to get underway.

- My wife's birthday is coming up and I'm getting her ___________ and I don't think she has any idea (I will remove the line eventually).

-I'm running again (as is Nicole) and it's great.

Well, I feel as though if you're still reading this, you're bored by now! I'm sure I'll post again soon.

~Rob