Money Ball

Yesterday (Saturday) I went to see the movie, "Money Ball" in theaters. I give the movie an enthusiastic two thumbs up. It's about the the story of the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics, a major league baseball team. It's about how major league baseball can be unfair as far as paying for players. For example, the New York Yankees pay out over two hundred million dollars total each year two their players. On the other hand, you have the Oakland Athletics, a small market team, that pays their players about 50 million dollars a year total. It's hard to compete in major league baseball if you're a small market team and can't buy the right players for your ball club like a big money market team can like the Yankees or the Red Sox. This story is about a General Manager, Billy Beane, who figures out a mathematic way to reorganize his baseball team, the Oakland Athletics. Since he doesn't have the money to sign the all star baseball athletes, he signs players that are the best position for their value. He starts by using the "on base percentage method". His goal is to win. In baseball, a team can win if they score runs and you score runs by getting on base. Thus, his goal is to look for the best players that he can afford, who get on base the most. His theory doesn't work out for the first few weeks of the season but in the long run, it works wonders for the Oakland Athletics as they go on to win 20 consecutive games that season (a major league record). I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to give the movie away but it's an inspirational movie that makes you really think outside the box. Go see the movie!!

Here's to you, Jill

 Before I got married, I constantly heard comments from different people saying that the first year of marriage was the hardest. I met my wife a little over two years ago. We started dating in the winter of 2010 and got married in November of that year. She is an amazing person. Let me tell you, our first year of marriage has been nothing but bliss! We are hitting our ten month anniversary tomorrow and life couldn't be better. The best part about marrying Jill is that, I really did marry my best friend. And what's better, is that I get to spend the rest of my life with her. She always makes me smile. Even if we're having an argument, we seem to find some way to laugh it off (it usually entails going off on a scooter ride-which is definitely the best purchase of our marriage so far). She's absolutely everything I wanted and more in a wife. She has an amazing family, she's constantly striving to be like Jesus Christ, she's smart, she's BEAUTIFUL, and she has a nice car. The first year of marriage is definitely different from the single life, there's no questioning that, but it's definitely been the best year of my life. I can't wait to make next year the best year of my life with Jill, then the next, and the next.

Ten Years Ago

Ten years ago I was in the 8th grade and living in my home town of Eagle, Idaho. I was just arriving to school when I heard the news of a plane that flew into the world trade center tower in Manhattan. I didn't really know what to think. I didn't know a lot about the world trade center, I didn't know a lot about terrorists, and I didn't know what the country would do in response to the attack. Shortly after the first tower was hit, there was news of another plane hitting the second world trade center tower. Many people seemed to panic at the school. I remember the mother of a friend of mine came to pick him up from school. I thought to myself, "why do so many people care about what's happening in the east? It's not going to effect us out here in Idaho..." I was wrong. There were many kids at my school who had relatives who were in New York when the attacks happened. My own dad was even supposed to fly out to Washington D.C. the next day for a business trip. I'm glad that he didn't because there was another attack on the pentagon. I never would have thought at that time in my life that such an event would scar the United States forever. The attacks on the world trade center may have left a hole in our hearts but it also made our hearts a lot bigger. The event brought Americans closer together. I'm so grateful for all of the heroes that sacrificed their lives to save others.  They have left a legacy that will never be forgotten and one that will live on in history of America and one that brought the country together.

Food, family, and football

My wife and I have gone to my hometown of Eagle, ID for the holiday weekend and are very sad to be leaving tomorrow. This weekend has definitely had a "Thanksgiving" feel to it. I've had the chance to catch up with family, who I haven't seen since I was a boy in high school. I've gained about five pounds eating my sister's home made pies, red vine licorice, and even more junk food. Last of all, it was a good weekend of football. Boise State beat the 19th ranked SEC powerhouse Georgia, BYU beat another SEC team, Ole Miss, and Eagle High school football laid the smack down on Timberline to start the season off 1-0. I was really excited to see Eagle High play because their quarterback, Tanner Mangum, recently just signed with BYU to play in 2014. Tanner is a four star recruit and is rated in the espn top 150 recruits in the nation. He definitely lived up to his hype by passing for four touchdowns and over 300 yards through the air. I’m excited to see what this kid can do throughout the season at Eagle High and then on to college at BYU. He won't be playing for another two years though as he still has to graduate from college and serve a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.