ASU vs. LSU

From USA Today, the game time for the LSU-ASU game has been changed to 10 a.m. (11 a.m. EST), due to expected strength and path of Gustav. All parties agreed this would be best for the overriding safety concerns. "Traffic contraflow could begin through Baton Rouge as early as 6 p.m. Saturday, The storm could be major and hit south Louisiana." ESPN had planned to televise the game nationally at 4 p.m. ESPN and LSU officials were discussing Friday afternoon if the game will still be televised in some capacity." Stay safe everyone in Louisiana!

In other news... At the first ASU home game, Sept. 6 vs. Jacksonville - 3:30pm, look for the team to sport these jerseys...

The 1989 throwbacks... honoring Coach Jerry Moore. Coach Moore coached his first Appalachian State football game in 1989.

Gameday at BB&T Field

With the start of school, comes the welcome return of college football. Wake Forest opened the season on Thursday night prime time against the Baylor Bears. To show off the newly renovated stadium and press box, Wake Forest hosted game night with free tours of the new facilities. There were more little WF's than anyone could ever imagine, and located in the most unexpected places. This also gave us an opportunity to check out where our season ticket seats are and watch the game outside on the big screens at the stadium. Luckily, the rain held off for the evening, and Wake Forest pulled off a 41-13 win. It was great to see the new stadium, and cheer on the Deacs to their first win of the season.

College Football Frenzy!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of one great season - College Football! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am for the season to begin. We have season tickets to the Wake Forest games and no better way to open the season than by touring the new Deacon Tour and watching the first game on the big screen at BB&T field - Wake vs. Baylor!


Pray the weather clears up and we are able to attend this event... I promise lots of pictures.

Also, as many of you know, I am a huge Appalachian State fan! GO MOUNTAINEERS! Saturday, August 30 at 5:00pm on ESPN - a showdown of Champions. The 3-peat Subdivision champs vs. National Champions in the BCS LSU. This should be a good game. Ever since the huge Michigan upset, no one counts out the Happy Appies! Brian's sister, Traci, is an LSU graduate... good thing we aren't watching the game together! Here's a great preview of the game....



The Tennessee Volunteers open their season on Labor Day against UCLA at 8:00PM on ESPN! Looking forward to watching this game.

Between Wake, App and UT it looks like we will be watching a lot of football this season! Let the games begin!

Babies, Babies and More Babies

It seems like all my friends are either getting married or having babies. I realize this is old news but better late than never! Two of my good friends welcomed precious angels into their lives recently. First up... Lindsey (my friend from graduate school) gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Jacob (Jake) Andrew Thompson was born on 7/17/08 at 5:55pm CST. He weighed 7 pounds 4 oz and was 19 and 3/4 inches. Lindsey and Josh are both huge football fans so it was no surprise that Jake's room is a football theme. Congrats Lindsey and Josh! I can't wait to meet the little one.

The Thompson clanRepresenting ASU!!! Jake has good taste!

A Steelers fan from birth.

Next up...My dear friend Sarah and her husband Bradley welcomed their second baby girl, Palmer Emerson Smart, on 8/17/08 at 10:45pm EST. Palmer weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 inches. I am so glad Brian got the chance to finally meet Sarah and Bradley. We can't wait to make a trip to Asheville to see the wonderful Smart family.

Harper and her new sister, Palmer

Palmer Emerson Smart

Three more babies will be welcomed into the world soon! One of my coworkers, Megan and her husband Matthew are expecting their first child, a baby boy, in October. Everyone in the office is excited to meet Hudson Pope. Next, my longtime friend and soccer coaching buddy, Megan Berlinger and her husband Bob, are expecting their first child in November. Julia Grace Berlinger is destined to be a soccer star! Last but certainly not least, my cousin Carrie and her husband Jason are excepting their second child in January. We can't wait to find out the sex of the baby. I know Addison Head will be a wonderful big sister!

USWNT take GOLD!

If you know me, you know that one of my passions is soccer. I play the sport, I coach the sport and growing up it was eat.sleep.soccer. for me. So, of course I tuned it this morning to get updates on the USA vs. Brazil Women's Soccer Gold Medal Game. After a hard fought battle, USA prevailed! It took 90 regulation minutes and Two 15 minute OT periods but they did it! Thanks to an amazing shot, 6 minutes into the first overtime period, by Carli Lloyd, USA won 1-0! I couldn't be more proud of them. Soccer is a brutal, high intensity, always moving game. Not only did they take gold but they defended their title as Olympic champions. And U.S. Soccer was notified by the U.S.O.C. that this was the 1,000th gold medal won by the U.S. ! GO USA!

The flyin Hawaiian (Kai) and HAO celebrate!

USA Volleyball, USA Basketball and USA Soccer... they're all friends!

Can't wait for next Tuesday when my U10 girls team starts practice again!

Oak Island Beach Trip

With a four hour drive ahead of us, Lynsey was anxious to get to the beach and soak up all the sun. Unfortunately, she had to work part of a day at the hospital, but went in at 6:00 AM in order to spend the maximum amount of time at the beach. After an uneventful drive, Tracy, Trish, Michael, Lynsey and I made it to Oak Island and were greeted with bright sun, blue water, and sand between our toes. After stocking up on groceries for the week, Zach and Taylor arrived, and the ladies prepared a scrumptious meal before we broke out the cornhole and tried out our new boards. Though our bags did not meet the National Cornhole Association standards, they still worked okay and led to some pretty hottly contested matches. More on that later.

After an early morning run, and embarrassing me by how many sit-ups she could do, Lynsey took sandwich orders for everyone before packing up and heading to the beach for the day. The ladies spent most of the day sunning, but did get out and enjoy the ocean waves some also. That afternoon we all took a driving tour of the island and saw some of the historic light houses that have lined the coast since 1958.

The next day, I decided to let my artistic side show and began carving and building a gallery of sand sculptures. The sandcastles turned out okay, but I am most proud of the sailboat, and the series of collegiate symbols, that unfortunately were washed away as soon as I finished them.

Unfortunately, Tayor came down with a sinus infection and she and Zach decided to come back home, but Craig and Marcie gladly took there place and were happy to not sleep on the air mattress for another night. More games of UNO were played during these 6 days than ever before, I believe.UNO!!!!

Thursday brought one of the hottest days of the week, and after more sunning on the beach (This seems to be a recurring theme.) Tracy, Trish, Michael, Lynsey, and I decided to take in the unique shops in Southport. Lynsey continued her fetish with monogramming everything in sight but was able to refrain from buying the entire shop all at one time. We capped off the evening by stuffing ourselves with fresh seafood from the Ship's Chandler and ice cream from Dairy Queen.

Lynsey's required picture when she visits Southport.

(Hey Jen... does this swing look familar? ;-) )

With Olympic fever in the air on Friday morning, we decided to host and participate in our own beach olympics. We did not have the traditional swimming, track and field, and gymnastics. Instead our olympics consisted of cornhole, jacks, 3-legged race, and UNO and yes, we did have medals! Lynsey and I made up the American contingency (complete with Red White and Blue team uniforms), Tracy and Trish represented the Canadian maple leaf, Craig and Marcie were Ireland and Germany just based on the color of their shirts, and Michael was an independent representing the former USSR. Despite a close call in the early events, Lynsey's competitive side took over and powered the USA to a gold medal. Followed by the Cannucks with Silver and tie for Bronze between Ireland/Germany and USSR. Full of Olympic spirit, we all settled in for the opening ceremonies that night, with eager anticipation for a fort night of continuous Olympic coverage.

Our final night was spent with an early bird special dinner at Blue Point Marina. We had to get there early in order to avoid the lengthy line of hungry island goers. And it was a good thing we did or else we may still be waiting on a table. Blue Point is obviously one of the best and most popular eateries on the island, and it lived up to its reputation with delicious and bountiful salmon, shrimp, crab, and mahi-mahi.

After 6 days of fun in the sun, unfortunately we had to return home and back to our regular daily lifes. It was a great time had by all, and we look forward to a return trip.