Tribute to Kevin Garnett

I frankly don't know where to begin on this. There are so many thoughts going through my mind right now over the official news that Kevin Garnett is no longer a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

As a lifelong sports fan, there are inevitably some athletes that will be all time favorites. My short list would include: Kirby Puckett, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp (soccer players), and Kevin Garnett.

As I reflect on Garnett, he is without a doubt my favorite athlete ever. Here's a sampling of the reasons:
* Kevin Garnett made me a Timberwolves fan. Growing up, I cheered for the Indiana Pacers - who were a perennially lousy team. When I went off to college in fall of '93, the Pacers had their first good season and made it to the Eastern Conference finals against the Knicks (a series that had the best performance I've ever watched: Reggie Miller's 25 points in the 4th quarter of game 5). The Pacers continued to do well for the next several seasons, but then the Timberwolves drafted a kid out of high school with the #5 draft pick in 1995 (a VERY rare occurrence back then) named Kevin Garnett. I still cheered for the Pacers, but all my friends in MN (since that's the state I attended college) really took to the guy. I was skeptical at first, but it didn't take long to draw me in as a fan of the T-Wolves AND a fan of Kevin Garnett.
* Any success the Wolves have had is a direct result of KG. They had no history before he came, and he made them a perennial playoff team most of his time in MN.
* KG is a TALENTED, FREAK of NATURE. The man is at least 7' tall, runs like a gazelle, and can leap out of the gym. Never before has there been a player with Garnett's size and quickness put together. During his time here, he would regularly guard the opposing team's best player - even if that meant the small, agile point guard. KG could guard any of them. In short, he is the finest athlete I've ever witnessed.
* KG is LOYAL. It's very clear the Garnett didn't want to leave MN. News reports today are indicating that. KG made a connection with the people of MN, and I truly believe KG wanted to make MN his home. Not many pro atheletes would do that.
* KG ALWAYS played HARD. I've watched KG play more than any other athlete in my lifetime. When I attend live games, I make a point to watch Garnett at all times. He never quits. Even when the ref blows a foul, and the player from the opposing team shoots, Garnett will still try to block it. This annoys some, but I love it. Even over the last couple seasons when the Wolves were a crappy team, Garnett never tanked or lowered his intensity.

One of my biggest regrets about KG leaving is that Karsten won't be able to watch him as much anymore. We loved going to Wolves games together, and Karsten loved KG too (especially since they share the same initials). Hopefully, Karsten will still have opportunities to watch KG play again with me, and I'll be sure to point out how hard KG plays, and how he plays the right way.

I shall also miss Garnett's pregame ritual at Target Center. Shaking the talcum power on the scoring table was the first step. Garnett was always the last players to step on the court for tip-off. He shook hands with every opposing team member before walking to the center circle to go for the jump ball. It was all as if he was a king and everyone was in his court at his request.

Garnett's leaving MN is bittersweet. It pains me to say this as a fan, but it's the right thing for the Wolves right now. Garnett is the highest paid player in basketball - and he deserves every penny of it since I think he's the best all-around player in the NBA. But unfortunately this also meant that the T-Wolves had severe salary cap restrictions since ~40% of their payroll went to one player. Garnett's departure means that the Wolves will finally have some flexibility to get new players and rebuild. I would love to see Garnett say, but I also want to see the Wolves win and compete - and it was clear that Garnett wasn't going to be able to make that happen on his own in MN. Hopefully he gets a championship for another team....

To Kevin: I doubt you'll ever read this, but if you do - I just want to say a heartfelt "thank you." You exemplified everything I believe a pro athlete should be: a prominent and highly regarded role model both on and off the court. You play the game the right way, and I will always be your fan. Don't ever let up. I'm saddened you are gone, but I'm already looking to purchase tickets to the Celtics game at Target Center this upcoming season. You are one of the greatest players to ever play the game, and I count it a privilege to have been able to watch you over the last 12 years. You can be assured that I will watch as many Celts games that I can this coming season, and I'll check the box score to see how you're doing every morning.

You will be missed - but always loved.
Aaron

IKEA is expanding it's ever-reaching business...

I'm only blogging about this since I have a few family members that really like IKEA. (I won't name any names, but I'm looking in the direction of South Dakota.) Personally, I've never even been into one of their mega-stores (although I've flipped through the catalog once or twice).

Anyway, it appears that IKEA in Oslo, Norway will allow 30 lucky shoppers to stay overnight in dormitory-style bunk beds for free. Included in the deal is a supper, breakfast, as well as getting to keep the sheets, bathrobe, and slippers. I'm sure these aren't stellar quality, but not a bad deal nonetheless.

It also appears that IKEA will have a special honeymoon suite for an undisclosed fee. The room will include most likely the finest encoutrements that IKEA has to offer, but I'm guessing the newly wedded couples must put their beds, chairs, and tables together first before they can consumate their marriage... :-) What a marriage builder, if a couple can put together the furniture with sufficient time to have a little "fun," then that marriage will likely hold the test of time.

Link to Gizmodo:

Another Advancement in Technol...err - what?

I'll let you decide whether this is a step forward of back in terms of technology. (My personal view is the latter). Basically, this thing is a personal email device that looks and acts like a typewriter. I guess if this gets my grandparents to use email, it can't be a bad thing...but wouldn't they be better off with an inexpensive pc that can also use to play solitaire?

Here's a summary from the blog Gizmodo:

Apparently you need to use special paper in order to be able to send emails, but the way you can receive emails on thing is strangely missing.

Perhaps this is a last-ditch effort for the typewriter industry to sell ink ribbon and special papers. Here's to hoping they can also find a way to use typewriter correction tape...

Thoughts on XM and Sirius Satellite Radio Merger

I've already admitted I'm a recovering gadget freak, but I may find myself in a relapse soon.

I've used both XM and Sirius Satellite Radio services in the past, and really like the idea since I travel a lot and quality radio coverage is often pretty bad - and the idea of having every station available anywhere in the USA is appealing as well. I ended up cancelling Sirius (in my opinion, the far better of the two) since I found myself paying the $13 a month for the service, along with many other "small fees" for other gadget-related services. These were really digging into my monthly expenses, and had to go...

As part of the proposed merger of the two companies, (a business move that has local radio stations are trying to have the government block) they are talking of being able to pick your own a la carte' stations - up to 50 - and pay only $6.99/month. Seeing how either service goes for $13/month each, and since I only listen to 5-6 channels regularly, that's a great deal.

Here's to hoping this deal goes through...

source: Gizmodo

Baby Blue Eyes

Frank Sinatra himself has nothing on baby Ava. Check out these pics Nikki took over the last week or so...

Ava is crawling all over the place and climbing up on anything she can. She'll probably be walking in a few weeks.

Hopefully she'll figure out potty training by the time she's 1... :-)

July 4th - Valley Fair

We spent the 4th at Valley Fair with Nikki's family. These trips turn out to be days of child-watching more than days of thrill rides - but it's fun to see the kids enjoying themselves. Karsten is now over 4 feet tall, so he could ride most of the rides - if he wanted to.

The day started with Karsten wanting to ride one of the older wooden roller coasters (named the "High Roller" that's relatively tame by roller coaster standards, but a good one to start on. He loved it. We planned to ride the new coaster, Renegade, later in the day - but after standing in line for 10 minutes, they shut the coaster down for repairs, so we left and did a different coaster Karsten didn't like as much.

Here are just a couple pictures.

Teagan's Birthday: Family Party 6/30/07

We had all the grandparents (both sides) and aunts/uncles that could make it to a get-together for Teagan's birthday. I had grill duty, so most of the pictures were taken by Nikki - although I took the ones that Nikki is helping Teagan with the gift opening. (Nikki always looks exceptional, but she was looking especially exceptional that day :-))

Teagan's 2nd Birthday & our 11th Wedding Anniversary

June 28 will always be a busy day in our household; mainly since it's our wedding anniversary but also of high importance is Teagan's birthday as well.

An easy compromise on where to celebrate the occassions was TGI Friday's: a definite step up from any fast food chain that the kids like, but still very kid-friendly. The free ice cream for birthdays might have come to someone's mind as well. :-) (
Aside: I can't explain it, but I LOVE TGI Friday's. Normally, I don't get into chains of this type, but there something about the atmosphere and food that I love. Their burgers are exceptional. They have a new Turkey hamburger with whole wheat bun, and I order a side of sliced fruit - delicious and [moderately] healthy all at the same time. I order the same thing everytime I go there...)

Anyway, Teagan decided to show off her new Dora umbrella to everyone in the restaurant, and we got a few other pics of the family as well.

Vacation: The Farm (6/23/07)

Both my parents grew up on farms in Southwest MN, and farming is still in our family's blood. My mom's only brother, Uncle Dave, still works a farm in the area.

Karsten has a definite interest in farms, and we want to try to expose the kids to this type of life so they understand the work involved and appreciate what goes into producing the food they eat. Thus we try to get out to the farm at least once a year.

When we were coming through on our way home from the Black Hills, they were just finishing spraying the crops for weeds. There was still some hay to be cut, so Uncle Dave took Karsten and Kiera out about 90 mins in the tractor to cut it down.

Uncle Dave seems to be pretty impressed with Karsten's knowledge of the farm. He said that Karsten was wondering why they couldn't bail the hay by pulling the bailer behind the cutter. David said that the hay needed to dry before it could be bailed, otherwise it would rot. Karsten in turn asked why he couldn't a "furnace" to dry the hay between the time it was cut and bailed. Dave said no one had come up with a way to do that, but if Karsten could he could make a lot of money with that idea.

There are no working prototypes yet, but we're already cashing the check ;-)

Vacation: Storybook Island (Rapid City, SD) 6/22/07

We planned to head back to Brookings, SD to visit with my brother, grandparents, and other relatives on our way back home. In order to get there, that meant a quick trip through Rapid City and Storybook Island.

Storybook Island is a free park operated by the city and a private trust. Most of the attractions are themed from popular children's books. It's more or less a playground, but it kept the kids busy and subsequently burned a lot of energy as we began the 5-6 hour drive to Brookings.

Vacation: Spearfish Canyon (6/20/07)

After spending the day in Deadwood and Lead, Papa suggested we take the drive through the Spearfish Canyon. It was the opposite direction we needed to go in order to get back to the cabin, but it was worth it.

Hopefully these pictures will do it a little justice. My only real problem is that there aren't any places to stop and take pictures when driving through the valleys. The way to get the good pictures is by hiking - something we didn't have the time to do.

These pictures were taken using my new tripod...the steering wheel of our minivan.

Vacation: Homestake Mine (Lead, SD) 6/20/07

After going through Deadwood in the morning, we drove a few miles to Lead (prounced with a long "e" sound) to see the Homestake mine.

At one point, this town had a population of over 10,000. Today, the population is only around 3,000 since the mine is now closed. In it's heyday, the mine more or less WAS the town of LEAD since it owned, built, and operated: all the roads (so employees could get to work), the hospitals (with full family medical and dental coverage), the library (the largest in the state in it's time), an opera house (seeting 1,000 people, the schools, and even the local power plant. The mine even gave discounts on the houses and sold them at cost of materials only and free land.

The mine claims it is the country's largest gold mine, but the company had to shut down in early 2002 when the cost of mining was more than the cost of gold recovered, refined, and sold. The primary factor that led to the shutdown was the sheer depth: 8000 ft. Most mines don't even reach 5000 ft.

Overal, the kids liked it pretty well, too.

The tour doesn't allow you to go down in the mine. You only get to see what's above ground. For more pictures, info, and history, you can access the Homestake Mine website.

The first picture is of the open dig (Again - no pictures of the mine underground). The second is of one of the 5000 ft cables used to access the mine shafts. (There is another room this size 5000 ft below ground so the mine could potentially go 10,000 feet down). We also had a little bit of hail as well...

Vacation: Deadwood, SD 6/20/07

On Thursday, we took the drive up to Deadwood, SD. Home of gold mines, brothels, gambling, and Wild Bill Hiccup (I know it's "Hickock," I feel like being juvenile at the moment) Of the notorious items mentioned above, only gambling is still prevalent today. Come to think of it, gambling pretty is all that's in Deadwood. There really isn't a lot to see in Deadwood without going past a slot machine. I saw a sign that claimed Deadwood had 80 casinos - if that's the case, then this town of 1,380 has a gambling dependency. I've been to Las Vegas, but Deadwood seems more over-the-top than Sin City - mainly because there are other things to do/see in Vegas that Deadwood simply can't offer.

From an architectural view, the town has been beautifully preserved and restored. One can't help but get a sense of history in this little town - even if much of that history is somewhat dubious.

Vacation: Custer State Park-Sylvan Lake 6/19/07

We spent the middle of the day hiking around Sylvan Lake. I took way too many pictures for a lake only 1.5 miles around or so, but these are the best of the lot.

Vacation: Custer State Park-Needles Highway 6/20/07

On Wednesday, we spent most of the Day at Custer State Park. In the morning, we drove the Needles Highway through the park. It was amazing...I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.