Part ONE was written Wednesday. Here’s part II.

5. Cactus Jack Comes Back: 2000’s version of the Royal Rumble might be the best version of them all. You had Tazz debuting and beating Kurt Angle in all of 5 or so minutes. You had the Hardys and Dudleys going at it and Jeff Hardy doing a swanton off the balcony at the Madison Square Garden. And then you had Cactus Jack facing off against Triple H in a match that put over HHH so well, that HHH owes his career to this match alone. It was a match that was historically bloody, and one in which HHH gets a splinter the size of a finger in his leg. Just a great match and one that really made HHH tough enough in the eyes of wrestling fans.

4. The Ultimate Challenge: The only thing I remember about this show is that the Warrior and Hogan faced off in the ring for the first time. It was epic. And it was the perfect set up for Wrestlemania VI when they would face off for the title. They used a spot that’s been copied time and time again, but was fresh in 1990. Hogan and Warrior going back and forth and then hitting each other with double clotheslines and knocking each other out. Just great stuff here.

In Happier Times

3. It’s A Stone Cold World: After sort of winning the Rumble in 1997, Austin would be the definitive winner in 1998. He had a bullseye on his chest and everyone was gunning for him. The booking was perfect. When he came in the ring, the crowd exploded and he went in and gave them what they wanted. The end of the Rumble was a nice foreshadowing to what 1998 and 1999 had in store for us as out of the last four men, Austin, Rock, and Foley as Dude Love all went on to prosperous years. The other guy was Farooq, and even though he was never the singles star he was pushed to be, he made a nice career as a beer swilling butt kicker. It came down to Austin and Rock and Austin finally eliminated him, cementing his status as the number one contender for Wrestlemania XIV.

2. The Crippler’s Revenge: Last year, Paul Heyman was trying to make sure Chris Benoit would not win the Royal Rumble so he made him the first entrant. Benoit came in early, and decided to stay late. He gave what is perhaps the best performance in Royal Rumble history, staying in the ring over 61 minutes and going wire to wire eliminating a huge Big Show to win the match. It lead to him going to Raw to challenge HHH for his title.

1. Whooooo!: This was the first year that the Rumble really meant anything as far as the match itself was concerned. In late 1991, the Undertaker and Hulk Hogan traded the belt, with both matches ending controversially. Jack Tunney decided that the belt would be held up and the winner of the 1992 Royal Rumble would be the champ. This set it up for the Nature Boy Ric Flair to show his skills and win over WWF fans. He came in at number 3 and was immediately the focus of just about everyone. It was just a great and entertaining Royal Rumble and ended with Hogan being eliminated by Sid Vicious (Justice), and then dastardly pulling Sid out of the match while already being out of it. This is the most memorable Rumble of all time and is one of Flair’s most famous matches, mostly because he was on a grander scale and proved that he could win over WWF fans as he did with NWA fans for many years.

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I first wrote this on October 30, 2004, on Epinions.com after watching Jamie Foxx’s riveting performance as Ray Charles in the movie Ray. Since the movie and Jamie himself are up for Academy Awards, and it comes out on DVD this Tuesday, I thought I’d post it here.

Jamie Foxx’s career can only go downhill from here. Well, let’s back up slightly. I’m not sure about anyone else, but when certain actors make it big that I identified with early on in their careers, (Will Smith, Rock, Martin Lawrence and now Foxx) I feel proudly. It’s as if I had shared enough about these people that they finally caught on. There’s something about Jamie Foxx that led me to believe that he was going to be huge, and it really didn’t have all that much to do with his acting at first. Jamie Foxx is a musician first and foremost in my eyes, even though I may be one of the only ones to see him that way. I didn’t think he was all that great on In Living Color but when I learned that he was a musician and went to school based on his musical talents, I immediately put him on my radar. I was going to follow his career and watch him explode. Though it took him a long time as he fought through roles in movies like Booty Call (which was funny), there was something in him that told me he was going to make it. But it wasn’t until he had a small part in Will Smith’s movie Ali that people figured it out. He played Bundini Brown who was Ali’s mouth. He came up with many of the short and memorable phrases Ali used to become popular in the public eye. Foxx stole nearly every scene he was in. If people would’ve taken him seriously in Any Given Sunday, they would’ve expected what he did in Ali, but the Oliver Stone film wasn’t accepted and Foxx was given a stereotypical jock role. However, he went one on one with Al Pacino nearly the entire movie and held his own. And after his performance in Ray he has a chance to make Denzel money. I hate saying I told you so, but, well you know.

Foxx’s portrayal of one of the most influential figures in music history is historic in itself. As a comedian, Foxx was good at imitation. He could mimic Bill Cosby, Jesse Jackson, and Mike Tyson with ease. But this is no imitation. It’s a near identity theft. The main problem with Ali is that while Will Smith did an exceptional job at playing the champ, you didn’t see Ali. You just saw Smith. He was almost too big for the role. I saw Foxx on the screen as Ray for about 30 minutes. But for the next two hours, I simply saw Charles. It didn’t dawn on me that this was Foxx playing Charles until the end. He did what Smith couldn’t. He was Ray Charles, played by Jamie Foxx, rather than Jamie Foxx playing Ray Charles. There’s a difference. When Jim Carrey was filming Man Of The Moon, he was in Andy Kaufman character 24/7. He had to be Kaufman the entire time to channel his spirit. While I thought he did a really good job, it was a piece of cake compared to what Foxx went through. Foxx was not only playing a musical genius and one who changed the landscape of what music was supposed to be about, but also had to act blindly. And that was the key. Could he not only channel Charles, but could he also play a blind man?

Charles’s life story doesn’t have that many bends and breaks. He lives the musician lifestyle of sex, drugs, and music. He doesn’t die at a young age, and his genius is realized in the movie. The meat of the movie is simply in the way his genius was portrayed, even throughout rougher parts of his life, which include changing labels, losing his mistress, and getting arrested for heroin possession. A short, but powerful scene shows him in rehab, refusing drugs to help him in coming off heroin. He rights his wrongs by remembering things his mother said to him as a child, and not wanting to disappoint her.

Nighttime Is The Right Time

Director Taylor Hackford has had the rights to this movie for fifteen years. Recently, he wasn’t even supposed to direct the movie. Hackford does a fine job on all parts of the movie that don’t include music. The flashback scenes were well done as were the scenes in which we were foreshadowed about what seemed to be something that happened earlier in Charles’ life that he had hallucinations about. But as with any movie on a musician, it’s the music? Could he handle the music parts correctly and not gloss over the scenes that may not be exciting to non-music fans? To those who understand about royalties and owning of masters, the detail is important. Here is where Hackford succeeds. The movie is almost like a backdrop to the music. You hear full songs which draw the pictures that are painted with flashbacks and background story that would have been boring had he chose to tell it through dialogue. It’s the best match of music and movie that I’ve seen.

While Jamie Foxx stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park, he also had help. It was as if everyone was on their A game here. Kerry Washington played Charles’ strong minded wife who kept the family together while Charles’ gave her every reason not to. Charles had every bit of an addictive personality whether it was for companionship, drugs, or the biggest addictive thing in his life, his music. You feel her pain, but also understand why she put up with it. Regina King plays his mistress Margie who succumbs to alcohol and drugs, mostly because she wanted to be his wife and couldn’t. King plays the usual demanding and powerful woman that her personality usually dictates and all of her scenes are strong. But the second best performance in the film might be from newcomer Sharon Warren who plays Charles’ independent mother. Warren’s single mother who works, watches her kids, and keeps her home all at the same time is a joy. My wife in particular loved how she played a mother who had to show tough love because she channeled many of the same feelings my wife did when she had to show that to our children. That scene in particular is one in which Ray, who is newly blind, falls and rather than picking him up as he asks, she stays quiet and he realizes that his sense of sound will get him by. She watches him, somehow maintaining every muscle in her body that says to pick him up to help her stay put, and when Ray figures it all out, her emotion is perfect. Just a great scene overall.

Everything comes back to Foxx’s performance. The way he controlled his body to mimic Charles’ awkward body movements, to the way he subtly had “junkie itch”, to his facial expressions were all perfect. If you’ve seen Charles for any length of time (and though I’m not a Charles historian, I have listened to his music and watched him in concert), you immediately see how hard he worked to get it down perfectly. The story goes that rather than hang out with Charles every second in his studying for the role, Foxx tried to watch old performances to get his body movements down. But what’s really impressive is that in order to understand how Charles lived his life as a blind man, Foxx basically blinded himself for days at a time, making sure he was left behind for lunch and breaks so he could understand the loneliness Charles went through.

My limited general movie knowledge and vocabulary don’t do Foxx’s performance and the movie justice. The only thing I can end with is that the movie is the best I’ve seen this year, and Foxx’s performance is the best I’ve seen in memory.

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I will be attending my favorite PPV of the year (not named Wrestlemania), the
Royal Rumble, which is close by in Fresno, California this year. I decided to
list my most memorable Royal Rumble moments. These aren’t the best moments in
Rumble history, but just the most memorable for me.

It’s a top 10 list, but I had 15 moments written down, so I’ll summarize the ones
that didn’t make the list (in random order).

Does anyone remember The Ultimate Posedown between Rick Rude and the
Ultimate Warrior? For some reason, this moment sticks out in my mind, mostly
because of how ridiculous it was. It was simply a bodybuilding contest between
the two that happened on PPV (yes, you paid to watch this) at the second ever
Royal Rumble, which was the first rumble on PPV. This lead to the match between
the two at Wrestlemania V.

One of the longer drawn out storylines in memory was Bret vs. Owen. It seemed like Owen could’ve turned on Bret a bunch of times, but it didn’t happen. But finally at Royal Rumble 1994 in a tag match against the Quebecers, Owen finalized the turn after Bret was injured and couldn’t continue the match. This would set up Bret and Owen going at it at Wrestlemania X.

One of the most underrated matches of my time happened at Royal Rumble 2001.
Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit, in what I think is the greatest regular ladder
match of all time. People will say that Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon’s version
was the best, but this is my favorite.

In 1993, they changed the Royal Rumble slightly. The winner of the Royal Rumble would go on to face the champion at Wrestlemania in the main event. It was pretty unpredictable. Yokozuna was a newcomer at the time, and I just didn’t see him as a main event calibur wrestler. When it came down to the last two members, The Macho Man and Yokozuna, I figured Randy Savage would win because he would give Bret Hart a great match. But Vince had other thoughts. Yoko easily elmininated Savage pissing me off, labeling the show as a ripoff. At least that’s what the label says on my taped version of the event.

Lastly, in 1991, it was said that The Ultimate Warrior was failing as champion. Most of us where were not in the know, thought that Warrior would face Hogan again at Wrestlemania VII. But Vince wanted to play up the Gulf War and had Sgt. Slaughter turn heel on America. He became an Iraqi sympathizer and defeated the Warrior at the Rumble in 1991. Randy Savage had come to the ring and hit Warrior in the head with his septor, helping Slaughter win the belt. Savage and Warrior would go in to have a classic match at Wrestlemania VII.

Now the countdown …

10. The Contract Signing: Many people remember the first Royal Rumble as
the show where Hacksaw Jim Duggan won the initial rumble match. However, that’s
not how they sold it to fans back in 1988. The key part of the show was supposed
to be the contract signing between Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant for their
memorable rematch (memorable for the finish only). The match was broadcast in primetime on NBC on Friday night February 5th, 1988 at 8PM and would go onto set the US record for most watched wrestling match ever. I don’t remember what happened at the signing, but Hogan probably got his rear end handed to him as is the usual case in contract signings. A cool story surrounding the reason for the event is that Jim Crockett’s NWA had scheduled a PPV called Bunkhouse Stampede. Vince decided to put his this event together at the last minute to take viewers away from the PPV. Let’s just say the Bunkhouse Stampede was not a success. And well, the Rumble is still here today.

9. The Best Match And Worst Match: In 2003, WWE brought in Scott Steiner to feud with HHH. His first PPV match was at the Rumble in 2003 against the champ in the title match on the Raw side. On the Smackdown side, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit were going to go at it. Guess which one was the worst match of the year, and which was the best? Angle and Benoit put on a clinic and it’s probably one of my top 10 favorite matches of all time. Steiner and HHH put on a disaster of a match. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. Steiner must’ve went to the belly to belly suplex 5 or 6 times in the match. Just a horrible match and probably the main reason Steiner was never a main eventer again. However, there was another guy in that match that has since been champ a few times more. And for some reason, he doesn’t catch any flak for that bad match. Oh well, must be good to be married to the family.

8. Austin Goes Through Everyone: In 1997, they were going full press with the Stone Cold Steve Austin character. In 1996 he had a great match with Bret Hart at the Survivor Series and in 1997 their feud was going full bore. In the Rumble match, Austin was going through everyone, counting down the seconds until the next competitor came into the ring with a wristwatch. He was making a mockery out of the match as he was owning it. And then Bret Hart came in. The look on Austin’s face was classic. Hart would throw Austin out, only to see Austin get back in because none of the ref’s saw him be eliminated. He’d come back in and throw Hart out to win the match, but you know it wasn’t going to be that easy. There are several stories going around as to what was supposed to happen had Shawn Michaels not opted out of jobbing back to Bret Hart. Michaels claimed he lost his smile, but many saw it as him losing his head. Hart lost the belt to HBK at the previous Mania and word was that Michaels would eventually do the job back at Mania 13. But with Michaels out, they had to readjust plans and actually the title match at Mania 13 didn’t have Hart or Austin in it. It was the Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid. But on the undercard, Hart and Austin had one of the best matches of all time. So I guess it worked out ok.

7. HBK Goes Wire To Wire: HBK drew number 1, and he was the last man standing. Pretty significant huh? Why wasn’t this much higher on the charts since no one had been the first entrant and won the match? Well, it was a down period (1995)for the WWF and also, it was the shortest Rumble match in history because they changed the rules for time for some reason. But still, it’s memorable because he was the first to go wire to wire. He’d go on to win his second in a row in 1996.

I Quit!

6. I Quit! I Quit! I Quit!: This match is more meaningful because it was the subject of the documentary Beyond The Mat by Barry Blaustein and also was gone into deeply in Mick Foley’s first book, Have A Nice Day. Mankind was the champion and he faced the Rock in an I Quit match. The goal of the match was to get your opponent to say those two words. I Quit. But this match is more memorable because of the chair shots. Rock handcuffed Mankind and basically gave him unabated chair shots to the head. In Foley’s book, he mentioned that they were going to do several and then that was it. But Rock went a little overboard and continually hit Mankind time after time again. Not only that, but Foley’s family was in the stands watching this match horrified. Rock eventually won the match, but it caused Foley some heartache and probably helped among other things in Foley’s early retirement.

Part II

I went to the game on Saturday not very excited at all. Actually, I almost forgot that the game was Saturday as I was enthralled in my house cleaning experiment. Then Eddy called me and I had to hurry and get dressed and we barely made it before tip-off.

Who am I kidding? We got there 2 1/2 hours before the game started and after buying a couple things for the kids, went down as close as we could get so I could snap a few pictures of LBJ. I watched Lebron shoot probably 150 jumpers before the team shootaround even started. I saw kids decked out in their Lebron jerseys smiling in preparation to see their new hero. They even went courtside to get an autograph and even though it didn’t happen, didn’t really mind it when Eric Snow was the only one signing autographs. You’re going to see a lot of Lebron James jerseys signed by Eric Snow on EBAY in 10 years.

LBJ

What can I say? The guy is impressive as all hell. At 6’8, he’s the most athletic guy I’ve ever seen in my life. One stride for him is 3 strides for me. His slow pace is everyone else busting their ass. His overdrive is everyone else’s, well, no one except maybe an overly roided Ben Johnson can compare with his overdrive.

He let the game come to him for the first three quarters. He got everyone else involved and because of him, people in the crowd were wondering why we drafted Mike Dunleavy instead of Drew Gooden. I was telling folks within ear distance that Troy Murphy is really a better player than Gooden, but because he’s playing with Lebron, he looks outstanding. His game is very much rebounding and hitting the medium range jumper, and with Lebron demanding all the defensive attention, Gooden was open nearly all game long.

He did have one break away dunk that got the crowd going and by the end of the game, the crowd was definitely pro Lebron. All except me. I wanted to accomplish two things by going to this game. I wanted to see Lebron first and foremost. But second, I wanted to root my Warriors into a nice victory. I’ve always had pretty good success going to Warrior games. I remember sometime in the late 80’s my neighbor Billy took me to about 6 games that year and I was 6-0. The Warriors were staying with the Cavs for much of the game. They’d get the deficit down to 6 and then the Cavs would make a small run and this would cycle the entire game. As we got to the 4th quarter, it happened again. Except after the Cavs 10-0 run in the 4th, the Warriors wouldn’t get close again. This was hard for me. The crowd had become Lebron’s. And he’s one of my favorite players in the league, but I root for my team more so. And this was even when I went to see MJ. I found myself mouthing audibly some rather not nice things like that I hoped someone would elbow Lebron in his face again. And that I hoped that he’d throw his mask again so he could get another technical foul, and thus be kicked out of the game. He did that once after a call he didn’t agree with and got T’d up. But none of this happened and my Warriors were on the losing end yet again.

It was a great time, and I can say that I saw Lebron James in his second year, get his second triple double ever, though at the expense of my team.

More pics below.

before and it didn’t help, and actually worked in the exact opposite, but I don’t know what else to do, so here we go again.

To Whom It May Concern: (especially if the basketball gods are listening)

Eddy and I bought tickets to see Lebron James come to Oakland and face our beloved Warriors. There isn’t usually an athlete that I would usually pay top dollar to see in person. I actually prefer watching on television because I can handle a bunch of other things at the same time, and plus, I can watch the game with Brian and JJ. It’s so cute now when JJ can actually tell who has the ball on the Warriors. His dialogue goes a little something like this.

Oh, there goes Speedy, he gave it to Dunleavy, he passed it to Jason Richardson, oooh, there goes Uncle Cliff for a slam dunk.

Yes, the boy is four. And yes, every made basket is a slam dunk. And though he’s in and out for 2 minute spurts at a time, he’s already got it. I had it. My dad had it. It’s the ability to understand what’s going on at such a young age. Brian is close too, but JJ shows a certain passion. It’s pretty cool. Ok, back to topic.

The Poster on JJ’s Wall

As I was saying, there’s not too many athletes I’d go out of my way to pay top dollar to see. Barry Bonds and Michael Jordan are on a short list. And now added to that list is Lebron James. He’s one of those guys that is must see. People say he’s a bigger Jordan. Some say he’s a bigger Magic (like Albert). I think he’s 1/4 Dominique Wilkins, 1/4 Magic, 1/4 Larry, and 1/4 MJ. He is explosive like the Niquer, sees the court like the Magic Man, is going to be a Larry-like player who inspires his teammates to come out of their shoes because of how hard he plays, and has the confidence to be an MJ like winner.

I need to see him live as I don’t think television broadcasts justify what he does on the court. When I saw MJ live, it was in his later days. Actually, his last season. And even though he was grounded and took fade away jumper after fade away jumper, he was 2 steps ahead of his teammates. He zigged to an opening, they zagged into a clogged up middle. I could tell he was frustrated as all hell. I think Lebron will be the same way, but hopefully with some better teammates.

But the real reason for this letter is because I’m begging mother nature (or even the big man upstairs) that Lebron stay healthy. In Jordan’s second to last year, we also bought tickets to see him play, only for him to get injured and for us to get to see the great Wizards vs. Warriors match-up without him. I even took a chance the following year to get tickets again, but didn’t buy them so far in advance just in case he was injured again. But we paid through the roof for crappy seats. MJ didn’t look like a 6’6 athletic marvel. He actually looked more like a midget from where we sat. You’d think we learned our lesson. We bought these tickets about a month ago. And then it happened. Lebron took a Dikembe elbow to the cheek and he was injured. I called Eddy kind of worried but played it off like Lebron would be ok and he was. But still. Eddy wanted the Cavs to hold him out of every game until ours, but that was very selfish of him. I just decided to hope. And plead. And beg. Which is kind of what I’m doing here.

The players who have come to town and missed games against the Warriors is like a who’s who of good players in the league. Carmelo Anthony missed a game in Oakland earlier this year, as did Dwayne Wade and Grant Hill. It was like the place star players didn’t want to play. It’s also the same place Michael Jordan broke his foot in his second season some 19 years ago. The good old Oakland Arena. And don’t think this doesn’t have anything to do with the bad luck. Jason Richardson is just healthy enough to be playing again after missing 9 games (all losses) and he plays all his home games here. 

J-Rich is having a great season and looks to have matured maybe 100% percent as a player since last season. Just great to watch this year. I believe he’s ready to take that step from future star, to All Star. That is if he can make some damn free throws.

Whoever is out there listening. All I’m asking is for Lebron to play tomorrow. I must see this guy live. Please make it happen. Oh yah, and make sure J-Rich plays too.

Sincerly,

GG #23 (in honor of MJ, Lebron, and J-Rich)

You were tasked to guess who said this quote:

”“People follow you into the bathroom. They listen to you pee, wait for you to come out of the stall, and then ask to shake your hand or sign the roll. There’s something not quite about that.”

And here were the guesses.

Mikey Likes It guessed: Nicole Kidman? Or Madonna.

One H-Jizzle guessed: Russel Crow (The man’s name is Russell Crowe, at least I think. I could be wrong.)

An anonymous person guessed: Moises Alou. (That is hilarious by the way.)

Chicks Sometimes Dig Big D said: I think I heard either J-lo or Eminem say this on MTV. I’m gonna go with J-Lo… who’s also got the most annoying song in history out now…

Cousin Nini guessed J-Lo as well, but deleted her comment for some reason.

Finally, Cousin Tomiko emailed me with (I guess she couldn’t comment for some reason): My guess is 1.) Ludacris, he discussed the whole bathroom annoyance
thing on BET last week OR 2.) Eminem

Dear Christal had an idea, but tapped out at the last minute and didn’t guess.

The Answer:

Don’t be fooled by the rocks that she got, she’s still Jenny from the block. J to the L-O hello, was the person behind the potty words.

Thanks for playing. Cousin Nini and BigD are your winners.

But before I go, I’ll leave you with a lasting image of the bathroom queen.

Elton John and I wrote a goodbye song for Blake. The lyrics go a little something like this.

Goodbye Blakey Jean
Though I knew you very well
You had the grace of the Hamburgler
While those around you snickered
Because of the crumbs in your beard
And they whispered into your ear
That you should use a bib
And called you round head until you cut your hair

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a Blakey in the wind

Here are some pictures below of Blake’s second to last day in San Jose, California before his trek to Dallas, Texas. Click the thumbnails to make them bigger.

Ok, no googling. But, who said this?

“People follow you into the bathroom. They listen to you pee, wait for you to come out of the stall, and then ask to shake your hand or sign the roll. There’s something not quite about that.”

Put your guesses in the comments. I’ll have the answer tomorrow.

I’m not huge on the idea of writing family newsletters. I love reading other family newsletters, but I guess I’m not comfortable writing my own. I don’t like to draw attention to us because it seems like a huge “look at me, look at us, our life is great” kind of thing. But as is usually the case, the wife first pleaded her case, then resorted to begging, and hence got her way, and here I am writing a family newsletter. However, I am doing it on my own terms, bloggerstyle (meaning extremely long winded). And if I am doing this, I’m bragging about my kids. I’m just preparing you.

I wish the wife would’ve told me at the beginning of 2004 that she wanted to do this because then I could’ve taken notes and not had to resort to my horrible memory for eventful things that happened to us this year. But I’ll try. And I’ll admit, it took a few instant messenger sessions with the wife to help put this list of things together and I know we’re still missing tons.

Although it didn’t happen until early September, Brian starting kindergarten might’ve been the biggest thing for us this year. At Brian’s school (Los Altos Christian), they don’t allow five year olds to go to kindergarten, unless you pass a special test. Imagine that. At five years old, already having labels placed upon you. Usually five year olds go into what is called kinderprep, and although we were fine with him going to kinderprep, we didn’t want to hold him back if he was ready for kindergarten. He took the test, passed and joined a bunch of six year olds in kindergarten. It’s definitely a challenge for him (and for mom as well when she sees feedback from his teacher on things he needs to improve on) but a necessary one. I actually like the fact that he’s in there scuffling with a workload that I probably didn’t receive until I was in the second or third grade. He’s the kind of child that needs challenges as there are so many things about his life that aren’t hard. I think it will make him a better person as he grows up. And the kid is getting it. His short attention span (that he probably received from me) doesn’t help, but he’s learning and he can do things at a young five that really are amazing.

As for Jonathan (known as JJ through the rest of this), he’s four and in preschool at Sunnyvale Christian. JJ is a fireplug. That’s one of the ways I can think of how to describe him. Emotional. Firey. Tough. Hyper. Crazy. Those are others. But also very gifted. I look at him at age four and wonder how a child can have so much personality and emotion and then be able to sit still and grasp the things that he does. He’s a sponge. He can watch something, and then repeat it. Watch and repeat. He’s got so much rhythm that the wife would actually rather dance with him than me. He also has so much passion for the things he likes. That passion was tested when he broke his leg in the late summer/early fall. I tell this story second hand because I actually wasn’t there. There are actually two sides to this story. My wife’s and JJ’s. Carol’s story is that JJ and Brian were swinging in the backyard on their playground and she had to run inside the house for something and JJ slid off the swing and fell to the ground. We hadn’t yet put grass back there and he probably grazed a rock that didn’t have any give to it and his leg just sort of crumpled beneath him. JJ’s story is that he fell and mom didn’t catch him like she was supposed to. I believe JJ’s story. I thought the kid was going to have the hardest time with his injury because he had a heavy cast on his leg which meant that he had to be carried until he figured out how to scoot. But he didn’t even have a problem with it. Two months later, he’s running with Brian again. It was like it never happened.

Rey Mysterio And Ultimo Dragon Or Not

Leg injuries were the norm in our household this year. As most know, I play semi-pro baseball. Semi-pro might sound snazzy. But it literally means that I pay to play baseball. Adult little league sounds less impressive. Anyway, it also means that I’ve been playing baseball non-stop for 21 years and can’t give it up. I was off to my best start of my adult career. I was hitting for a very high average and leading the team in RBI’s and runs scored. We were winning a game in early June and then started to give up the lead. Going into the last inning, we were down by several runs but started making a comeback. I simply had to keep the inning going. I had already doubled twice off the wall and was pretty much in a zone. They brought in a young kid who was throwing harder than I’d seen in a few years, but it felt right. I took one pitch for a strike and then fouled the next ball off. It was 0-2 and at the next pitch, I took a mighty cut. Around the time the ball hit the bat, I could tell something was severely wrong in my right knee. It felt as if the kneecap had come off the knee. The ball fell in right field as I fell to the ground clutching my knee. I could tell the kneecap was back on the knee, but there was no way I could get up. If I had even been able to crawl to first base, we would’ve won the game, but because the umpire was so chagrined, he called the ball foul. I was told it was easily fair. I was carried into the dugout only to watch my cousin strike out on the next pitch, thus ending our comeback. I would be out for three months and make my comeback in the playoffs against doctor’s orders. My saving grace was hitting a home run against an old friend with my right knee buried in a knee brace.

It seemed fitting that most of the things I can write about Carol have as much to do with the rest of us as it has to do with her. She’s the glue to the household, the adhesive that keeps everything in our lives going. From managing the household to making sure the kids are in school and busy with activities, to as she likes to call it, “taking from Peter to pay Paul”, to making sure we go to Disney Land once a year (I hadn’t been until I was 21 while the kids have been there every year of their life), to being a daughter, daughter in law, wife, and mother to two children. She has a busy life. And though she wouldn’t mind cutting back on the work load, she lives for the fast life and would probably go insane if her life were any slower. And if she could cook, she’d probably be the perfect woman. Sorry guys, she’s taken. Actually, let me say one thing. She has perfected my dad’s Chicken Tortilla Soup. It’s spectacular. So, if she could cook other things, she’d probably be the perfect woman.

Some other key moments happened outside our immediate household. I’ll bullet point them here.

• My dad turned 50 and my mom and sister threw him a huge bash
• My sister faced some “fork in the road” type decisions and has decided right now, to stay in the teaching field, getting a job at Kindercare (or maybe not, stay tuned)
• Mom turned 51 and manages to hold up her household, stay busy with fixing up her house, and is still taking care of kids (our newest cousin Brandon)
• My nephew Ricky also started kindergarten and his brother Max is busy with preschool (Ricky, like Brian is the calm one, while Max, like JJ is firey)
• We had a nice little Christmas party with our good friends, young Randall, HJ, Eddy (JJ and Brian’s Godfather), and the departed Blake
• My company, Shopping.com went public

Good Friends Do Silly Things For Your Kids

I have been saving this for last, because it was probably the biggest thing that happened to us this year. We took our San Jose roots to Gilroy. We bought a brand new house in the garlic capital of the world. We had been living in south San Jose in a very nice home, but had a chance to get a dream house of sorts and like everything we’ve done in our lives thus far, took the ball and ran with it. For some reason, Carol hates playing it safe and can change my rather safe mind. The house is awesome. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a house. My commute is as long as ever, the kids have to get up early (which is for their own good), and Carol’s last minute style probably makes her heart race even more because we are further outside of where everything is. But, it’s worth it.

At the end of 2004, we agreed to the arduous task of hosting Christmas Eve for Carol’s side of the family, and then some 11 hours later, hosting Christmas Day for my side of the family. It was going to be tough, but we were ready for the task. That’s why you want a big house right? Carol lives for hosting parties and I am starting to like it muchly so as well. On Christmas Eve, as is the norm, some of her family was late. It’s usual. As the sun rises and sets, a few people in her family are just late people. And it’s their character. It doesn’t take away from how much we love them. It’s just their way. But we were ready for it. It was expected. And yes, dinner was served at 10PM. But Carol and I weren’t going to let this deter us from our goal of hosting two great parties in the span of a day and a half. Everyone had a great time and helped clean up and at the early morning time of 3AM, we finally went to bed, ready for what was already the next day. My parents and sister came over a few hours before the 1PM start time of the party and we exchanged gifts like we have every year in my 28 years of life. And then in what I can only describe as organized chaos, we transformed our house once again into party central. As is the norm in my side of the family, most everyone was on time, even early. There were three times as many people over on Christmas Day but with everyone’s help (my mom and Carol especially), it was a success. Will we do it again? Probably as it’s in Carol’s morbid nature.

My Workout Room/Shrine

Thanks to all our friends and family for being there and for being who you are. In my opinion, the reason life works has to do with hard work, some luck, and lots of love. If we didn’t have all the support from friends and family, it wouldn’t not only be possible to be as happy as we are, it also probably wouldn’t be as fun as it is.

Thanks,

The Gonzales Family II

If you missed part 1…

From a player personel standpoint, you don’t have much to work with at 49er headquarters. But you do have the number one draft pick this year. I think they have three options.

• Draft the biggest name no matter the position
• Draft the best player available
• Trade the pick and get several picks back

The easiest thing to do would be to look at Aaron Rodgers and Matt Leinart and choose between the two, if Leinart comes out. And I think he needs to. I doubt his star will ever shine more brightly than now. Leinart reminds me of Steve Young without the running speed. Now I don’t know if he’s as accurate as Young, but Young had many wild throws in his day. I don’t see the zip on Leinhart’s ball that I see on Rodgers’ ball and at least Rodgers can get out of the pocket. I’d take Rodgers in a second over Leinart, but he’s less sexy. Aaron Rodgers doesn’t hang out with Nick and Jessica like Matt does. Well maybe if Jessica comes in a package deal to be a cheerleader, you go with Matt. But if that doesn’t happen, go with Aaron.

The best player available might not even be a quarterback. It could be a running back like Cedric Benson or Cadillac Williams. It could be a defensive back like Antrel Rolle. It could be former USC wide receiver Mike Williams. If they stick with the first pick and don’t take a quarterback, I could see those 49er faithful having a hard time accepting it. Do they need a quarterback? While I think Rattay could get them through the next couple seasons, as long as he learns how to adapt to the pass rush a little better, he’s not going to be a star in the NFL. Step up in the pocket will ya Tim? I think you totally can draft a quarterback here if you believe the guy is going to be a star. I don’t think you should draft a quarterback for quarterback’s sake, but if Rodgers or Leinart is going to be a star, then draft him. If you do, I think you need to trade Ken Dorsey and get a pick out of him. I was on his bandwagon earlier this year, and while he has a better feel for the pocket than Rattay, his arm strength is just subpar. Stop comparing the arm strength to Montana. Montana made all the necessary throws because of his accuracy. If Dorsey can become as accurate as Montana, then he could work out, but I highly doubt that.

If you trade the pick, it will cause the Bay Area to groan because the thought would be that A) you wouldn’t want to pay first pick money, and B) you don’t have the testicular fortitude to make the pick. It’s not a bad decision to do this. There are a couple teams who have multiple first round picks like Dallas and San Diego. But the question has to be, “Is there enough star power in this draft to make teams want to move up?” Because there might not be. And unless they get two number ones and a number two or something of that nature, I don’t think it’d be worth trading that first pick. And for the reasons described above, I think they will use the pick.

People will say that they need a lot of help in a lot of areas. For one, they were injured as all hell this year. Jeremy Newberry didn’t even step on the field. Julian Peterson was hurt for the year early on. Ahmed Plummer. Same deal. I believe the offensive line will get tons better. Kwame Harris and Justin Smiley will have one more year under their belt. Newberry will be back to anchor it. And you can build through free agency quickly to fill your holes. I don’t buy that this will be a problem for years to come. And Kevan Barlow has showed that he can be spectacular behind a solid line. Who is good with a bad offensive line? Walter Payton and Barry Sanders come to mind. But they are only two of the best to put on the rubber cleats.

KB32

But what I would say is the biggest problem is the defensive line. Bryant Young isn’t going to be around for much longer and you need to get guys in there now that can make a difference while you still have him. Andre Carter has been a huge bust. For all the rushing the passer that he did, he doesn’t do it anymore and has been hurt more often than not. John Engelberger would be a very good third defensive end who could come in and speed rush from time to time, but he’s not an NFL starter. If you get to the passer, it helps your defensive backfield. No one has 4 Deions out there. The second biggest problem in my eyes is the wide receiving corps. I don’t see these guys with any big play capability. Brandon Lloyd will make a great catch from time to time and his athletic ability is off the charts. But if he wasn’t so small, he wouldn’t have to be as athletic as he has to be. It seems that he’s going to get hurt everytime he’s tackled. I think he could be a great slot receiver, but he’s no number one. I’ve never been a big fan of Cedric Wilson and think he’s actually a better special teams player than receiver. If he’s your number two, you’re hurting. Curtis Conway is great to have and I don’t have any problems with him. And let’s give Rashaun Woods one more year before we start dumping on him. But can we find some way to get Arnaz Battle into the game more? Maybe if it’s just to run a reverse or a wide receiver screen. Get that man the ball.

This team needs more than one simple draft or off season can give them. But I’m still the biggest fan. Dr. York can not let kids into team Christmas parties for year to come and I’ll still root. But I doubt there are tons of fans like me. So they should probably do something soon.

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