PoppaBlog » Sports

Cancer Sucks – Livestrong

Dwayne Hoover — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:13:50 +0000

I have to thank Elden Nelson who writes the kick ass Fat Cyclist blog for the inspiration here. He recently lost his wife to cancer, I’ve lost someone really special to cancer, my wife has lost someone very special to cancer…in fact I’m sure that most of the people reading this have lost someone or know someone that beat the damned disease.

I’m riding 45 miles in memory of my Grandfather Francis (Buck) Driskel and my wife’s cousin Sue. I’ve also joined Elden’s “Team Fat Cyclist: Fighting For Susan” as well to support and honor his late wife Susan.

Please if you can spare a few dollars, hop on over to my donation page and throw a few dollars at fighting cancer. http://philly09.livestrong.org/poppablog

I’ve also added a little widget on the site to track the donations. Think of the glory, YOUR NAME on PoppaBlog.com

Thanks!!!

Being the Best Mom that a Dad Can Be

Joe New Dad — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:20:11 +0000

Mothers are incredible people. As a teenager, a kid even, I always looked up to my mom. She is an impressive lady. She worked multiple jobs to keep us fed, made it through undergrad and graduate school in her spare time, managed to find an awesome stepfather for us and gave the world three well adjusted, successful men. Even with everything on the surface, the things that I saw everyday and the tangible goods that were provided, it took me 32 years to really even come close to getting it. Don’t get me wrong, I still have NO idea how women, let alone moms work…but minutes after the birth of my daughter, it really started to hit me. The differences between men and women, moms and dads are so staggering, especially in the early days. I truly have no idea how a dad could manage as a single dad from day one.

Where is this all coming from? Wasn’t the last post about beer and booze and getting away from mom? I’m sitting here in my kitchen working on a project (that will hopefully one day springboard me out of corporate enslavement…another day for that tangent) with the soft hum of the baby monitor in the background and can’t help but listen to my wife calm and soothe our one month old girl. I can give her a bottle every now and then (primarily a boob girl) and rock her to sleep, burping is a breeze (hell, I practically invented burping), diapers no sweat…but there’s something a mother brings to an infant that a dad just can’t. Sure, I realize that there are dual dad families these days and I’m in no way implying that a man alone is incapable of caring for a newborn, but to hear and to see a mother be completely in sync with their child is truly something magical. She knows EXACTLY what to do and when. Knows when it’s time to sing twinkle twinkle little star and when it’s time to hit the rocking chair and when it’s time start pacing and how to hold her according to way she is acting. It’s an interconnectedness that as a man I have trouble understanding…I keep thinking about John Stockton and Karl Malone or Steve Kerr and Michael Jordan back in the 90s, but it’s so much MORE than that. Its a sixth sense, maybe it’s the 40 week head start that they have as a team that gets their wires firing in the same direction, but it is definitely more than a learned behavior. I’m sure Stockton didn’t have to LEARN that Malone would be waiting for the dish on the baseline but I’ll also guarantee you that Karl Malone didn’t carry John Stockton in his womb for 40 weeks…although, Karl is a big dude.

So what’s up with the title…being the best mom that a dad can be is more of a question to the readers and a cry for help. You see, momma is going away for a few days in a few weeks. Yes, I’m a little bit nervous about it…but I’m not worried about the little one’s well being. She’ll be taken care of, fed, cleaned up…I’ll even keep the dogs away from her bottles. What I am nervous about is finding a way to make the little one feel almost as comfortable and secure and safe with me as she does with momma.

I’m open to suggestions. I’ll take singing lessons. Man boobs, I’ll wear them. Whatever it takes to help my little girl feel more comfortable while mom’s away. Or maybe I’ll just call grandma

Father’s Day Gift Guide: Sports Fan Dad

Dwayne Hoover — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:18:36 +0000

One common denominator amongst men is that men love sports. Run out of things to talk about with your wife’s coworker’s husband at an ever so awkward after work event? Bring up Brett Favre or Kobe Bryant or Dale Jr. Even the nerdiest of dads are into something covered on some ESPN channel…spelling bees perhaps. Trendy dad, no sweat, talk about Travis Pastrana or how Shaun White is the future of action sports. So what do you buy the sports fanatic dad out there?

TICKETS!
This one is almost a no-brainer. Get dad a handful of tickets to see his favorite team. Package it up as a trip to the ballpark and buy him some beers and hot dogs while you’re there. Generally it’s safe that if a guy likes sports, he’ll go to just about ANY event. Even if your husband or dad doesn’t live near his favorite team, he’d probably still love to go see an event. Best place to look for tickets is obviously Ticketmaster and for the difficult ones eBay or StubHub

Sports Illustrated
Look, people have been declaring the death of print media as long as the internet has been around. It’s not going to happen (anytime soon at least). Especially while men are hesitant to take their laptops into the john. If the dad on your list isn’t getting Sports Illustrated, he should be.

Sports Illustrated (1-year)

…plus, Pops gets the annual swimsuit edition (SCORE!)

Do You REALLLY Love Your Dad?
My wife, being the kick-ass most incredible wife that she is, hooked me up with a two day stint at the BMW test track in South Carolina a few years back. That my friends is an incredible gift. What better for a dad who loves sports, than sending him to DO the sport with the pros? Here are just a few links to sports fantasy camps and hands on experiences.

Baseball:
Yankee’s Fantasy Camp

Basketball:
Multiple Camps

Motorsports:
BMW Performance Driving School
Skip Barber Racing School

Contact your dad’s favorite team for more specific details, most major sports teams have some sort of fan day or multi-day fantasy camp.