I'm Going to the 2013 USA Outdoor Championships

A little while ago I mentioned on the blog about how I wasn't going to be able to compete in the USA Track and Field Masters Outdoor Championships because of a scheduling conflict. I'm still disappointed about that, but I am excited that I will be attending the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships this coming weekend. Now just as a point of clarification, these are the elite track and field athletes. People like Tyson Gay, Sanya Richards-Ross, Justin Gatlin, LaShawn Merritt, and Allyson Felix.

This is the meet that is used to determine who will represent Team USA at the IAAF World Championships August 10 - August 18 in Moscow, Russia. The World Championships only take place every-other year, so most of the big stars of Track and Field will be at the US Championships this year. 

It also happens to be taking place in Des Moines, Iowa at Drake Stadium. I haven't been back to Drake since 1995 when I was there to compete in the Drake Relays in college. My first memory of the Drake Relays was the year before that when I warmed up on the track with Carl Lewis and stood about five feet away from him as he started the 100 meter dash. But that's a story for another time. Des Moines is about a four-hour drive from my home so it works out great. Me and my son are going to go down there for three days. It should be some good bonding time for us and he seems to be excited about it as well. We're especially looking forward to the 100 Meter Men's final on Friday night. 

Our seats are in the section right after the finish line in the second row. As long as we get some good weather this weekend it should be a great time. I'm really looking forward to it. I'll consider it a week-after Father's Day weekend for me and my son.

One night a father overheard his son pray: 
Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. 
Later that night, the Father prayed, 
Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.
~ Unknown

First Pro Football Game

I took my son to his first professional football game this weekend. My wife was sent an offer for a buy one, get one free ticket to the game for Minnesota teachers and students. The offer was for two different games, but the other game is the day after the Extra Life charity event. I'm planning to stay up and play video games for 24 hours straight, so I don't think I will make it through an NFL game the next day.

This game took place on my daughter's birthday so we asked her if she wanted to go. She said no so it didn't seem like we should force her to go to a game on her birthday. So it was just me and my son. I know, bad dad. Leaving his daughter on her birthday to go to a football game. I think she was okay with it. My wife on the other hand...I'm not sure. I think she was just happy someone in the family was able to take advantage of the ticket offer.

In addition to being my son's first pro football game this was also my first game in over twenty years. To give a little perspective, the running back for the Vikings at that time was Herschel Walker.

This was one of those experiences that you would call a true father-son moment. Just an entire day with only the two of us. The Vikings also played pretty well and dominated the game. The final score was 30-7. There were some amazing plays and it was fun to see my son get so excited and get to feel like he was part of the game.

He told me on the way home that this was one of those days that he would remember for the rest of his life. Now he wants season tickets. I think we'll settle for watching the games on tv and maybe going again sometime next year. I wonder what he would have said if we would have lost the game.

Maybe it would have been another twenty years until my next game.