Week 3 Reading Post

Today and yesterday I read Who's Your Caddy by Rick Reilly for 6 hours and 55 minutes.

In order to write this book, Rick caddied for golfers including Tommy Aaron, John Daly, Donald Trump, Tom Lehman, David Duval, Dewey Tomko, Jack Nicklaus, Depek Chopra, Casey Martin, Bob Newhart, Jill McGill, and Bob Andrews.

The biggest problem was getting people to let him caddy for them since he had never caddied before. Some people (Tiger Woods) would not allow it no matter how many times he asked. Some did. While writing the book he got to live the high life with Donald Trump. He learned how to be at peace with your body from guru Deepak Chopra. He learned the art of gambling in golf from Dewey Tomko, who would bet on just about everything. Most importantly he learned never to take the game for granted from Bob Andrews, a blind golfer, by playing nine holes blindfolded.

Totals: 28 hours and 23 minutes/ 1187 pages

Week 2 Reading Post Part 2

Today I read Like Brothers by Dave Giffels for 5 hours and 46 minutes.

This fictional story is portrayed through the viewpoint of Ted, a seventh-grader who goes out for the basketball team for the first time. The new basketball coach tries to shape the basketball team to play like brothers when the previous year the offense had been a one man show. Early in the story Ted is frustrated because his dad seems uninterested when he makes the team. Ted later finds out that his dad was driving drunk after a college party and hit a family driving home from the movies. This cost him his basketball scholarship. After Ted's dad shares this with him, he is able to get back into the game of basketball as his son's team goes into the playoffs.

This book helped to drive the point home to me that no matter what the task, trying to do it myself is not going to work. It also makes me appreciate the relationship that I have with my parents.

Totals: 21 hours and 28 minutes/ 926 pages

Week 2 Reading Post

Today and yesterday I read More Than a Game by Brian Billick for 5 hours and 35 minutes.

In his book Brian outlines the NFL's present and future. He gives readers an in depth look at owners, general managers, coaches, players, the challenge of evaluating quarterbacks, offense, and defense of the NFL.

My life is changing. Soon I will have to pick a college, apply for scholarships, etc. The same is true for the NFL. The threat of an uncapped year in 2010 and a lockout in 2011 if a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached, possibly changing the schedule from sixteen games to eighteen games and eliminating two pre-season games, and the like all add to a changing league. As one chapter is titled "There Are No Certainties", I am reminded of the fact that I do not know what tomorrow will bring as people in the NFL do not know what tomorrow will bring for their league. All I can do is trust in God and lead a life pleasing to him.

Totals: 15 hours and 42 minutes/ 702 pages

Week 1 Reading Post: Part 2

The early part of this week I read Monday Morning Quarterback for 5 hours and 54 minutes.

In the book, Peter King selects his favorite articles from his column "Monday Morning Quarterback". He also throws in some stories, quotes, and facts that "may only interest me".

Here are my Best of the Midwest from Peter King:

• Detroit vice chairman Bill Ford Jr.-" One of the great things about being in Paris is nobody knows about the Lions".
• At the Minnesota State Fair in 2002, 36 food items were sold on a stick, such as:

1. Deep-fried Snickers Bar on a stick.
2. Walleye on a stick.
3. Deep-fried macaroni and cheese on a stick.
4. Pork chop on a stick.
5. Footlong corndog on a stick.

-If I were the fair operators, I would have one other delicacy available: Deep-fried Tums on a stick.

• In the summer of 2007 I was asked to sign the bright yellow car of a Packers fan in the Lambeau Field parking lot. Seems the fellow, From St. Louis, parks near the walkway the players use going to and from practice, and he gets them to sign along the way. I have to say it's the first time I've ever defaced a car, and certainly the first time ever when asked to do so by a Lite-drinking Green Bay fan.

Totals: 10 hours and 7 minutes/ 476 pages

Week 1 Reading Post

Today I read Uncommon by Tony Dungy for 4 hours and 13 minutes
Here are some ways that we can be uncommon:

• Remember that what you do when no one is watching matters.
• Be careful with the authority and influence that you've been entrusted with.
• Conflict can be positive. Don't fear it.
• Be positive. Your mind is more powerful than you think.
• Never confuse what you do with who you are.
• Earning the respect of others starts with the way you treat others.
• Keep seeking God's purpose for your life. Remember that whatever He has placed in your heart is bigger than you.

Totals: 4 hours and 13 minutes/ 223 pages

goals

1. Beat Mr. Strusz
2. read at least one book per week