'Tis the season to be thankful...

            I've never a big Thanksgiving person.  I'm just not a big fan of the holiday.  I mean, I love the family time and the football but the food just doesn't do it for me--which is surprising because that seems to be everyone else's favorite part.  I mean, I love cranberries but that's about it.  Even pumpkin pie doesn't excite me that much. 
            But even though I'm not a big fan of the holiday, I’ve still been spending a lot of time lately making a mental list of things I’m thankful for in life.  I’m not sure if it is because so many things have changed in the last year or because I feel like I’m finally on the right path… but for whatever reason, the list is there.
            It, of course, starts with my families.  Yes, my families.  I have two.  I have my family-family... my mom and dad, my three older sisters and my brother-in-law.  That's my family, the one I grew up with and celebrate holidays with.  Then I have my second family.  The Bollettieris.  Joe, Jill, and my two adorable little brothers who never get themselves into trouble.  Ha.  
            Just a short step behind my family is my friends.  Well, more specifically my girlfriends because they are quite possibly the most amazing group of ladies I've ever gotten a chance to spend time with.  Somehow we are all completely different but when we are together, the differences are hardly noticeable.  They are my lifers, the girls I can call in the middle of the night when the dreams seem too real and I can't take it anymore.  They are also the ones who will close down the bar on any given night just because we are young and we can.  Yes, they are amazing.
            Thirdly, I'm thankful for the Twins.  This summer was one of the best and worst of my life and when things started to go downhill, I had the Twins to keep me distracted.  My life revolves around baseball season and I cannot wait for March for it to all start over again.
            Obviously, there is more in my life that I'm thankful for.  I'm thankful that I can jump on the treadmill and run five miles whenever I feel like it.  I'm thankful that I dream big and have high expectations for myself.  Yes, life is good--mostly because of the people in my life.
So tomorrow when you are sitting around the table with the people you love most make your own mental list.  It doesn't matter how long or how short it is--it just matters that you are thankful for something.

Iowa... The Land of Mullets and Hawkeye Football

        On Thursday night, I did something I’ve never done before.   I cut a mullet.  No, not on myself.  It was my friend Ryan.  He had decided that he wanted a mullet in honor of our road trip to Iowa City and somehow I became the one holding the clippers. 

         I did… okay.  There was one minor slip-up on his sideburn but other than that, it turned out looking pretty good.  I mean, as good as a mullet can look.  It’s funny because he didn’t even stand out in Iowa.  No one—except the Minnesota fans—even commented on his hair.  I guess that’s just how it is in Iowa—mullets and Hawkeye football.

         There was a moment during the drive down Friday night when I thought, maybe the Gophers could pull this off.  Brewster hadn’t produced a big win yet and Iowa had just lost to Northwestern and Ohio State.  There was a chance.  Granted, it was a very slim chance but if Adam Weber could pull it together we may be able to do something offensively.  Ha.

         Obviously, by now you know we got shut out.  In fact, the only good thing we did the entire game was block a field goal.  It was still cool to get inside of Kinnick Stadium, the third Big Ten stadium I’ve been to.  Somehow my best friend and I ended up with sweet seats—just five rows up from the 20-yard line—right in the midst of all of the Gopher fans.  And even though the game itself was awful, we still had a great time.

         It looks like next year I’ll be able to hit up Purdue, Michigan State, and Illinois—three more stadiums to cross of the my list.  That just leaves Ohio State, Northwestern, Penn State, and Indiana—meaning I will have visited all of the Big Ten stadiums by the end of the 2012 season.  Yikes. 

        I added in a few photos from the trips… Halfsies—two Gopher fans and two Iowa fans—up with the sun for some Saturday football… Lil Nigel II and his warning sign…  Mr. Ryan Kelly and the infamous mullet.  Some of us also made the local news... KCRG Iowa Football Video  Yes, that is me talking a mean game to some Iowa fans.  My mom must be so proud.

Hometown Hero Turns AL MVP

           I was having a serious case of the Mondays until I was reminded that the American League MVP was going to be announced today.  Honestly I have been waiting for this day since the Yankees won the World Series and it’s just like to me to completely forget once the day finally gets here.  Thankfully, a quick stop on Facebook this morning reminded me of the day’s importance (thanks, Andrea) and suddenly my day didn’t look so dreary.  It was as if the clouds parted and the sun came streaming down.  Well, not really but it kind of felt that way. 

            See, I’m still recovering from my weekend in Iowa City—outdoor football in November equals running nose, watery eyes, lots of sneezing.  Pretty much the start to my yearly ‘Thanksgiving weekend cold’.  Like clockwork, every November I get sick.  And this morning was especially bad.  No sleep, an 8 a.m. meeting with my advisor, dreary sky.  Thankfully, my day turned around after a certain hometown boy was announced as the AL MVP—the fifth Minnesota Twin to win the honor.

            Catcher Joe Mauer now shares the honor with Minnesota Twins shortstop Zoilo Versalles and first basemen Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, and Justin Morneau—not too shabby, if you ask me.  Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much time to celebrate his accomplishment because it seems all anyone can focus on is how long he’ll stay in a Twins uniform.  Granted, I’m as desperate for a contract extension as the next fan but how ‘bout a little time to celebrate, to brag about the fact that we have MVPs batting third and fourth in our line-up? 

            After tomorrow’s National League MVP announcement, the 2009 baseball season will truly be over.  Then it is under four months until spring training—I just wish the Twins organization would hurry up and release their Grapefruit League schedule.  Gotta start planning my spring break down in Fort Myers.  J

Off-Season Blues

         I’m starting to think that baseball off-season is harder for fans than it is for the players.  See, last week after the excitement of the World Series had died down one of my favorite Twins players was outrighted to Triple A-Rochester after clearing waivers.  Honestly, I had no idea what this meant but I knew it couldn’t be good.  A quick Google search and I soon realized my assumptions were right—the Twins were letting Justin Huber go.  Sigh.

         To be honest, I’ve never paid that much attention to what happens during the off-season.  But after leaving Minnesota to play winter ball in Venezuela, I decided to keep tabs on Justin in hopes that his progress down south would gain him a permanent spot on the Twins 40-man.  He was called up in September after Justin Morneau’s back injury pulled him off first base but due to his own injury hadn’t seen very much playing time making this winter league very important.  Sink or swim time, I suppose you could say. 

         I guess I was just under the assumption that he would go back to Rochester, wait until the Twins needed him, and then head back to Minneapolis to slug away at the new Target Field.  Obviously, my understanding of baseball transactions was way off.  Justin won’t be back to play for the Twins this year, in Minnesota or in Rochester.  His contract was sold to another team—the Hiroshima Carp.  Yup, that’s right.  Japan.

         Justin isn’t the only player who won’t be back to break-in the new stadium and I’m sure we’ll lose a few more in the months to come.  It is just hard to lose players after the amazing season we had.  It truly was one I’ll always remember.  I just wish the next few months would fly by so it would be time for spring training to start and I could head down to Fort Myers to cheer on my favorite team.  Baseball in Florida in the middle of March?  Yes, please.

--The other night when I needed a Twins fix I found some awesome videos of the Twins on mlb.com.  This is Alexi Casilla's winning hit in the bottom of the 12th.  Try and not get excited for next year while watching it, I dare you.

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7017837