Cow’s Life - Thinking Outside Of The Barn

When Breckenridge opened up its first lift chair, I couldn’t wait and had to be there on that day wresting with black, blue and green skiers and boarders on a single green run. Last Sunday was the closing day of Breckenridge, Vail and all other resorts besides Loveland and A-Basin. Despite the hot weather (Denver was almost 80 degree the day before), I drove to the mountain to board for one last time.

The snow was sadly brown at Peak 9, but Peak 8 was good enough for anyone who can deal with wet slushy ice. The weather was so warm that I didn’t even need a ski jacket.

Down at the base, people were wearing short sleeve t-shirt with their biggo baggy ski pants on. It was kind of hilarious “fashion day”. Quite a few guys I spotted were shirtless on the slope. And a group of 4 girls dressed in mini red Swedish skirts and fishnet stocking. What a view!!

Although the top peak was still snow white, the base was mostly brown melted snow reminding everyone that winter is finally gone.

Although I broke my tailbone at Breck, twisted my knee at Telluride and had to stop boarding for nearly 2 months, I had a great season. I was so proud to be able to navigate through the narrow catwalk from Peak 8 to Peak 7 with my newly learned small link turns!! And I only fell twice on my last day of the season!! Woooooohooooo!

Now, it’s time to put away all of my boarding gear and take out all of my camping and hiking gear! Colorado summer is almost here! I LOVE THIS STATE!

After boarding at Keystone, Breckenridge, Loveland, Copper, Vail, Wolf Creek and Telluride, I must say that Breckenridge is still my favorite spot.

I went there again last weekend trying to work on my turns. The place has some widest runs I have ever seen. If you ever come to Colorado to ski or board, go to Peak 9 for the blue runs and Peak 8 for the greens.

My next destination is Beaver Creek in about 2 weeks. I visited that spot about 6 years ago and got knocked down by a snowmobile driver and twisted my neck for about 2 months. So that wasn’t much fun. I don’t remember the place anymore, but according to Mike from Heavywinter, it’s the white trash capital of the mountains. Can’t wait!

For the very first time in my life, I broke a piece of my bone.

I was unloading from a lift chair when my right foot slipped. My butt landed pretty hard on the binding. It was so painful that my tears came out right away involuntarily. I probably took a hundred falls on my butt ever since I started learning snowboarding and this one was by far the worst. I didn’t know I broke my tail bone at that time. I fell so many times that the pain was already part of the game.

After 15 minutes of struggling, I strapped my feet back in and rode down the hill with the rest of the class. An hour later, I found myself having difficulties sitting in the cafeteria. Even my favorite hot beef stew couldn’t keep my mind off the pain.

Three hours after the fall, the pain was still so persistent that I started having a hard time walking down the stairs. Finally, my friends put me in the back seat and drove me back to Denver. I still didn’t think I broke anything until the doctor gave me an examination in the ER and told me I broke the tip of my tail bone. I was very disappointed when I heard the news. I have the next two weekends planned to go to Wolf Creek and Vail. Now, I can’t even rock climb. Bummer!

Although I can still walk (slowly) and sit on a donut shaped cushion for coupe of hours, driving still gives me a lot of ass-ache. I tried to go to the nearby Target today and the 2 mile roundtrip was quite a struggle when dealing with the road bumps. I probably pissed off a lot of drivers by going 10 miles an hour.

My friends showed so much caring after I got injured. A girl I met just a few weeks ago postponed her night out with her friends and drove me from Breckenridge back to my apartment. A close friend of mine also missed a portion of his party and took me to the ER and got me medications and food. A few people called today to let me know that they are only a phone call away if I needed anything.

I wrote a very moody post just a week ago when I felt very lonely. But when a situation like this happens, people do care and they do anything they can to help their friends. I am truly grateful that after just a short period of time living in Denver, I’ve had a few people whom I can rely on if I am ever in trouble. This is a very comforting thought.

Thank you guys for helping me to grow my tail back. I will do the same if you ever have problems with your tails or paws. Hehehe..

So far, I haven’t had a chance to visit any other ski resorts but Breckenridge. I went there again last Saturday with the fear I had from the previous week. Luckily, Breck has opened up all runs on Peak 9 and the fresh power WAS GREAT!

Last Saturday was my 8th day learning how to snowboard (6 days from last season and 2 this season) and I am still taking hard falls. This sport is a whole lot more painful than rock climbing. I probably took 70+ hard falls during the 5 hour full day class when I was learning snowboarding for the very first time last year. My legs and my butt were covered with a dozen or so big and small bruises. I don’t remember I’ve ever endured so much pain by doing anything else. I thought this year would be a bit better. But in order to learn how to link my turns together, I had to take more falls. Although I came more prepared this year with bum protection, new wrist guard and better looking helmet (if that helps), couple hard falls on my knees still made me dropping a few painful tears. But I did it! I made my first smooth link turns from heel to toe and toe to heel on Saturday, thanks to both Rick and Matt’s patient teaching!

Although it was fun to play in the snow, the learning process is still quite stressful. To relax a bit, I went to Clear Creek to rock climb the next day. I know it sounds strange but I can’t tell you how relaxed I felt when I was on the rock. Doug once said to me, “Everything is in your head. It’s just a mind game… “ I guess it is true that our minds control almost everything we feel if not all. I am going for another snowboarding lesson this coming Saturday. I figure if I can conquer the fear of falling, I should be able to cruise down the mountains with fancy turns in no time! After all, it was just a few bad bruises plus 5 minute pain.

I couldn’t wait any longer, so YES… I was nuts enough to go to Breckenridge this Friday to anticipate its opening weekend.

Surprisingly, the snow condition wasn’t bad considering the tiny snow falls in the early season . Breck has also been making its own snow. We could actually taste the chemicals in the snow they were blowing at us. There were still enough powder on the first day and I fell on my face and dug my head into the snow. Falling was quite frustrating, but having my face buried in the snow was kind of cool. Saturday was a very windy day and the afternoon weather suddenly turned quite cold. By 2pm, the run turned quite icy and hard.

I initially thought Breckenridge would have at least two runs open. Whatever the problem they had, everybody ended up on one blue run by Beaver Run super chair. Some people were probably too good to be on a blue that they felt the needs to run over other people with 40 mph speed. On the first day, a snowboarder crashed right into me, pushed me down the slope for about 15 feet. He was lucky that the only thing he broke was his sunglasses. It was very painful but I was OK and got back on my feet after a few minutes. There were even more aggressive people on the second day. One skier hit me (I was rolling again), didn’t even check on me and just took off. That just pissed of my friend who happens to be a real good boarder. He chased the guy down and found out that the “hit and run” jerk was not a punk kid we initially thought he would be. I wonder how older mature people wouldn’t even care about other people’s safeties? For God’s sake there were so many children on the slope trying to have a good fun day. A little kid wouldn’t be able to sustain the hit I took on Saturday.

We ended up doing only one run on Sunday and called it off. Lesson learned? Wait a few weeks before heading over to the ski resorts. At least wait until some black diamond runs are open so these “Great Skiers/Snowboarders” have their own playgrounds to show off the lighting speed.

“Please! Give the older/younger/not-so-good skiers/boarders a peaceful day on the slopes, will ya?!”

Eagles fans are Mean! After seeing a guy with a Cowboy jersey got physically thrown out of the bar by some Eagles fans at the happy hour before the game, I knew that Broncos jersey outfit wasn’t such a good idea.

We pulled into the tailgate parking lot at 8 in the morning. There were only two Broncos trucks comparing with a dozen of Eagles’. Naturally, the green visitors claimed most of the parking lot as Eagles territory. The oranges/blues were not even allowed to walk by! They’d yell at you, boo you, calling you asshole until you moved your ass away. And there was no gender discrimination either because the Eagles fans don’t necessarily feel the need to be nice to the ladies. You’d be lucky if they don’t call you bitch.

Under the tremendous amount of pressure and the temptation of the juicy hamburger cooked by the Eagle’s tailgaters, I was too wimpy to put on the Broncos jersey. The steak and the hamburger were too good to pass, so I kept my Broncos jersey in the trunk until I had a few plates of the meat.

But when the Eagles fans went over to a Broncos truck to envy their breakfast eggs and onions, they were rewarded with the good smell from the grill and the friendly greetings from the “enemies”.

Some report say there were around 8000 Eagles fans in town this past weekend. Comparing with 67,000 Broncos fans, they were greatly outnumbered in the field.

If you’ve watched the game, you know Broncos kicked Eagles’ ass on Sunday. Instead of giving Eagles fans shit, some Broncos fans were actually showing sympathies to the green visitors for coming all the way here to see their team losing. No wonder Paco said that Broncos fans were the nicest ones.

I watch a lot of Pro basketball games at the Pepsi center and I’ve watched a few Bulls and Houston home games as well. Comparing with the Nuggets fans, those Texans are quite rough. Nuggets fans would never boo their own players. But the Rockets fans would talk shit about anybody and curse their own team. I guess it all comes down to the Denverer’s attitude. 2 years ago when I moved here to work, I noticed right away how laid back this crowd is, thanks to the mountains, trees and the 300 day sunshine the Coloradoans get to enjoy.

As of the distressed Philly fans, they were having a lot of fun stepping and jumping on a poor teddy bear wearing a mini Broncos jersey in the stadium. I know I am not going to Philly to watch any Eagles vs Titans game ’cause I would just get all pissed off!

This is my Halloween Costume take 3: Broncos jersey and snowboard outfit completed with my board. The only problem is that I am going to an Eagles Tailgate on Sunday instead of a Halloween party.

My pal Paco picked up two Eagles tailgate party tickets and asked me to join him. I am neither Broncos nor Eagles fan. I’d rather cheer for my hometown team Titans.

Well…what the heck! Are they really gonna squash me like a bug? It’ only a jersey…

Paco even posted a note on Eagles’ Fan Board:

“…she is not an enemy… she is just wearing A jersey to fit in…”

Response from the Eagles fans?

“She must be destroyed!!!”

Well.. I am going to try to survive the tailgate so I can finally watch my first live NFL game tomorrow afternoon. If you guys don’t see me posting in the next few days, call 911 and report the following emergency:

HELP! A Broncos snow bunny got squashed by bunch of Eagles.

The long snapper. Probably one of the most underappreciated position on any NFL team. Guys make a career of it and teams are more than happy to have this specialist on their team.

But why? All they do is hike the ball!

Ahh yes, this common misconception. However, being bent over backwards, throwing an oddly shaped ball between your legs 10 yards back and hitting a target less than a square yard is a lot harder then it sounds. Sure, if you practice hard enough at it, you probably can become a tight end who also can do this somewhat consistently. But not all the time.

Football is the ultimate team sport. For one play to work, everyone has to be in sync and have perfect timing on the play. Many fans just see a running back going through the middle for a 4 yard gain, but what they may miss is the offensive lineman adjusting to a blitz, a tight end pulling double duty with a left guard, the fullback covering an incoming cornerback and a wide receiver running a route just to give the safety the illusion a pass may be coming his way.

And this is only for a run.

For a field goal kick, the concept of teamwork goes into over drive. From the time of the snap to the time of the kick, to get the play off you only have three seconds, often less. What needs to happen is
1) The long snapper has to hike the ball behind him 10 yards and have it land in the hands of the holder who is kneeling at the spot of the kick. That means you have less than a square yard window to hit. Anywhere outside this and there is a good chance the kick will fail.
2) After the ball is hiked, the long snapper has to immediately block the opposing line. He literally needs to adjust within a split second from having his head and arms between his legs to a blocking position to hold off a 280 lbs linebacker who is trying to collapse the pocket and block the kick.
3) The holder sets the ball, the kicker kicks it. (there is more to it than that, but we are focusing on the under appreciated long snapper here)

To have this quickness and this accuracy and to do it every single time, is a skill. If a person messes up a snap two or three time, he is sure to lose his job since this would cost a team anywhere between 3 and 9 points. That’s why long snappers such as Mike Bartrum is such a valued resource on the Philadelphia eagles roster. He is one of the most consistent long snappers in the league and has earned his spot on the roster for years to come because of this. My friend Kevin in Denver, being a typical the rabid eagles fan, proudly sports his #88 Mike Bartrum jersey every Sunday.

Finally, to touch on Yuna’s main point, why not just take a linebacker or tight end and make them the long snapper? As I mentioned above, it’s a precision position that cant just be taught during a training camp. Plus, you must take into account how often players change on a team (See the Philadelphia Eagles, this is the first time in 5 years they had the same 3 people at the linebacker position to start the season as they did to finish the season). Inconsistency at long snapping can potentially cost your team at least one kick per game, and in a league where many games are decided by a field goal or less, this is unacceptable. It could turn a 10-6 playoff team to being a mediocre 8-8 team.

And there is some multitasking at the long snapper position, but just opposite to what Yuna has suggested. Instead of a Tight End doing long snapping duty’s, a long snapper may fill in for a Tight End from time to time. Look at Mighty Mike Bartrum. He has almost a 50% rate of receptions for touchdowns (4 for 9) and a 66% rate of receptions for first downs (6 for 9).

To relate to the buisness spin that Yuna placed on it, the Moral is, sure, its good to be flexable, however, if it can cost you the big game over and over again, its good to have a specialist on hand.

So, on every nfl Sunday, I am at home rooting for you, Mr. Long Snapper. Because somebody has to!

Ok, first of all, this is not a football post… But I need to start with the football mumbo jumbo, so bare with me if you are not a football fan.

Yesterday, Eagle’s linebacker Simoneau became David Aker’s backup and kicked an extra point. It wasn’t pretty, but it was good.

While Paco and I were checking out the photos, and videos of that kick, we also got into a heated debate. I figured if a linebacker has the capability to do a kicker’s job, why the hell NFL still needs long snappers? These guys just hike the balls up and place them for the kickers. That’s all they do for a minimum of quarter million a year. Soccer teams don’t have special positions to score field goals. Although Paco’s point is also valid that long snapper has to be precise every time, I still think the job can be performed and trained by other positions, maybe not a quarterback, but a punter?

At the end of the day, it’s all about the “special position”. But if you think about it for a sec, this kind of could-be-eliminated-special-position actually exists everywhere.

Just a few months ago before my current project was wrapping up, we had about 3 project managers to manage 3 of us. Somehow, our executives figured that we need project manager to manage the project managers who manage the project staffs. My co-worker and I were really bitching about it since it caused us to do more status reports. We can’t figure out why the hell a special position is needed for just a few hours of work that any of us can do.

We all know FEMA is under really hot pressure to explain their slow responses during the Katrina disaster. I bet if they eliminate some “long snapper” positions, they’d be in a much better shape to effectively respond to the rescue requests. And, the best part, the agency probably could shrink by 2/3, therefore saving us some tax dollars..

NFL probably will never get rid of those long snappers. But we sure can try something in our surroundings to make our lives a little easier. My co-worker and I communicated our concerns and provided evidence as how many hours we have wasted in responding to multiple project managers, so we got rid of our “long snapper” successfully. I am wondering if enough staffs in FEMA has proactively advocated their voices of the ineffectiveness of the agency, the guy sitting on the top of the food chain has to pay some attention. And maybe things can be done differently?

Before the fun begins, here is the latest news from his today’s ride. He won all three stages of Alps last time and he is doing it again. Well, at least the first stage is a victory. People wonder if he is getting too old to win the 7th title, I still have a lot of confidence in this man.

Ok, Joke time. Here is the top ten sign list, thanks to Paco’s contribution. It is originated from David letterman’s show:

10. Race starts at 9, Lance rolls out of bed around noon

9. Has already figured out that the trophy can hold a 3-gallon margarita

8. He eats frosting by the fistful

7. For the last leg, he rode one of those crazy 1920s bikes with the big front wheel

6. Deliberately crashing into things to get more air time on sportscenter

5. Making a couple extra bucks delivering pizzas during the race

4. After the starter pistol is fired, he hangs around hitting on french babes

3. Turns to the other riders and says, “oooh, I’m sooooo scared”

2. Instead of training, spent last 2 months pimping his bike

1. Has started selling ad space on his butt