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Our son Ben has been playing football this year for the Auburn High School Junior Varsity team (games on Monday nights). They are undefeated with 1 game to go against local rival Opelika. So we’ve really be getting into Auburn high school football this year.

Last night, we decided to go to the Varsity game for the first time this year because the varsity team is also undefeated and were playing Central from Phenix City. Prior to the game AHS was ranked #2 in the state, and Central was ranked #8 in the state. Both teams were undefeated, and the winner of the game would become Region 3 Champions.

It was packed, and it was really exciting. Both teams looked awesome. Congratulations to Auburn High School on the 26-12 win. My son Josh is in the 11th grade and tells me that game clips are played on the TV screens in each classroom on Monday mornings. I think the big play clips generate alot of noise throughout the school and gets the kids really fired up for a little while before school. I’m sure there’ll be alot of celebrating this coming Monday.

Congratulations Auburn!

Meet my next door neighbor Steve Kennedy. Steve is a great source of pride for Auburn and an inspiration to me. He tired of the dull corporate world of mechanical engineering and decided to pursue his passion, bass fishing. His story really appeals to me now that I’m no longer practicing law and am working full-time toward starting a craft brewery in Auburn.

Check out Steve’s profile on bassfan.com. He began 2008 ranked #3 IN THE WORLD in competitive bass fishing, but took off most of the 2nd half of the year to spend time with his new baby and take care of baby mama. But here he is this picture getting ready for the 2009 competition season. He’s in panic mode getting things ready for the upcoming season. Keep an eye on bassfan.com throughout the year for his results, and cheer him on.

And most importantly, do what you love. Life is too short not to. Make the most of it!

visiting austin on business this week.. Met up with my good friends edward anf johnny to watch the nfl playoffs..

We’ve been planning this for months, but I’ve been unusually busy lately and haven’t had an opportunity until now to send out an invite for this Saturday night’s fight party. We originally planned to watch the fight at the Warehouse, but they no longer show PPV events. We hope all of our Austin boxing friends can join us at our house on Sat. for the biggest fight of the year. We’ll turn on the pre-fight show at 7:30pm.

Edward will finally lose a bet with me !!!!!

Lifted from hboppv.vom. With four world titles on the line, East Los Angeles’ Oscar De La Hoya takes on Philadelphia’s Bernard Hopkins on Saturday, September 18, 2004 at MGM Grand.

De La Hoya (37-3, 29 KO’s), an eight-time world champion in six different weight classes, is the holder of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) middleweight title. The Golden Boy from East L.A. is regarded as one of the biggest attractions in the sport today, a superstar whose popularity transcends boxing. In the ring, De La Hoya has defeated 17 champions, one of them twice and is a star performer in world championship bouts, with a record of 23-3 with a world title on the line.

At the age of 39, Bernard Hopkins (44-2-1; 1 NC; 31 KO’s) is the universally recognized middleweight champion of the world, and recognized by most observers as the best fighter at any weight – Pound for Pound. He is also one of the best middleweights in boxing history. A pro for more than 15 years, Hopkins holds the all-time record for the number of successful middleweight world title defenses with 18. Bernard is unbeaten in 24 fights – 22-0-1, with 1 No Contest, dating back to August, 1993. His last loss was by decision against Roy Jones Jr. in May, 1993. His only other loss was in his pro debut in 1988.

UPDATE
Most of this has been sold.. see comments for more info

I’ve got an Austin Statesman classified ad pointed to here so I can give the details. We’ve decided to sell our home gym rather than move it (1410 lbs of plates.. and then there’s the weight of the smith cage).

Its been great, and I’ll be sad to see it go.

Tuff Stuff is one of the best manufacturers of free weight home gym equipment out there.

Scroll down below the thumbnails for details, and feel free to post a comment if you have any questions. Just click on “comments” at the end of this article.

Read more…

Sunday afternoon I played golf for the first time in 15 years !!! It was also the only time I’d ever played 18 holes. In college, the most I ever played at one time was 9 holes. I kept trying to put my neighbor Rick off, but he was persistant. I ended up having a blast. I think my final score was 138 or something like that, so I stunk overall, but I did hit much better off the tee (at least in the beginning) than I thought I would. And I made par on 2 holes. It was the putting that killed me. I need lots of putting practice. I did reasonably well with some of the chipping and horrible with other chip shots.

Par for beer was one beer per hole, and I was only a little over par at the end of 18 holes, which was a much better beer score than that achieved by Rick, Sumner, or Alan.

I enjoyed myself so much that we’re planning to go to a sporting goods store after work to buy some clubs for the kids and Priscilla and go hit some balls at the driving range. I’m hoping they enjoy it as much as I did (without the beer of course). I know Josh will love driving the golf cart.

I’m also looking forward to realizing the peculiar corporate America phenomenon of getting paid quadruple my current compensation if I become a golfer.

Just a little over a week left before UFC 49. I hope all our friends will be able to make it over for the best fight night ever!!! And bring some of your friends who you think would like it!!!

Most of you know how big a boxing fan I’ve always been. If you’ve never seen a UFC fight, or if you’ve only seen a few of the fights from the early 90s.. then come watch UFC 49. UFC has evolved over the last 10 years to the point where (in my opinion) these are the best fights you can see anywhere. These are definately the best hand-to-hand combatants in the world.

From the UFC website –> Randy Couture has unfinished business to take care, when he fights Vitor Belfort for the light heavyweight title in Ultimate Fighting Championship® 49: Unfinished Business at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, August 21st.

The UFC brings together the most talented martial arts experts in the world. UFC fighters come from the US, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Russia, Holland, England, etc. All UFC fighters have previous combat sports experience and many are World or Olympic champions. UFC athletes train up to six hours a day or more in preparation for an event. Almost all have studied martial arts as a lifelong vocation. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is an intense and evolving combat sport in which competitors use interdisciplinary forms of fighting that include Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Karate, Boxing, Kickboxing, Wrestling and others to their strategic and tactical advantage in a supervised match. Scoring for MMA events in Nevada, New Jersey, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Florida is based on athletic-commission approved definitions and rules for striking (blows with the hands, feet, knees or elbows) and grappling (submission, choke holds, throws or takedowns). No single discipline reigns.

We are sure to have a great time on Saturday, August 21… Don’t miss out!!

Priscilla and I had a great time last night at our fight night party. Thanks to everyone who came and joined in the fun: Edward, Karen, Olga, Curtis, Liz, Rick, Yoli, Sumner, Steve, Rick, Jenny, Shey (and the kids: Josh, Ben, Susanna, Alisha, Brandon, Jennifer, and Casey).

What a fight!!! Tyson and Williams pounded each other. I never noticed but read later that Tyson tore a knee ligament in the first round.

By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Boxing Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mike Tyson tore a ligament in his left knee in the first round of his shocking knockout loss to Danny Williams, his manager said Saturday. Shelly Finkel said an MRI showed a complex tear of the lateral meniscus, and that Tyson couldn”t even walk on the leg Saturday. Finkel said Tyson’s ex-wife Monica, who is a doctor, read the results. “That’s why he couldn”t throw the right hand the rest of the fight,” Finkel said. “I was screaming at him to throw it, but he couldn’t.” Tyson was dominating the first round, rocking Williams with shots to the head, but late in the round motioned toward his knee and grimaced. Finkel said Tyson refused to make an excuse and wanted to continue fighting.

If that’s the case, then he was fortunate to even get to the fourth round. It was definately an exciting fight, but I don’t think I’d buy another PPV event with Tyson fighting, unless his fight was one of the preliminaries to another main event.

Karaoke may not be the best thing to do after 3 fights where everyone’s been yelling at the TV, but we were rock stars in our own eyes. Edward nearly caused me to go into respiratory distress from laughing so hard when he changed the “You can check out anytime you like… but you can never leave” part of Hotel California to “You can extend your stay to 6pm for an extra fee.. Just stop by the front desk to let them know…” I thought it was funny anyway since we just got back from Las Vegas where we were bombarded with invitations to extend our stay until 6pm so they could take more of our money in the casino.

Here’s the possibilities for Fight Nights in the next couple of months. Let’s definately do the UFC 49 and the Hopkins v. De La Hoya. If anyone is interested in any of the others, let me know.

Sat, August 7 (8:00 PM)
Acelino Freitas (WBO Lightweight Champion) vs. Diego Corrales (WBO Junior Lightweight Champion)
Mike Tyson vs. Danny Williams (replay)

Sat, August 21 (9:00 PM)
Ultimate Fighting Championship 49: Unfinished Business
Vitor Belfort vs. Randy Couture – Light Heavyweight Championship
Chuck Liddell vs. Vernon White
Matt Lindland vs. David Terrell

Sat, September 4 (9:00 PM)
Cory Spinks (IBF/WBA/WBC Welterweight Champion) vs. Miguel Angel Gonzalez (Former World Champion/WBC No. 1 Contende)

Sat, September 11 (9:15 PM)
Antonio Margarito (30-3, 21 KO’s) VS. Daniel Santos-Pena (28-2-1, 20 KO’s)
12-Round Light Middleweight Fight
and
Miguel Cotto (20-0, 16 KO’s) VS. Kelson Pinto (20-0, 18 KO’s)
12-Round Light Welterweight Fight

Sat, September 18 (8:00 PM)
Oscar De La Hoya (37-3, 29 KO’s) VS. Bernard Hopkins (44-2-1, 1NC, 31 KO’s)
12-Round Undisputed Middleweight Title

Sat, October 2 (8:00 PM)
Felix Trinidad (41-1, 34 KO’s) VS. Ricardo Mayorga (27-4-1, 23 KO’s)
12-Round Middleweight Fight