Teach Me How To Dougie

When Creighton hired Greg McDermott to replace long-time coach Dana Altman there was mixed feelings amongst Bluejays fans. McDermott was leaving Iowa State after a somewhat rocky few years in Ames. While the new coach of the Jays had been successful in a previous stop at Northern Iowa, the Creighton faithful were left pondering one question; Do we really want to be like Northern Iowa?

Despite the uncertainty surrounding his hiring, a rumor surrounded Greg McDermott when he got to town. The word from those in the know was that the new coach had a son and the kid could play a little bit.  That kids name was Doug. 

Now Doug McDermott was tall, about 6'8", but he was skinny and hadn't been widely recruited, and certainly not by the major D1 programs.  He was overshadowed by a high school teammate named Harrison Barnes who just happened to be the most coveted player in the country. As the story went, Doug's own father didn't even recruit him at Iowa State. 

When Doug arrived at Creighton, the plan was to redshirt him, allow him to develop. An injury to a returner changed this plan and thrust the younger McDermott into the starting lineup.

As a freshman Doug proved those original rumors to be true. Averaging almost 15 points and 7 rebounds a game   The kid could indeed play a little bit. He even earned all-conference honors which was a rarity for a freshman in the Missouri Valley.  He by no means was dominant but a solid career like that of Dane Watts appeared well within the realm of possibilities.

Something funny happened though as Doug McDermott continued his career at Creighton. He kept getting better. Like a lot better. Like by leaps and bounds. He started as a post player with great footwork and a soft touch. Then he proved he was an absolute sniper from long range. Then he showed off a Dirk Nowitzki-esque wrong-footed fade away. Now he has improved his ball-handling enough to create his own shot, go coast-to-coast, or even occasionally break the press.

In the matter of three short years Doug McDermott had done the unthinkable. He had raised his ceiling from probay being the next Dane Watts to possibly becoming the closest thing we have seen to Larry Bird. 

And I know what you're thinking, here we go again. Everytime a tall white guy comes around who can knock down a jumper, someone has to compares him to Larry Bird.  But you have to look past the obvious to see where this comparison rings true. 

Like Bird, McDermott isn't just a shooter, he's a shot-maker. What I mean is that it's not just spot up 3s that he knocks down, it's off-balance shots, shots in traffic and through contact, and big shots when his team needs them most. Just like Larry Legend. McDermott certainly isn't the passer that Bird was but everything else matches up incredibly well, including the most important thing that Larry Bird and Doug McDermott have in common. They both seemingly do not care about anything in the world besides basketball. 

They say you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone, but that's not always true. Creighton fans know exactly what they've got. He may or may not end up resembling Larry Legend, but he's a legendary Bluejay already. 

The Train Pin

From the time I was an infant until I was 18 years old, I went to church every Sunday with my mother. And I mean EVERY Sunday. I can probably count on both hands the number of Sundays I wasn't sitting in one of those red pews at Kingsway Christian Church over the course of those 18 years. And at every service I attended there, I saw Herman and Judy Bauman there too.

Judy ran the nursery at Kingsway and I was the first baby she took care of there. I would go as far to say I was not only her first but her favorite child she ever cared for but Judy had a loving way about her that probably made countless children over the years feel the same way. Herman was an elder at Kingsway and was famous for joyfully doing anything that needed done at the church and for praying unwaveringly for any and every prayer request he knew about.  One of my earliest memories in life is seeing Herman with his big smile at church every Sunday.

Herman was also an old school kind of guy. He considered the King James Version to be the "authorized" version of Holy Scripture and he always wore a suit and tie to church. Most, if not all weeks he accessorized his suit with a small golden pin. I'm sure there were many pins he wore over the years but I only remember one.  The train pin.

I was like many other young boys in that I was obsessed with trains. Seeing Herman's train pin every time I went to church made my day. Considering Herman was a lifelong railroad man, I have a feeling that seeing a child so enthusiastic about trains may have made his day as well.  One Sunday, while admiring Herman's train pin, he presented me with a train pin of my own.  I remember it as one of the happier days of my young life.  I believe the fact that I remember it at all testifies to that.

Two weeks ago, Herman passed away. More accurately I should say Herman was promoted.  Whenever a Christian brother or sister died, Herman would always say they had earned their promotion to Heaven. If anyone had ever earned their promotion, it was Herman. He may have been the kindest and most caring individual I have ever known.  More importantly, he was certainly one of the most faithful believers I have ever met.  His loving spirit was probably only matched by his wife Judy.

For whatever reason, since Herman's promotion, I haven't been able to stop thinking about that little train pin.  I don't know why this small trinket has suddenly been thrust into the forefront of my consciousness.  I've racked my brain trying to figure out some greater meaning of it, or some metaphorical significance.  At the end of the day, I think it may just be the fondest early memory I have of an extremely important man in my life.

I have been lucky enough to continue to see Herman and Judy on a regular basis throughout my entire life.  I never met either of my natural grandfathers and my adopted one passed before I was a teenager.  Herman filled that role in my life, even if I never told him as much.  I love and miss you Herman, but I will see you again soon.

I'm a Hustler Baby

Before I start I just want to give a heads up that this will be the start of a blogging binge that will last at least through the end of the year. So for the seven people in my life that actually enjoy it when I write things, consider this your Christmas present. And I don't mean that metaphorically. I didn't buy you anything, so this is your present.

Moving on.

I went to go see American Hustle with my wife on Friday night as the second half of our dinner and a movie date. The first half was dinner at Applebee's because my wife (a teacher) had received a gift card from one of her students. (Side note: my wife was bragging that her job was better than mine for reasons such as receiving gifts like this, until I pointed out that my job actually paid a livable wage.  She still get summers off so we called it a tie.)  Anyway, we had decided on American Hustle for a variety of reasons; It was being touted as one of the best movies of the year, it had a cast of actors and actresses we both thoroughly enjoyed and finally it sounded like an interesting story. So needless to say we were both going in with pretty lofty expectations.

Maybe that was part of the problem.  Let me be clear, this was not a bad movie. It just felt like it was missing something. And for being not much over two hours, it felt really long. Full disclosure here, we went at 9 and didn't get out of there until after 11, and I'm probably the oldest 26 year old around. I won't deny that this could have been a factor. But regardless, I could tell that I was siting in the same spot for over two hours and that's not a great sign for any movie.

American Hustle promised to resonate with the audience the same way Goodfellas did a generation before. That promise went unfulfilled. It's hard to put a finger on what exactly went wrong, but for whatever reason, the movie just didn't connect with me enough to force me to care about the fate of its characters.  The actors performed as well as I had expected and the story was interesting even if it was a little on the predictable side.  There were some funny lines interspersed with quality dramatic dialogue.  I just didn't care. The result of the film never mattered to me, and I think if you're making a good movie, you have to hook your audience so they feel invested in the outcome.  Nothing about this movie ever grabbed me and told me to pay attention.

It is entirely possible I'm alone in feeling this way, and I'm alright with that. Like I said, all the pieces were there for a great movie, it just didn't come together for me.  If you have seen the movie let me know what you think.