This week's (10-31) e-edition

People usually have to pay for this stuff, but I'll let you in... if you promise to read my work in sports.  Pages B1 and 2.
http://eedition.wasatchwave.com/WebProject.asp?CodeId=7.6.6.1#

Fashion Fabulous Football

The season came to an end last Friday night for the Wasatch high school varsity football team.  It was a great year and things are definitely looking up for the future of the program.  Can’t wait ‘til next year already.

Something I think the athletic administrators at Wasatch should take a look at in the off-season is some of those flashy uniforms the college programs are sporting these days.  The trend has actually started to seep into the high school ranks I noticed in a feature last week on the internet.  So maybe it’s time the Wasps got in on it.

I was thinking they should start with something progressive.  Picture this.  Chrome-plated helmets with a giant wasp decal – not the fighting wasp mascot they sport now (that is so yesterday) – but an outline of a real wasp.  Gigantic in size… covering the entire side of the helmet.  Oh, and only on one side!  Yeah – that would be cool.  Make the decal black and have bright yellow facemasks.  For the jerseys, they could use like three or four different versions.  I know that can get expensive, but think of the merchandising possibilities.  What mother of a player wouldn’t want to proudly display her son’s number in the stands if the jersey were designed with the texture of insect wings?   The numbers could be bright yellow to match the facemasks.  No, wait – they could glow in the dark!  Think of the home field advantage there.  They wouldn’t even have to turn on the stadium lights.  The pants should definitely be black, but with yellow rings around the legs, just like the body of a real wasp.  If they could stitch a piece of yellow fabric in the shape of a stinger right down the middle of the butt, I’m sure it would be a football first… at any level.  Top these new wave unis off with some bright yellow knee socks and all white cleats and I think you’ve got yourself a look sure to distract any opponent.

I think this new trend of mixing it up with the uniforms is the brainchild of Phil Knight, the big dog at Nike and an alumn of the University of Oregon.  That’s why you always have to look twice when watching a Ducks game.  You never know what they are going to come out wearing.  It’s become so popular, this football fashion thing, that teams that have been so deeply entrenched in tradition, like Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame have gotten in on the act.   Why the gridiron is becoming the red carpet.  It’s only a matter of time before TMZ supplants ESPN as the television coverage of choice for football games.  Nothing says football like the fellas discussing the choice of his team going with the teal on gold over the black on teal.

I’m sure my suggestion for Wasatch will fall on deaf ears, which is probably for the best.  I like the Wasps look this year.  Traditional, with a few updated touches.  No trendy over hauls.  Stick to your look, like the Chicago Bears or Nebraska Cornhuskers.  Put a quality product on the field and fans will buy your jerseys.  Even if they are just plain in comparison to some of the teams that are switching it up.  If a different look is something a team feels they need to do for a promotional reason, like the NFL does with their throwbacks, then do like BYU did this year with their black out design.  They kept their Y logo and traditional striping, and just went with black gear.  No need for chrome or neon-brights or weird decals of a fighting Brigham Young. 

I’m sure Phil Knight has his reasons for dressing up his Ducks.  Maybe he needs a tax right off.  They’re a good team.  They certainly don’t need the attention.  I’m just hoping the trend of  “uglying up” some of these football uniforms wears off soon.  I couldn’t stomach the idea of a football fashion show with Melissa and Joan Rivers on the E network.  But, it’s probably in the works.

Small Ball Takes It All

For the third straight year, a National League team that was not considered a favorite, found a way to win it all.  The San Francisco Giants, backs against the wall, facing elimination in both of their playoff series, bolted into the World Series and swept a team that was perceived to have superior pitching and hitting.  No one saw them coming.  No one gave them a chance.  That's why watching them celebrate in the middle of the Detroit Tiger's home field, has that heart warming all American underdog story feel that we are all suckers for.  Unless you're a Tigers fan.

The same thing happened last year with the St. Louis Cardinals and the year before that with these same Giants.  Well, not completely these same Giants.  General Manager Brian Sabean has continued to find the necessary pieces to build these championship teams.  Midway through the year he added players like Marco Scutaro and Hunter Pence, who had a major impact on their season down the stretch and into the world Series.  They lost their number one hitter, Melky Cabrera, to suspension for PED use shortly after the All-Star break.  Instead of letting that bring them down, it brought them up.  They had no problem moving on without Cabrera and refused to let any controversy seep into their clubhouse.  Kudos to manager Bruce Bochy, who pulled off the same magic in 2010.  That year, they didn't even qualify for the playoffs until the final day of the season.

As I was watching this year's playoffs, and I've watched a lot of baseball, it became more and more apparent to me that teams like the Giants, and the Cardinals, and the Oakland Athletics are becoming thorns in the sides of the bigger, badder clubs like the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers because they are able to play a more fundamentally sound brand of baseball.  The ability to squeeze out a run in a game when your pitching is holding the other team at bay has become paramount.  Actually, it's always been that way in baseball, it's just that our big number, big moment starved nature has focused in on the home run as being the most - and possibly singular - exciting moment in baseball.  Not true folks.  If the last three seasons haven't shown you that, then you're not paying attention.

I marveled during this quick series at the Giants' amazing defense.  They were perfectly sound at the corners and up the middle, and center fielder Angel Pagan, who stole the series' only base, earning everybody a free taco at Taco Bell tomorrow, made several big inning killing catches.  Early in Game 2 they gunned down a rumbling Prince Fielder at home plate, which, even though early in the series, seemed to take a lot of wind out of the Tiger's sails.  This was behind their more than solid starting pitching and the unbelievable performances out of the bullpen by former starter Tim Lincecum.  Another brilliant move by Bochy and under rated pitching coach Dave Righetti.

When all was said and done, and the Giants were celebrating like a band of brothers who truly love to play the game together, and Tiger manager Jim Leyland was giving a stunned, teary-eyed post game interview, we all felt that sense of pride that the little guy had won again.  From David and Goliath to Rocky and Rudy, we relate to the Giants this morning because small ball again takes it all.

Somebody Get The Lights On Their Way Out

The lights went out on the Wasatch Wasps at Wright-Tree Stadium for the last time this season after their loss to Bear River 36-6 in the first round of Utah's 3A conference playoffs.

Friday night's defeat, much like the one earlier in the year to conference powerhouse Juan Diego, left the Wasps frustrated on both sides of the ball.  Wasatch found it tough to get anything going on offense.  When they did, the excitement of moving the ball towards the promised land was soon gone with the stalling of the drive.  Even luck chose the other side.  When there was a glimmer of hope, something unfortunate for them like a fumble or a bad bounce on a punt reared it's ugly head.  Even the extra point kick following their lone touchdown was blocked, breaking a 33 for 33 streak by freshman Skyler Southam.  It was that sort of game.  The kind of game where Wasatch would have had to had a flawless performance to have a chance.  It wasn't meant to be on this night.

If heart was worth any points on the scoreboard, then the Wasps may have made it a closer game.  Their defense, which seemed to have spent an eternity on the field this night, was battered and bruised.  A few of their best tacklers and play makers were hobbled with injury, yet continued to fight on.  A tough Bear River opponent operated an effective running game mixing counters and sweeps and plenty of misdirection to keep the Wasatch defense guessing.  They repeatedly found the Bear ball carrier only to have him shake loose and move on to the next wave of tacklers.  It was a physically demanding performance by Wasatch, but they were over matched. 

Perhaps inspired by the toughness of their defense and refusing to go down with a zero, the Wasps once mighty offense - now missing two key receivers to injury - put together a 4th quarter drive, highlighted by a circus catch by Gavin Nebeker on a sideline pass from James Delacensarie, that put them on the Bear River 18 yard line.  Two plays later, Tate Berg punched the ball into the end zone giving Wasatch a score.  It was not a glamorous touchdown, but a necessary one.  You could see it in the faces of the offensive players as they came to the sideline.  It would not be enough to win the game and advance them in the postseason, but it would cushion the blow of great season coming to an end.

It's funny... feeling good - or not so bad - after a season ending loss, but the Wasatch Wasps had a very successful 2012 campaign.  There is much to be optimistic about even though the seniors may carry this abrupt ending with them for awhile.  The program is in good hands with first year head coach Steve Coburn and his staff.  There is little doubt they will conduct an off-season of football here in Wasatch County, holding camps and seven-on-sevens and continue to work with the youth program to grow and train the future varsity players.  The lights at Wright-Tree will again shine on the black and gold.  More than likely the Wasatch Wasps football team will be a little better than they were this year.  That's what a winning program does.  They move forward and get better, even when, at this moment, it doesn't seem possible.

Wave Sports 10-24

Wasatch Wasps football and In A Nutshell on our online site.

http://www.wasatchwave.com/pages/news_sports

Ding-Dong the witch is dead!

Wasatch breaks a 9-year spell crushing Park City 49-14

BY KENNY BRISTOW

Wave Sports Writer

The Wasatch Wasps visited Dozier Field in Park City last Friday night and handily put a 49-14 beat down on the Miners finishing a fine 2012 regular football season with an 8-2 record.  Beyond just the season-ending victory, however, was the snapping of a nine game losing streak to Park City, dating back to 2002.  A beaming Craig Davis, the Wasp’s offensive coordinator, who has weathered 7 of the losses as a member of the Wasatch coaching staff said, “This one feels good.  I’m just really happy for the seniors.  They earned this one.”

And earned it, they did, despite some surreal moments in the game where the officiating seemed to be keeping the Wasps in check.  Several questionable penalties were called against Wasatch this night, with a few of them coming as dead ball fouls and only after a successful Wasatch play.  One mysterious penalty, even though the game was completely over, came after a 79-yard interception return for a touchdown by Josh Brown as time expired.  As a jubilant Wasatch sideline cheered on the final play of the game, an official stood at midfield, yellow flag at his feet, giving a half-hearted holding penalty gesture against Wasatch.  The interception would stand, but the touchdown would not.  A frustrated Park City player then shouted obscenities towards the Wasp sideline, within earshot of that same referee, and the game’s mounting tension had hit a boiling point.  Cooler heads prevailed, however, and the players and coaches dutifully carried out their congratulatory handshakes at midfield without incident.  No love lost between these two rivals though.  Wasatch had come to put an end to the losing streak and nothing was going to stop that.  

This really was not the story of this game, though, nor was the season ending victory or the snapping of the losing streak.  What was apparent on this night was the total team effort by Wasatch.  The Wasps were impressive with their relentless gang-tackling toughness on defense and their spreading of the wealth on offense.  They ran the ball effectively mixing in plays for two of their backs, Hunter Pella and Tate Berg, who scored a touchdown apiece.  They used a shorter, ball-control passing game, allowing quarterback James Delacensarie to find receivers underneath the coverage allowing the line to create space downfield.  That was exactly how Wasatch got on the board first.  On the first play of their second possession, Delacensarie flicked the ball to Talem Franco on a crossing route and the receiver took it to the house for a 75 yard touchdown.  That tandem would work again later on another 75 yard touchdown, with Franco showing untouchable breakaway speed.  Delacensarie also twice found wide receiver Gavin Nebeker for touchdowns of 15 and 50 yards respectively.  Nebeker continued his fantastic season as one of the Wasp’s big play receivers as his two touchdown receptions put him in a tie as the leader in 3A with 12.  Wasatch’s other touchdown of the night was scored from the defensive side of the ball when Kayden Conner intercepted a pass and returned it 14 yards the other way.  Cooper Ballsaedt, Anderson Davis and Taggart Baxter, who gathered 13 tackles despite playing on a sprained ankle, also had interceptions for the Wasps.

Walking off the field after the game, Head Coach Steve Coburn praised his team’s toughness and ability to keep their emotions under control.  Shaking his head he said, “There were some questionable calls going on out there that seemed to help the other team, but we don’t want to focus on that.  We will never use officiating as an excuse.  The good news is we come out of here with a big win and I’m proud of our guys.”  Coburn, at one point, had been warned by the referees to stop arguing the calls or his team would be further penalized.  That did not sit well with the fiery coach and may have been the basis for his inspired post-game speech as he credited his guys for their hard fought win, then ordered them into the film room Saturday morning.  Coburn has a talented team firing on all cylinders and he is determined to take the Wasps as far as they can go into this post-season.

That post-season journey begins Friday night at Wright-Tree Stadium, where the Wasps, who secured a spot in the upper bracket, host Bear River.  The early kick-off is scheduled for 5:00 PM.

I suggested this already

A few weeks ago, I suggested that the presidential race be decided by tests of skill... contests of sport... endurance, physical prowess - all that good stuff.  I figured it a perfectly good way to decide for those of us who just don't want to decide.

Here is what I said: 

With all the confusion over recent polling going on with our country’s upcoming presidential election, I think we should simply turn to the great American Pastime to help us make a decision.  Let us voters see which presidential candidate has the better first pitch.  No offense to President Obama, but the man has a noodle for an arm.  The only ceremonial first pitch I saw him attempt, he basically spiked the ball into the dirt several feet in front of home plate.  That being said, he still strikes me as more of an athlete that his counterpart, but looks can be deceiving.  Let’s see how Mitt, who is named after a piece of baseball equipment, by the way, looks on the mound before we vote for anybody.

As far as I know, this ritual of having the president throw out the first pitch of each baseball season is still the most significant in any sporting event involving a country’s leader.  As Americans, we want to see our President perform this task.  In no country is the President, Prime Minister, King or Queen asked to perform a skill normally displayed by a member of their homeland team.  I would personally love to see the Queen of England kick the ceremonial first corner kick.

Now, call me shallow – it’s been implied before, but I think the presidency should be decided by tests of skill.  Ping-Pong.  Archery.  The 40-yard dash.  How about a game of H-O-R-S-E?  There would be a clear-cut winner, and personal opinion would be out the window.  If nothing else, the winner would prove to be a gamesman we could all count on to get our backs in a worldwide bench-clearing brawl. 

Here is a post from Yahoo Sports today:

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/list/201210/us-presidents-fitness-athletic-sports-mount-rushmore-moneyball#1

Just remember kids... you saw it here first on In A Nutshell.  Just say that if anyone asks, okay?

Press day!

This is how you get your Wave kids.  Old school King Pressin'.

In A Nutshell 10-24

I had something else written for tomorrow's column, but I couldn't resist this one calling me.  So I ended up in front of the computer until 1 AM... today's deadline day.  Nothing like starting completely over when your editor is waiting for your final draft.  Living on the edge!  But hey... this is pretty big stuff on the UHSAA landscape.  Glad I got it in and you  saw it here first.

Lagoon Still Pretty Scary For The Old Man

Tonight's post will have little or nothing to do with sport.  Unless you consider maneuvering through a large amusement park crowd with the ease of Adrian Peterson pulling a string of daughters behind him a sport.  Because today, that was me.  Light on my feet, swivel-hipped, yet balanced... it was beautiful.

Each of the last four autumn's, I have loaded up (or squeezed) the wife and kids in the family truckster and headed down to Farmville, Utah... home of the Beehive State's largest amusement park.
We get our tickets early in the summer, as a gift from my employer, but hang on to them until the season turns to Fall and the theme of Halloween takes over the place.  They call it "Frightmares".

The entire park is decorated with ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, spider webs, you name it... and freaky characters sporting Hannibal Lecter masks and imitation chainsaws roam the grounds.  Visitors are clad in jeans and hoodies instead of the normal summertime shorts and tank tops.  As the sun day goes on, Dads can be seen checking their phones for scores from college football games and mothers feed their kids funnel cakes instead of snow cones.  It is Fall... and it is Frightmares!

It's not easy for me to give up a day of college football to go to an amusement park, but after I get the car packed up and start the 70 mile trek down into the valley, I realize what a great time it is.  I always have so much fun.  More than the kid's probably.  At some point during the day each of them has some sort of emotional breakdown making me feel like shit because they are unhappy.  But that passes and by the end of the day I realize how special it is to take the young ones to a place like Lagoon, because my parents took me and look how I turned out!  Oh Lawd!

Forgetting How To Hit... a.k.a. Great Pitching

It's been nearly 24 hours since the mighty New York Yankees were knocked from their playoff perch, yet there is still a lingering stench of disbelief.  How could a team with all that money and all that talent and all that mystique suddenly come to pieces and look more like a team from, let's say Houston?  I have the reason, but I want to talk about the Yankees first.  After all... them losing is a much bigger story than the Tigers winning.  Sorry Detroit.  I'm going to play the media-bias game for a minute.  

Let's go back before the big collapse - the playoff collapse against Detroit.  At one point in late summer, New York had a six to seven game lead over the closest two teams trailing them in the American League East,  the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays.  But the month of September was not kind to the Bombers and they found themselves clinging to a one game advantage over Baltimore.  They seemed to bite the bullet however, and fight off Buck Showalter's pesky bunch to win the division crown.

Derek Jeter continued to defy Father Time, Ichiro Suzuki seemed to have found a comfort zone in his new pressurized pinstriped uniform and C.C. Sabathia had found a little something extra down the stretch and began to dominate again.  The Yankees seemed poised for their annual run at the World Series.  Yet if not for a few magical moments by a rented Yankee named Raul Ibanez, this article would be about Jim Leyland's heavily favored Tiger squad fighting off Buck's pesky bunch... not the Yankees going down in flames.  

The majority of us are standing with our mouths wide open at New York's sudden impotency at the plate.  It wasn't that sudden really... nor could it be classified as impotency.  Baltimore, the Yankees' first playoff opponent, held them to only nine runs the last four games of the series, discounting Game 1 when the Yanks scored 7.  The Orioles pitching was pretty darn effective keeping big game hitters like Robinson Cano, Mark Texeria and Curtis Granderson from causing major damage the rest of the way.  On the flip-side, New York's pitching was doing the exact same thing to Baltimore's potent line-up so they were able to cash in on their playoff experience and send those kids packing.

Detroit, however, has been around for a few years.  They not only have baseball's Triple Crown King and probable league MVP in Miguel Cabrera, but a dangerous Prince Fielder and an unheralded Delmon Young in their arsenal.  Oh... did I forget someone?  Justin Verlander... of course!  Last season's MVP.  Now I think you're ready to hear the real reason the Yankees suddenly could not hit their way out of a wet paper bag.  Their opponent's pitching.

Pitching, as they say, wins championships, and I for one will never believe differently.  The big money goes to those certain few can't-miss aces, but the rest of a team's rotation is usually made up of a couple of second-tier guys, a few cast-off-type-comeback stories, and guy or two out of nowhere.  Mostly, it's lightning in a bottle, but if you can get your hands on a case or two if it, you'll go along way.

The Yankees had Sabathia.  After that, a still inconsistent Phil Hughes, a strong, but wearing down Hideki Kuroda and after that... well, no one.  Their bullpen was adequate even without Mariano Rivera, but sans CC, they couldn't go deep enough into the games to keep the pen dominating fresh.  And in yesterday's Game 4, once the Tigers began to maul Sabathia, it was over.

We can all begin our Yankee bashing and start running A-rod out of town, or screaming that the Yanks must clean house, but the fact of the matter is, New York dominated the regular season again.  Any other professional club would go searching for the few missing pieces to carry them all the way instead of taking the dynamite to the roster.  They should start with pitching.  Pitching keeps you going even after the blank glare of forgetting how to hit comes over your faces.  Because looking back, that's exactly what happened to New York.  They got beat facing solid pitching.  They didn't just forget how to hit a baseball.  The frustrated, seemingly exhausted at times facial expressions weren't because of old age or disinterest or Australian bikini models in the stands, they were because of dominating pitching.  Dominating pitching on the other team.  Eventually, if offensively, you are not built to make adjustments and manufacture runs - or even a single run - then that helpless look of not being able to win will seep into your dugout.  That's what happened to the Yankees and that's why we're all stunned that they suddenly forgot how to hit.  It's called great pitching.

Self Archiving

I'm not into reruns, repeats or do overs, but since I'm new here on the blogosphere (isn't that what they call it?) I'll have to fill a little air time with some oldies-but-goodies.  Take this comic strip.
I'll explain later.

Rivalries? We don’t need no stinking rivalries.

Published in the 9-19-12 issue of the Wasatch Wave

So I’m watching the Holy War Saturday night … right?  Never ceases to amaze me. Before tuning in to that game, I watched the whole second half of the USC-Stanford game.  Shocking.  While I was watching that, I was flipping back to Notre Dame vs. Michigan State – two nationally ranked powerhouses.  Earlier in the day it was Florida against Tennessee, two all-time great SEC teams.  What a day for college football rivalries and the season is just beginning!

Okay… I love college football.  College football games are amongst the greatest of sporting events.  I love to see the emotion of the coaches and players in a conference game.  I soak up the tears of the student body, face paint and all, as they cry over their school’s last minute defeat.  Not that I relish seeing those in pain… chances are, they were on the other side a year before.  It’s what makes a rivalry a rivalry.  It’s what gives a team in it’s rebuilding years hope for the future.  They will meet again and there will be the hope of redemption.   Why?  Because it’s a rivalry.  In a rivalry everyone has their day and it’s important to win.  Even in a season when a once top ranked team has been reduced to a .500 team due to attrition,  there is still that game where their season could be made by knocking off the top team in their conference.  Can you feel the excitement?  It’s so potent, this rivalry thing, that top universities all across the country are doing away with it.  That’s right.  It’s been sold off!   

Conference affiliation is what we call rivalry now.  I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to see Notre Dame, who recently joined the ACC (huh?), against Duke.  Now in basketball, that might not be so bad, but Duke is not known as a powerful football program.  So, the almighty Notre Dame will be taking their football and going home and doing as they please – as always – when it comes to the gridiron. The golden-domers should have joined the Big 10 – now the Big 12 – when they had the chance.  They already play large schools in that region, which makes it easy for fans to travel to the games and creates more competitive recruiting, which could only benefit the student athlete.  And?  Rivalry, kids… don’t forget about keeping the rivalries alive.

Speaking of Notre Dame… say goodbye to that Independent-powerhouse-rivalry- in-the-making against our Provo Cougars.  Cooler heads prevailed – or richer ones – and that’ll be one that coulda been.  And how about the U?  How is the Pac 12 treating them?  I’m sorry, I just don’t ever see them out-recruiting USC, UCLA, Oregon, Arizona State.  Are these people nuts?  Boise State, the most talked about little football engine in the last 10 years wants to join the Mountain West.  Run!!

TCU had recently built their Horned Frog program into a very credible one… and by credible I mean money making.  What’s the matter with these rivalry haters?!

Oh, and not everyone in college is a jock, by the way.  Actually, if you google it, only a small percentage of the student body plays an NCAA sanctioned sport.   The average student, who goes on to graduate in undergraduate studies, is in college 4 to 5 years before they are spit out into the real world where rivalries could possibly mean life or death.  Why take away that Saturday afternoon when they can paint their chests and go berserk for their cellar-dwelling State team in a home game against their nationally ranked cross-state rival who they could not get accepted into? 

Oh well, closer to home… it’s the Holy War that will no longer exist.  Wait, first off, we’re not allowed to call it Holy War anymore.  Now we won’t be able to call it anything.  Sorry recent grads of Utah.  You will only be able to tell tales of battles long ago between the two schools when your children ask, “Why are we playing Bowling Green, Daddy?  Shouldn’t we just play against BYU?”

Topic for hard heads

Here is my column published in this week's Wave.  It's the kind of subject that has been around forever, but only gets past the "white elephant in the room" status when the bad news becomes too hard to ignore.  You could write a book on the subject.  Well... I'm sure there have been, and will be many, many more coming.

Today's limited edition of the Wasatch Wave.

I say limited because we believe in good old fashioned newspaper publishing.  We're not such old fuddy-duddys that we refuse to have a website, we just want people to continue to subscribe to our paper.  Each week the highlights from our printed edition are posted on the web.  The rest, I'm afraid, you'll have to pick up at the newsstand.  And what's so wrong with that?!  Slow down!  Get a cup of coffee and read your local paper.

 http://www.wasatchwave.com/

Prep Star QB Feature

In today's edition of the Wasatch Wave, I contributed a feature about a kid who's kicking ass around here playing quarterback for Wasatch High.  It's my first published feature.  I'm proud of it.  Hell, it'll probably get James looks from UCLA, Florida State, even Notre Dame.  He can thank me later.

In A Nutshell logo

One of the good things about being an artist... or more accurately, a "drawer"... is that I can create my own brand.  Such as this one.  This is my logo for my column, In A Nutshell.  And yes... that is basically a drawing of me as a walnut.  Don't say I didn't warn you about coming back.  :D

Gentlemen, and ladies... start your engines!

Welcome friends, sports fans and casual readers. 
This is my introductory post to my new blog, In A Nutshell.
 In A Nutshell is the name of my sports column published weekly in The Wasatch Wave - out of Heber City, Utah - where I am employed as a graphics person and more recently a staff sports writer.
I am an illustrator, writer and sports enthusiast for life and believe I have found my niche writing sports for our local newspaper.  Hopefully, it won't stop there.  I intend to post regularly, not only my daily thoughts on sports and sports as pop culture, but my published works featured in the Wave as well.  I may not always be right, but I will always be honest, and hopefully those of you who stop by regularly will get to know my sense of humor and outlook on life... and of course, on sports.
Personally, I am late-forty-something, around eight I believe, but you would have to ask my lovely wife Michelle to be certain.  We have five kids, ranging from twenty years old to six and a grand daughter who is nearly a year old.  There are four dogs, a cat, a rabbit, and a bird that live in my house and seven chickens that live outside of it.  I hail from the mid-western town of Evansville, Indiana where I graduated from Reitz High School in 1982.  Since then, I have lived in Chicago and Los Angeles before settling - hopefully for good - here in the beautiful mountain valley town of Heber City.  You can follow me on Twitter at:  @kennybristow and also on Facebook and if you must, feel free to email me at:  kennywbristow@gmail.com.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to whoop up some good sports conversations with all of you.
Play Ball!