The adventures of JJB and CY

Happy New Year

This past weekend the Boy and I got to take his Christmas present trip to see the Chicago Bulls, and it was an awesome way to ring in the New Year.

Our road trip adventure let us through the heavy fog Eastern Iowa and through Illinois, into the Getto of Chicago (the vehicle we were driving had a in dash GPS which seemed to prefer unusual routes rather than the freeways) and to the United Center well before the game started so the Boy would have a chance to check everything out.

The Boy and me before the game started.

This Bull balloon flew around the arena by remote control. The entertainment in addition to the game was great. 

And of course I had to snap a picture of the hockey legends.

A win for the bulls. It was awesome to watch Derrick Rose play. He is an amazing athlete. 

Our night ended with supper at Sullivan's Steakhouse, one of my favorite places to eat. If you want one of the best steaks you'll ever eat, this is the place to be. You don't want to miss out on their creamed spinach or drink menu either. Hopefully, I'll get to squeeze another trip in there during the National Western Stock Show. 

I hope you had an awesome New Year's Eve and are starting off you week right! 

We know him as a golfer, but he's a farm boy at heart

It gets in your blood

After, my crazy week last week, I was really happy when I returned home and say the British Open was on. Yes, I love to watch golf, and no I do not think it is boring to watch. But I digress.

The Americans didn't do so hot, but the boy reminds me the Canadians were no better. I am still patiently waiting for Tiger's comeback, but that doesn't look to be happening anytime soon. However, there was one player that kept me watching - Louis Oosthuizen, from South Africa. He won by an incredible seven strokes. But today I found out one more thing that makes me like this cat even more.

As the story reports Oosthuizen spent some of his $1.3 million winnings on a custom-built tractor. It has a kiddie seat on it for his daughter to ride along.

I am pretty sure when I become a golf pro one day, and win a major, I am going to buy land, and 30 cows to go with it.

I like to win

Fore! 

It's not much of a secret among those that know me, but I don't like standing behind the champion. I remember my mom trying to lift my spirits up after a junior cattle show. I ended up third or something like that in the overall aggregate point contest. She was telling me what a great job I did, and I simply replied, "No one remembers anything but first." I am a highly competitive person, and falling behind only makes me want to work harder.

If you have been keeping up with my 101 in 1001 goals you will have seen I have taken up golf. I have always like golf, and spent many afternoons watching it with my dad. The funny thing with golf is I want to be good, but despite the number of strokes I have on my score card I still have a really good time playing. This is probably a positive thing. Well, this theory and feelings kind of went out the door when The Boy and I were playing a round this weekend. On about the 6th hole or so he announced that I we were really close in score, and I might beat him. And then it was on.

The only problem was is that I had a really bad 9th hole - into the swamp, wet shoes, a bad shot with my wedge, ugh, and that led to me The Boy walking away with a win by one. He was kind and marked my score as 6ish, when it should have probably been closer to nine. I may have stomped my feet a little bit, over the lost, and told him that I should be rewarded for my honestly when she said he would let me cheat on an earlier hole, but didn't. No matter how you looked at it he beat me, and now he is fully aware of my competitiveness. Here is to the next nine holes.

Disclosure statement: The Boy didn't have either of his wedges to use on this short course, and he says this would have dramatically helped his game. 

Nike is a genius.

I think I might love football now. 

Amazing video work and I have had these exact same feelings as I watch sports games too. Good work Nike, and Happy Sunday to everyone else.

A great Monday to be a Wildcat!

Still bleeding purple.

1. My beloved Wildcats are ranked No. 5 in NCAA Basketball. Things are getting really excited especially as we gear up for the Kansas vs. K-State game on Wednesday. First a hockey gold on Saturday, and now a basketball win on Wednesday and my life will be temporarily complete.

2. The campus newspaper, the K-State Collegian, doesn't always get it right. This year they seem to have created an uproar amongst ag students and fellow alumni with their reporting. However, today they did good. This is a nice article about HSUS and the ability to raise money using sad kitty cat and puppy dog faces.

3. It is only four days until the K-State Cattlemen's Day and Legacy Bull Sale. That means lots of friends and alumni in town, and a great reason to head back to Manhattan.

4. I got to spend Saturday at a Wildcat wedding in Manhattan. Two friends from college got married this past weekend. Going to alumni weddings always reminds me how big of an extended family I have. People always ask it I miss home (in Canada) or my family, and I do, but I also always have "family" close by, people I can always count on.

I may be Canadian, but tonight Shaun White is my hero

Amazing.

If you want to get your heart pounding just watch Shaun White go for the gold medal. There is nothing like it, there is nothing like him. All the other run that seems great, become dwarfed by Shaun's awesomeness. He's great.

But how does one get to this level. Why there very own private half-pipe. According to All Things Colorado Sports, Red Bull stepped up to the plate, last year and started construction the half million dollar half pipe located in Silverton, Colorado.

Just check out this masterpiece.



And for more footage on the building of the half pipe and Shaun testing it out go to Project X, there is some awesome footage.

And this is how the Olympics feel

Oh, Canada!

So I had a pretty proud moment last night. Canada finally was able to win a gold medal on home soil. Something that had never been done. Tbaugh and I were watching the Olympics and we decided there is something pretty magical about them. Every year you can try and win the Super Bowl, all while getting paid millions of dollars to do it. Meanwhile these Olympic athletes give up everything for a shot every four years.

I was telling Tbaugh how much a gold medal in hockey would mean to Canada. The best way to put it is if we get to stand on that podium, and watch our flag rise, the whole nation will stop and sing the national anthem. It means more than a lot to us. It's really hard to describe. But that feeling makes you well up with pride.

I love this video of the crowds reaction after they realize that Mogul Skier Alexandre Bilodeau had secured the gold.

High Country Cattle, Yellowfail and the Olympics

Just a quick note...

So I realized today that Old Man Winter plans on sticking around for as long as possible. It was COLD out today, and I got to feel it firsthand as we wrapped up the 2010 K-State Legacy Bull Sale video.

Calving is going well at home Dad says I have a cracker jack of a bull calf. I am just happy for an alive calf. My luck hasn't been so hot the past couple of years. You can see some of the new calves on my parents blog. I can't wait to get home in March to see the new babies.

If you are looking for your Agriculture Advocacy intake for the day you might check out the facebook group Yellowfail. This fan page was created in response to Yellowtail's $100,000 donation to HSUS (an anti-agriculture group, that uses homeless dogs and kitty cats as their front). Remember to stop buying Yellowtail wine products, and support a Canadian or U.S. winery.

And p.s. if you haven't figured it out yet the Olympics are on! My sister has been doing a great job of recapping the Olympics each day on her blog. I wore my bright red CANADA shirt to work on Friday. I can't wait for the men's hockey to start, the women are so far crushing their opponents! And I was super pumped/proud to watch Alexandre Bilodeu claim the gold medal in moguls for Canada. It was our first gold of the games, and the first gold win for a Canada on home turf.

We Own Texas - Go State

I bleed purple.

Someone once asked me if I had always loved K-State. The truth is until August 2008 when I started my first fall semester at K-State there were just another school to me... and then I got sucked in. Last night, Miss South Dakota was once again startled by my game face mode. As she came up the stairs from getting home she said, "There must be a game on." There sure was. No. 1 Texas vs. my No. 12 Kansas State Wildcats (try saying it in your best big booming announcer's voice. It sounds better that way.) I will spare you the highlight reel, because really in the end all that maters is that we won! Yes that's right we defeated the undefeated Texas Dream Team. As the clocked ticked down my beloved K-State fans started yelling "We Own Texas." You can check out a video here.

The sports commentator thought we could have been classier and been cheering something like "Thank-you" or "Good work," um probably not. I thought we might have stormed the court, but K-State fans remained behind the lines, and I found this quote today that maybe explains why.

Teams rush floors when they do something phenomenal,” said Kansas State forward Curtis Kelly, who had 17 points and eight rebounds against one college basketball’s best front lines. “It’s flattering. They knew we were going to win. They didn’t have to rush the floor because they believed in us.” - Click here for the full story

And one last thing I wanted to share with you. If you haven't became a Facebook fan of Frank Martin, K-State's basketball coach, I highly recommend it. He likes to post statuses such as this...

Hello... How about that ride in? I guess that is why they call it the Octogon of Doom. "haha" You guys may not know this but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one man Cat Pack. But when STATE hired me I knew that I had been a Wildcat my entire life and my Cat Pack grew by one. So wher......e there were two, there were two of us in the Cat Pack.

It's here...

College football, this weekend... enough said.

So to say that I am pumped for this weekend would be an understatement. I don't know how many times this summer my friends and I have said we can't wait for football season to be here, and this is the weekend it starts.

Its hard to describe K-State football to someone that's never been. It is kind of like the movies. A sea of purple, that contains the most passionate fans you'll ever see, and you get to be right in the middle of it all. I remember my first football game. We finally had a weekend that we weren't judging, and Em was able to get a hold of some tickets, from the company she did her summer internship. We played Oklahoma State and lots of cattle friends came in for the game. Em taught me all about the traditions, and actions to the Wabash Canonball and the words to our fight song. I was hooked.

Some of my best memories have been in the tailgating parking lots of K-State. Moving from truck bed to truck bed, hanging out in the sheep unit pasture and making sure to stop at Tbaugh's family's tailgate - its probably one of the best ones on the block. I tell Tbuagh all the time its the only reason why I am friends with her, is because of this dip her mom makes - its amazing!

Tailgating last year in Tbaugh's parents seat! Love these girls!

This year could be a little rough for the Wildcats. We had a terrible coach for the back few years, the quality of football, the depth of players and the support has gone down. But there is hope in sight. This year our old coach Bill Synder is coming out of retirement. I am pretty sure it would take a miracle for him to fix it all, but at least it's a start. No matter what happens I will always bleed purple. The game is at 6 p.m. this Saturday. I am sure I will return with lots of stories and photos.

This will give an idea of what I will get to experience. The chant at the end is one of my favorites. If you are wondering what in the world is going at point in this video, but sure to ask!