The Statman Speaks – Published August 23, 2022
I had a front row seat in the press box for the most exciting sport in the state of Texas, HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.
Going to a high school football game is awesome and electrifying and the atmosphere is unbelievable. It should be on everybody’s bucket list. The parents, the teachers, the students, the cheerleaders, the dance team, the ROTC, the band, and the athletes are all cheering, screaming, and waiting – waiting for a big stop or a big play. Even the folks in the press box are amazed by the action on the field. I have witnessed fantastic finishes, amazing plays, and state championships.
I was a high school football statistician for the Texas Sports Radio Network (TSRN) from 1997 to 2014 and for Thursday Night Lights (TNL) from 2009 to 2015. I also was the statistician for UTSA football in 2012. TSRN broadcasted games on the radio, the internet, and on their app. TNL broadcasted games on television, the internet, and their app.
In 2011, I jumped on the internet BLOG bandwagon and immediately, I came up with the name of thestatmanspeaks.com. It tells you who I am; THE STATMAN. Then it tells you what I do; SPEAKS. But the speaks part means, I speak in words not audio. I had no game plan when I started. I just wanted to write about the games I worked as a statistician, include some stats, and share a few pictures. I watermarked all the photos I used, and it made me happy when my photos would get shared by the players as they liked seeing themselves in action. To this day, I still see my pictures being shared online.
I took renovation photos of Alamo Stadium, a football stadium and the adjoining Alamo Convocation Center, a gymnasium in 2013 and 2014. Those photos appeared in a book, on television several times, the school district’s athletic website, and I was featured in a television interview with the local ABC station. I also took renovation photos of Lehnhoff Stadium in 2015 and the new Northside Independent School District gymnasium in 2016.
In March of 2015, my wife asked me if I liked being a statistician or a writer better. Without any hesitation from me, I replied I liked writing better.
So, I retired from the Texas Sports Radio Network in 2015 and Thursday Night Lights in in 2016 and became a freelance writer and photographer. The last game I covered as a writer was in 2017. I did make a one game special comeback as a statistician in 2019.
Now you’re probably thinking out loud, how the heck did I become a high school football statistician? Well, it started in middle school of all places!
This is my story and according to the official statistician, ME, the accuracy is 99.99%! Enjoy.
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The Dad Gets Edumacated – Published January 26, 2022
I have been contemplating getting a higher degree ever since I graduated in 2000 with a BBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Initially, I was thinking about a Masters in Sports Management; then Journalism; then Accounting; and finally, I landed on getting an MBA.
On November 1, 2019, I started my MBA at Western Governors University and on March 1, 2021, I finished it. My diplomas are hung on the wall and oversee a room full of fabric and sewing machines –it’s my wife’s!
Why did I choose WGU? Well, a few years ago, I came across an article about WGU and after I read it, I put it in a safe place in my brain so I could come back to it if needed. I did a lot of research on online MBAs and concentrated on schools that didn’t require a GMAT. WGU checked all the boxes on my mental checklist of schools. Even the application process and providing them all the required information was fast as it took two weeks and was extremely painless.
One of the benefits of the company I work for is employee tuition assistance. I didn’t even know about this benefit until I was talking to one of my co-workers who was getting her undergraduate degree at another school. I did have to shell out a few hundred dollars, but that was much easier than taking out a student loan to pay for the entire thing.
I am very proud of myself and this awesome accomplishment. I completed it in three terms (each term is 6-months) for a total of 16 months. For 11 of those months, I was working from home and that started in April of 2020. I am still working from home as of the date this is published.
Let me tell you about what my life, work, and school status looked like throughout my studies. My wife and I celebrated 10 years of marriage in October of 2020, we have a 5-year-old son, and I have a full-time job at Chase Bank.
Of course, I had struggles as I almost quite twice. One was a few weeks into my first term as I didn’t have the attention span, I was tired, and I was overwhelmed by life itself. The other was a few weeks into my second term as my son turned into a wild and crazy animal in the evenings and would run around the house screaming and laughing which ultimately made his bedtime much later than normal. That was stressful on me and by the time I would get downstairs for schoolwork, I was exhausted and ready to be done with it. Oh, my wife had a surgery a few days after my first term started and another in January of 2020. So, in addition to everything I had on my plate, I was also Nurse/Doctor Dad. But I persevered and got through it.
I kept an online journal on my website (www.thedadspeaks.com) about all of my school experiences and have edited them so they appear as unblemished and grammatical as I could get them.
There won’t be any tips on how to pass the courses. That is up to you, not me.
I promise: I won’t ask you questions; I won’t ask for a written summary at the end; and I won’t ask to see your testing environment.
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The Dad Speaks: My First Year as a First-Time Dad – Published February 12, 2018
Pee, poo, sleep, and eat; these are the 4 most over-used words in my daddy dictionary. Not only did I say these in different voices; because the boy likes to laugh at me, I also kept an online diary and have continued to update it to show you what it’s like from my perspective as a first-time dad. Everything in this book is true with absolutely no input from my wife or Franklin cat.
My writing style is unique and it captures my personality. I don’t get embarrassed and I have a crazy sense of humor. Laugh and cry with me on my crazy adventures with a pink haired wife; I mean with my son.
Up until I became a dad, I wasn’t a good assembler of things; now, I am a master as I have assembled an IKEA crib and dresser and lots of baby equipment and toys. I was also not accustomed to waking up throughout the night to a crying baby. I also had to learn how to hold a baby and change it’s diaper from a nurse in the hospital.
Gone are naps, sleeping in on the weekends, free time for me, and television watching; it’s now all about the boy and I love everything about it. If Nina and I decide to have another baby, it will be either in 2019 or 2020; definitely not this year.
I really thought the first thing we would do when we finally arrived at home was go upstairs and lay down in our own comfortable bed, gaze into each other’s eyes, and just laugh and cry and marvel over the fact that we created a beautiful human being.
I don’t care if she did just recently; 18 days ago, deliver our son Niko out of her vagina. I don’t care that her boobs come out every few hours to feed Niko. I don’t care if she breastfeeds in public. I don’t care if she walks around half naked with extremely revealing or baggy clothes. I don’t care if she flashes me inadvertently. I don’t care if she has food/drink stains on her clothes. I don’t care if she eats in bed or reads a book in bed while feeding the baby. I don’t care if she pumps breast milk throughout the day.
Being a husband is awesome, but being a Dad is even better. I love holding him, I love watching him sleep on my stomach, I love changing his diaper, I love dressing him, I love handing him to his mother for food, I love carrying him when we go out, I love singing to him, I love reading to him, I love talking to him, I love making faces at him, I love giving him bathes, and I love watching him grow.
On Friday, September 2nd, Nina was having a great day and birthday, up until that evening, when we decided to try getting the baby to sleep in his crib on his own and not on us all night long.
Since our anniversary on October 10th, we have been feeding Niko something other than breast milk. We wanted to keep it a secret and unveil the truth on Thanksgiving, but unfortunately, Nina spilled the beans; that isn’t one of the foods, to her mother a few days before Thanksgiving. So, no surprise!
Niko, I really hope that when you’re able to read, you will read everything I have written and you will have tears, smiles, and laughs. I hope I don’t embarrass you too much. And afterwards, you will look at me and scream for mama!
