It's A Small World

Whenever I watch Texas Tech football games on television (a rare treat considering we live in Seattle and Saturdays are generally booked), it is hard not to harken back to the good 'ol undergrad days in the Hub City.

Those were the days!  Live music and cold beverages at Fat Dawgs.  College Night at New West.  Playin' hoops for hours on end at the Rec Center (yes, Weymouth Basketball ruled the courts in those days - killed Zamboni, for sure).

Ahhh, what great memories... Oh yeah, the point of this entry. 

I was watching the Texas at Texas Tech game the other day and, to my surprise, the Horns feature four players from Kilgore, one from Gilmer and another from my hometown of Daingerfield.  A HUGE representation from the Piney Woods of Northeast Texas.

Seeing those towns displayed on the screen reminded me of my freshman year and one of my first basketball games as a Red Raider student.  I can't remember the game or the opponent, but I do remember sitting in the upper section looking down at the courtside floor seating (reserved for the students who arrived early) and, to my surprise, there was a guy in a red Kilgore sweatshirt that stood out from the rest. 

You have to understand, Kilgore is about 40 minutes from my hometown, a sports rival and located about an eight hour drive from Lubbock.  So, to see someone from my neck of the woods was really cool.

I didn't think a whole lot about it for years - that is, until I met the guy in my final year of college in a public relations class.  His name was Trey Hattaway and, come to find out, we had several common acquaintances at Tech.

Ultimately, Trey and I became friends and, later, co-workers in the Tech athletic department.  He is now working at Tyler Junior College back in Northeast Texas and is one of the nicest, most compassionate human beings I think I've ever met.

So, Trey makes the list... one of the cool people, for sure!

Making The Most Of Opportunity

It wasn't that long ago that Matt Gaschk was catching pretty constant grief as the producer for the "Mitch In The Morning" radio show that airs on 950 KJR-AM.

Matt, who had been working for KJR and host Mitch Levy for quite some time, was the early morning guy. He was up by at least 4 a.m. every weekday, lining-up guests, formatting the show, cutting-up highlights and comments from around the country, etc. In other words, he was the "behind the scenes" glue that made the show one of the best-rated AM morning drive programs in Seattle. A thankless job, considering Levy is well-known as a pretty demanding boss.

I met Matt during my first year in Seattle in 2006. He would come out to the Monday football press conferences at the UW and setup the equipment so KJR could carry the coaches' comments live. Most of the time everything worked fine. But, occassionally it didn't. On those rare occasions, Matt was never flustered, had a great attitude and was always a treat to work with.

Inevitably, as it usually does with me these days, the topic of conversation would turn to soccer. Regretfully, he is a Newcastle fan (apparently he picked them because he enjoys a Newcastle beer on occasion - good enough reason I suppose) in the English Premier League. But, I'd generally direct the discussion to how things are going at Arsenal (my favorite). Usually Matt was smart enough to agree with me and to ask about how my son's youth club was doing - that earned a few brownie points for sure!

When Sounders FC got off the ground two seasons ago, the club's management - led by fantastic Senior VP Gary Wright - contacted Matt to work for its website. Such a stroke of genius for the club and a great opportunity for the soccer-lover and longtime USL Sounders supporter.

Prost Amerika Soccer conducted a cool Q & A with Matt in March, 2009 that is worth checking out.

Over the last two years, Matt has added some great content to the site and has been fortunate to be able to travel across the world with the team. The Sounders have the strongest following in MLS and have quickly created an emerging worldwide brand. A little slice of that is due to the efforts of Matt.

A great story of a good guy who took advantage of a tremendous opportunity to do what he loves. Kudos Gaschk!

Read Matt's entries on the Rave Green Blog on SoundersFC.com

Funniest YouTube Video!

I know there are a million (or more) hilarious videos on YouTube. But, I have only been able to find one that makes me laugh every single time I think about it. So funny!!!

Tragedy In San Bruno

Thoughts and prayers go out to the community of San Bruno, Calif., which has been devastated by a natural gas line blast that leveled a neighborhood.   According to the San Francisco Chronicle early today, the San Mateo County coroner's office said there were now four fatalities. The blast has injured more than 20 others, destroyed 53 homes and damaged 120 more, authorities said. The fire has been 75 percent contained.

Read more about the disaster in the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury-News or the San Mateo Daily Journal. 

Here's some information on how you can help and well as a link to the Bay Area Red Cross.