My Kind of of Town

This past week I have been in Chicago helping put on the 2010 Olympic Team Media Summit, which is the first chance to start hyping up the winter athletes heading into the Winter Games in Vancouver. It was my first business trip. I worked a few 12 hour days but it was a lot of fun. I got to know my bosses and co-workers better. At the end of each day I was very tired but we still went out and saw some of the Windy City.

I was in charge of the photo sessions, which meant that I herded athletes around between 10 photo stations. I had to make sure the athletes and photographers were happy. I got to manage volunteers and hotel staff. Everything went smoothly. The trip included sangria and a big dinner with my bosses and co-workers at a spanish tapas restaurant. There were three different receptions and media happy hour. One reception included a Beatles cover band and the happy hour took place at a rooftop bar on the 27th floor of a hotel in downtown Chicago.

The event and my room was in the historic Palmer House Hilton, right by Millenium Park, the Prudential Tower and the famous Chicago theatre. The park was the only thing between the hotel and the lake. In the park was a structure that has become somewhat of a Chicago icon, the Bean (see photos). Twice I went to a nearby sleazy sports bar to watch some soccer/football. One night we went to Giordano's for some deep dish pizza then the House of Blues. Our last night we went to a really cool college bar area where we saw a U2 cover band on the same night that the real thing was performing in Soldier Field.

Switching gears, in her second week as a sports reporter, my girlfriend interviewed Shaquille O'Neal. He was in Port Arthur for a charity with East Texas-native Stephen Jackson. She has photos and video to prove it. The story ran on the front-page but has not yet been posted online.

Click here for photos of the Palmer House Hilton, Millenium Park and the Bean.

Click here for my latest press release for the USOC August Athletes and Team of the Month.

Days until my weekend trip to Texas for the UT-Central Florida football game: 53

Halloween on Wheels

Fort Collins, Colo. is home to New Belgium Brewery, which is famous for Fat Tire Beer. Once-a-year the brewery hosts the Tour de Fat in the college town. The event is also held in other cities across the country but this one is the first and foremost bike-riding beer-drinking festival in the nation. Vanessa and I made the drive up I-25 to meet up with my cousin, Emily, and her friends. The only time I've seen more bicycles, I was in Amsterdam. The only time I've seen more elaborate costumes, I was at Carnaval in Austin. But it's safe to say, I've never seen so many costumed cyclists. The trip did nothing to change my perception that Fort Collins is the coolest little city in Colorado. I am already looking forward to going back for Halloween.

Meanwhile, the Texas Longhorns kicked off their 2009 football season with a bang. Although I was not able to watch the game (it was available only on pay-per-view), I have read enough game recaps to know what went on. The word of the day was "speed" as freshmen D.J. Monroe, Marquis Goodwin and Alex Okafor featured prominently. I cannot wait for game two versus Wyoming, although I might be working in Chicago and unable to watch it. I leave tomorrow morning for the Windy City for the 2010 Olympic Team Media Summit at the Palmer House Hilton. I will be working long hours but if I can find time for one deep dish pizza, I will be happy.

Click here for photos of the Tour de Fat.

Click here for the latest Going for the Gold vodcast, featuring speedskater J.R. Celski. This is the second vodcast for which I've written the script.

Click here for Teresa's first article as a professional journalist with the sports section at the Beaumont Enterprise.

Monday's weather in Chicago: high 72, low 65, partly cloudy

My Olympic Credential Photo

This mug is gonna have the golden ticket to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. I just filled out my accreditation with the U.S. Olympic Committee. I will be volunteering with Media Relations at the Olympics in February. I will most likely be stationed in Whistler, the ski resort outside of Vancouver where half of the sports will take place. It's the opportunity of the lifetime.

After two long weekends with friends and the girlfriend, I took it relatively easy this weekend. Friday night Vanessa, Katie and I introduced some of the new interns to the Finish Line for cheap beer and karaoke. Saturday I walked around the Air Force Academy. It was a rainy day and hardly anyone else was around. The campus is amazing and very unique. It's tucked away, literally at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and all the buildings look like they were built in the same year in the 1950s. The main attraction was the Chapel, which is a large metallic structure with a recognizable, spired roof. The coolest thing was that it was split up into four places of worship: Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist. Each was a different size with its own design. The Protestant Church was the biggest while the Buddhist room was tiny.

Sunday I volunteered with doping control at a USA Weightlifting event. After that I covered the event in place of the weightlifting PR person. I had never been to a weightlifting competition so it was very interesting. I got to interview 2008 Olympian Kendrick Farris, which was cool.

This weekend marks the beginning of the Texas Longhorn football season. The game is on pay-per-view and I plan on going to the Tour de Fat with my cousin in Fort Collins. It will pain me to miss the game, and the next one versus Wyoming in Laramie. Next week I will be working at the Olympic Team Media Summit in Chicago and probably unable to catch the game. It will be a great experience but still bittersweet.

Click here to see photos of the Air Force Academy, the weightlifting event and more.

Click here to see the press release I wrote for the weightlifting event.

Days until the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games: 162

Teresa & The Flaming Lips

Day 1: Flight delayed an hour. I pick up my girlfriend from the Colorado Springs airport and we head downtown to the hotel she picked out. Turns out the hotel was a bed & breakfast from the late 1890s, complete with chamber music piped in the rooms.

Day 2: Enjoy an excellent bed & breakfast breakfast. Take in the beauty of the Garden of the Gods. Take cliche photos next to "balanced rock". Walk around Manitou Springs, a small town separating Colorado Springs from the Rocky Mountains. Take a sip from one of the many springs in Manitou, many of which taste like bad club soda. Visit my aunt, uncle and cousin in Highlands Ranch, just south of Denver. My Uncle Mike never fails to cook me an elaborate meal and this time was no different. Tonight's menu featured home-made sushi. Head to downtown Denver and walk down the 16th Street Mall before calling it a night.

Day 3: Drive towards the mountains on the way to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. But first, a sidetrip to Heritage Square, a ghost town of an amusement park that's managed to stay open for so long because of its famous alpine slide. Seven bucks buys you a gondola right up the hill and a ride down the zig-zagging concrete track on a small cart. It was totally worth it. The slide was kind of like the opening act for tonight's main event: a Flaming Lips concert at Red Rocks. We got there early to experience the tailgating atmosphere that surrounds most Red Rocks shows. We were greeted by lots of crazy hippies and costumed super-fans. We left the parking lot to get a good seat. Watching from the sixth row, we enjoyed the two opening acts, one of which was from Austin, Texas. But there was no doubt who was the top draw. The lead singer of the Flaming Lips, Wayne Coyne, kicked off the show by walking out on top of the crowd in an inflatable bubble. There were lasers, confetti and countless balloons covering the crowd throught the show. The band is known for their live shows and they didn't disappoint.

Day 4: Toured the Olympic Training Center, ate some pizza and went to the airport. We were exhausted from the weekend. It was great spending time with my girlfriend. I miss Teresa already. It might be another two months before I see her next.

Click here to see Teresa's side of the story, on her blog.

Click here to see photos from our adventures, including the alpine slide and the Red Rocks show.

Click here to view my first Vodcast, created for the USOC "Going for the Gold" series.

Time until the beginning of the Longhorn football season: 9 days, 19 hours, 4 minutes, 20 seconds

Tony Comes to Town

Day 1: I leave straight from work to pick up Anthony and Molly from the Denver Airport about an hour and a half after they land. We drive to our hotel in downtown Denver. After checking in, we start walking down the 16th street mall. We eat at the Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant before walking to the bars in lower downtown, affectionately known as LoDo. It is there that we meet up with John Frias, a fellow CCHS alum who now lives in Denver. Things get a little crazy and Anthony spends part of the night on the hotel room floor.

Day 2: We all wake up on time and set out on the road to Canon City, which is where our white water rafting adventure begins. There we met up with Vanessa and Cari, two USOC interns. Once at the office, we get our gear (helmet, life jacket and paddle) and load into the school bus that will take us to the Arkansas River. We go through some level three rapids and a few level fours (out of five). The guide lets us "ride the bull," which means that one of us sits on the front of the raft and holds onto a rope between our legs as we go through some small rapids. I did not fall out during this or any other part of the trip, which was my main objective. We went through the Royal Gorge and under the Royal Gorge suspension bridge, which was very cool.

Night two was to be spent in downtown Colorado Springs. After checking into our downtown hotel, I decided we had to start off at The Finish Line, a dive bar near the Olympic Training Center (not downtown). It was karaoke night and the otherwise sleepy neighborhood bar was hopping. A few songs and pitchers of beer later and that was the only bar we would end up going to that night. Among the songs that were sung by us were George Strait's Amarillo By Morning, Billy Idol's Rebel Yell and Louie Armstrong's What a Wonderful World.

Day 3: Wake up and recap the night from our suite at the EconoLodge. Head over to the Olympic Training Center for a quick tour. Then drive up by Pike's Peak and through Manitou Springs, where we ate lunch. We drive back up to Denver where I drop off John at his place and then Anthony and Molly at the airport. It was a quick weekend but we crammed many activities and had a lot of fun. Thanks to Anthony and Molly for coming out to Colorado and to John for hanging out with us.

Click here for photos of the Denver nightlife, the Finish Line, and the Olympic Training Center.

Click here for the latest Olympic Sports Scene, brought to you by Nick and Vanessa.

Hours until I get to see my girlfriend Teresa, who is coming up to visit this weekend: 68

Stairway to Soreness

Since hearing about it a few weeks ago, I was determined to do the Incline. The Incline is about a mile's worth of steps going up Pike's Peak. And by steps I mean old rail road ties from the old cog railway. There is now a new cog railway that goes up Pike's Peak. The old train tracks have become a popular workout spot for fit Coloradans, of which there are many. I was prepared for the endurance challenge posed by a mile's worth of steps. I was prepared to be affected by the thin air. What I wasn't prepared for was how steep and unfriendly these steps would be. The railroad ties have not undergone a makeover to accommodate their many visitors. It was tough but worth it for the photos. I don't need to go back for a month or two, though.

I volunteered for the USA Triathlon Junior Nationals. It was really impressive to see these teenagers swim, bike and run the way they do. It was even more amazing to see the seven-year-olds posting better times than I could. I did lots of odd jobs for the event but the main one was marking the kids with there race numbers, which had to be on each bare arm and leg.

My roommate Isaac has gone home and I have the room to myself for who knows how long. I might get a new roommate in September when the fall class of interns show up, or I might not. The summer interns are leaving one by one, which means a few more trips to the our neighborhood bar Finish Line are in order. Its a very cozy place with some eccentric regulars.

I finally wrote my first press release, all by myself. Click here to check it out.

Click here for photos of the Incline, the triathlon, the finish line and a night out in downtown Denver with my cousin Emily and her friends from when I first moved out here.

Days until my buddy Anthony and his friend Molly come to visit me: 3

Goobers and Buffaloes

In July, right before I leave for Colorado, I see this show on the Food Network called Man vs. Food. On the show, the host goes around the country and eats unusually large or wierd foods, like a 7 lbs burrito or rocky mountain oysters. While in Denver, the host stopped at a burger joint called the Cherry Cricket. The place is known for putting just about anything on a burger, including a fried egg-and-peanut butter burger known as the Goober. I immediately added the burger joint to my list of 'things to do while in Colorado'. It took about a month, but I have finally crossed it off my list. I went with my cousins Emily, Christopher and Ana as well as my Aunt Nuni, who promised she would take me there. The burger was surprisingly good but very heavy. I will probably never order another and I will probably never consume so much protein in one sitting.

Goobers aside, I spent much of the weekend with family. After the Cherry Cricket, we went to Boulder and walked around. I forgot how nice the University of Colorado's campus was.

My internship is starting to pick-up and I am learning the valuable skill that is multi-tasking. However, there is still time to volunteer, which is a great experience and often very easy. Vanessa and I manned the pressbox at the Opening Ceremony of the State Games of America. We outnumbered the members of the media 2:1. At work, I was asked to escort a newspaper photographer around the Olympic Training Center. At the aquatic center, I got to go up on the catwalk overlooking the pool that is normally used by coaches.

Click here for the latest Olympic Sports Scene, co-written by moi.

Click here for photos of the Goober, Boulder and what not.

Days until the season opener of Longhorn football: 29