3-Day weekends. I live for those. In fact, I like to add on a vacation day from work to make it a long 4-day weekend. That’s just what I did for Labor Day. I got back Thursday night from Boston, slept in until 8:30 on Friday morning, and then took the wife and kids to the mountains to visit my family for the weekend.

Two things made the 4-day weekend especially manly: speed and technology.

Speed – my brothers brought their Yamaha Rhinos (and one Polaris Ranger) to the mountains. On Saturday a group of guys (and my sister) went for a long ride to the top of a nearby mountain. The ride wasn’t dangerous or tough, but the roads allowed us to get the Rhinos going a pretty good speed. It was fun. I took my DSLR along for the ride and got some good shots. The photo above is my brother and dad speeding ahead in the Ranger.

Technology – My wife literally witnessed this scene when she walked into the kitchen: I was playing craps on my iPhone 3G, one brother was playing craps on his iPhone 3GS, my other brother was playing Plants vs. Zombies on his iPad, and my dad was listening to music on his Motorola Droid. No talking. Just four guys with their eyes focused on tiny monitors in their hands. Nerdy? Sure, I’ll admit it was. Manly? Very.

As unfair as it may be, Americans think soccer is gay. That’s unfortunate. I enjoy watching the Word Cup, but unless soccer can do something about those 0-0 ties, most Americans will still think soccer is gay.

Uruguay plays its first game in the World Cup today. I’m excited. I have Uruguay to thank for my love of the World Cup. You see, I lived in Uruguay during the 1998 World Cup. Up until that point, I considered soccer a boring sport.

My perspective changed in 1998. It was the first time I saw an entire nation captivated by one sporting event…that lasted for several weeks…and Uruguay wasn’t even in the tournament in ’98. It was amazing. Every time Brazil or Argentina (Uruguay’s neighbors) had a game, the entire country shut down.

Vamo’ Uruguay!

Like most Americans I don’t follow soccer. I don’t know the players. I don’t know the teams. I don’t like the flopping. But, I do love the World Cup. Every four years I enjoy watching the world’s best soccer players represent their countries in one spectacular tournament.

Here are the teams the Manly Dad is supporting:

1. USA. You gotta support your country, even if it historically sucks on the world stage.

2. Uruguay. I lived in Uruguay from 1997-1999, so I feel a special connection with La Celeste.

3. Ivory Coast/Ghana/Nigeria. I want to cheer for an African team. I would root for South Africa, but appears they have no real shot of advancing to the knockout stages.

In general, I’ll root for the underdog. Here are the teams that I will cheer against:

1. Brazil. They are the New York Yankees of soccer. I can’t support that.

2. France. They won in 1998 and made the finals in 2006. Plus, they’re French.

3. North Korea. I hate the “Dear Leader” and want him to be embarrassed.

Dear Sportscenter,

I tuned in to your broadcast last night to catch the latest highlights in baseball. I had a few minutes to kill before we started watching our Monday night shows. Apparently, an NBA playoff game had just concluded. I dutifully sat through the highlights and a little “analysis” hoping the baseball highlights would be forthcoming. I was wrong. Instead, you cut to a post game press conference with a coach from one of the teams. No big deal, I’ll just switch to ESPN News. What the hell?  ESPN News was covering the same post game press conference. I don’t remember what was on ESPN 2, but I know it wasn’t highlights from today’s events…probably just some reruns of a lame poker contest.

By the way, when is this poker fad going to end? I’m really tired of seeing it on ESPN. It’s not a sport. If you really must show it, just have one poker tournament to rule them all and crown a grand champion…then take a 10 year hiatus.

Why must baseball always take a back seat to all the other sports? I’m tired of it. Last week I finally watched the MLB Network for the first time ever. I was at the dentist, and that half hour was more enjoyable than any recent Sportscenter I’ve watched. If my local cable provider carried the MLB network, I would have little reason to ever turn to ESPN or its sister stations.

Sincerely,

ManlyDad

P.S. Yes, I know ESPN has Baseball Tonight, but that’s only 30 minutes (sometimes one hour) and most of that is dedicated to the Red Sox and Yankees.

Ever since the 80′s the only sports related video games I’ve been interested in are baseball games. I’ve played most of the baseball games on all the major gaming consoles since the Coleco (pre-NES days). There were four exceptions to that rule: NBA Jams (SNES), NHL Hockey 96 (Sega), PGA Tour III (Sega), and Tecmo Bowl/Super Tecmo Bowl (NES/SNES). (I’ve played Madden a few times back in the late 90′s…it was OK, but I preferred the arcade style Tecmo games.)

Last night I stepped through a time warp to 1993, thanks to the latest release on xbox Live Arcade: Tecmo Bowl Throwback. My brother and I spent hours playing the original Tecmo Bowl in 1989. My team? LA Raiders…defenses couldn’t stop Bo Jackson up the middle. We played the sequel Tecmo Super Bowl when it came out in 1993 on SNES.

Anyway, Tecmo Bowl Throwback is the xbox 360 version 1993 Tecmo Super Bowl. I downloaded the demo last night and played two quick games. At $10, it’s a must have for any gamer from the 80′s/early 90′s.

My love affair with fantasy baseball began 10 years ago in 2001. My friend introduced me to it and I quickly learned the ropes. It was a hobby my nerdy brain could finally support and be very competitive in. Soon I rose the rank of league commissioner. After a few years, I joined another league…then another. In 2009, I participated in 4 leagues. I spent at least an hour each day reading fantasy blogs and studying my teams.  I was a junkie and fantasy baseball was my crack.

Hell, I even watched entire season of The League on Hulu just because it was about fantasy sports. True, it was about football instead of baseball and it had very little to do about fantasy sports, but I still watched it because I was addicted to fantasy baseball. Mini-review: it was funny but very dirty. It was like Sex In the City for guys that loosely related to fantasy football each episode.

I didn’t have enough time to dedicate to each league (and my real life). Well, things changed this year. I quit 3 leagues cold turkey and I’m down to just the original league that started in 2001. I can’t quit that league…it’s my nicotine and I need my fix. Plus, I’m essentially Commissioner for Life, and that’s a title you just can’t walk away from…it’s too damn manly (in a very nerdy way).

Dear boys,

Few phrases will earn you more respect than these two simple words: I’m sorry. Those two words will take you far in business, in love, and in life.

Today, I saw one of the heroes from my youth finally learn that lesson. He said he was sorry and I forgave him, just like I forgave the others before him. I’m no longer angry at him for avoiding the issue (or lying?) for years. I am now at peace with his accomplishments, and I hope he will be judged fairly (even if that means discounting his career totals). I hope he can find peace and comfort with his decision.

I remember a long time ago I went golfing my buddy Echild. I was goofing around while driving the golf cart and I rear-ended another golf cart. I broke the axle on my cart.  I was young and stupid. We analyzed the situation and we knew that nobody would ever know that I broke the cart. All we had to do was ditch the cart and walk to our car to drive away. But that wasn’t the right thing to do. I walked into the clubhouse and asked to speak to the course manager. I told him what happened and said the two little words: I’m sorry. He was surprised and thanked me for my honesty. I never heard from him again, and I never had to feel the regret or guilt for lying about (or running away from) my mistake.

There’s  a lesson for you here, boys. You see, saying “I’m sorry” is hard. Sometimes it’s really hard. It’s always humbling. That’s why it’s so powerful. That’s why it can carry you when you need it. Please, learn to say “I’m sorry.” That’s what real men do.

Love,

Manly Dad

What the hell, Tiger?  I understand that you have tons of money, fancy homes, and golf talent that I could only dream of.  But somehow you needed to cheat on your (hot) wife and mother of your children?  Really?  As my role model Abe Simpson would say…for shame!

Cheating on your wife is not manly.  It’s a simple black and white position.  There’s no gray area.  There are no exceptions to that rule.  It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, if you’re a president or a peasant, or you’re handsome or ugly.  Men don’t cheat.

You, Tiger, are not a man.

My wife confessed to me last night that she misses baseball season.  What does she miss?  First, let me tell you what she doesn’t miss.  She doesn’t miss my hours of pouring over my fantasy team(s) rosters and waiver wires.  She doesn’t miss watching the postseason.  She doesn’t miss Peter Gammons, Jayson Stark, or Buster Olney’s expert opinions on Baseball Tonight.  She misses none of that.

She misses that I had a nightly distraction that gave her a chance to catch up on her reading, scrapbooking, or internet surfing.

See, here’s what happened last night.  We got the kids to bed.  There was nothing on TV or our DVR, so we planned to watch our Netflix movie The Count of Monte Cristo.  Before we fired up the movie, she wanted 5 minutes to read some scrapbooking blogs.  No big deal, I thought.  20 minutes later I had to remind her that we need to start the show before it’s too late.  That’s when she confessed that she misses baseball.  Apparently, during baseball season I would have never noticed that she took extra time because I would have been too deep into Sportscenter, ESPN News, or Baseball Tonight.

I guess I need to sacrifice so my wife can get some much needed and deserved alone time.  Anyone up for Call of Duty?  It looks like I’ll be online more often this offseason!

Image Source: MLB (via Google Image search)