Friday, January 30, 2015

SmackDab Sports Super Bowl XLIX Pick

     This year’s Super Bowl pick is a real no-brainer for me, for a couple of reasons. First off, the Seahawks are stacked with Middle Children at key positions. Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, Marshawn Lynch -- all MidKids. Tom Brady, on the other hand, is the poster child for everything that is not Middle Child-ish. He’s the baby of the family and the only boy. No wonder he’s used to getting his way. Gronk’s a baby too. And no, I am not going to make a “the Patriots are a bunch of babies” joke. Not gonna do it.
     My second reason for picking the Seahawks is that as a lifelong, suffering Miami Dolphins fan, I can't root for the Patriots. Can't do it. It's simply not allowed. Except when they play the Jets, of course. So I’m pretty much contractually obligated to root for the Seahawks -- even though I’m not a huge Pete Carroll fan either. I still have not forgiven him for his past transgressions against the Dolphins.(CLICK HERE and HERE to see what I'm talking about.) So in a perfect world, I guess I’d like the Seahawks to win but somehow for Pete Carroll to lose. Short of that, I’m sticking with my pick. Go Seahawks!!


NOTE: Last year I picked against Seattle, and we all know how that worked out. Even though I’m picking the Seahawks to win this year, as a Middle Child I fully expect NOT to get what I want, so you can be pretty sure the Pats will win.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Tom Brady Gives Reporter the "Middle Child Treatment."

NY Post: Always
keepin' it classy.
     I was thinking quite a few things while watching the Tom Brady “Deflate-gate” press conference yesterday, but since this isn't a sports blog, I’ll keep most of my opinions to myself. However, I will share this with you. Maybe it’s just me and my Middle Child sensitivities, but throughout the press conference, I couldn't help but notice how there was one female reporter in particular who couldn't get Brady’s attention. No matter how hard she tried, he just wouldn't acknowledge her. I was inspired by her Middle Child-like determination to get his attention, but it was killing me how she was being ignored repeatedly. I edited a highlight reel of her numerous attempts. Take a look and tell me if you think I’m nuts. Well, don’t do that -- but see if you agree. I mean, look at how he totally igs her at 22:25. He won’t even look in her direction! When all was said and done, (and just for the record, there’s no way all was said, and this is far from done), here are the two things I took away from Tom’s presser. The first: if that reporter’s not a Middle Child, she certainly knows what it feels like to be one now. The second? I don't think I could ever handle being a reporter.


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

#MidKidRoadTrip Day Two: Twitter Highlights

CLICK
HERE





What a long, strange trip it's been... 18-1/2 hours and god knows how many Jelly donuts later, the #MidKidRoadTrip is officially over. And not a mile too soon. Click below the image on the right for the Twitterized version of all the final day highlights -- or is that lowlights? I guess it all depends on where you were sitting. Decide for yourself. I'm too exhausted.

Monday, January 5, 2015

#MidKidRoadTrip Day One: Twitter Highlights


CLICK
HERE






Greetings from the Comfort Inn in beautiful Santee, SC! Day One of the #MidKidRoadTrip is in the books. Well, it's actually on Twitter. In case you missed the LIVE Tweets throughout the day, I've compiled a handy review, rearranged for viewing ease from top to bottom. Click below the image on the right to see a summary of all the first day action. Hope you enjoy it more than I did!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

The MidKid Road Trip (a.k.a. The Highway to Hell)

     As Middle Children, we want to be the center of attention so badly, we need to be the favorite so desperately, sometimes we do things we know we shouldn't do. We might even know as we're doing it that what we’re doing is stupid, or wrong, or something we might regret -- but our need for approval or acceptance or whatever is so powerful, we can’t stop ourselves from doing it anyway.
     Case in point: my in-laws love to travel. They just don’t like taking trains, planes, or driving themselves anywhere, which makes it somewhat difficult for them to make their yearly winter exodus to Florida. So I did what any normal maladjusted Middle Child son-in-law would do: I offered to drive them. I wasn't even drunk when I said it!
Frightening, I know. I took a 15 minute trip to get pizza with them the other night and thought I would lose my mind. (My father-in-law launched into a detailed critique of the last seven slices of pizza he ate and my mother-in-law kept talking about how good the pizza was in Naples -- even though she’s never been to Naples.) I really have no idea how I’m going to make it all the way down the eastern seaboard with them in the car -- but I’m not going it alone!

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO JOIN ME AS I TRANSPORT
MY IN-LAWS FROM NEW YORK TO FLORIDA.

     You can follow my journey here and on Twitter @MidKidMusings. I plan to tweet hourly updates, which shouldn't be a problem since they’ll probably be stopping for bathroom breaks every 20 mins! God help me.
SCHEDULED DEPARTURE IS JANUARY 5, 2015. STAY TUNED.