Yay, Sports!

Although I should really be studying for Finance, I must pause and say a few words about my favorite sports teams. Today I wore an old Washington Redskins t-shirt, which reminded me that I still haven't posted about Art Monk. Monk was an amazing possession receiver for the late-80's/early 90's Redskins dynasty. He wasn't the fastest receiver in the NFL, but he was the guy you wanted on your side of the ball when it was third down. Besides, the Skins had Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders, the rest of "the Posse," for speed.

What impressed me most about Monk wasn't his playing ability; it was his class. On and off the field he was a stand-up guy in every respect. I had the opportunity to spend a little time with him at his football camps when I was growing up and I can't think of a better role model for young athletes.

Earlier this year, Art Monk was elected into the NFL Football Hall of Fame. Darrell Green, another Redskin, spent nearly two decades as the NFL's fastest man and was elected into the shrine this year as well. Although IMD is very different from the NFL Hall of Fame, I'm proud that come December I will share the distinction of "Class of 2008" with them. Congratulations, Art and Darrell and HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!

Now, on to matters of more immediate importance: Rice Baseball! My poor Owls have been struggling this season. Last weekend they broke their 40-series home win streak and this week their ranking fell to #12. That's OK, though; I'm sure they're just working the kinks out early in the season. And as you will recall from my earlier post, I'm happy as long as we beat Texas. Still, I wore a Rice Baseball National Championship t-shirt on Monday as a long-distance show of support. It worked; last night Rice beat UT in front of an Austin crowd of 6,511. I wish I could have been there--and on 6th Street afterward! Stand, cheer, DRINK MORE BEER! Go, go, GOOOOOOOO Rice!

Rice Baseball Rules!

After dropping two to nationally ranked, perennial powerhouse Long Beach State, Rice baseball has won five in a row and is back on track. While I am always excited for Rice to make a trip to the College World Series (six times in the last nine years) those who know me are aware that I hold our team accountable to a slightly different metric of success: how many times we beat UT each year! Last night our boys did exactly that with a 10-4 trouncing of the Longhorns at Minute Maid Park. Coming into the game UT was ranked #4 while Rice had slipped to #6; I'll hope to see those rankings reversed when the new poll results are released on Monday.

As a former Rice student-athlete myself, obviously I'm biased in supporting Rice, and it's certainly easy to hop on the band wagon and support a team that wins most of its games every year. However, I will argue that there are a few things that truly do set Rice apart. First and foremost is the quality of our student-athletes. Having roomed with one of Rice's best pitchers of all time my freshman year (4-1-3), I have witnessed first hand the well rounded, intelligent, high-caliber individuals Rice puts on its roster.

Second, Rice baseball is an inspirational story. 15 years ago, we had nothing; we were a no-name program in the middle of a region already crowded with talent (UT, UH, A&M, Baylor, LSU, etc.). As the smallest school in the NCAA, we would never have athletic funding pouring in from alumni and supporters. Then came head coach Wayne Graham, who propeled us to the national scene with incredible recruiting and a winning vision. It has been amazing to watch Rice move from an off-the-radar team to a Cinderella story to a David that is always counted among the Goliaths of college baseball.

It will be tough this year to be so far away from the action--especially as I follow Rice's CWS progress from our Discovery Trip in Tanzania. However, it will take much more than several hours time difference and several thousand miles to prevent me from supporting the Owls. To Rice Be True!