Bigfoot, Big Business, and Big Wind. Oh my!

Our family, in Idaho Falls, Summer 2008

The three of us grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Jared still resides there after temporary stops in Venezuela, Las Vegas, Pocatello and Boise. Kyle lived in Portugal and Rexburg before moving to Washington. He spent two years in Yakima, WA before his current home in the Tri-Cities, WA. Natalie lived in Ogden, UT for college and has since settled in nearby Clearfield, UT.

Consequently, when we speak of our respective states, we are speaking primarily of southeastern Idaho, eastern Washington, and the Wasatch Front of Utah. Our experiences may not be shared by everyone who lives in our respective areas, but we wanted to compare the strengths and weaknesses of Idaho, Washington, and Utah.

Jared (JM)---Idaho

Kyle (KM)----Washington

Natalie (NC)----Utah

In this two-part series, we present some categories today, with more following the release of the second part of the post in two weeks.

Part I

Climate:

JM:  It is important to understand your strengths and weaknesses, and Idaho’s not going to win when it comes to climate/scenery when matched against Washington and Utah.  In Eastern Idaho we enjoy fall, winter (4-8 months depending on the year), windy season, and summer.

KM: Yeah, you can sit down for this one Idaho.

This scene could occur almost any month in Idaho.

JM:  I guess if it keeps Californians out of our state, it is a sacrifice I am willing to make.

NC/KM: Amen!

KM:The weather has been my favorite part of living in Yakima/Richland. We get all four seasons but you don’t have to worry about slick roads in town. If you are into that snow stuff there are nearby places, but I prefer being able to go on a run outside almost any day of the year.

NC: Ever heard of the “greatest snow on earth?” Utah boasts its famous winters, while also perfectly balancing the other three seasons.  It’s like the holy grail of climate balance.  As an added bonus, I lived here a solid week before realizing that not a single one of my hairdos had been destroyed by wind.  

JM;  Since I conceded this category, I feel like an objective judge between the two states.  Sorry Kyle, it’s Utah by a mile.  When a large portion of your state’s population (King County) becomes clinically depressed due to a lack of sunshine you are not going to win best climate award.

Economy:

KM: Have you ever heard a kid who never even played high school football criticize Tom Brady? Well, I would be that kid if I were to say too much here. I mean, I don’t technically have a job. I live in a state where an advantage is no state income tax, but I have no income and don’t own a home.

JM:  Amazing how you can fit a Tom Brady reference into almost every blog post.  

NC: . Recession? Economic downturn? Forget about it! While the rest of the country was in the depths of financial toil, Utah still managed to bring in high-paying jobs and attract high-tech corporations to the area.  Utah was even ranked number one in Forbes’ 2014 list of “Best States For Business.” Newsweek may call it “the new economic Zion,” but I prefer to call it home.  

JM:  I guess it’s all a matter of perspective when it comes to money.  Here in Idaho Falls we have a lot of PhD’s and pick up trucks.  The Idaho National Laboratory, agriculture, and Melaleuca are the big employers around my neck of the woods.  Even Nat has to be a little envious of Idaho’s low cost of living, particularly when it comes to housing.

NC: Touche.

Weirdest Law:

JM:  In Pocatello a person may not be seen in public without a smile.  But my favorite comes from Coeur d’Alene:  “If a police officer approaches a car and suspects the occupants are engaged in sex, he must either honk, or flash his lights and wait for 3 minutes before approaching the car.”

KM: In Washington, “The harassing of Bigfoot, Sasquatch or other undiscovered subspecies is a felony punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc7U_Z83xbw

NC: Dag nab it! It’s illegal for women to swear in Logan.  Oh, and don’t even think about trying to modify the weather unless you’ve got a permit. (I’m talking to you, former college roommates who loved to agitate me with their incessant snow dances.)

State Bird:

JM: Technically our state bird is the Mountain Bluebird. 

The Mountain Bluebird

But we share that with Nevada, so we decided to have an official raptor which is the Peregrine Falcon.  A few fun facts: reaches sexual maturation by 1 year and mates for its entire life (typically 15 years), considered the fastest animal on the planet due to top speeds of 200 mph (322 km/h for our Canadian readers), and the word peregrine means “wanderer”.

NC: A state filled with wandering promiscuous poultry? I don’t like it.

KM: The Willow Goldfinch (American Goldfinch). Apparently we share this bird with Iowa and New Jersey. Is it ever healthy to have something in common with New Jersey?

The Willow Goldfinch

NC: Nope. Nope. Never. The California Gull is our bird of choice.

The California Gull

KM: Seriously Nat, not only is your bird a pest, it bears the name of another state!

NC: Yeah, they were really living up to that pesky reputation when these miraculous birdies assisted the early Mormon settlers during a major cricket plague. They managed to gobble up all those threatening insects to save the crops and consequently the lives of all those people.  

Part II coming on April 19, 2015

Peaches and Profits

  I would love to know how much skepticism and cynicism has grown since the advent of the internet.  I know that there is no way to objectively measure attitudes, but overall there has to be a greater level of mistrust.  A small dose of skepticism is healthy.  Just like pain can alert our brain to take the hand off the stove to avoid serious injury; skepticism can help us avoid scams, uncover lies, and detect frauds.  Just as acute pain can turn into chronic unrelenting pain, a small dose of skepticism can lead to crippling cynicism of any and all “authority”. Ironically, whatever the political, philosophical, or religious bend, we all our prone to cynicism.  Just a couple of examples to illustrate the point. 

     The person that believes that the government is out to get him, that anything and everything dealing with the government is evil, and that we would all be much better off without “the gov’ment” (insert your best redneck imitation).  Or the person that discredits any and all religion because they believe the Pastor/Bishop/Cardinal/Preacher is trying to manipulate them into a life of drudgery.  But the one that I deal with at the professional level, is the person that believes that big Pharma and the healthcare community are knowingly exposing people to harm in the name of profit.

     In the 50’s most of the pharmaceutical companies were lead by scientists who desired to eradicate disease through revolutionary innovations like antibiotics and vaccines.  Over the years a paradigm shift occurred where these companies went from being run by men/women of science to CEOs and businessmen from other industries.  They understood the importance of marketing and of creating medications that needed to be used throughout a persons life.  “Big Pharma” became so effective at marketing their “product” to doctors and other health care professionals in the 90’s and early 2000’s that legislative active was taken to try and curb the influence that drug companies and their representatives had achieved.  It was found that even the seemingly harmless gift of a pen emblazoned with a drug name could alter the prescribing practices of a physician favorably towards the marketed medication. 

     I provide this brief, yet incomplete, history of the pharmaceutical industry to demonstrate that I am not naive to the fact that the pharmaceutical companies primary incentive is profit.  BUT I also must emphasize the fact that for all of the pharmaceutical companies shortcomings, immunizations have saved hundreds of thousands of lives since they have become readily available.  (Side note: Vaccines really aren’t that new, they have been around for a couple hundred years.  In fact our nation’s first president, George Washington dealt with skeptics in his day, fortunately for us he ignored them, and his men upon enlistment were inoculated with small pox.  Talk about being revolutionary.)

     There is no secret deal between the healthcare community and the pharmaceutical companies to dupe the general public.  This is a ridiculous argument.  My daughter Hallie is current with all of her vaccines, do you think I would knowingly put her at risk in the name of profit for the pharmaceutical company?  Not a chance in Hell!  Are there possible serious side effects from the vaccine?  Yes, but they are extremely rare.  Every day we make decisions that could ultimately shorten our lives: driving the car, eating high fat/carb foods, playing a sport, etc.  In the case of vaccines let’s use the information provided by scientific studies and not some anecdotal case from a family member or celebrity (and in case she somehow stumbles across this post, yes I’m talking about you Jenny McCarthy).

     Many of those that choose to not vaccinate have read articles or testimonials online of the dangers of vaccines, and have fallen for what is formally known as post hoc ergo proper hoc or post hoc fallacy.  Most logical sports fans or athletes have fallen victim to post hoc fallacy.  As a 12 year old boy my life consisted of baseball, and well more baseball.  Before a game late in the season my mom cut up some peaches and put it in a bowl with milk and sugar.  I hit two home-runs that afternoon.  Guess what I ate before every game the rest of that season?  Peaches and milk with sugar sprinkled on top.  Of course the peaches didn’t give me the anabolic super strength of Mark McGwire, but there was no way you could have convinced my 12-year-old self any differently.  Post hoc fallacy means that correlation does not equal causation.  It is one thing to understand this concept and identify it in others, it is another thing entirely to identify it in our lives.  It doesn’t matter that the doctor that showed a link between vaccines and autism has lost his license for falsifying data.

     We truly live in an Information Age, where ideas, theories, and stories are shared instantaneously.  Take a minute and consider the facts.  Ask yourself this question, “Would my doctor, who has taken the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm, advocate immunizing without evidence that the benefits far outweigh the risks?  There is no conspiracy theory.  Don’t make the same mistake my 12 year old self made and confuse causation and correlation.  I have to go now, LeBron is playing and he always plays better when I stand up for the 4th quarter.  

No Pain, No Gain

Two weeks ago as I was in the throes of labor pain and reading the post my brothers dedicated to me about man pain, I was reminded of a former gymnastics coach who used to encourage me with the phrase "no pain, no gain."  Ah the wisdom I have repeatedly found in this phrase over the years.  Progression is sometimes uncomfortable.  Bringing a second beautiful daughter into this world has come with plenty of growing pains, but so much has been gained in return. Allow me to recap a few thoughts and feelings about the experience of expanding our family.

I took this little gem just two day before my little Grace was born.  It was my last shift at work, and I was feeling frustrated at my lack of ability to be able to pull my weight around the ER.  Part of me was really hoping that my water would just break already so I could get out of there.  "Sorry Doc, no can-do on that EKG, I've gotta go give birth."

She stayed put though for all twelve of those hours, and most of the weekend. By Sunday afternoon, I had some steady contractions starting to brew. Laboring women are weird. I was happily anticipating the mind-numbing excruciating pain. Every time a contraction would lessen in intensity, I found myself disappointed.  I was ready for the pain.  Bring it on.

And it was brought that evening as my sweet in-laws were being set apart to leave on their mission to Central America.  The room was packed with family and I sat on the couch nudging my sister-in-law to start the timer every time I felt a contraction beginning.  As soon as the "Amens" were said, my Michael gave me a blessing and we took a little drive to the hospital.

Labor was a little slow to progress until a Dr. broke my water and then whoa Nelly, it took off.  I had just enough time to get an epidural and crunch down a few ice chips before it was time to call the Doctor.  After a mere seven minutes of pushing, Grace Maria Crandall arrived at 11:43 PM on Sunday, February 22nd.  By the skin of her nonexistent teeth she managed to meet her Jasmer grandparents before they had to leave to prepare themselves for 18 months of church service.  My parents were also able to make the drive from Idaho Falls in time, despite a major road detour.

Her bright blonde head and super sonic high pitched screams have been welcomed wholeheartedly in our home.  Victoria has always been completely indifferent toward any kind of baby, but she already has developed a deep bond with her baby sister.  Good thing too, because with the two only being 17 months apart they are going to have a lot of close sister time.

I was lucky enough to have my Mom stay with us for a week to help me in the transition.  Oh that woman is an angel.  I was terrified to begin my time as a mother of two without her.  We're all surviving the transition through one dirty diaper at a time.  Making quick on the spot decisions has always stressed me out.  I am definitely not the one in my marriage to decide where we're going out to eat that night.  I think making the quick decisions has been one of the harder things about this experience.  I need to pee, Victoria needs her diaper changed, and Grace needs to eat: GO! However, I am getting better and feeling more confident with my ability to maintain the balance.

I was told countless times that having two children under two would mean having my hands full.  I never realized what a literal expression this is.  I absolutely love having my arms constantly full of my children.  My love has multiplied and I feel empowered with the responsibility of nurturing these little ladies. These last two weeks have contained moments of physical and emotional pain, but the gains are immeasurable.

-Natalie Dawn

Man Pain

A communication of two brothers (Jared and Kyle Moore)

JM: Do you know what is painful?  It is 7:00 am my time and 6:00 am your time on a Saturday and we are both up writing about pain.

KM: Good morning brother!

JM: Seems kind of funny that the two of us are talking about pain without Natalie.  We probably should provide a little context.  

KM: Well our little sister is delivering a baby within the next 48 hours. She is pushing a small human being out of her private parts. What could be more painful? I mean, seriously, did you watch Jess giving birth?

JM:  Yes, that’s why I think that we should make it very clear that we are in no way trying to compare any pain that we have felt to the birthing process.  Anyways, when was the first time that you can remember feeling pain?

KM: I don’t remember a first time, but I do remember as a kid I always cried. I honestly thought Dad never felt pain because he never cried. I do know that your beatings were a source of physical and emotional pain to me.

JM:  Do we need to sit you down in a chair and have you discuss these feelings with a counselor?  

KM: I kind of worked it out during my psychiatry rotation last July, I’m good now. You were the child with all of the sports accidents though. How many times have you had stitches Frankenstein?

JM:  I have had to have stitches 6 times.  Usually small, deep cuts on my face from sports (basketball, football, extreme water tubing, etc).  Out of the different cuts that I have had, the most painful one happened when I fell and cracked my shin in a manhole in Venezuela.  Actually, it was probably more scary than painful because we had to try to find a decent hospital.  The nurse that cleaned the wound wasn’t particularly compassionate with this gringo.

KM: I thought the world was so much better at healthcare though?

JM:  Yeah we could do a whole other blog post about their health care system.  Let’s just put it this way, Chavez brought in Cubans to take care of his people.  Anytime you are bringing in Cubans to fix anything besides cigars it’s not a good sign.

KM: You’re being a little tough on Cubans, they have also helped fix several Major League Baseball teams including the Dodgers and Yankees.

JM:  Good point, I apologize to all of our Cuban readers.

KM: In the end nothing beats mom or dad to make you feel better.  Did you know that a mother’s kiss on a bumped head actually reduces pain? Essentially your body is getting tactile stimulation in the same area of injury so the electrical signal for the touch competes with the pain sensation.

JM:  I didn’t know the science behind it, but I had been told that is one of the reasons trainers put their hands on athletes that are injured.  What was your most painful experience?

KM: Well, I think I should start by saying I think my most painful experiences have been emotional. Losing Cameron (our cousin) last year, and some relationships have hurt me as much as anything.

JM: Agreed. That is a deeper subject altogether.  So how about physical pain?

KM: From a physical standpoint, I feel like I have a few that are all pretty close. I once got a large dose of pesticide on me while spraying trees and that burned like Hades. I also had a pretty painful appendicitis. But one of the worst was a football injury my senior year of high school.

JM:  Yeah I wasn’t around when that happened.  What exactly happened?

KM: I took a helmet just above the left knee. The final diagnosis was a deep bruise, but I always hated saying that because it immobilized me for months. In a weird way, I kind of wish I would have just torn my ACL. That sounds like a painful and legitimate injury. It’s kind of like when you have a bad cold for 4 weeks, I would rather just vomit for 24 hours.

JM:  Yeah I had something similar happen to me in an exhibition all area game that I played in after my senior season.  I had a knee slam into my quad.  After the game we piled in a car for a family vacation to California.  By the time we got to Salt Lake my leg was three times its regular size.  Official diagnosis was a deep muscle contusion, basically a fancy way of saying a bruise.  It kept me from working my construction job for 3 weeks.  

Jared (left) with a left thigh contusion and Kyle (right) in

Tijuana, Mexico-June 2003

KM: Yeah that was bad for you, but your wheelchair got us to the front of all of the lines at Universal Studios!!

JM:  The “pharmacists” in the streets of Tijuana offered me all sorts of pain meds.

KM: Well, I guess you always have a fallback in Mexico if your pharmacy job up here goes sour. It might be kind of fun to negotiate the price of oxycodone just like you were selling sunglasses.

JM: Isn’t it ironic that we both have had some of our severest pain in football, yet both of us desire our sons to play football?

KM: Well, in the immortal words of Shane Falco (aka Keanu Reeves in ‘The Replacements’), “Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever.”  Was that contusion your most painful moment?

JM:  It’s in my top 3.  I have taken a couple of serious shots to the groin region in my lifetime that have left me without the ability to breathe.  At least with childbirth you know that at the end of the suffering you will have a newborn.  The exact opposite holds true after taking a shot to the family jewels; you wonder if you will ever be able to have kids.

KM: Amen brother. I’m glad to see a second child on the way for you guys despite all of your close calls. Well, my hat goes off to Natalie and all other women who go through childbirth. Seriously dude, an 8 pound human coming out of you?!

JM: It’s been a pleasure.  Always fun reminiscing about old injuries.  Good luck Nat!

KM: And just be thankful you don’t have to deliver in Venezuela...that could add to an already painful experience!

Our Mission

“Brother, I have the perfect idea for a blog post.” My brother, Kyle, exclaimed
excitedly. “What if all three of us write about why we hate dogs?” That’s when I
officially decided we were not going to have the broad, commercial appeal that we
originally sought when we first discussed creating a sibling blog.

I've been thinking about what blogs, podcasts, and books I like to read and listen
to the most, with the aim of finding a common theme. I like religious podcasts from
professors, business podcasts from Jewish New Yorkers, sports podcasts from Bill
Simmons and Collin Cowherd, and social commentary from conservative bloggers. I
think the one thing that I appreciate in any writer/artist/entertainer is 100% integrity.
Kind of cheesy I know, but I like what I read/listen to be heartfelt and genuine. Don't get
me wrong, the person has to be smart, witty, and sometimes controversial; but the most
important quality is complete honesty with oneself. One of my biggest pet peeves is a
lack of self awareness. The writers/commentators that draw me back continually
understand exactly who they are, weaknesses and strengths. People complain about
Simmons being a Boston homer, but I think it's funny because he doesn't try to hide it
like most members of the media. He is honest with himself, and his readers (most of
whom are not Boston fans). Our goal is to maintain that same level of authenticity.

Truth is Kyle and Natalie (my brother and sister) have always been more
imaginative and creative than me. I can’t remember the first time we discussed the idea
of creating a blog, but I do remember how excited both of them became. I was more
hesitant. I was concerned about being able to contribute in any significant way, and I
was worried that we would be doing it for the wrong reason i.e. everyone else has a
blog. If we were going to begin a blog I wanted to create a clear vision of what we
desired to accomplish.

When Kyle originally pitched the idea of a blog, he stated that one of his goals
was to eventually generate income through advertisements. I respectfully disagreed.
Blogging is a saturated market, with thousands of people doing it as a primary source of
income. After some discussion, we decided our primary goals in writing this blog are
three fold:

1. To bring us closer as siblings by sharing our experiences and ideas.
2. Serve as a kind of modern day journal for our posterity.
3. Help our friends, family, and any person that reads our blog to come away feeling
good (I know kind of vague but due to the wide range of topics we will be dealing with I
feel like the word "good" is a sum all)
 Hopefully we are able to stay true to our goals and in the process learn and grow.
Thank-you in advance to everyone and anyone who ends up reading our posts.

-Jared Lee

Allow Us to Introduce Ourselves...

Jared Lee is the oldest and wisest of our trio.  He is also most likely the favorite of our parents since he is the only one that currently resides in our hometown of Idaho Falls with his foxy wife and kids. His kid brother, Kyle, hooked him up on a date with Jessica and it has been love ever since. He likes a lot of things about Jess, but most of all he likes that she laughs at his jokes. They are parents to the darling Hallie and will welcome baby Jude in May. 

Growing up we dreaded the day that ESPN Magazine would come in the mail because it meant that Jared would retreat into his room for endless hours pouring over every player, statistic, and roster. 

Jared is a three-time marathon runner, city league basketball enthusiast, and received the MVP trophy for a regional flag football tournament. He can hit a baseball and catch a football better than almost anyone we know. He has an unusual ability to know about books and movies he hasn’t even read or watched and his ears haven’t grown since he was 4 weeks old. 

Jared loves Colombians. He also loves Venezuelans after spending time among them as a missionary. Is it any wonder he went on to become a drug dealer? Jared currently works as a Pharmacist at Shopko in Idaho Falls and remains actively involved in his church. He is the brains of our operation. 

Kyle Von is the middle and the creative genius of the group.  Some might describe Kyle’s need for order and cleanliness bordering on obsessive compulsive, but he would correctly point out “cleanliness is next to godliness”.  

Playing varsity football as a sophomore, before hitting any kind of significant growth spurt, he received the nickname of “the midget” from opposing teams.  His top-level speed, football IQ, and work ethic led to breaking several school records and local celebrity status.   
Kyle loved spending two years as a missionary in Lisbon, Portugal. He has learned Spanish now to help him in work, but he will never let go of the Portuguese language or his distaste for Spain (no offense to any of our Spaniard readers).

Despite majoring in communication, Kyle pursued a path in the medical field and is currently a medical student in Richland, WA. He loves to pose hypothetical questions, mow the lawn, enjoys sports, and loves spending time with church activities and reading religious texts. Kyle may also be one of the only people we know that enjoys planning a trip as much as actually going on it.  In addition to academic and athletic skills, Kyle has been gifted with the skill to remember birthdays and has the ability to keep a secret. 

Given Kyle’s considerate nature is it any wonder that he would marry a girl from the most polite nation in the world (that’s Canada for any of you unenlightened hosers).  Karlee is definitely the yin to Kyle’s yang. They love spending time with their little boy Austin.  Kyle’s imagination and creativity are the driving force behind this operation.  

Natalie Dawn is the baby and most witty of the Moore children. She was born with a headful of blonde curly hair and blue eyes. Her brothers didn’t get their wish of naming her April O’Neil from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but they loved her just the same. Getting teased about being adopted from Russia and a broken nose from football in the living room are the foundations for her toughness and determination today.

In high school, Nat was perhaps the only cheerleader in the state with a skill set that involved the ability to do 15 back handsprings in a row, tell you what was happening in the game, all while flashing a smile the boys flocked for. 

After receiving a scholarship to Weber State University, Natalie moved south to Utah where she got a degree in respiratory therapy. She met Michael Crandall at a dance and the two quickly fell in love and she has lived in Utah ever since. On the personality color scale Natalie is a golden yellow and married a guy with a school bus yellow personality. They are now parents to the incredibly mellow Victoria and will soon welcome baby Grace.
We aren’t sure if Nat is so stylish because she worked at PacSun while in high school or because she moved to Utah. She is also a big reader and enjoys serving other people in her neighborhood, church, and her family.

Nat is the only one of the Moore children ever to go to detention (don’t get her started about that dreadful day when she deliberately slid on the playground ice). Despite this brush with school discipline at an early age, she went on to graduate from college in just 3 years
Natalie Dawn works as a respiratory therapist and I would pick her in a fist fight against any CEO of any tobacco company in the country. She is the wit of our operation.

Skywalker and Brady

June 1997. Like most kids in the nation at the time, my focus was on one person: Michael Jordan. MJ had just come off his famous “flu game” in which he dominated the Utah Jazz despite physical illness. Now, he was finishing them off for his fifth NBA championship.

I was watching the game at the home of my friends Tyler and Travis Roe. We were waiting for the game to end, and then we were going to recreate it in their driveway as only 10-year-old boys can do. 

As we watched the game in the Roe’s basement, their dad turned to me and said, “You are going to have to take off that Bulls t-shirt if you are watching this game in my house.” I couldn’t tell if he was joking, serious, or both. It didn’t matter though.

I quickly ripped off my shirt.  With my Michael Jordan jersey underneath my Bulls shirt, I laughed and yelled, “Let’s go Bulls!” Then I sat back down.

I’ve always loved sports. I’ve spent lots of lawn mowing money on trading cards, hats, shirts, and even tickets to see games in person. Perhaps because I grew up in Idaho, my team preferences always seemed to change. I became more of a player person and that continues today.

Aside from Boise State and USC football and the Los Angeles Angels in baseball, I really don’t follow teams. I follow players. I also find that, with exceptions, I cheer for the elite players.

As a result, I cheered for Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady among many others. Then something happened that forever changed the way I view sports: I read some books about Michael Jordan.

For first time in my life, I realized one of my sports heroes was deeply flawed. Jordan used vulgar language, was a jerk to most of his teammates, a womanizer, and had a terrible gambling problem. The more I learned, the more upset I became. I had spent my childhood idolizing a man that was very different from the type of man I wanted to become. To this day, I am still bitter toward MJ.

Over the last 15 years I’ve been let down by so many other athletes. Some cheated, some lied, some were just really bad people. With so many disappointments, I have had to adjust how I examine athletes. How do I let their morals and character affect how much I support them?

Today, the way I consume sports is very different. I don’t usually have the means to watch games. Yet I still read about sports and follow them in other ways. So when I learned this last week about Tom Brady I was upset and confused.
I didn’t always like Tom Brady, but I have really enjoyed learning about his determination and dedication. I mean the guy doesn’t even eat chocolate and goes to bed at 8:30 in order to be in top shape! Consequently, I have developed quite the man-crush on Tom Brady.

So it is no wonder that when news broke that the Patriots had underinflated footballs, friends and family prompted me to abandon ship if I hadn’t already done so. My brother, Jared, went so far as to email me this oddly accurate analogy: 

“I know you enjoy a good analogy: Brady is like Anniken Skywalker; good and innocent in the beginning of his career, but after years of tutelage from the Emperor (Bellicheck) he has turned to the dark side.  Taking it one step further, you are like Luke, confused about whether to follow your father (Brady) or listen to the wise counsel of Yoda (myself).  Anyways, hope you are doing well and may the Force be With You.”

My mind is telling me that Brady isn’t being honest, but my heart is having a hard time with this one. It could be the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

Can I ever trust an athlete again? When is it okay to cheer for someone and when do you have to kick him to the curb? Is ignorance bliss? 

I don’t know the answers to these questions. I really don’t. I guess I will have to wait until next week to see if Yoda is having any effect on me.

-Kyle Von