Hey Chicago, Waddya Say...

This has been one hell of a week in Chicago. If you happen to live under a rock, let me fill you in: the Chicago Cubs just won the World Series on Wednesday. Let me repeat: The Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Wow, it feels so great to type that. After 108 years, the Cubs are the World Champs again. It's truly been incredible to witness and frankly, just a surreal thing to be a part of in the city of Chicago. The high that this city has been on is something that I have never experienced before and I couldn't be more grateful to have been a part of it first hand.

STATE CHAMPIONS!!!

My 2015-2016 basketball season began in East Harlem at the end of October and ended yesterday in Albany. And it ended with a mother fucking STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. That's right, East Harlem Pride won state!!! We won the New York State basketball championship. I can't even believe it. I thought winning City was unreal, but this takes the cake. This was something I have dreamed of since I was younger and had hoped it would be as a high school player in Illinois, but it's just as sweet as the head coach of a high school team in New York. I literally can't believe it. It's pretty surreal.

Following last Sunday's city championship win, this week was a bit of a whirlwind. It was a week of planning and organizing for the weekend in Albany with my team combined with the stress and excitement of preparing for the actual Championship game. This was major. If we were going to Albany, I didn't want to lose. I didn't want our perfect undefeated record tarnished and I wanted that State title. I was hungry for it. It's known that city teams don't often fare well in the State tourney (and for us the city title is really the big deal. State is just the icing on the cake.) Our team went three years ago (before I was the coach) and got smoked in the first round and went right back home. I definitely didn't want that to happen to us, but at the same time it took a lot of the pressure off me because that's kind of what everyone expected. Except for us. We knew we could actually win this whole thing. We believed we could.

We did It!!!

OMG, OMG. We did it. We won the chip!!!!!

This is a post I have been waiting to write since last year. This is a post that I deserve to write. This is a post that I am proud to write. And this is a post that caused tears to stream down my face as I wrote it. This is a HAPPY post! Finally!!!!! (So yes, for a first time in a long time, these are tears of joy. It's about damn time I had some of these.)

Today my basketball team won the mother-fucking New York City title. That's right, we did it!! After losing a heartbreaker last year in the same exact championship game, we had our redemption this year and pulled off a one point victory. We went 24-0 for the season and are going to Albany on Friday for the state tournament. This is so surreal to me. I literally cannot believe this right now. We did it!!!! (FYI, my Illinois peeps, I know where we grew up it was all about who won State and that's what everyone cared about. It's different here. Because New York is so big, the city championship is like the equivalent of winning state at home so this is kinda huge. We'll go on to state and play there, but it's not a big deal. We got that city chip and that's all that really matters.) 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

I know, I know...I haven't written lately. Some of you care. Some of you don't even notice. Either way, it's cool. Part of the reason I haven't posted was because nothing too exciting has gone on worth an entire post. Part of it was a little bit of writers block. And part of it was that I wasn't totally sure anyone really found it interesting what has been happening. But then I realized that I don't really care if other people read this or not, or care or not because ultimately, this blog is for me. It's for me to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of my life. And when I look back on these in a few weeks, months, or even years, I can remember what happened, how I felt, and how it shaped me even more.

The end of April and beginning of May has had its ups and downs as usual so here it goes...

It's over.

Well, today marked the last day of the basketball season for me. As long and exhausting as it has been, I didn't want it to end. Basketball is one of my great loves and will always be. Getting re-involved with it at such a competitive level this year again was invigorating. And fun. Besides my running, this gave me a purpose. So needless to say, I wasn't ready for it to end, and certainly not this way. We lost in the championship game this afternoon by four points. As I continue to wipe the tears from eyes, I know that I will eventually get over this in a few days, but for now, I am really sad.

At the end of October, I held my first basketball tryouts. It was kind of surreal but I felt I was a natural. I had played basketball for such a long time and have such a passion for it, I was psyched (and terrified) for the season. I came in with high expectations for this season, but wasn't totally sure that winning the city championship was a realistic goal. I wasn't totally confident in the skills of all the girls. As the season went on, I realized two things: 1) I had underestimated the girls tremendously. They were much better than I had originally given them credit for. And 2) The idea of winning a championship could definitely become a reality.

Lately...

I know I have been kind of MIA lately but life has been so hectic. A lot has been going on and my mind has been racing and my body has been moving. It's been hard to slow down for a second and really write. Nothing specific has really happened that has inspired me to write a post but since so much has been happening, I thought I'd kind of put it out there what I've been doing and what I've been into.

In the last month, I still have been living the usual life of working out, work, basketball, sleep, repeat. Of course there is eating in there (you can trust me on that), but that's about it.  I have time for the occasional errands and TV (duh!!) but not much else because in the little down time I get, I try to get just lay around alone to maintain my sanity. It's amazing though how you can be around people literally all day and then want some alone time, but then be lonely. But it's true because it happens to me every day.

All in all though, I can't really complain that much of my recent coming and goings, but here's the recent scoop of what's new. Here's what's been happening lately...

1) I discovered Broad City. Ummm where has this show been all my life? I don't know why it took me so long to find my absolute new favorite TV show, but this is it. Broad City is the shit. My parents bought Amazon Prime when it went on sale a few weeks ago and I got access to the account, naturally. I then ordered the Amazon Fire stick, and vóila, this was on there. I had heard about it a few times in passing but didn't really know what it was about. But as soon as I started it, I couldn't stop. It was freaking hilarious. Abbi and Ilana are my spirit animals and we need to be friends. They are too fucking funny. Seriously, if you haven't seen this show, start now. I am now all caught up with real time and it sucks having to wait a week in between episodes. #firstworldproblems

Lots of Firsts and Lots of Fun

Intense. Competitive. Animated. Loud. Sensitive. All words used to describe me as an athlete and now, as a coach. As our regular season of basketball begins to wind down and the playoff hunt is about to begin, I really can't believe all that this season has held. There have been many ups, and very few downs, thankfully, but all the new experiences I have gained from my first year coaching basketball have been educational and so much freaking fun. There have been so many firsts for me, and I still can't believe I am head coach of a girls varsity basketball team. It just seems so grown up. So serious. So awesome. But I guess that's me these days.

I'm Actually Doing This

On Wednesday, I had a kind of surreal experience. (One that is going to become a regular thing though.) I was coaching a girls varsity basketball team. In a game. Like for real. Well, almost for real, since it was a scrimmage. But it was me on the sideline leading the pack. I was calling out plays, yelling at my players, making subs, using the white board, giving words of encouragement, etc... I was really actually doing this. And it was so freaking fun.

After weeks of practice, my team finally had our first real test with this scrimmage. Full uniform, with a referee and running our plays. Even though I have coached a real varsity team before with flag football (and bowling), this was different. A gym basketball court is a much more intimate environment versus the football field. Saying my loud voice carries in there would be a great understatement. And lets not forget, basketball is one of my great loves so this is a big deal for me. This is special to me. I literally cannot wait for the regular season to begin. With a few more practices and one more scrimmage to go, we still have some learning to do and kinks to work out, but we are looking decent.  This whole thing is certainly a learning process for myself and the girls.

I'm a loser at losing

I am going to just put it out there: I fucking hate to lose. I don't just hate it. I FUCKING hate it. And frankly, I am not good at it. Simply put, I'm a loser at losing. I don't handle it well and it almost always ends in tears for me. It can be embarrassing sometimes, but such is my reality. This has always been an issue of mine and one that I can't seem to grow out of. Sometimes my competitive edge gets the best of me to an unhealthy degree. It happens with the pressure of I put on myself with running, and it carries over into other aspects of my life.

As many of you know, I spent this spring coaching a girls flag football team. I have coached the bowling team the last seven years (and none with winning seasons) and as much fun as it is, it's not a contact, competitive team sport like football. Growing up playing a ton of team sports, I know what its like to be a part of a team. There is so much more to it than playing. It's the game itself and the bond you form with your team. I know how it feels to win big games and lose big games. Obviously the feelings after these are dramatically different but the losses seem to be the ones I remember because of how upset I was after. Those games always seem to haunt me. (I can still vividly remember how my basketball season ended senior year of high school. Home playoff game. We were top seeded and lost to one of our rivals (who we had previously beaten already) with an half court buzzer beater. Needless to say, I was inconsolable. Yes, it still haunts me. I have issues, okay!)

So. Much. Fun.

Anyone that reads this blog or who knows me well knows I'm pretty much obsessed with sports. I love watching and playing most of them. It doesn't hurt that I am also good at them, naturally. Although my playing days are over except for the occasional rec league softball, football, or basketball game, I miss competition. Sure, I constantly compete with myself with my running and other fitness related activities and am always trying to better myself, but I often miss competitive team sports.

When I started teaching, I knew I wanted to get into coaching as well. Basketball was the obvious choice for me, but they already had a coach. However, the position of bowling coach opened up my second year and I took it. Why not, right? I have been coaching the bowling team the last seven years and its fun, but I wouldn't exactly say what I do is coaching. Sure, I give them some pointers here and there, but its more supervising and organizing. It doesn't have the excitement level of football or basketball.

Sports have Shaped Me

Most people that know me well know that sports are an important part of my life. They always have and always will be. I truly believe that all the sports I played when I was younger and the lessons and skills they have taught me have shaped me to be the woman I am today. This is something I am very proud of because I believe that playing sports has made me a strong, independent woman.

This week I attended an event for work at Madison Square Garden for National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Myself and other coaches in my school chaperoned 35 of our female athletes to this event where professional females spoke to our students and sat on a panel and answered questions for our girls. The girls got to see a female nutritionist who works with NFL and MLS teams, a former WNBA player, a college Athletic Director and a high school athletic director. Sports have obviously been an integral part of all these women's lives and they wanted to share their experiences with our girls and show them what sports had afforded for them as women and as professionals today.

Yes I am a Girl. And Yes I Love Sports

Okay listen up folks... I am a female. And I know and love sports!!

I love playing sports and I love watching sports. And I make no apologies for this. I was an athlete my whole life (and still consider myself one), so sports have been, and will continue to be a huge part of who I am. Recently, there was an article on Thought Catalog entitled "10 Struggles Every Female Sports Fan Knows." Basically, it was my life summed up. #TheStruggle.

If you don't want to go read that article, that's totally great because you can just stay right here and get MY point of view. I totally agree with all of the author's struggles and share VERY similar opinions on this matter. Therefore, I am going to use her ten struggles and address them in my own way from my experiences of being a female sports fiend.

A Girl's Guide to Football Sunday

Exciting news everyone: I am now also writing for the website Jones and B. Def click that link and check it out. It's a really fun, new blog on a number of topics and I am super excited to be writing for them, as well as continuing to post here. Everyone here knows I am a big sports fan so as long as football season just started, why not write a post about a female's point of view of Sunday Funday during football season? So without further adieu, here is my first post for the Jones and B website that I am also posting here. Why you ask am I posting here too? Because I wrote it, I like it, and I want peeps to not only read it here, but check out all the other awesome posts over there! Enjoy. 

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Well ladies, summer is basically over which pretty much blows. It’s getting darker earlier, our tans are fading, and it’s almost time to retire the sandals for the season. Blah. On the plus side, the weather is getting crisper, Halloween candy is out in stores, and football has finally started up again. Woohoo. As a female, many might not think I care that much about it football, but newsflash: I care. Born and bred in Chicago, I am a Bears fan through and through. And I know and love my football. Although the Bears continually disappoint me season after season, it does not stop me from rocking my Urlacher jersey every Sunday, talking shit to whomever will listen, and enjoying the game. Whether I am out at a bar or in the confines of my own apartment, football Sundays pretty much rule. (And a MNF isn’t so bad either.) I mean, what beats a day of watching jacked, grown men in tight white pants running around a field? Dayum.

Win it for Ware

I have a new crush in my life and his name is Kevin Ware. And yes, <gasp> he is a basketball player. Shocking, right? I most certainly have a type. I do love me some tall, athletic basketball players. But Kevin Ware is also in college. And before you think I am some cougar/cradle robber, I have my reasons for my new Kevin Ware crush. (And I am sure I am not the only female out there who feels this way.) My crush on Kevin Ware isn't an I-wanna-have-your-babies-crush, but an admiration-crush. 

In case you have been living in a bubble for the last few days and haven't watched the news or picked up a newspaper and don't know who Kevin Ware is, do yourself a favor and do NOT Google him. Although he is now kind of America's sweetheart, all that will most likely come up during your search are horrifying images and gruesome videos. Don't look at the pictures and don't watch the video. Trust me. (And for those who put them on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter, shame on you!) Lemme explain...

Impossible is Nothing

What inspires you? Is it people doing something they thought they could never do? Is it something that has never been done before? Is it overcoming odds? Making a comeback that no one ever thought was possible? Is it achieving a goal you or no one thought was ever going to happen?
 
There is a lot that inspires me. In fact, I am a huge sucker for inspirational stories, especially involving sports and weight loss. I love them. They motivate me, get me excited, and give me hope. They prove that as one of my favorite Adidas advertisements states "Impossible is Nothing." Goosebumps.

Everyone loves a feel good story. They show the good in the world and fuel positivity. And what's not to like about that?

Here are three videos you MUST see. None of them are super new, but ones that I have viewed again recently and yet still bring tears to my eyes. I can watch them over and over again and still be amazed.  Warning: You may want some Kleenex. Don't say I didn't warn you.

A Nice Little Sunday

I know many of you read this blog for my wit, my wisdom, and my random observations. AmIright? And of course, sometimes you even read for the daily minutiae of my life. Well, today, this post is about just that. In fact, its about yesterday. My nice little Sunday.

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest. More often than not, I use it just as that. Sometimes I will sit in my pj's all day watching TV, shower in the late afternoon only to put on a new pair of pj's. Those kind of Sunday's are awesome. Sometimes I will run errands all day and be super productive, but that's just exhausting for my last day before work starts up again. (And frankly, that's what Saturdays are for.) Other times, I will have a nice mix of relaxing and getting shit done. But not yesterday. This was a super-active one. And it was superb.

Since yesterday was such a fantastic Sunday, I felt the need to share. Naturally. I knew it was going to be a busy one so of course I planned to get plenty of rest as is par for the course for me. Of course I didn't sleep in, because I am old and if I sleep past 8 its a miracle, but I digress. This Sunday wasn't great because it had the makings of a typical NYC Sunday of boozy brunch and walking around, but it had activities. And I love "doing things." And yesterday I did three things that really made my day complete and were just so much damn fun. They were as follows...

Hey, I'm on vacay!

I was just home in Chicago for the past week for my winter vacation and as per usual it was great. It was the first time I have been home since July so it had clearly been way too long. I love, love, love going home and being with my family for some many reasons; it's the best.

When I am home, there are many things that I do (or don't do) because I am usually on vacation and therefore feel I can do whatever I want and because I can't necessarily do them on a normal basis in NYC. This winter break, there were quite a few things I did that I haven't done in a very long time. Below are some of the things I did at home this past week I rarely to never do in NYC, if ever, anywhere.

1) Skipped workouts. Hey, I'm on vacation so if I want to just lay on the couch all day long in sweatpants, I can. There's snow on the ground and temps are low which means this is not the best running weather for a person with little motivation at the moment. And did I mention I was on vacay? This means I don't have to anything I don't want to, right? But seriously, this has been the longest stretch of not working out since before I started training for the marathon. As much as I do find running and spinning therapeutic and do actually enjoy it most of the time, if I have to force myself to do it, it loses its fun-ness. (Yes, I really just used that word.) This week off will hopefully give my legs the rest they need and I will come back faster and stronger.

Yoga...its more than just the pants!

One of my goals this summer was to begin to take yoga. For both my physical and mental health, many of my family and friends, and even when I was in the hospital, my ER nurse suggested it. I mean, really, yoga couldn't really hurt me, but I really did want to get some benefits from it. I was hoping it would increase my flexibility, help with my upper body strength, lessen my anxiety and basically just mellow me out.

There were many reasons that I didn't do yoga before. I thought it would be too slow. Too boring. Not good enough of a workout. Too expensive. So many excuses. But this summer I vowed to give it a go because I thought I owed it to myself and my friends and family that really thought it would be beneficial to me.  Now that I have been doing yoga for a month now, there are quite a few things I appreciate it about it now.

Olympic Fever

Myself, like many others the last week or so has been swept up in Olympic fever. I am embarrassed to say how much Olympics I have been watching. But I love it. I am in awe of so many of the Olympians. The time, the effort, the sacrifice they have given to compete in these games is just incredible. And many of them have such inspirational stories, some of them even overcoming adversity as well. And I'm sure we all know that when I see a personal profile or montage on NBC about their inspirational story, I cry like a baby. Typical.

And lets also not forget about all the eye candy at the games as well. Hello Ryan Lochte, Jeff Adrian, the many Men's water polo teams, The US basketball team (obvi!), Matt Anderson (US Men's volleyball) and the list certainly goes on. And on. (Seriously, click those links!!) (And while you're at it, this one too because it will give you a chuckle.)

The Summer of George

"I proclaim this...the Summer of George!" One of the most well-known Seinfeld moments in the show's run. And this summer is not the first time I have used this mantra for myself, and I am sure it won't be the last. But this summer I am taking it up a notch.  I not only have the whole summer off to do whatever I want, I have decided that I want to use this time to try new things and explore more options for myself. I want to rise to a higher level. This my friends, is going to be awesome. Obvi.

I am going to have my "Summer of George" by trying to new things and taking a few more risks that I wouldn't normally do. It's not anything too out of the ordinary, but for me, its something new and exciting that in the past I may have poo-poo'd or not even given a second thought to. Some of the things I have tried/am going to try are...

1) Yoga. I have been told by numerous people to try yoga. It would be good for both my mind and body. I have always been told that I need to mellow out and yoga would help me do that. I have been told it might help with my stomach/UC issues as well. I also know that doing yoga would increase my flexibility and strength which I would def love, especially with my running. However, my major problem is that I am a little ADD. This was always my fear with yoga. I was afraid I would be so bored because of the slow pace of class. I mean, I am used to hard core spin or kickboxing classes, not mellow yoga. But you know what, I decided I wanted to incorporate it into my weekly routine and go at least once a week. So far, I have been good and stuck with it. And surprisingly enough, I have felt it in my body. I sweat like I am spinning and my muscles definitely were feeling it the next day. It's been an awesome challenge. But I must admit, that it has not been mellowing for me.