two pieces of journalism to read on a Sunday

when i grow up, i'd like to be able to write a story as good as the one that Thomas Lake wrote for Sports Illustrated this week.

when i grow up, i'd also like to write a story as good as the one that Dave Sheinin wrote for the Washington Post on Thursday.

both stories are about high school basketball (kind of). both are worth the read, even though it might be easier to pick up a Sports Illustrated magazine since the Lake story is 12 pages long on the computer.

butterfly in the sky, play us out.

a lot has changed at Broadwater over the years

i posted this link on my Facebook page on Wednesday but it's worth talking about here.

i had always heard stories about how my great grandma or some older relative had rode a horse to school every day (uphill both ways and in the snow) and i always chalked it up to one of those "that's a cute story mom, now leave me alone so i can play Nintendo" conversations. then i saw this picture.

this school was literally built in the middle of nowhere. if you were to see a picture of Broadwater Elementary school today, you'd see that it is currently surrounded by a bunch of houses, one of Billings' busier streets and the Dominos that i worked at throughout high school is right across the street.

i thought that it was funny that this school was apparently built on the outskirts of the western part of town. i guess that a lot can change in 102 years because that school is literally located five blocks away from downtown and it would now take 10-15 minutes to drive from the Broadwater parking lot to the western edge of town.

so yea, a lot of things can change in 102 years. hell, a lot of things can change in 15 years.

this summer will mark the 15th anniversary of my final year of elementary school. i looked at the staff list on the Broadwater Elementary website and i didn't recognize a single name on it.

Mrs. Helus, my sixth grade teacher? gone. Mrs. Larsen, my fifth grade teacher? see ya. Mr. Jones, my fourth grade teacher? deuces. Mr. Ravniker, my third grade teacher? there is no way that lady is still alive. since i don't remember who my second grade teacher is we'll skip on down to first grade and i haven't talked to Mrs. Brott since i graduated from high school and i haven't seen either of my kindergarten teachers (one stepped in after the other either got pregnant or died... this is actually still a mystery among me and some friends. i suspect that there may have been a cover-up from our parents) since my final nap time.

if i went to Broadwater Elementary today, i could probably find the fire chute and i could mark the spot where i set the single-season touchdown record as a fourth grader (this record book began and ended in 1994). and then i'd be promptly escorted from campus because creepers aren't allowed to just hang out at elementary schools.

i hope you enjoyed that trip down my memory lane.

Chris Brown, play us out.

an in-depth look at Justin Bieber's "Baby"

i found a link on Twitter the other day. it was kind of cool.

actually, as someone who is incredibly disappointed that his life isn't a musical, i always think that sporadic and choreographed dance numbers are awesome.

of course, after i watched the video once... 14 times, i had that song stuck in my head so i checked out the real music video online and became one of 688,312,610 people to view this video (or one of 16. those pre-teen girls literally have nothing better to do than watch the YouTube).

as i watched the Biebs serenade some chick who isn't Selena Gomez in a bowling alley, i became to dissect the video. so for today's blog, we are going to break down the Baby video. this is like Sportscenter but for weirdos who have way too much time on their hands.

• :03 -lots of spinning. we are three seconds into this thing and i am already dizzy.
• :08 - the girl has at least eight people in her party. Bieber rolls at least seven deep. i don't know of a bowling alley that allows more than six bowlers to a lane.
• :24 - coolest bowling ball ever?
  
• :39 - i've seen enough Law and Order episodes to think that was probably an inappropriate move by the Biebs.
• :58 - wait, there are 10 girls in the main girl's party.
• 1:04 - more spinning.
• 1:20 - Drake bowls?
• 1:34 - reason #189 why it must be nice to be Justin Bieber. if i'm at a bar and i place my drink within 12 feet of the pool table, the bouncer will run over to give me a warning. this kid gets to roll around on these things without any consequences.
• 1:43 - bowling alley dance-off. who hasn't been involved in one of these things?
• 2:04 - it's clear that none of these kids are wearing bowling shoes.
• 2:10 - more spinning.
• 2:13 - does anybody remember when Ludacris had street cred?
  
• 2:43 - that is a clear lane violation.
• 2:58 - ahhh, look at Bieber go. get it Biebs.
  
• 3:16 - as someone who is from Atlanta, Ludacris should know that nothing good can come out of putting a white boy in a headlock.
• 3:21 - more spinning.
• 3:32 - Bieber sealed the deal in less than four minutes. impressive.
• 3:45 - the end.

so there you go. i hope that you learned something today.

The Saturdays, play us out.

a lot of people that i like got married in 2011

last week, my former Kaimin co-workers took one step closer to a lifetime full of Kaimin lovin' as young Zachary dropped to one knee and pledged his love to young Allison. and i think that i speak for Team Kaimin when i say "Ka KAWWWWW ka ka ka KAWWWW KAW KAW KAWWWWW!!!"

(you non-Kaimin people probably have no idea what just happened)

but Allison and Zach's engagement rounded out a year full of love. i don't know if it's because i am getting older or because all of my friends got the wedding fever but i attended five weddings during the summer.

to recap:

on May 14, ms. Anna Cook got married to mr. Matt Bootenhoff. Anna is a former infielder/catcher for the Ball Bustas franchise. Matt is just awesome. the wedding was fun and i ran into an old high school classmate at the event so it's a memorable evening anytime that you can throw a Billings Senior reunion into the mix.

on May 28, mr. David Beck married the lovely ms. Heather Shade. David, who is the guy in the picture with a vest on, is the Ball Bustas' longtime left fielder while Heather, who is not pictured, has been a Ball Busta for two years. the night included lots of dancing and a post-wedding trip to the Dirty 6th to celebrate my 26th birthday. we then went on a boat the next day.

on June 18, ms. Emily Stark exchanged vows with mr. Seth Bamesberger. Emily joined the Ball Bustas during our second season and has been the Queen Bee of our group for just as long. Seth joined the Ball Busta outfield during our second year and soon fell in love with our right fielder. i wore a tie to the wedding because i was an usher (and a reader) and i was the best usher ever. seriously, i made Usher jealous of my usher-ing skillz. this wedding was a blast and it was a lot of fun seeing two of my best friends start a new life together. go Bustas.

on July 16, ms. Renee Mossberg married mr. Justin Mossberg. Renee was a longtime second baseman for the Ball Busta franchise and while i don't know Justin, i am sure that he is a good guy. the wedding reunited me with the Garcia sisters and allowed me to bid farewell to Renee, who moved to California right after the wedding.

On September 10, one of my closest friends got married as ms. MK Porter tied the knot with mr. John Rice at the same venue that ms. Renee Mossberg got married at about two months earlier. before she recently relocated to Houston, MK was the Ball Bustas' veteran pitcher while John was the team's biggest fan and the parent to the team's mascot. the battery to my camera died at the wedding so the above drawing is an artist's rendition of what my photo would have looked like with the happy couple.

so those were the weddings of 2011 that i attended. you'll notice that there was a theme and i guess that it's a safe bet that i may not have any more wedding to attend in the future as everyone on the softball team apparently got married this past year.

my sister got married in December (i didn't attend but more on that later) and the Squires-Franz and Holton-Potter couples announced their engagements too. i didn't get engaged or married but i couldn't be any happier with the girl that i love.

so here's to the happy couples.

Kelis, play us out. (non-Kaiminites probably won't get this reference either)