Go Cubs Go!

It’s 12:02 am. Two minutes ago, it became November 3, 2016. Two minutes ago, when it was November 2, 2016, is a day that I will never forget thanks to five simple words, “The Cubs are World Champions.”

It all began 16 years ago when I was just seven years old. I remember the moment vividly. My family was on vacation, we were staying in a hotel somewhere. I was ready to go do whatever it was we were supposed to do next and no one else was, so I sat down on one of those extra-hard hotel beds and turned on the television. I start flicking through the channels and come upon a familiar, red letter C. I had just started playing baseball at the time and our team name was the “Cubs.” All of the sudden I hear the guys on the television start talking about the “Cubs.” I think to myself, “hey, that’s me.” I was instantly mesmerized, especially when the batter crushed the ball and started hopping as he watched it go over the fence. My first memory as a Cubs fan was a Sammy Sosa home run. It was glorious.

Later, came the dogs named Sammy and Sosa. My mom always liked to remind people that we named Sosa before the player Sammy Sosa was found to be using a corked bat like it somehow made him shameful. Meanwhile, every baseball player and then some (Sammy included) was juiced on every steroid under the sun. It was an exciting time to be a baseball fan and Sammy will always be the reason I chose to start rooting for the Cubs.

I remember the pain of 2003 and feeling so sorry for Steve Bartman. I remember Dusty Baker pitching Kerry Wood and Mark Prior into the grave. I remember Carlos Zambrano punching out Michael Barrett. I remember the years where the Cubs were out of the race by May 31. I remember feeling jealous of Cardinal fans.

Above all else, I remember feeling like I would be like all those other Cub fans. I would grow cynical and believe in curses. I would be afraid of postseason baseball. At the ripe age of 21, I thought that I might never see the Cubs win the World Series, just like so many other Cubs fans over the past 108 years.

But then, last year happened. I saw and got to root for a team that believed in themselves and believed in each other. They were not going to let any billy goat or black cat or fan impeding the catching of a foul ball define them as men and define them as a team. They were youthful and it showed, but they were talented and that showed more. All of the sudden I knew. I knew that if not this year, sometime very soon I would get to hear those precious words, “The Cubs are World Champions.”

Tonight was surreal. I never believed for a second they would lose that game. From the moment Dexter smacked that ball over the fence in the first inning to the moment Rajai Davis tied the game at six in the bottom of the eighth, I knew the Cubs were going to win tonight because this Cubs team was different. All season, they were never rattled. They never showed any signs that they didn’t believe in each other and in their coaches, despite everyone around them second guessing anything and everything Joe Maddon did.

It couldn’t have happened to a better group of guys. Everyone played a part and I am just so glad I got to witness history. I love this team. Congrats to the Indians on a great season and a historic Game 7 effort, but tonight is the Cubs night.

“Hey Chicago, what do you say?
The Cubs are gonna win today.
They’re singing….
Go Cubs Go!
Go Cubs Go!

Unwholesome Speech

As I was reading through the book of Ephesians today, I came across a part of the book that really impacted me while I was a student at Northwest Missouri State. During my sophomore year, the Navigators Bible Study I participated in was about the book of Ephesians. Many of us guys really tried refining our speech because of the truth found in the back half of Ephesians 4 and front half of Ephesians 5.

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." -Ephesians 4:29-32

Pretty heavy stuff eh? This set of verses just really struck me this morning with everything I have seen on social media the last month or so. From a gorilla being shot to the travesty that happened in Orlando a couple of days ago. People have poured out their opinions all over Facebook with an incredible force.

I know for me personally, one of the more igniting things that I read about had to do with Chick-fil-a. I was so impressed with how they were representing the Gospel it actually made me angry with the people that I worked with this last year who repeatedly talked about how awful Chick-fil-a was because they do not support marriage equality. Woah did I feel convicted this morning. "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." I don't think for a second Chick-fil-a did what they did because they felt like they needed to prove to anyone that they are good people or a respectable company. They were simply being kind and compassionate towards a group of people that were/are spiritually, emotionally, and physically broken. (Side note, if you don't know what Chick-fil-a did, here is a link http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/13/chick-fil-responds-orlando-massacre-free-food-bloo/)

For the rest of us, I imagine many of you have felt some sort of way about gun restriction recently. By no means, do I believe that having an opinion on this issue is sinful or wrong. However, I do think there may be something wrong with believing that these types of discussions have to happen right now. I understand it is human nature. Orlando was the cause, outcries of how we distribute guns is the effect. I just ask that you remember the truth that the Holy Spirit gave Paul some 2000 years ago. Do not allow any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. More importantly, ensure that everything you are saying is seeking to build others up according to their needs. Right now? The families and friends of those slaughtered don't need to hear about the right to bear arms. They need to hear about how Christ loves them and died for them and is standing right there beside them while they are in pain. He knows the feeling and can help them for eternity. Taking away assault rifles from American citizens is going to do nothing for their emotional pain.

Later on Ephesians 5 Paul gives us some guidance on how to make our speech reflect these things.

"Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving." -Ephesians 5:4

It is simple really. Dive into thanksgiving. Start thanking God for all the incredible things he has done and is doing in your life. It will make the things like the second amendment arguments and gorilla killings seem a lot less important. Leave sarcasm and hurtful speech at the front door aka don't bring it to the internet, instead seek to fulfill the needs of others.

The Power of Social Media: Aggie Edition

The credit for the foundation of this blog goes to Mike & Mike in the Morning, a sports talk radio show on ESPN every weekday morning.

The power of social media is a real and slightly terrifying fact. It must not be ignored. I am sure many of you have been instructed about the importance of protecting your image by being cautious about the things that you tie to your name on the internet. However, it seems that no matter how many warnings we receive, we allow for emotion to overcome us and cause us to post things on social media that we don't want to be there. 

This morning I was listening to Mike & Mike and they were talking about the wide receivers coach at Texas A&M that had posted the following statement on Twitter,

"I feel sorry for ppl who never understand loyalty. I can't really even vibe with u. At the end of the day trust is  & everything else is BS"

At face value, it doesn't look to bad except for the fact that he spelled people without any vowels and used the letter "u" in place of the actual word. Bottom line, loyalty and trust are the most important things in this world. We can regard anything that doesn't resonate with trust and loyalty as some bull taco.

The problem? This was tweeted exactly 6 minutes after Texas A&M recruit, Tate Martell, announced this on Twitter...

"After talking with my family aboutwhat is best for my future, I havedecided to reopen my recruiting process."

Honestly, the player has the right to do this and he did so in a very clean, no disruptive manner. He didn't slander A&M or even talk about what caused him and his family to come to this decision. He made a verbal commitment to them, but never signed any papers and colleges do this same thing to players all the time so I have zero sympathy for A&M.

I feel like you are starting to see what happens. Well the coach followed up that tweet with this gem about 24 minutes later...

I wasn't even talking about who everyone thinks I'm talking about. I didn't even know #badtiming #relevanttho #stillnoloyalty

This would have been a fine response had he stopped at the #badtiming. Instead, he opened up an uncontrollable can of worms. Now, the world is seeing the Texas A&M wide receivers coach as the kind of person that will call high school kids out on Twitter.

Think this is bad? It got worse.

An hour later, a wide receiver named Mannie Netherly announced that he was removing his commitment to Texas A&M for the following reason...

"After tonight I see what kind of person my "future coach" is & I myself don't wanna play for someone like that so without further adu I would like to announce that I am decommitting from Texas A&M" 

Of course, the dude doesn't notice that he is already drowning and says...

"People act like the truth is all the sudden a bad thing. Society is too sensitive. Y'all boys soft. #texastough"

"I love Texas A&M football. I guard it and respect it with my life. I don't take that lightly day to day"

That last bit is nice in theory, but this guy has already lose his beloved Texas A&M football team a recruit tonight. I would say that's some pretty bad guarding.

"I would like to say thank you to TAMU & fans but due to some tweets subtweeted towards my brother, I will no longer be looking at A&M."

And....another one bites the dust. Tyjon Lindsey tweeted this later that night. Granted he was not yet committed to A&M, but he is surely not going to be doing it now.

Moral of the story? Well, there are a couple. First, if you are the adult, act like the adult. I don't know if the original tweet was in response to the decommittment or not, but it doesn't matter because I imagine that everything would have just gone away if he hadn't sent out that second tweet. It's obvious the coach was riled up by people responding to his tweet about trust and loyalty. All he had to do was say to himself "okay, who cares if they think that." Instead he tweets again and starts saying things with the intent to hurt peoples' feelings. A couple hours later he has shamed the school and football program he loves so much. I imagine today he is kicking himself because all he had to do was not hit ENTER and much of this would not have happened. Second moral: think about the consequences of the things you do and say.

Man, I can't imagine how pissed the head coach is.

Chapter 2: The Girl Across the Track

 Okay, some of you probably read Chapter 1 of my short story. I have written Chapter 2, but it takes place about 1 year before the scene in Chapter 1. I will distinguish them with italics. Everything that is in italics from here on out is a memory aka in the past. Anything not in italics, is the present tense. This Chapter is particularly confusing because I have a memory inside of the past. The memory is all indented and bolded in a different font so you can really tell what is a memory and what isn't. Hope it's not too confusing, but I believe this particular memory needs to be in this part of the story. If you have questions I can answer them. Without further adieu, Chapter 2....

Chapter 2: The Girl Across the Track

     I jog over to the water jug, sweat dripping from my brow. The first glass goes in my face as I try to offer my skin a little relief from the ever-present Waco, Texas sun. As I bring the second glass to my lips I stop, frozen by one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. 

     Long, strong legs freshly tanned from the beating sun. Blonde hair, stopping just above her shoulders. Her eyes, a deep enough blue that I can see them clearly from almost 200 feet away. And her smile, it's mesmerizing. I suddenly start to feel myself smiling as well. 

     She made me smile. It feels unnatural. I think back to the last time I smiled. 

“It’s been awhile Jackson, I miss that beautiful smile of yours,” my mother said, her voice barely exceeding a whisper.

“Not a lot to smile about these days ma,” I respond, my voice choppy as I struggle to hold back the tears.

“Which is why you need to let me go. I can already feel myself fading away. Your time caring for me is over, it needs to shift to your brother now. He is going to need you now more than ever.”

“Stop it. You can’t leave us. I’m not ready.” My voice elevating as I give up trying to stop myself from crying.

“Would you – give this to – Harrison for me?” She hands me a note, her question interrupted by fits of coughing. “I know – he is going to be – angry with himself for not being – here. I want – him to know that – I forgive him.”

“This can’t be it, I –“

“I love you Jackson. Be strong my son.” And just like that, her eyes closed and she was gone.

I drape my arms over her, my sobs muffled by the sheets of the bed. I don’t notice the nurse come and close the drapes. I close my eyes, remembering. Remembering the joy and honor with which my mother lived her life and I was overcome with an untimely sensation. I felt at peace. 

     I break free from my daydream. I notice I am much more in control of myself than I generally am when I remember my mom. For the past six months, every memory has resulted in thrown objects, screaming, uncontrollable crying or some combination of those three.

     This girl. There is something about her that makes me feel alive in ways I haven’t felt in a long time.

She turns and for a brief second we make eye contact. It feels strangely divine, but I turn away instinctively, looking back towards my now half-empty glass of water. Soon after, I am interrupted by the sound of someone approaching. 

     “You alright bro?” 

        I turn; it’s my best friend Nigel also known as Ninja by everyone that doesn’t want a fist to their nose.

     “Yeah Ninja, I’m good. Just thinking about my ma, that’s all.”

     “Still hurts doesn’t it? You need anything you let me know. Coach Baxter wants us over on the blocks to practice our starts. Head over when you good.”

     “Thanks man.”

      I turn to look at her one last time, this time I catch her staring at me this time. She quickly dashes her eyes away and continues stretching. I finish my water and head over towards where Ninja and the rest of the sprinters are practicing their starts. But the only thing I can think about is the fact that I have to meet the mysterious, beautiful girl from across the track.   

Artemis Fowl: Reliving my Youth

For the most part, I really dislike reading fantasy. Of course I love the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, but the has some really awesome illustrative ideas. Pretty much everything else, Harry Potter included, just can't really get me going. That being said, when I was younger I fell in love with the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. I can't quite discern why it happened, but it did.

Recently, I have discovered that I still really enjoy the books. Maybe it's driven by nostalgia or maybe the books are just well written. For those that don't know, the Artemis Fowl series revolves around an incredibly intelligent teenage boy that has a fascination with the supernatural. Thanks to his father, he is obsessed with acquiring money because as daddy always said, "Aurum Potestas Est." Translation: Gold is power. The connection? As legend tells, leprechauns always carry a pot of gold around with them. Ergo, capture a leprechaun, capture their gold.

Little does Artemis know that there is actually much more to the supernatural race that even he realizes, and he knows much much more about "The People" (as the book calls them) than any other human ever has. Unfortunately for The People, he also knows more than any of them would ever expect.

I won't tell much more because I don't want to spoil the books in case someone finds them interesting. However, I can offer up some general information.

Some characteristics of the series...

• High action - Artemis is constantly looking for his next adventure and it drives each book through a variety of twists and turns
• Awesome characters - You will fall in love with so many of the characters. They each have such a dynamic impact in each book and Colfer does such a great job of building a unique personality for each one.
• Great villains - Hint: Artemis Fowl is not always the villain. Sometimes he is and sometimes he plays an interesting antihero, but overall the villain in each book is really well done. It makes you root for the protagonists hard.
• Really interesting relationships - There are some fascinating relationships among characters, some right out in the open and others kind of subtle. This is particularly true among the characters that are a part of "The People."\
• Redemption - There is a ton of redemption in the series. Characters are constantly changing and mostly are seeking to better themselves. (Can't share much here because it's a big part of the stories)

All this being said, I think the thing that I love the most about the series is the fact that it's just fun. The books don't make me think about great moral questions or force me to look into my life introspectively. They don't take a ton of effort to understand and can be read through quickly. (I have finished the first three books of the series in 2 and a half weeks.) It opens your mind to something that is so beyond the realm of possibility it provides a cool escape from the world. If anyone has read the series and has their own opinion about it let me know.

Once a Bearcat, Always a Bearcat

If you clicked on this blog hoping to see some sort of Bearcat Spirit post you are probably going to be pretty underwhelmed with what I bring to the table. Don't get me wrong, I love Northwest and I love that I will be a Bearcat forever. Maryville, MO and everything that comes with it will always have a special place in my heart.

From Wing Night at Carson's to Mozingo to Happy Garden to the little patch of slippery pavement where we always played basketball to even the corny little paw prints that lead you from downtown Maryville back to campus. The memories are endless, especially when I think about the things that Claire and I got to do together in a little town in the corner of the state.

However, at the root of each of these wonderful things are people. The relationships that I had and still have and experiences I shared with these relationships are what make me excited about saying "once a bearcat, always a bearcat."

I am sure I will expand on this at some point and talk about my favorite places in Maryville. Heck, I might even do it today, but for now this is not the purpose of my post. Over the past six months, I have deduced that it is pretty sweet to work a high school students' schedule. Being that I am not a teacher, I get all "Teacher Work Days" off just like the kids do. Tomorrow is a teacher work day, aka party time for paraprofessionals because we can sleep in and don't have to work.

Therefore, I will be taking advantage of my day off to travel north to one of those places that just always warms my heart: Maryville, MO. It has been a while since I got to visit Bearcat Country and even longer since I have been able to enjoy a Thursday Night Nav Night. In fact, for those keeping a record at home, I haven't been to Nav Night since I cried my eyes out during my final Nav Night as a student. Man, it's going to be weird being back.

I will be doing my best to get some time with anyone that would like to catch up, but my time is pretty limited. Claire and I have to live in separate cities during the week because of an internship she has for school, so I will be leaving Friday afternoon to go spend the weekend with her. OABAAB

Snapchat is the dawn of the dawn of millennials ability to communicate effectively

I think we all know about the downfall of millennials when it comes to personal interaction and the building of relationships face-to-face. Many blame an increased usage and borderline dependency on social media and texting, and I tend to agree with them. However, a phone application has gone even further into ruining our interpersonal communication skills. Snapchat.

It would make sense to think that Snapchat was the hope of humanity for the lives of young people. Once again, nonverbal communication was back on the map. While fleeting, facial expression had come back for 1-10 seconds nonetheless.

Many of you are probably sitting there thinking, "But Mr. Kraft, Snapchat brought faces back into our conversations. How could it be a bad thing?" I will tell you. As I mentioned before, Snapchats are fleeting lasting all of 10 seconds at the most. Yet, many have substituted Snapchat for many other forms of communication. Why? Because it is even easier then texting. You snap a face and write something that barely resembles a sentence and the whole process of transmitting a message to another person is over. At least with texting, we were not constrained to some ridiculous character limit that makes tweets look like a novel. Texting and Facebook, albeit impersonal in their own regard, allowed for individuals to actually communicate about real things. You can't communicate much meaningful information over Snapchat for two reasons. First, the receiver has such little time to process the information. Second, it disappears almost instantly. My greatest fear is that people are replacing the replacement for real communication with Snapchat.

The ugliest part about this is that it gets even more impersonal with Snapchat Story mode. Snapchat has devised a scheme to allow people to post photos, essentially documenting their lives so that other people can take a look into it without ever having to talk to them. You ever realize that?

I will give you an example for me personally. Hunter Davis, knew him in college, but never too well. We got lunch together once. It was a great time, big fan of the dude. However, keeping up with people is hard and you will learn you have to pick and choose. Reality is, he isn't someone that I feel like I need to work extra hard at to maintain a friendship. If I went back to Maryville and saw him, would totally say hi but I don't make it a point to try and skype or call him once a month like some of the other guys at Northwest. I digress, back to my point. I know more about that kid through his Snapchat story than I ever knew about him when I lived in the same city as him. I know he went to a lake last summer, his floor decorations were Mario Bros. (they looked awesome), he has quite the obsession with Snapchat filters, and he does this thing where he zooms in on peoples' face and when they turn to face the camera he shouts "Got em!" It's really hilarious actually.

I have a challenge for you all. Look through your Snapchat history or whatever you want to call the place full of little see-through squares and sideways arrow looking things. When was the last time you talked to, texted, skyped, facebook messaged, facetimed, etc. with this person and more importantly, when was the last time you talked to that person about something that's more meaningful than a picture you took of your food or at a baseball game or studying or at the gym. If it's been awhile, call that person up, set up a lunch date, text them asking them how their lives are going and tell them something cool about yours. Anything to make sure that they know your relationship does not exist solely via funny faces on Snapchat. Bottom line, you should never be using Snapchat as a means to quantifying or qualifying a friendship.

Okay, now I feel I should conditionalize this whole thing. Snapchat in-it-of itself is not evil. It is brilliant technology and can be a lot of fun. I have it myself and use it pretty sparingly, but I still use it sometimes and I have to admit that Snapchat stories are a nice thing to look through when you are using the toilet. Yep, it's true, if you post a lot of stories I have probably viewed one of yours while I was on the can.

I just plead that none of you use Snapchat as a means to facilitate a friendship or to keep in touch with someone that truly means something to you. For people important to you, make sure you know more about them from real communication than the information you acquire via their Snapchat Story.

The Life of a Paraprofessional A-Z (at least the life of Mr. Kraft)

A - Art. Can you believe it? My favorite class I work with is art. I hated, like really hated, art when I was a student, but I have loved getting to help my kids with their art projects. They are really cool looking as well.
B - Balance. Figuring out how to best help the kids learn and not do the work for them.
C - Cares. This is kind of cheating, the correct term is "Parkview Cares." One day this year the whole school went into the community at various locations and participated in an event where we served businesses and churches in Springfield. It was awesome.
D - Doughnuts. Man I have had a lot of doughnuts at work this year, specifically from Ray's Donuts. The teacher that always brings them in is such a nice man. He always tells us "Ray came to visit" even though we all know it is him.
E - Excitement. Millard South was boring. Notably at pep rallies. The pep rallies here are legitimately fun and enjoyable. At my school it was taboo to be excited at a pep rally.
F - Fun. Aside from my job as an RA I have never had a job that I found as fun. I love getting to hang out with high school students all day.
G - Germane. Or lack thereof. For those that don't know, "germane" essentially means on topic or pertinent to conversation. These kids  find ANY possible way to get off topic. Their favorites: video games, significant others/relationships, and "Mr. Kraft what are you doing this weekend?" No lie I get these questions in the middle of the teacher teaching.
H - Horrendous. This kind of goes along with the odor thing, but here I am not talking of body smell. Some of the gas these kids release can only be described with one word. Horrendous.
I -Ingenious. Ha yeah right. The way these kids try to hide things like cell phone usage and listening to Youtube instead of working on math is everything but ingenious. It is borderline comical actually.
J - Joyful. This pertains to myself and the kids. I spend a majority of my day excited about my job and most of the kids are joyful about their lives and have at least a small interest in learning.
K - Kaitlyn. If I was allowed to have a favorite student she would easily be my favorite. (aka she is my favorite student). She doesn't let anything hold her back and attacks the world with a determination that is so inspirational. Her desire to support and care for her sisters is special. On top of all that, she is hilarious.
L - Learning. This is more for me personally. I have learned so much about myself, especially the type of person I used to be from this job. Watching guys that remind me of myself in high school has allowed for me to realize I wasn't always the nicest person. I am glad I have changed.
M -Materialistic. Ugh the number of my students that are obsessed with the way they look and the things they own makes me sick. This is especially true for the kids that are addicted to their cell phones.
N - New. I learned a lot of new things when I worked in a woodshop class. I helped build a bird house, really sweet chess board, and fixed Claire and my coat rack.
O - Odor. I really hope I didn't smell like these kids when I was in high school.
P - PATIENCE. Never in my life have I had to take so many deep breaths to keep myself from bashing my head into the wall. This does not just pertain to students. Coworkers too.
Q - Quiet. Yeah, this is a joke.
R - Respect...or lack thereof. There is a sense of entitlement in children these days that is ruining them for the real world. Things you aren't entitled to: using your cell phone in class, talking back to the teacher, talking when another teacher/student is teaching.
S - Skyrim. Not kidding you, the same kid asks me hypothetical questions about the video game Skyrim at minimum once per day. Many times the questions repeat from previous days. I have never felt such strong anger towards something as silly as a video game.
T - Trust. I think this is probably one of my favorite ones. I have gotten to know these kids well enough that they trust me and respect me much more than they did at the beginning of the year. Honestly, many of them trust me more than some of the teachers because I have taken an interest in them as a person not just "one of the students."
U - Unity. I don't know if this exists at other schools, but I have been really impressed with the cohesiveness of the staff and students (for the most part) at Parkview.
V - Vikings. We are the Vikings which is a pretty awesome mascot.
W - Walking Competition. The different schools in Springfield are currently battling to see which staff can walk more steps. Almost everyone in the Special Education department is getting way into it. If you guessed, I could care less. Of course I get nominated as a team leader.
X - Xylophone. Because there is a xylophone in the band and I can't think of any words that begin with this letter.
Y - Yearning. I think one of the most impactful things that this job has taught me is that I want to instill a yearning for knowledge into my children. I want them to desire to better themselves educationally and challenge their minds so that they can be intelligent and competent in the real world.
Z -Zany. There are just things that I can't help but laugh at. For example, one of my students during peer editing always reads his partner's writing and blurts out "What the heck is this" in a volume that might just be a little to loud. I then ask what he thinks should be improved and he responds with "write better."

Chapter 1: Broken

So I have been thinking about writing a short story/novel for a long time. I am talking like, I thought about this during high school long time. I always get frustrated and stop because it just feels like I can't get the description and emotion I desire. I am flirting with a way to incorporate this into my blog. If there is some interest in my story then I will keep writing. If no one except my best friend and wife enjoy it, then I may continue writing, but just won't post it on my blog. Therefore, I need input. Whether you love it or hate it please let me know. I have finished the first "chapter" which pretty much just means this is where I decided to stop writing for now. Here goes nothing...

Chapter 1: Broken

I look down at the paper.

Nashville

Her smile.

Her laugh.

Our love.

My joy.

Gone.

I scoff at myself. This has got to be one of the worst things that I have ever written, and is certainly not going to help my drowning grade in English class. I have never understood English teachers and their obsession with poetry. The ability to write is one thing, we all need to do that, but poetry is reserved for a special kind of person. The unique blend of emotional creativity and over the top language resides in very few people.

However, I find myself reacting to my poem, which is supposed to be symbolic of good poetry right?

I feel my eyes start to sting as tears attempt to break free. I breathe deeply and quickly shut them down. My teacher interrupts my uncomfortably personal moment.

“Jackson, will you be turning in a poem today or will I have to call your father about your grade AGAIN,” Mr. Carlson practically spitting the words at me.

I apologize softly and hand my paper to the girl in front of me. I don’t even know her name. She, like much of this school, refuses to acknowledge I am a person.

As I swing my eyes back towards my desk, I notice her looking at me. The brief eye contact scares her, and she turns back towards the front. It’s like the connection of our pupils will turn her to stone. In reality, the most important part of her, her heart, has already been turned to stone. Her father made sure of that.

“Sarah, would you please read your poem aloud?” Mr. Carlson asks.

“I would really rather not,” she replies, her voice filled with fear.

“Well I wasn’t really asking. You were selected out of the hat. Participation is a large part of your grade. Stand and read your poem.”

She rises out of her seat, her hands shaking. I whisper “everything will be alright,” hoping that she would somehow be able to hear it and receive some sort of comfort.

Broken – no, wait

How will I ever go back?

What you did to me,

It’s unforgiveable.

The impact will be lasting.

Was that what you wanted?

Every day I wake up sure of two things,

I will be crying and I will be confused.

Forever.

Forever I am broken.

No wait, broken doesn’t do me justice.

Ruined.

Stained.

Lost.

“Sarah, wonderful job. There was some serious –,” Mr. Carlson is cut off as Sarah runs out of the classroom crying.

The only thing keeping me from getting up and clocking this jerk right in his jaw are the words that Dr. Granger reminded me of the last time I got suspended, “last straw.” I can’t get expelled. She needs me.

Happy Friday.

It's Friday. I get to see my wife tonight. We are going to a Royals game. Just so much to be happy about. Then, one of my students shows us this video of Pentatonix singing a collection of popular songs through the ages. You know what all of these things have in common? They are fun. If you haven't ever listened to Pentatonix before you should really check them out, especially if you were a fan of Pitch Perfect (the first one, we all know that second one was just a bad nightmare). Happy Friday and enjoy listening.

Is it finally little bear's year?

It was so much easier and less stressful to cheer for them when they were the butt of every baseball joke that didn't involve the Kansas City Royals. Now, ESPN and the media have gone out of their way to make it appear that the MLB season doesn't even need to be played. Let's just hand the Cubs the trophy and move on with our lives. Need I remind them this is the most disappointing franchise in sports history. Time and time again they blow opportunities.

For those that didn't know, I LOVE the Cubs. They are probably my second favorite sports team outside of Nebraska Football, but honestly I would be more excited about a Cubs World Series than a Nebraska national championship simply because of the distance between the last one for each team. The Huskers won the national championship as recently as 1997. The last Cubs World Series? 1908, for those of you counting at home, that is a 108 year gap.

Cubs fans have come up with too many curses to count: the Billy Goat, the black cat, the infamous Steve Bartman. Personally, I don't believe in curses in the traditional sense. I do believe in the crippling effect of believing in a curse and the kind of impact that can have on performance. When that Steve Bartman incident happened in 2005, I knew the Cubs were going to lose that series because all at once everyone at Wrigley had a "here it comes again" face. If you believe you are going to lose, 9 times out of 10 you will lose.

I am so excited and nervous for this season at the same time. I LOVE this team. They are young, fun, hammer the baseball and play as a unit. They have depth. They got a lot of great experience for their young roster in last season's surprise run. They pick each other up. So why be nervous? Because it's the Cubs and for whatever reason, it just never works out. The last time they were given the World Series before the season was over they were swept in the Divisional Round in 2008. A Divisional Round sweep for this team would be inexcusable. You don't add Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, and John Lackey to a NLCS contender and expect to go backwards.

The season kicked off last night with a 9-0 win over a pretty good Angels team. Their bats were put to sleep by one of the best, if not the best pitcher in baseball right now and the pitching of the Angels just isn't up to par with the depth of the Cubs lineup. Here's to hoping the Cubs don't remember they are the Cubs and believe they can win. I sure do.

Bold Predictions About the Cubs this season...

1) Record: 101-61 (win the NL Central and have the best record in baseball)
2) Jake Arrieta wins 20 games again and takes home his second consecutive Cy Young
3) Kyle Hendricks, not John Lackey, will be the 3rd best starting pitcher on this team
4) Anthony Rizzo will have another 30+HR, 100+RBI season, but will finish 2nd in MVP voting to Bryce Harper. In fact, he may finish 2nd to Bryce Harper for the MVP at some ridiculous rate over the next 10 years. I say it happens 5 times.
5) The Cubs will break the single season Home Run record of 264 by the 1997 Seattle Mariners
6) Jorge Soler's home run total will be double the number of times himself and Javier Baez's names get thrown around as trade bait
7) After a rocky Spring Training, Hector Rondon will save 20 games in a row at some point this season and will have more than 40 saves
8) The Cubs will win the NLCS in a dramatic seven-game series over the even numbered dynamos aka the San Fransisco Giants (the Giants have won the World Series the last three even-numbered years: 2010, 2012, 2014)
9) The Cubs will sweep whoever represents the American League in the World Series
10) My wife and I make it to at least one Cubs game this season

I Hate April Fool's Day

Honestly, there will be zero April Fool's jokes in this blog.

I have hated this day since middle school and that passionate dislike has only grown over the years. Granted, if you know me you know I am not a big fan of many holidays, including but not limited to: St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, Halloween, and April Fool's Day. Each comes with its own set of frustrations.

St. Patrick's Day - I never remember its coming because it is such a useless celebration which results in one of my least favorite things in the entire world, getting pinched. I despise getting pinched. I would rather have my hair pulled. I don't ever wear green. The only green clothes I own are Northwest Missouri State t-shirts. If you had to wear red on St. Patrick's Day I would be okay because I wear something red about every other day. I also hate that it's just turned into another excuse for people to get plastered because restaurants serve green beer. Here's a little hint, you could put some green food coloring in beer any day of the year at home and it would be the exact same thing.

Valentine's Day - I just don't like being told when I am supposed to be romantic. I have always been a pretty romantic person on my own and the expectation that I should show my wife that I love her "more" on this day is ridiculous. I desire to love her more and more every day of my life not some random day in February. Last reason, those chalky, candy hearts have to be some of the nastiest candy on Earth.

Halloween - The day just screams evil to me. A majority of people dress up as monsters and go around scaring people. I don't like to be scared and I do not enjoy scaring other people. Therefore, I spend a majority of Halloween trying to pretty much avoid anywhere. Plus, the older I have gotten the more revealing women's Halloween outfits have gotten and it makes me uncomfortable. To add insult to injury, most tv stations run awful horror movies for like 24 hours so when I am avoiding people I can't even watch tv.

April Fool's Day - This brings me to today. The worst of all holidays. Can it even be considered a holiday? We are literally celebrating nothing. At least the others have some back story for their existence. Today millions of people will be publicly humiliated by their bosses, teachers, friends, coworkers, etc. They might get an oreo filled with toothpaste or told they got fired or told they are getting broken up with. Don't worry innocent people, because after you get the shame and embarrassment you get told "April Fools" like that makes it all better. Anyone heard about the movie "The Purge?" April Fool's day is the public shaming version of The Purge. For one day of the year people can run around without social consequence being mean to each other and making their lives miserable. Honestly, don't play an April Fool's joke on me unless you want me to get "Jason trapped in the car being driven to the Pirates movie" kind of mad. If you don't know how mad that is, go ask Matt Kraft, Dan O'Neill, Logan Miller or Jim Wardian and they will assure you that you don't ever want to make me that mad.