Wii are having fun

What a weekend. We had dinner on the Duke University credit card Friday night with a bunch of sportswriters. We had a great time catching up with my good friend Bryan Strickland who covers Duke Athletics for the Durham Herald Sun. He was coming into town to cover the Duke-Georgia Tech football game. We try to catch up whenever that occurs. So in an effort to get together he was invited to have dinner with other sportswriters, hosted by the Duke Sports Information Department. He inquired about us coming along. And Duke, fine institution that it is, welcomed us with open arms. Marvelous evening had by all.

Saturday we headed to Bobby Dodd Stadium on GT's campus to watch the Blue Devils, the new college football juggernaut take on the Yellow Jackets in a noon ACC football showdown. We did the traditional pre game, stopping at the world famous Varsity for some burgers. We then walked across North Avenue over the GT campus. As we discovered we had quite the tickets. These tickets had been purchased at a charity event by our friend Johnny Myers. These tickets ended up being 50 yard line and 12 rows up. Yeah, nice view of the action. Beautiful sunny fall afternoon. There is definitely something special about college football and all the fanfare and pageantry. College basketball is fun to watch in person, but is much more about the game. College football is an event. Before the teams came out, the famous Wramblin' Wreck drove out onto the field in between the band, and you could feel the energy in the air. The first half was very entertaining and Duke went into the locker room trailing by a field goal. Stacey and I were feeling pretty good about our chances. During halftime somebody told the Georgia Tech football staff that Duke doesn't have much of a secondary and well 27-0 happened. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.

Saturday evening we took it easy, recovering from not drinking enough water during the afternoon and both having headaches. That kind of stuff really sneaks up on you.

Sunday morning we went to church and heard a great sermon by Dr. Steve Hayner, the scholar in Residence at Peachtree Presbyterian. He teaches at Columbia Seminary in Atlanta. He is currently the chairman of the board for International Justice Mission, on the board for World Vision and was the former president of Intervarsity. How is that for credentials. He talked about the call Jesus gives us to reach out to the rest of the world. Sunday was World Communion Sunday and so there was a natural emphasis on remembering our fellow Christians throughout the world.

Sunday Evening Stacey and I attended a very interesting event. We have a rock star friend named Alan Yates. He has a band and has a couple of CDs. Well, Alan has developed a songwriting themed team building workshop for corporations. He needed to do a test run on the program on some people, so we were among the people. It was very cool. We actually wrote a song collectively and then his band performed it live. He also had created a presentation that gave an inside look at writing songs. Alan has been in the business all his life. His credits: Best friends with Collective Soul, touring with them at one point and helping to produce some of their music, he did some producing for Elton John, the White Stripes, and Sister Hazel. And on top of all of that, if not for Alan I would not have experienced some of the hot Atlanta bars. I went several times to local spots to watch him perform. I'm typically not a Dark Horse Saloon kind of guy. I think Stacey had a better time with the workshop than me. She was really good at coming up with song lyrics. I was impressed.

Finally, Stacey is now healthy again and thus we have started our Wii competition. We play tennis, baseball, bowl, and box. The Wii is the great equalizer and thus our battles are fierce. She bowls a mean wii game. I have figured out the baseball quicker than her, and we're pretty even in boxing and tennis. And when it comes to the Fit, she is a hula hoop fiend. I've never seen someone rotate their hips so fast.

One more item, this week is the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. It was started 9 years ago by INJOY, John Maxwell's organization. It is one of my favorite experiences. Great speakers, really fun moments and great music. My brother Ryan is coming down from Dalton with his Pastor and boss to attend the conference and they are staying with us. I'm really looking forward to attending with them and my Atlanta friends Johnny Myers and Roxie Chess. It's awesome. This year's speakers are Andy Stanley, Jim Collins (Good to Great), Seth Godin, Tim Saunders (former exec with Yahoo), William Young (The Shack), and more. The goofy thing they do is with 10,000 people attending they attempt to break a new Guinness World Record each year. I'm a part of the world's largest pillow fight, the largest frisbee toss, and largest dodgeball game. The year before I went they set the record for the most simultaneous whoopie cushion discharges. You get the picture. Who knows what this year will hold.

Enjoy your week and get a Wii, they're awesome.