new york, new york

It has been a great week so far as I participate in a swing of college fairs throughout western New York. I spent Monday and Tuesday in Buffalo and then headed over to Rochester for some fair sessions at the Riverside Convention Center. Definitely some of the more social fairs I have attended -- last night I went out to local haunt the "Dinosaur BBQ" with several reps from other schools. Always cool to meet nice people in your same profession, although I am certainly not the representative to do that sort of thing at every fair I attend.

Tomorrow I have a session of the Rochester fair in the afternoon, and in the free moments I will no doubt be enjoying the third round of the TPC at Sawgrass (it should be golf's 5th major). Hopefully Tiger can get it together in rounds 3 and 4 -- he often does, as we have seen already this season. Too bad as well about Duke and Gonzaga -- SportsCenter this morning had an amazing statistic: in no year have all four #1 seeds made it to the Final Four. I guess when you think about it, that does make a lot of sense. The odds are not particularly in that outcome's favor.

Missing Michigan, but always thankful to come back and see family and friends -- to remember my roots, so to speak. Have a great weekend!

road trip take II

I probably should call it "air trip part I", but I kind of like the idea of having a part II of something. Feels like something has been accomplished. That's right, you guessed it, I am headed to the NCAA Division III Women's Championship in Springfield, Massachusetts. Pretty much the ultimate in Flying Dutch fandom if I do say so myself. My buddy from Admissions, Adam, and I will fly from Chicago to Hartford, Connecticut (pretty much home to my sister Kelley) and then drive to Springfield. Friday night is the semifinal with Hope playing at 6 PM and then depending on the outcome, they will play again at some point on Saturday. It will be a nice little vacation -- and I get to see my sister which is a total plus! Hope all is well with those who read this (and those who don't). Peace.

bon weekend

This was a terrific weekend! A couple of my buddies and I headed down to Springfield, Ohio to watch the Flying Dutchmen in the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, we lost, but it did give us the opportunity the next day to head over to Greencastle, Indiana. Yeah, we saw smalltown America for sure. Oh, in Greencastle we saw the Flying Dutch take on the tigers of DePauw in an Elite 8 matchup. They won quite handily in the end and now advance to the Final Four in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Already in the works is a Hope College Admissions trip to the Bay State to watch the Lady Dutch of Hope College take on the something-somethings of Scranton, PA (Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company regional office located here?). Our commitment to being number one fans for Hope basketball should be apparent at this point. So I head back to the office tomorrow looking forward to a Final weekend of basketball spectatorship for this year.

To think, it all started with a brand new fieldhouse back in November. Thirty-two conference home games later, the Dutch and Dutchmen were undefeated in that place. What a blessing for an already terrific college! For me, it has meant connecting with a side of Hope College once somewhat foreign to me. My experience is now the well-rounded one I sought beginning in late August 2001. I am truly thankful for what God has blessed me with in these last five years. Have a great week.