I met Coach Enrico in 2014 at a high school basketball game between the St. Anthony Yellow Jackets and the Central Catholic Buttons. I was covering the game from the Yellow Jackets perspective and their Head Coach, Kevin Smisek, introduced us. I knew of Carlos, and it wasn’t until a few years prior to our…
Author: Mark
Hotel Goodbyes – by Stephen Jon Thompson
I got this book from Netgalley, so I can read and review it before it’s published. Every few weeks, I scroll through the books on Netgalley to see if anything new pops out to me; this one did. His mother was never reliable and any money that came in, went out immediately. There was no…
School Days
Tomorrow, Niko starts 3rd grade. Last week, we met his teacher, and he was organizing his school supplies at his desk. He is excited to resume his schooling! He’s got lots of new clothing from Lands End, Old Navy, and Primary. He has a new lunch bag and water bottle, and his backpack from last…
Lion Down (Funjungle, #5) – by Stuart Gibbs
So far, of all the Funjungle books I have read to my 8-year-old son, this was his favorite. He liked the excitement, the adventures, and all the funny things that happened (especially, the wheelchair rumble towards the end)! His favorite phrase was from J.J. McCracken when he said, “Crap on crackers!” Last night, we were…
GameCrafters – Michael Considine
I first Mike at a St. Anthony football game I was covering as a freelance writer and photographer in 2013. He was in the visiting side press-box covering the game for the San Antonio Express News. We had connected prior to that on Social Media, so I knew what he looked like. It was nice…
Goodbye Summer and Hello Back To School
Next Monday, Niko goes back to school, and this year, his class will be on the 2nd floor! Some schools in the area start tomorrow. He has his school supplies, and a few days ago, we ordered new clothes for him. He still won’t wear shorts and a t-shirt! He wears a t-shirt and a…
GameCrafters – Jay Howard
In 2001, I was an unpaid Intern at The Ticket 760 in San Antonio. I worked with Jay Howard for his afternoon sports talk show. I am not even sure how I landed that job. It’s very possible that I was referred to him by parents who knew him. At that point in my life,…
Middletide – by Sara Crouch
This was my Book of the Month selection from May. Although I purchased the physical book, I ended up reading it on my Kindle. I actually canceled by BOTM subscription as I wasn’t enjoying the selection of books and genres to choose monthly. So, I have one more BOTM left, and, hopefully, I will read…
Hard to Kill (Jane Smith, #2) – by James Patterson and Mike Lupica
This is the 2nd book in the Jane Smith series. You definitely would need to read 12 Months to Live first, as a lot of the characters return for this book. For me, and at times, I was a bit confused with some of them, and found myself going back in the book to refresh…
The Tired Dad
Yesterday and today, Niko has woken up at 4:30 am. And, when that happens, I am awake with him. I have always allowed Nina a few extra bits of sleep as she isn’t the best sleeper. I don’t like the super early wake ups, but I am really hoping it’s a growth spurt or something…
GameCrafters – Rodney Wilson
Coach Wilson was my history teacher at Clark High School, and the freshman basketball coach. When I was a high school football statistician for the Texas Sports Radio Network and Thursday Night Lights, I would often see him on the Clark and Churchill sidelines as a coach. Later on, he moved up as an Assistant Athletic…
Coming Home – by Britney Griner
This book provided a lot of great insight on her Russian imprisonment and how she got through it. I am not going to go into detail, but she had lawyers who were constantly in touch and working on stuff behind the scenes and fellow inmates who helped translate Russian to English. She got to read…
The Dad’s Business Trip
When I started at Health Equity on October 9, 2023, I had meeting invite emails for a Finance Conference for the following July. I accepted it and it blocked out those days for me on my outlook calendar. I didn’t think anything of it and didn’t even know if it was for me. In May,…
GameCrafters – Ed Suarez
I first saw Ed on TV doing sports for KABB Fox 29 San Antonio, alongside Ernie Zuniga and Chuck Miketinac. I never even thought that I would end up working with all three of them as a high school football statistician. Ed was with the Texas Sports Radio Network, and Ernie and Chuck were with…
Panda-monium – by Stuart Gibbs
This is the 4th book in the FunJungle series, and I just finished reading it to my 8-year-old son. He really likes the characters, the animals, and the surprising plot twists. A few weeks ago, we went to IKEA and he saw a Koala stuffed animal, so, of course, he had to have it! He…
GameCrafters – Jason Minnix
I have met Jason Minnix several times as a high school football statistician, as he was broadcasting those particular games for another company. Where are you from? Army brat. I was born in Frankfurt, Germany but basically grew up in Copperas Cove TX. What brought you to San Antonio? I moved here in 1993 after I…
IKEA
Yesterday, we ventured to IKEA mainly to get Niko a new art desk. His current one was found abandoned near my parent’s house about a year ago, and they rescued it and made it nice for him. When we got that old one, there was a date written and even though I don’t remember it,…
GameCrafters – Rick Hill
I have yet to meet Rick Hill, but his name is very familiar to me as he has had jobs with the San Antonio Riders, the San Antonio Missions, the San Antonio Spurs, and is currently the Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Valero Alamo Bowl. We connected through LinkedIn. Where are you…
Catch As Catch Can: Building a Legacy by Finding Opportunity in Every Obstacle – by George Tinsley Sr
I got this book from Netgalley, so I can read and review it before it’s published. The only reason I selected this book was due to the cover image (he was dressed half in a basketball jersey and the other half was a business suit) and the description (he played college basketball where his Kentucky…
Watford Forever: How Graham Taylor and Elton John Saved a Football Club, a Town and Each Other – by John Preston
I got this book from Netgalley so I can read and review it before it’s published. For somebody, like me, who isn’t a fan of soccer clubs in England and in general, this book was easy to read, and I never found myself confused with the verbiage. It’s really cool to see the progression of…