In March of 2013, I made my first visit to Alamo Stadium as I was interested in the renovation of that historic football stadium and the adjoining Alamo Convocation Center (the gymnasium). What motivated me to do this? Well, the week before, I watched a 30 for 30 ESPN Film called, “Small Potatoes: Who Killed…
Author: Mark
Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis – by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
I have already read Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N’ Roll – by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley and From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir – by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough, so I was definitely interested in reading Priscilla’s new memoir…
Yes keep it: short blogs by Niko
My dad has been thinking about deleting his website. Because of the price and no-one visits. I have been telling him to keep his website because the other hosting website is garbage and he is just following his path. (I am sorry that this is shorter than normal I don’t really have anything to write…
Cat + New House = Chaos
Ever since we moved into the new house, the cat has acted like an explorer in a kingdom full of locked doors. Every forbidden room is a treasure cave to him, every closet a secret passage. He prowls the halls like a furry outlaw, crying at doors as though they’re keeping him from his destiny….
School Week 2 – 3 By Niko
This Blog is edited by ChatGPT here is it’s version: On the Friday of the second week of school, I woke up with a cold that clung to me like a fog. Dad understood and let me stay home, which felt like a small mercy. The weekend came and went, but the sickness refused to…
Nerf Gun: a “Real Story” by Niko
Niko’s Story On Thursday, I was looking for water guns on Amazon, and none of them appealed to me. Then I went down the Amazon slide and looked at nerf dart guns. I saw one I wanted, and my parents reluctantly said yes. It was not a nerf brand – it was an X-Shot Insanity…
Reflections On…Sports and Spurs
Before Niko was born in 2016, I was a huge NBA basketball and San Antonio Spurs fan. Football and baseball, were not on my horizon. I could watch those two sports, but I wasn’t enamored like basketball. If anything, I liked basketball first and high school football second. Why high school football? Well, from 1997…
Percy Jackson Books
This was created and written by Niko, my 8-year-old son.
The Wild Robot Protects – by Peter Brown
This was written by Niko, my 8-year-old son with a just a teeny bit of editing by me. Yesterday, I finished The Wild Robot Protects because you know it’s a bestseller and that’s not a joke. It’s the best book in the series and the best book I have ever read. I am going to…
The Wild Robot – by Peter Brown
Niko’s teacher has been reading this book to the class, and last weekend, we saw the movie. This is the first time Niko has seen a movie based on a book, and he was impressed on how the movie portrayed some of the events from the book. I did tell him that books are always…
Whale Done (FunJungle, #8) – by Stuart Gibbs
We have finally finished the FunJungle series. For this last book, Niko read a little bit on his own, and it was actually a very climatic part where Teddy Fitzroy solves a crime and tells us who did it. It was funny because Niko kept telling us about it! I truly enjoyed reading these books…
Bear Bottom (FunJungle #7) – by Stuart Gibbs
On Tuesday night, I finished reading this one to my 8-year-old son, and just like the previous 6, he really enjoyed it. He pays attention to the book, and several times throughout the book, he predicted what would happen. His favorite character was Morton, a tourist and a moron; and called a touron in the…
Tyrannosaurus Wrecks (Funjungle, #6) – by Stuart Gibbs
I have been reading this series to Niko, my 8-year-old son, and he absolutely loves them! I won’t spoil anything, but he figured something out in the beginning of the book and he was correct. Sometimes at silly parts (or scenes of chaos), I have to stop and repeat it so he can understand it….
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…
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…
Big Game – by Stuart Gibbs
This is 3rd book in the Funjungle series and I have really enjoyed reading them to my 8-year-old son. He listens and asks a lot of great questions. Sometimes, when something suspenseful happens, he gets excited and has to immediately tell Nina! He also loves the funny hijinks that happen throughout the book. Did you…
The Statman Speaks
My third Amazon e-book has just been published, and it tells the extraordinary story of how I got started as a statistician, writer, and photographer. It’s free for a few days, so get it now and leave a review on Amazon. Click here for the link! I will tell you that I was the Track…
Happy 10 Years to THESTATMANSPEAKS.COM
Man, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I started writing on www.thestatmanspeaks.com. My first article on July 17, 2011, was about high school football. See, I was a high school football statistician for games on the radio (1997 to 2015) and for games on the television (2009 to 2015). I really fell in…
Reflections On…Podcasts
I have been listening to podcasts for several years; mostly comedy where the host or hosts interview somebody, a few music ones, and some sport ones, during my drive to and from work. That drive time averages about 2 and a half hours each day, so I can listen to quite a few throughout the…
Why Oxnard, CA
A few days ago, I saw a headline about the Dallas Cowboys returning to Oxnard, CA for training camp next month. Am I the only one who is puzzled by this decision? I mean, are there more Dallas Cowboys fans in Oxnard, then in the Dallas area? I don’t think so. It’s probably a decision…