I’ve never gotten anything out of trying to read Plato, and yet you keep hearing that he’s essential to an understanding of man’s existence, so I thought I’d check out a secondary source for guidance: Plato in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern. I’m on page 10 when my son says, “That’s taken you longer than 90 minutes.” He looks over to see how far I’ve gotten. “Page 10,” he scoffs. “It’s not 90 minutes from when you buy the book,” I say. “You understand that, right? You have to give me some time to actually read it.” Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Kids
My Boy Turns 18 Today
He had a bunch of friends over last night playing poker. After midnight — actually closer to 1 a.m. — he informed me that he was making his first decision as an adult. “We’re going out for burritos,” he said. Read more →
Hockey Parents I Have Known
My kid has played hockey most of his life. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last 12 or so years at practices, games and tournaments with other hockey parents. I’ll miss the parents who watch and wait without calling attention to themselves, don’t over-celebrate, and encourage their kids while pretending not to be nervous or sad. I won’t miss the obsessive, out-of-control loudmouths, or the parents who were too drunk to be nervous or sad. Read more →
Just Like the Pros
The boy comes home from somewhere this afternoon . . . “Where have you been?” I ask him. “Playing basketball,” he says, as he heads into the kitchen for a beverage. “I’ve been trying to call you. Why didn’t you pick up your phone?” “Does Kobe pick up his phone during a game? Neither do I.” Read more →
NARCh 2011 – Day 4
Semifinal: Devil Dogs vs. Tour Stealth Both teams played a strong game. The Devil Dogs gave up the first goal, evened it up at 1-1, then allowed the go-ahead goal with about four minutes left. They had some chances to tie it back up but couldn’t make it happen. Stealth added an empty-net goal with two seconds left. Final Score: Stealth 3, Devil Dogs 1 Semifinal: Choice Inline Selects vs. Top Gun I didn’t see this game because I was watching the Devil Dog semi so I can’t tell you anything about it other than the final score. Final Score: Selects 4, Top Gun 2 Bronze Medal Game: Devil Dogs vs. Top Gun Three of the four teams in the semifinals win a medal — gold, silver or bronze. One team — the loser of the bronze medal game — doesn’t. Coming into this game, I was trying to… Read more →
NARCh 2011 – Day 3
Devil Dogs vs. Tour Roadrunners 93 (NY) The Devil Dogs came into the fourth and final round-robin game with two wins and a loss, needing at least a tie to clinch a playoff spot. The game didn’t start off well for the Dogs. They trailed 3-1 after the first period, their goalie had let in a bad goal on a long slapshot, and they’d missed on some good scoring opportunities. They were also coming off a disappointing loss the night before, so I was proud of their mental toughness in coming back to tie the game 3-3 with about three minutes left. A Roadrunner player took an untimely penalty with 1:37 left in the game. The Dogs were able to control the puck on the power play until, with 11 seconds remaining, they scored on a one-timer off a cross-rink pass for the game-winning goal. Final Score: Devil Dogs 4,… Read more →
NARCh 2011 – Day 2
Two more round-robin games today, morning and evening . . . Devil Dogs 6, Detroit Mission Stars 2 Devil Dogs played a great game, best I’ve seen them play this season. ISCA Grizzlies (NJ) 5, Devil Dogs 3 The Grizzlies are a good, fast team. That said, the Devil Dogs played a subpar game. Tomorrow is a critical day. Final round-robin games in the morning, after which the top teams start the single-elimination playoff rounds. By the end of the day, only four teams will be left standing. If the Devil Dogs win their last round-robin game, they’ll be in the playoffs at 3-1. If they lose, they’ll be 2-2 and could still get a low playoff seed, but it will be a close call . . . Read more →
NARCh 2011 – Day 1
Devil Dogs 5, MKS (Colombia) 1 The Devil Dogs played their first round-robin game today. Latin American roller hockey teams typically have a) raucous supporters, b) kids who look suspiciously old for their age, and c) an up-tempo style of play like they’re jacked up on coke, which they probably are. The first time you see this, you say to yourself, or to someone sitting next to you, “There’s no way they can play at that speed the whole game. They’ll wear themselves out.” But sure enough, they do play that speed the whole game. Having said that, the MKS kids all looked age-appropriate, and while they had some fast players, they didn’t maintain the non-stop, end-to-end pace that I expected. Read more →
NARCh 2011 – Travel Day
LA to Houston We’re waiting at LAX for a flight to Houston when a large black man in his 20s sits down near us in the waiting area. “I could take that guy one-on-one,” my kid announces. I’m about to mention to him that not every big black dude is necessarily a basketball player when he says, “Wait a minute, isn’t that Mario Williams?” I have to admit to him that I wouldn’t recognize Mario Williams if I saw him. He pulls up a photo of Mario Williams on his iPhone. “Yeah,” I say, “that does look like him.” “And he’s waiting for a flight to Houston? That’s got to be Mario Williams.” The final clue is that the guy is decked out in Adidas gear from head to toe. A Google search for “mario williams adidas” on the iPhone reveals that Mario Williams has a sponsorship deal with Adidas.… Read more →
Any Lawyers Out There Want This Case?
The boys arrived back from their graduation trip, but missed their connecting flight in Philly, which seems to be the rule rather than the exception for U.S. Airways. They were able to get on a later flight — to Los Angeles though, not Orange County — so the parents drove out to pick them up at LAX at 11:45 p.m. “We should sue the airline,” one of the moms said. “That’s a good idea,” I replied, not because I thought it was a good idea, but because I wanted to hear the plan. “Five sets of parents have to drive all the way to Los Angeles,” she said. “Gas is expensive! Then there’s punitive damages. Frustration. Loss of income.” “How is there a loss of income?” “Some parents might have to work at night. You don’t know.” “How much do you think we should get — a million dollars?” “No,”… Read more →
Northwood 2011 College Decisions
Unlike highly recruited athletes, kids who are highly recruited academically don’t get to go on TV and turn over hats so everyone knows what college they’re going to. Northwood doesn’t have highly recruited athletes, so there’s a Facebook site where they can check in and state their college choice. Also unlike athletes, who are evaluated on a 5-star scale, Northwood students are evaluated on a 3-star scale, according to the commencement program that I have right here in front of me: *** = Highest honors (4.3 GPA or above) ** = High honors (4.0 or above, but below 4.3) * = Honors (Not sure; close to a 4.0 but not quite there) It looks like Cal got the best recruiting class this year with three 3-star prospects and no one lower than 2 stars. USC and Stanford each got one 3-star recruit, as did Harvard and Yale. To the kids… Read more →
Five Guys in Europe: Thank You, Parents
It’s a video update! Read more →
An American in Cannes
Here’s a young man enjoying the beach at Cannes, probably as a high school graduation trip with his friends. He looks like he’s enjoying himself, clowning it up for the camera . . . Read more →
Tiger Mothers
In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that “stressing academic success is not good for children” or that “parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun.” By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be “the best” students, that “academic achievement reflects successful parenting,” and that if children did not excel at school then there was “a problem” and parents “were not doing their job.” Other studies indicate that compared to Western parents, Chinese parents spend approximately 10 times as long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By contrast, Western kids are more likely to participate in sports teams. — Amy Chua, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother Read more →
Five Guys in Europe: France
We’ll always have Paris . . . Read more →
Five Guys in Europe: Departure
In today’s update, the boys catch a break at the airport . . . Read more →
Lasts
Today is my last Fathers Day with a live-in kid. My boy and I have been walking a path together for 18 years and the time has come for him to set out on his own path. We are both headed into a great unknown . . . Read more →
Hashtag
My wife dominates the Twitter landscape with almost 1,000 followers . . . “I have to say something to my followers about my son going to college,” she says. The boy overhears this and pipes in: “My only child is leaving for college in two months. Hashtag sadbutproud.” Read more →
Fathers Day
The joy of Father’s Day is the joy of every day: the gift of being in the company of your children, and of living for them in the way you are meant to live . . . — Jeffrey Goldberg Read more →