Mid-Season Fall Sports Report

OK, well the fall sports season has been....surprising.  The biggest evidence of this is in the term I used to describe it.   See, normally it would have been the "Football Report".   But lo-and-behold, something strange happened.

The Dallas Stars started the season 4-0 before falling to an equally fast starting Tampa team last night, 5-4.  Dallas was supposed to be "rebuilding" after an offseason where they lost Mike Modano and Marty Turco, and face financial troubles heading into the 2010-2011 season.  Yet, they've shot out of the gates and played some pretty good hockey, led by point-leader Brad Richards. (who also happens to have been my favorite Stars player over the past 3 years.)   They are playing miserably on the penalty kill right now, but otherwise it seems they may surprise some folks this season.

Football Season, 2010 Style!

OK, one of the main reasons I started this blog was so I would have a place to "express" my thoughts on football during the season without overly impacting anyone else's space.   So, just wanted to make a kickoff post (pun intended) and say that I'm very excited about the prospects for the year.   The Aggies have their best shot in a long time at having a decent season, and the Cowboys are primed to build on last years playoff run.   Midwestern State has had some good teams of late and I think expectations are maybe not quite as high but they should do pretty good.   The Jackrabbits are also starting to build some momentum so maybe they'll have a breakout year as well.    Overall, a lot of reasons for excitement and I'm looking forward to some great football, especially in the college ranks.

Proud to be a Geek, Part I

OK, in the (maybe) final installment of the introduction to Doug, we will discuss the finer points of being a Geek and owning it.  ;-)   Historically, the term Geek has had a quite varied interpretation.  From a more derogatory term being confused with "nerd", "dweeb", and the like all the way to the highest esteem of "misunderstood genius".  Well I probably fall somewhere squarely in the middle of all that, but suffice to say that I consider the term Geek to be very much a term of endearment.

Sports!

Well, I said this blog would be a hodgepodge of stuff, so this is a little background into my passion for sports.  As a fan and as a participant, sports have played a big role in my life.  I've loved football pretty much all my life and to this day I'm still a huge fan and wish I could still play!  (who doesn't!?)   Growing up near Dallas, I'm a die-hard Cowboys fan, even if my interest in NFL football has waned over the years.  My absolute favorite spectator sport is without a doubt college football, and I root my beloved Texas A&M Aggies on every Saturday.

Secondary to football is now ice hockey.

Why the Interest in Trains?

[NOTE: OK, well I'm not a seasoned blogger here, and I suspect a lot of my initial blogs will end up providing fodder for the various static pages I've set up. Nevertheless, I'm gonna just post a few introductory posts to get the ball rolling.]

If there is a "million dollar question" in my life, this might be it. Even my closest friends are puzzled about this, although most are pretty used to it by now. My interest in trains has pretty much existed since I can remember. It seems like my earliest memories occurred when I was 3 years old, and three stick out: (1) my granny babysitting me at my parents house and a severe thunderstorm blew through, (2) me playing with an HO-scale Santa Fe F-7 locomotive (that almost assuredly came from a garage sale) on the kitchen floor, and (3) watching trains pass by on the tracks less than 100 yards across the highway from our house. So most of my early memories involved something train-related. In addition, I had two uncles that were interested in trains as well that influenced me later on.

Welcome

Just a couple of introductory comments about the site...

My interest in trains goes back almost forever and is only *almost* rivaled by my interest in computers and technology. I'm a true GEEK! So I've had various combined iterations of trains and electronic media over the years, none of which could be termed "significant". (and quite simply this is a "2.0" version of my past efforts.) I don't expect this page to yield dramatically different results, but I still see enough value from several standpoints that I will trudge forward. If you are a friend, or if you have similar interests, or if you need assistance with research or modeling or other facets of the world of railroading, I hope you will find some value too.

Another thing I'm gonna do a little different this time is to add some "DRD-culture" to the mix. So outside of my railroad hobbies, and my interest in computers (often work related anymore), I will also have some commentary about my favorite sports teams and other various, casual, not-too-personal bits of my life. (so, likely stopping short of politics and religion)

I will be posting some other introductory-type posts to give a little background about me, and about my specific interests, so stay tuned.