Quick Update

Hey All:

Just a quick update for you... Lisa and I will be leaving tomorrow (Thursday) and out of town till Monday as we will be traveling with the Minnesota State men's basketball team on its exhibition tour of Barbados. 

I've added a link to the MSU men's basketball blog on the left, that will be updated daily (if not tri-daily) so you can follow our journey there.

Hope all is well!

SnL

Wedding Pics

Hey all:

Just a quick update for you before Lisa and I begin our "tour of grandparents" today in Ringsted. Our wedding photos are posted online and you can view them at:
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/store.aspx?p=1280.

Type my name in the name box and then the password is 19256-1.

That's it for now.

It's been a while

Hey everyone-

Let me first begin by saying, sorry for the lack up updates on the blog over the past month, it's been a while, and we've been busy.

As you can probably see, we are now married. The big day was July 26, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. The weather was perfect, the flower girl and ring bearer didn't scream during pictures and they walked down the isle, and we had a great reception at the Best Western.

There is so much I could talk about in regards to the wedding, but since most of you who read this blog were probably there, I won't get too deep into details. The thing that shocked me most about the day was how fast it went. From when we started pictures until the end of the dance still seems like a blur, and I'm sure that once we watch the video, things will start to pop back into our head from the day.

After the wedding, we opened gifts at our place and then headed to the cities. We had a visitor with us to the cities, as my (Scott) college roommate of 3.5 years decided to come to the wedding on the Friday before the wedding (he lives in Arizona). So, he caught a ride with us to the airport and flew out Monday, while Lisa and I jumped on a plane and headed to the Rivera Maya in Mexico for our honeymoon.

We had a great day of travel, no delays, no drama and after nearly 12 hours of travelling (we had to leave for the airport at 4:30 in the morning, we arrived in Cancun. After going through customs and checking in with our travel company we were in a van and on our way to our resort, the El Dorado Royale. It was an absolutely beautiful place - and 100% kid free - and Lisa and I had a great time. We stayed their for eight days, swam with the dolphins, went snorkeling, and most importantly relaxed and shut ourselves down from the outside world. By the end of the trip - as with any trip - we were ready to get home and back to a structured schedule.

This past weekend was a busy one for us as well. Friday night, we went back to Gaylord to the in-law's and rehashed the wedding and caught up. Sunday, we were up early and off to Redwood Falls to A&W Furniture to get ourselves a new bedroom set, mattress, couch, chair and footrest. Last night, after running a couple of errands, we finally settled down and caught some of the Olympics (I'm a geek about the Olympics and was kind of disappointed with myself for not seeing much of the first full day of competition...heck, I was lucky to see the ending of the opening ceremonies on Friday night).

Today we got up and met my brother and his wife, and Jason, Betsey and Ella at TGIFriday's for lunch, afterwards, we went to Target and used a bunch of gift cards and purchased several items that we needed for our house...So as I sit here and type, Lisa is busy putting stuff away, but it probably works out better that way because I'm out of her way.

That's it for now, sorry again for the delay, but hopefully I can get in a regular posting mode.

Hope every one is well, I'll leave you with some photos of the wedding day-

SnL

Rehearsal Squared

Hey All- I might be one of the worst ever at blogging, I apologize for the delays in updates...


Hope this latest update finds everyone doing well.


It's been a crazy month since my bachelor party in the middle of June.









Two weeks after my bachelor party, I travelled to Tampa, Fla., for our annual CoSIDA convention. CoSIDA stands for College Sports Information Directors of America. It was a great trip, I learned that although I'm sure that Florida is a great state, it is a state in which one should not visit between the months of May and September. The humidity down there was crazy. It was a lot of fun, got to catch up with a bunch of SID buddies and learned quite a bit too. One of the highlights of the trip was when Dick Vital spoke to our organization. He received an award from our organization and I actually had the opportunity to get my picture taken with him. Billy Packer, who for some reason keeps getting asked to come back to CBS to do the Final Four, also received an award, he told some good stories, but he couldn't get out of there quick enough which annoyed me a bit. UPDATED July 14, 9:02 am... After receiving an email from fellow SID Josh Deer, I have found out that Billy Packer has been released by CBS.

I returned home at 3:30 in the morning on the 3rd of July after being stuck in Detroit Airport due to thunderstorms. Lisa and I did not have any major plans for the weekend and we just played it low-key. I got up on the third, did laundry, we went and had brunch and ran some errands than that night we went out to the campground to hang out with Lisa's brother Ryan and his wife and some of their family and friends. It was a good time, I even got to play some cribbage (and won a game) so it was fun.

The fourth was rather low-key as well. Some of the highlights included watching City Slickers along with the Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest. Lisa was a little grossed out about the idea of eating somewhere around 63 Hotdogs in 10 or so minutes (and truthfully as was I), but none the less it was entertaining. That afternoon we laid low, I mowed the yard and Lisa weeded our flowerbed before having our friends Nathan and Kalli over. We played bocce ball (Nathan and I dominated) and then went to Blue Bricks for supper before coming home and having a fire and then going to Nathans to watch the fireworks. Saturday we went back to Gaylord and took Lisa's parents to the Drive-In (in Winthrop, great place for a meal) for their anniversary and then went back to their house and played a game of Rummy. Sunday included a trip to church and doing odds and ends around our house.

There was a bit of unfortunate news over the weekend of the fourth as Lisa's great-aunt passed away. So, we were back in Gaylord for the wake and funeral before returning to Mankato Tuesday afternoon.

It was a rather quick week for me at work, as I basically worked half a day Monday, a fourth of a day Tuesday, all day Wednesday and Thursday and had Friday off so Lisa and I could travel to Sioux Falls for a wedding of my close personal friend Shane Drahota. I was a groomsman in his wedding (and thus, that's where the picture at the opening of this post was taken) and Shane will be a groomsman in our wedding. It was a great time, we had an opportunity to catch up with some friends that I haven't seen in a while and we danced the night away... I used to have no rhythm, now i have a minimal amount, but don't try telling me I'm a bad dancer, because I can bust a move like my boy Justin Timberlake.

When we got to the rehearsal Friday Shane looked at me and said, "This is you in two weeks." It then dawned on me on how close our wedding really was, so I dubbed the weekend "Rehearsal, Rehearsal" or Rehearsal Squared. It was a great weekend and it made me even more excited to marry Lisa in less than two weeks.

Dirty?

(Bryon on the left, Jason on the right)

So, talking to my brother tonight, he brought up a situation from his slow pitch game last night...

Here it is, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this...

Last night, my brother's co-ed slow pitch team (East Forks Trucking), the second-best team was playing the top team in the Ceylon League, H&D.

Trailing 8-3, and with Bryon on the mound and a runner first and one out, the gal at the plate hits a top fly in front of the mound.

Bryon, thinking head's up, yells to Jason Ulrich (both Bryon and Jason are second-generation slow-pitch players), jay-jay, two two... Bryon let's the ball drop, throws it to Jason who touches second and relays the ball Darci at first for the double play to end the inning (the hitter never even left the box, assuming it was going to be an out). the other team goes ballistic, calling it a dirty play... One of them yell's at the umpire "That should have been an infield fly," to which Bryon replies "Know the Bleepin rules," and chirping ensues, they call East Forks a bunch of dirty players, blah blah blah...

Bryon ends up hitting two bombs and East Forks comes back to win 13-12. SO tell me this, is the play dirty?

I don't think so, and here is my reasoning... They're playing the top team in the league, who don't get their by luck, so, they should know to run out every play. Secondly, it's not as if Byron's team was winning 10-2 when it happened, they were down and you gotta get outs right? Finally (or D) although i don't know this for sure, but I'm sure regular season record as an effect on tournament seeding, so that being said, a win against the top-ranked team in the league will give Bry's squad a tie breaker in the end.

I've emailed fellow SID friends for their opinion and will post them below... Please leave your opinion in the comments section too...

Josh Deer, SID Concordia-St. Paul : No, hustle down the line.. I run out everything in softball, figure it out.

Paul Allan, Assistant AD/Director of Athletic Communications, Minnesota State University: Correct me if I'm wrong here. BUT THIS IS SLOW PITCH! I thought it was a great play...and likely would have told the guy who hit the ball that maybe he should have been running.

Craig Roberts, BSM High School SID: Not a dirty play but the umpire apparently screwed the pooch on the play. Per USSSA Slow Pitch rules:

Rule 9: Ball in Play and Ball Dead

Sec. 3. THE BALL IS DEAD AND NOT IN PLAY:

K. Intentionally dropped fair fly ball or line drive, by an Infielder (See 7-2H)

Rule 7. BATTING

Sec. 2. THE BATTER IS OUT IF:

H. He hits a fair fly ball or line drive that an infielder intentionally drops, with a runner on first, runner on first and second, first, second and third or on first and third with less than two outs. NOTE: A trapped ball that hits the ground is never ruled intentionally dropped.

Josh Deer, CSP, Response #2: I agree with PA - run it out, especially if it is 1 vs. 2 in the league.

Since I have little power (1 career blast), I run my ass of on everything, case and point, I hit a lazy liner opposite field just to my right of the second baseman, and it kind of just slowly bounced to the right fielder. He booted it somehow, and since I was in a dead sprint, I saw this happen as I rounded first and never slowed down, reaching third on the play.

Maybe if this guy or gal at the plate would have had even a little bit of hustle, she'd have kept things going and they would have scored the necessary amount of runs to put the game away. Every run counts, and the little things can add up to that extra run!!!

Shane Drahota, former MSU Asst. SID/USD Asst. AD/SID, Current MSU Director of Compliance and Student Services: My opinion...it's not a dirty play, but it is a little Bush League. I certainly appreciate the heads-upiness (yep, I coined that) of the younger Nelsen, and it is likely something I would have done were I in that situation, I would have probably erupted if I were the other team
as well and called him not nice names.

I am going to point out that far, FAR too much time has been spent discussing a slow-pitch softball game that none of us were within 60 miles of when it was played. As a form of revenge, expect an "Opinion Needed" from the Jackson Golf Club Championship in August as there is
almost always controversy surrounding that event.

Matt Magers, Former Chicago Cubs Draft pick, Current MSU Baseball Coach: It's a great play. The guy (on the other team) was probably pissed his wife got out...Don't take your personal problems to the field...

Nick Ferentz, Lawyer (owner of Frentz and Frentz Law Firm, 345-4505, played college ball at Mcalaster), No it's not dirty, she should have been running.

My Bachelor Party...

Hey everyone-

Hope those who are fathers had a great weekend and I hope those who have fathers made sure they told them they appreciated them.

I, myself, had a great weekend. It started Friday afternoon when i left work at noon for an eye-doctor before coming home to do some yard work. After weeding the new grass I planted a few weeks ago, I mowed, planted some new grass around a tree, watered and then started the coals for some steaks. (we got a 1/4 of a steer from Curt and grilled our first pack of Ribeyes...it was the best).

After sipping on a couple of summer shandy's over the coals and our meal, Lisa and I decided we should go to New Ulm to return some stuff to K-Mart, after K-Mart wouldn't accept our return, we took the long way home and stopped at Curt and Julie's for a bit. I greatly enjoyed the ride, it was a beautiful night and I could "scout the crops" on our way after the rains that happened last week...Some pretty big wet spots, but hopefully today's winds and a favorable forecast this week will help dry out the fields so the fellas can go in and spray.

Saturday was my bachelor party and it was a blast... The day started with the Ringsted portion of the crew meeting at our house around 10 am and going to Canterbury. After watching the guys bet on some cards (i only played cards for about 10 minutes, I wanted to play money on the ponies) we went upstairs for lunch and then settled in for the races.

I played a horse here or there and was suddenly down to my last ten bucks before my buddy and horse guru, Denny Wheller pointed me towards a horse, LemonLime... After the big win (which paid me 38 bucks, bringing me back to even for the day), I ended up losing twenty bucks and finished the day down 20, which in my mind, for the entertainment value was a pretty good deal.

We got back to Mankato around six and went to the Moondogs game and sat on the Dogpound. It's basically all you can eat food, on top of two free beers and dollar beers after that, and it was a good time. At one point, when there was about a good 15-20 of us behind the third-base dugout, none of us where watching the game and had formed a big circle and started talking and telling stories.

After the game, which the Moondogs won, we went down to Blue Bricks where we continued the festivities. I called it a night around one, and my brother Bryon and I were the first to leave,

but it was a great time.

After getting up today - and questioning why I drank so much the night before - Lisa and I got ready and went to Gaylord to celebrate fathers day with Lisa's family. I being the guy who loves to grill, stood over the grill and got burgers and 'dogs ready while we broke down the night before. After a great lunch, I had a nice nap during the end of the Twins game before waking up talking with the family. We got in the car around 6:30 and came back to Mankato, which segues into my topic of discussion...

We literally got back to 'Kato in the nick of time. I popped myself down in my chair and turned on KARE 11 to hopefully catch the last few holes of the US Open...Little did I know, that Tiger

Woods, who was playing in the final pairing, was on the 18th hole, with about a 12-15 put for birdie to force an 18-hole playoff tomorrow. Then, we turned on the basketball game and watched Paul Pierce go off for 21 in the first half, including a three-pointer in the final seconds of the first half to cut the LA lead to 55-52 at the break.

Now, as I type this, Pierce has gotten in a little foul trouble, and the Lakers are up six in the waning moments of the first half, but he's had a helluva series and has to be the MVP, should Boston hold on to win. Without a doubt, Tiger Woods is the tougher of the two athletes, however Paul Pierce has really made me appreciate his game this week.

On the wedding front, OMG (that's Oh My God) for those of you don't know, we're down to 40 days before the big day... Getting pretty exciting, on our way back from Gaylord today, we mad

e a list of what we wanted to accomplish this week.

Photos: The Ringsted crew, Colin Bonnicksen, Bryon Nelsen (my brother), myself, Dennis Nelsen (my dad) and Arnie Twait (my uncle).

Ryan Kahle (future brother-in-law) and myself

Paul Allan, some gal from a bachelorette party and myself

Nathan Christensen, Myself and Cory Christensen, the other part of the Ringsted crew

Myself and Dan Rickbeil (and his daughter)

Barack and Roll

Hey all...Real quick before we head to bed... Lisa and I went to see Barack Obama tonight at the X...Pretty much amazing...Here are some of the photos..