No Cable, No Cry {NFL Loophole, Chromecast & Old School TV Antennas}

The Dude’s have been without cable for over two years.

We’ve grown used to it.

It frees our time…sort of. We have Netflix, so we’re still pretty connected.

However, no cable generally = no sports.

Bummer dude.

We’ve missed sports. Until now.

An NFL loophole + Chromecast + old school antenna = sports. Some sports…not all, but some.

NFL for 2 Beans:

Kottke tipped me off to this genius. NFL for $2 per month.

The secret is using an alternate DNS server. Super easy.

This dude lays out the loophole. The post includes a link to legality.

Tip: It’s written for Mac, so the same trick doesn’t work for Windows. I struggled with it for a while and then just used the service without the trick – i.e. Windows won’t allow you to sent Alt. DNS for specific URL’s. Just set for all.

Chromecast:

Chromecast = wireless HDMI connection to your TV. Sweetness. Gracias Google.

Add the Chromecast, and I can stream live Pats games to the TV for $2 per month + the $35 Chromecast investment. Not bad.

Old School Antenna:

And the icing on the TV? Old schoolness. A small investment in an old school antenna you get some network TV. Some is the optimal word. We ended up with 7 channels. And only one network, CBS.

Pats on the big screen today. Can’t complain.

Garrett “G-Money” Holeve Whoops Down Syndrome MMA Style

The first few UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) events were pretty crazy. I recall gathering at a friend’s house in middle school to soak in the pay per view event. Giant men. Strange fighting styles. Almost no rules.

It seemed destined to fail. And it almost did. Until the UFC had an amazing resurgence in the early 2000’s.

New money, new rules, and a new generation of athletes.

As the UFC was gaining some renewed traction, one of my BFF’s decided to hop in the ring with pretty much no experience. The next seven years saw a pretty wild ride from bar stool critic to Las Vegas fight nights and national TV.

Lucky for the Dude, Alex “T-Rex” Karalexis took me along for many of the celebrity filled rides. Movie premiers, dinner with UFC champs, Las Vegas penthouse parties. Interesting times.

I’d much rather be hanging with the fam these days, but it was nice to see how the other half live.

Alex has moved on from throwing punches for a living, and he is now helping run Jared  Allen’s Foundation for Wounded Warriors. But living vicariously through Alex for a few years has carved out a small spot in my heart for MMA and the UFC.

I stumbled across the below MMA video today, and it grabbed the Dude. I started watching out of respect for my Red Bull fueled UFC nights, but by the end, I was laughing at myself as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Mrs. Dude often refers to me as the Cave Man. How often does the Cave Man tear up? Not often. But this dude is pretty rad.

Garrett “G-Money” Holeve has down syndrome. He is also an MMA fighter.

That is a crazy combination. At first glance, it seems questionable. But to see the confidence that Garrett has in himself is inspirational.

Most of us sell ourselves short on a regular basis. We underestimate our abilities or we don’t push to reach full potentials.

Then someone like Garrett comes along and reminds us how totally awesome we ALL are.

This is definitely worth 13 minutes of your time. Garret “G-Money” Holeve whoops down syndrome MMA style…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMf7jgopJXc[/youtube]

Hat tip Ross Training.

‘Nastics Finale

'Nastics Finale

'Nastics Finale

Little Dude and The Princess have been getting their ‘nastics on for the past few weeks. For anyone not familiar with Little Dude speak, ‘nastics = gymnastics.

Little Dude loved the climbing, rolling, and jumping, but The Princess was the big success story.

I’ve mentioned Ms. Princess’ lack of athletic motivation in the past with the not-often-discussed soccer incident – two months, seven games, and 14 practices that evoked teeth pulling misery for the Dude and The Princess. We’re happy to let soccer fade into the past.

But I stand by my belief that she is very athletic when she wants to be. And we’ve see glimpses of this with her board-breaking TKD action.

Now we have some strong evidence of The Princess’ athletic prowess; gymnastics. A. She loved it, and 2. she climbed the learning curve quickly. In 6 short weeks she went from barely tumbling with the ability for a half cartwheel, to back-walkovers and round-offs on the high balance beam.

Impressive. Love to see the joy in athletics, and it is helping to build a lot of confidence in everything she does.

Below is a quick highlight reel from the ‘nastics finale. Organized chaos is the best way to describe it. 30 little kids, 6 gymnastic stations, loud music, and a whole lot of movement.

Nice work Princess!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkDvkTLYfn4[/youtube]

Finish Strong

I’m a big fan of the story of this dude Nate Ebner.

I spent a large portion of my life living outside of Boston. And as a result, Boston sports have been ingrained in me.

Boston is a pretty crazy sports town. Die-hard fans of all sorts. I’ve had the luxury of cheering for some  amazing teams, but I am happy to say that now that I’m removed from the daily sports talk, it’s nice to be a casual fan rather than a die-hard. There are more important things in life to think about.

However, you can’t remove the fan altogether, and I’ve already started to brainwash the kiddos. Although, considering we don’t have TV, there’s really not much sports watching happening anyway.

So, what does all this Boston sports talk have to do with Nate Ebner? Nate is a new draft pick by the New England Patriots. He was a standout rugby player, and went on to play special teams at Ohio State as a walk-on.

Not all that impressive considering amazing NFL athletes, but Nate has the “intangibles.” He’s got a great attitude and an amazing work ethic. He may have spent most of this time on special teams for Ohio State, but his coach says that he was without a doubt the most valuable player on the team.

That’s the type of person you want on your team, and that’s the type of player Boston fans love to root for. Underdog with the heart of a lion.

So, I’m looking forward to seeing how Nate does in the NFL. But more than that, Nate’s story struck a chord with me.

I’ve carried a “finish strong” mantra with me since I was a kid. As I was playing sports, my Padre would remind me to finish strong. He helped me understand that this simple mindset is what makes someone a leader and pushes you above the pack.

It’s easy. You’re going to finish anyway. Just put in that last bit of effort to finish strong.

This mantra has stuck with me. I still say it to myself when I’m working on a challenging task, physical or mental, and now I’ve caught myself passing these sage words onto the kiddos.

It turns out that these are the same words that Nate lives by. Nate’s dad instilled these same words in him. Unfortunately, Nate’s dad has passed away, but “finish strong” has lived on in Nate, and he’s brought that message to all of his teammates as well.

It’s also great to see how much love and respect Nate has for his father. Great people finish strong, and they make other people great along the way.

Here’s a nice video about Nate. Looking forward to seeing you on the field Nate…when I visit someone that has TV. 🙂

Finish strong.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIq-MaR5rCM[/youtube]