This past weekend was really nice!  My high school inducted me into its sports hall of fame! It certainly came as a surprise, but it meant a lot to me to be recognized.I mentioned at the banquet that the most wonderful thing about receiving an honor like this is that it’s not really my award … in my opinion, awards such as this are simply a reflection of the many wonderful mentors (teachers, coaches, family, teammates) we’ve been so fortunate and blessed to have had while growing in our respective sports.It was fun to see lots of people I haven’t seen since high school – and to share some fun memories from that time. It was especially meaningful because I was introduced by one of my closest friends, Charles, and he brought his entire family – including his son, Parker who also happens to be my godson.Here are a couple of pictures from the banquet … the first is a picture of me with the other honorees (that’s me on the far right) and the other is me with my stud godson, Parker.

Wow!

I am so happy the Giants won in Super Bowl XLII yesterday! What a great game! Some of you might know I played Quarterback for the NY Giants back in 1993 and 1994. Ok, maybe the word “played” isn’t the most appropriate word to use since I never saw action in an actual game (ha ha!) – but hey, I was at least on the team for a little bit! Amazingly there’s still one guy who is still playing for the Giants from when I was on the team … Michael Strahan. Michael had a great individual effort last night!

In other news I am excited to report that I have (finally) updated my website with LOTS of new pictures from a few recent weddings and engagement sessions! Check them out in the WEDDINGS section of the site when you get a chance (www.brianfoxphotography.com) … or, click on my logo below! As always, I welcome any and all feedback!

Thanks!

So, after an evening of margaritas and delicious Mexican food I’ve decided to blog on one of my interests . . . running! Seems appropriate, right? Follow a few margaritas and a couple of bean burritos with a conversation on exercise? Oh, and consider this my pre-emptive apology for any typos you might find . . .

I got back into running a couple of months ago. I used to do triathlons a few years back and never quite shook the swimming, bicycling, running bug. Running’s been a special joy for the past few weeks for this techie geek because I recently invested in the Nike+ running system . . . you know, the kit where you have the sensor that goes into your shoes and it talks to your iPod while you run, tells you your progress, etc.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about check out this link (Nike+ – link)!

This thing ROCKS! I love being able to track my progress . . . and it’s extra-inspiring to have a voice come over the music and tell me that I’m in danger of being passed by the lady in the walker two blocks back! Ha ha!  Fear is a wonderful motivator!

If any of you are runners with the Nike+ kit, and are interested in getting a little running “club” going it’s easy to do via the Nike+ website! Let me know! I’ll do the legwork to get the club started! I’d be stoked to be part of your club!

Have a great weekend!

A couple of nights ago I took my godson, Parker and his best friend, Tyler to see our hometown Orlando Magic play (and lose to) the Detroit Pistons. I really didn’t care much who won but it was a great trip for Parker – he’s a big Pistons fan! Wow, the Pistons are really good – they ended up sweeping the Magic!

Yeah, Parker was happy! His godfather was happy because he got to have a soft pretzel and funnel cake! Oh, and I’ve got to give Parker some credit – he was all decked out in his Pistons jersey amongst a sea of Magic blue – he was one of maybe 50 Pistons fans in the crowd of 18,000+. And, of course I had my speech prepared if anybody were to question if I was with the kid in the opposing team’s uniform . . . “I’m with the Big Brothers program and I just met this kid today” was my first choice . . . option #2: “he spilled Kool-Aid on his Magic jersey so we had to pick-up this jersey on the way to the game – the store was all out of Magic jerseys” . . .

Fortunately, neither was required . . .

A very busy several-week period finally culminates this weekend . . . and then I can breathe again! I can’t wait! Woo-hoo!

I spent yesterday evening and today in Gainesville, Florida – I was invited to participate in a golf tournament at the University of Florida hosted by the University of Florida F-Club. The F-Club is an alumni club made up of former athletes who participated in sports at the University of Florida.

I had the opportunity to play golf today with a couple of close friends from college – both of whom participated in sports at the University of Florida. My buddy, Arden (pictured closest to me) was a kicker on our football team and his wife, Maria (also pictured) was a stellar high jumper on the track team at UF!

Maria was a stud(-ette?) in college! (Arden, you weren’t so bad yourself . . . ) She can hold her own on the golf course, too! While at UF Maria was a 3-TIME All-American and won our conference’s title (Southeastern Conference) a whopping 6 TIMES over the course of her college career! Ummm . . . wow!

Note: if any college coaches happen to be reading this blog Arden and Maria have two kids – ages 6 and 10 – and if you know what you’re doing you’ll start recruiting these kids now! (Arden & Maria – you can thank me later . . .

Oh, and I caught this guy staring us down on the 9th hole . . . nothing like having an 8-foot alligator eyeball you while you’re trying to line up your next shot . . . it’s more than a little bit distracting . . .

A big fat congratulations goes out to my alma mater, the University of Florida Gators for their back-to-back NCAA Basketball National Championships!

I can’t imagine what the atmosphere must be like in Gainesville right now – to have three national championships in 12 months is unheard of in college athletics (two in basketball and one in football)!

It’s great to be a Florida Gator!

Little League Baseball is the BEST!!!

So, a good friend (and teammate) from college moved down to Orlando from Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago. The rest of his family (wife, son, and daughter) arrived last night after driving 1,314 miles from the great white north! Logan (my friend’s five-foot, two-inch 10 year-old son!) had his very first Little League baseball practice today after very little rest the day/night before . . . did I already mention the kid’s 5′2″?

ok . . . allow me to set the scene . . .

I went out today to watch Logan’s very first practice! Put yourself in his shoes – you’re 10 years old, you have no friends in this new city, you don’t know what talent level to expect on the baseball field, etc. . . . add to that the fact that Johnny Damon of the NY Yankees came out to watch you practice because he’s friends with your dad . . . well, you get the picture . . .

Look at this picture I captured of Logan’s very first at-bat! This was his first swing – and the very first pitch thrown to him!

So, what does he do? He proceeds to smack a home run!!! It was great! And how about that form! I could stop there and the story would be heartwarming, right? Well, on his next at bat he did the same exact thing . . . on only his second pitch in Florida – ANOTHER HOME RUN! And another . . . and another! The kid ended up hitting FOUR home runs in six at-bats! Are you kidding me? Needless to say Johnny got into the party early saying he “wants the contract rights to Logan in four years”. I suppose if anybody knows talent, Johnny would . . .

So, in honor of Logan’s big day I was inspired to showcase yet another embarrassing picture of me captured when I was just a couple of years younger than Logan. I think I was maybe 6 or 7 in this picture – my mom took this frightful image while I was at Disney with some of my Red Sox teammates. Can you tell which one is me? Obviously I faced one similar challenge that Logan faces . . . we both are a little bit taller than other kids our age. Slight understatement, eh?

(Hard to believe this pic was taken 6 years before my growth spurt! The circus really missed out on me!)

One of many distinct advantages Logan has over me at that age – I think Logan might have the upper hand in the “looks better in his uniform” category. Do you agree?

. . . please, don’t answer that . . .