Once again, I've had a few great experiences over the past few days.

On Friday, I had the privilege of going to Arizona State's Pro Day. If you are unfamiliar with a Pro Day, it is very similar to the combine, held in Indianapolis, which tests a football players measures- such as height, weight, speed, agility, and jumping ability. The combine hosts the nations top prospects and each big college will have a specific pro day for their respective players and other local players from smaller schools. The NFL will usually send somebody to the pro day to look at the players. Depending on the quality of the players will determine who the teams send, such as a regional scout, director of college scouting, assistant coach, head coach and/or the general manager himself. Most NFL teams sent scouts to ASU's Pro Day; however, I did get to see the Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator and Marvin Lewis, who is the Cincinnati Bengals head coach. I really wanted and planned to introduce myself to Lewis, but when he wasn't on his phone (approximately 85% of the time), he had somebody standing at his side talking nonstop to him. Although I didn't get to talk to Marvin Lewis, I did get to meet some very interesting people and got to see a really cool process. Most scouts don't get the opportunity to go to a pro day until around their 3rd or 4th year, so I am very fortunate.

We had our first home game Saturday night. I had the privilege of sitting in a press box to watch the game. However, I wasn't able to just sit back and enjoy the game. I had to evaluate and take notes on the opposing linemen, because we will play the Milwaukee Mustangs later on in the season for a second time. The game turned out to be another barn burner. The game was going back and forth the entire game, with Milwaukee having the lead at halftime. We scored to take the lead by 6 with a few minutes left in the game. The opposing kicker was struggling, so I felt very comfortable with giving them the ball back. They marched down the field and scored a TD to tie the game with the point after touchdown to still be attempted. A Milwaukee receiver caught a batted ball giving them a two point lead with 27 seconds to go. Our offense received the ball and didn't waste anytime, as they scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 4 seconds to go giving us a 6 point lead. Milwaukee was not able to score with 4 seconds to go giving us the 71-65 victory. Dating back to the ArenaBowl last year, we have scored at least 70 points in 3 straight games. Unfortunately, we are 1-2 in those three games. I think we will build off of this win into a great season.

Sunday, I had to go into work for a few hours, and I was given Monday through Thursday off due to having a bye week this week. So, yesterday I drove 10 hours to visit my brother and sister-in-law, Patrick and Rachel in Montrose, CO. I've seen them a total of 3 times in the past year, so it was definitely worth the drive. Unfortunately, the drive could've been a lot better for me if I (and my GPS) knew better. Not only did I experience just about every possible weather change (sunshine, pouring down rain, mist, flurries, heavy snowfall, sleet), but I ended up climbing and descending two mountains about an hour before Montrose. Both of these mountains roads were covered in snow, going alongside cliffs, didn't usually have guardrails, and had constant blind turns. Thankfully, Patrick told me a better way to get home. Not thankfully, he waited til AFTER I experienced the mountains to tell me the alternative.

Well, I am off for now to go play with Patrick's and Rachel's dog, Dug. So, have a great week and Go Bucks!

Adam Conrad