#577 - Brothers

Your brothers will help teach you how boys should treat you.

-Love Dad

#576 - Take Pictures

Take lots of photos and document your life.

-Love Dad

#575 - Merry Christmas

Don't get so caught up in all the other stuff and forget what Christmas is really all about.

-Love Dad

#574 - He Needs to be Convincing

When dating, he needs to convince you that he's worthy of being in your life...not the other way around.

-Love Dad

#573 - Drama

Drama is tacky and makes everyone look bad.

excerpt from1001 Rules for My Unborn Daughter

#572 - Bill Musselman Quote

"Defeat is worse than death because you have to live with defeat."

-Bill Musselman
Former Athletic Director, Minnesota

#571 - Umbrella Drinks

Never order drinks that are brightly colored or have an umbrella in them unless you are on a tropical island somewhere.

-Love Dad

#570 - Friday the 13th

Don't be afraid of Friday the 13th.  
It's just another day on the calendar.

-Love Dad

#569 - Call Your Mom

Call your Mom regularly just to talk.  

Even if it's just a quick call to say hello, you'll make her day.

-Love Dad

#568 - The Bar

Feel free to leave the bar as early, and as soberly, as you want.  You will be called many names.  You are none of those things.

-Love Dad

#567 - How to Dunk a Basketball

How to Dunk a Basketball

Our first advice is to forget about dunking and learn the fundamentals of basketball! Learn proper shooting form, footwork, moving without the ball, defense, and so on. This will help you become a better player.

Now that we've given you our honest opinion, you still probably want to know how to dunk....

Dunking is a dramatic, crowd-pleasing offensive move. Many times, a rousing dunk can turn that mysterious factor, momentum, right around in your favor. Clearly, dunking is easier if you're tall and can palm the ball with one hand, but there have been relatively short players who couldn't palm the ball who worked hard enough to be able to dunk. If you are considering adding the dunk shot to your repertoire, follow these steps:

Step #1 - Practice dunking on a rim lowered to your current jumping ability.

This will allow you to get used to the feel of dunking right away. To prepare yourself for the real thing, the basket height should still require you to jump your highest in order to dunk. If it's too low, then you won't be building the muscles or the memory needed for dunking at the regulation-height hoop.

Step #2 - Be able to touch the rim with your wrist.

You will need to get at least that high to be able to snap the ball into the basket. If you're relatively short, then you have your work cut out for you. Developing a one-handed dunk requires less vertical ability than a two-handed dunk, and, for most players, jumping off of one foot from a running start makes it easier to jump high enough to dunk. There are many things that you can do to work on your vertical leap.

To increase your vertical leap, you should do a variety of exercise and follow a strategic work out plan. The workout should include plyometrics, strength training, and stretching.

Step #3 - Use small balls to begin with, and gradually increase the size of ball that you use as you develop your technique and coordination.

Start with a ping-pong ball, then a tennis ball, then a softball, then a volleyball, then a youth-sized basketball, and on up until you can dunk with a regulation size ball. If you can't palm the ball, then you will need to learn how to control the ball with two hands until the last minute extension for the dunk with one hand, or you will have to jump high enough to dunk two-handed.

Step #4 - Learn how to finish the dunk safely.

Dunking exposes you to some extra risk of injury. First of all, you can get low-bridged or get your legs tangled up with defenders near the hoop, causing you to fall awkwardly from a significant height. You can also throw yourself off balance by trying to hang on the rim and slipping off, resulting in awkward falls. If you are in heavy traffic on the dunk, then being able to grab and hang on the rim until the clutter beneath you clears is a safety technique. If you are in the clear on a dunk, then avoiding hanging on the rim at all is the recommended safety technique (It's also a technical foul to hang on the rim in that situation). Whatever the situation, you need to come down with control and balance. Ankle, knee, neck, and head injuries await those who fail to control their momentum after a dunk.

Remember, even though dunking is dramatic and exciting, it still counts only two points. If you can't dunk, it's not the end of the world. You can be an extremely effective scorer without ever dunking the ball. In fact, dunking has very little to do with proper shooting technique.

source: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com

#566 - Put me in Coach

If you aren't a starter, stay close to the coach and be ready to play.

Source: Rules for my Unborn Son

#565 - Check the Speed Limit

There's really no good reason to drive over 75-80 mph. I've owned a fast car, and received a ticket for going over 100.  Trust me and learn from my mistakes, you don't want to deal with the consequences of an in-the-moment rash decision.

- Love Dad

Five Years of Treasured Map!

I have been writing on this blog (on and off) for exactly 5 years!  I can not believe it's been that long.  It seems like just yesterday I started this blog and not long ago was writing a similar post about having this blog for one year!  There have been some lapses when life has gotten in the way and I've been unable to find the time to work on this, but that just happens sometimes.  All in all I'm proud of what I'm putting forward here for my kids.  I hope that they'll truly appreciate this one day when I give it to them.  

If you are new to this blog, it started out as a simple idea and has evolved into now having over 600 posts total, and at this time 564 posts directed towards my kids relating to basic things I want them to know about life, God, sports, quotes, How to, etc, etc, etc.   

Check out these links to see how it all got started and how it's evolved:

Let the Journey Begin

Yeah Like When They Turn 30

By The Way

One Year of Treasured Map!

It's About Time

I hope that you'll start, and continue, to follow this blog.  Feel free to comment, send me a message, or share your ideas of something you'd like to see on here.  Share this blog with your own kids, there's already a treasure trove of posts on here that you could read through with them, and there is certainly more to come as I have a ton of ideas in my head and on paper.  I started, and I'm maintaining this blog for my own children, but I'm also sharing it with you so that you might think about passing on this, or your own, ideas to your children as well.  

Here's to 5 years of Treasured Map.

#564 - Be a Responsible Gun Owner

If you are going to own a gun, be a responsible gun owner.  Know how to handle what you own; take a class, get a license to carry, and lock them up when storing them.  You'll never be able to take back a mistake.

-Love Dad

#563 - Dick Butkus Quote

"You don't get something for nothing."

-Dick Butkus
Former Linebacker, Chicago Bears

#562 - Watch Out!

Get your head out of your cell phone or tablet.  Look up!  See what you've been missing.

-Love Dad

Happy Thanksgiving

Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
We bow our hearts to You and pray.
We give You thanks for all You've done
Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son. 

#561 - Faith is...

Faith is...Dependence on God to work miracles in my disposition.

excerpt from: Faith is...

#560 - Doyl Perry Quote

"If you are criticized, then you are important."

-Doyl Perry
Former Coach, Bowling Green Football

#559 - BFF

I will be your friend in life, just not your best friend.  Being your best friend is not my job, my job is to be your Dad.

-Love Dad

#558 - Del Harris Quote

"Every team has a pair of top players, but it's the third man down who wins and loses games."

-Del Harris
Former Coach, Los Angeles Lakers

#557 - Mike Newlin Quote

"Genius is perseverance in disguise."

-Mike Newlin
Former Guard, NY Jets

#556 - Common Sense

Don't try to outsmart your common sense.

-Love Dad

It's About Time

My sweet baby Hailey turned 2 a little over a month ago.  Up until now she has not been a focus of this blog whatsoever.  The reason being, when the idea for this blog was hatched in my mind we didn't have Hailey in our lives yet, only the two boys.  The original idea for this blog was to pass on fatherly advise, words of wisdom, how to be a gentleman, and basic life skills that I wanted my boys to know in the event that something tragically ever happened to me and I wasn't around to pass this stuff on.  I don't know why it never occurred to me to include Hailey in this blog, perhaps it's because I haven't regularly posted here since she was born with the added demands of the hours in my day.  But I see no reason why I can't start to focus on her in these posts as well.  So from here on out not only will this blog be directed, with the content listed above, towards my two sons but my daughter as well.  There are numerous things I can teach her about men, life, how to be a better wife, sports, etc.

Sorry boys...you'll just have to endure from now on reading posts about what to keep and not to keep in your purse (that is if I can figure it out myself....seriously that thing is a bottomless pit.)  Lord help me find the right words to guide my little girl.

-Love Dad

#555 - Veterans Day

"Freedom is never free." -Author Unknown

#554 - Juan Manuel Fangio Quote

"Champions, actors, and dictators should always retire when they are on top."

-Juan-Manuel Fangio
Auto Racer

#553 - Faith is...

Faith is...Committing loved ones' problems to God to solve.

excerpt from: Faith is...

Busy...Busy...Busy

I've been so busy...moving jobs, moving houses, moving cities, new trucks, changing jobs again...and on, and on, and on.

It's no excuse but this is why I've not been able to post here in over a year.  I'm going to make a conscious effort to do a better job, to set aside time for this blog because of how important it is to me to pass this information on.  I apologize for letting life get in the way and I'm preparing to get this back on track.

-Love Dad