This week’s episode begins with technology expert Aaron examining the ways it has changed our lives during the pandemic. Zoom has been the home of a lot of big events for Chris lately, including his grandfather’s funeral (4:44). ESPN and Stadium basketball analyst Tim Scarborough joins us for a conversation (8:59). Chris and Tim were scheduled to call games at the Conference USA tournament before COVID-19 forced its cancelation. Now, Tim’s gearing up for TBT - The Basketball Tournament on ESPN, July 4-14 (13:11). He also gives us his perspective on social justice issues on the week three men were indicted in the death of Ahmaud Arbery in Atlanta (16:58). As the NBA prepares to restart, Tim believes players have a great forum to speak out and help enact positive change (18:53).
To close the show, Chris and Aaron discuss attitudes towards food during COVID-19 isolation (25:38). Aaron has been heavily into smoking meat (34:13). Is using a pellet grill cheating?
NOTE: The blog for Chris Mycoskie has moved. Please visit the new site at mycoskie.net.
Aaron Arruda and Chris Mycoskie begin with what they’ve learned in 2020. The Ticket's Bob Sturm is the show’s first guest (9:35). He talks about the higher purpose he’s found to his great job as a sports radio host (16:58) and how his faith can be boiled down to “What Would Jesus Do?” (26:10). We address Steve Chapman’s column, which calls for the Texas Rangers baseball team to change its name (47:25). Plus, Chris throws out a hypothetical question about the Washington Redskins and whether Robert Griffin III could have forced that team’s name to be altered in 2012 (1:11:45).
NOTE: The blog for Chris Mycoskie has moved. Please visit the new site at mycoskie.net.
Uber has increased its bonus for new drivers to $690! It was at $500 previously. New drivers who use my referral link will earn $690 in the first month, assuming you follow certain
guidelines for number of rides given.
Lyft has decreased its bonus to $700 (it was $750), but that's still more than Uber. If you use my referral link and give 85 rides in the first 30 days,
you'll make at least $700.
TIP: For the best chance at reaching the bonus threshold, sign up
for one service first (Uber or Lyft). Drive with that company
EXCLUSIVELY until you hit the bonus. Then sign up for the other
rideshare company and repeat. Once you reach both bonuses, ONLY THEN
should you drive for both simultaneously.
TIP: For the best chance at reaching the bonus threshold, sign up for one service first (Uber or Lyft). Drive with that company EXCLUSIVELY until you hit the bonus. Then sign up for the other rideshare company and repeat. Once you reach both bonuses, ONLY THEN should you drive for both simultaneously.
I've been picking up some extra money by driving for Uber and Lyft. My goal is to make $100 a day, and that has been fairly easy. I go out for a couple of hours in the morning, before my wife and son wake up. Then drive again for a few hours in the evening. I've added some income to pay for summer travel, plus enjoyed great conversations and explored the city.
If you live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, use my codes and give it a shot. You and I will both get a little something extra this way.
For Uber, new drivers who use my referral link (at the time of this post) will earn $500 in the first month, assuming you follow certain guidelines for number of rides given.
As for Lyft, they're guaranteeing even more for new drivers as of July 5th. If you use my referral link and give 85 rides in the first 30 days, you'll make at least $750.
It's pretty simple to drive for both services simultaneously. After I get a ping on Lyft and accept it, I just turn off my Uber app, and vice versa. Only once have I had to cancel a ride due to pings on both apps at the same exact time.
Send me a tweet if you have any questions. My referral codes may help you in other cities, but dollar amounts could be different.
When someone asks me if Austin's my only child, it's easier to just say yes. But every time I do that, I fail to bring honor to my other kids.
Only when I get to know someone do I give a truthful and honorable answer. I have three kids.
Cassie and I lost our first baby in February 2015. After trying for two years, finally getting pregnant, and then suffering that loss, the pain was beyond awful. All of the joy as a first-time parent was quickly replaced with hurt.
We weren't able to find out the baby's sex, so we picked Angel as a gender neutral name. Still, we both had a gut feeling our first child was a girl, so we always use female pronouns when we reference her. Sometimes, we follow that with a "sorry if we're wrong, Angel," just in case there's a boy waiting on us in Heaven. In that case, we have to think he'll forgive us!
We got pregnant again in July 2015. That started off as a very reluctant happiness. For a long time, I was too afraid to get fully invested. I kept a journal with Angel, writing to her regularly. I couldn't bring myself to do that this time.
As it got later and later, of course, it was easier to think that everything was going to be okay this time. This baby was healthy and strong. Austin was born on March 11, 2016. He's two and a half years old now, and amazing in every way. Smart, sweet and wonderful.
About two years later, we decided to start trying to add to our family. On August 31st, Cassie surprised me by coming up to my office with Austin dressed in a "world's coolest big brother" t-shirt.
Much like with Austin at first, I had a somewhat reluctant joy. I can only imagine that's natural for any parent that's suffered through a miscarriage previously. But as time passed, I started to get more and more confident that everything would be fine.
We started talking more and more with Austin about the baby growing in Mommy's belly. We regularly asked if he wanted a baby brother or a baby sister, to which he'd almost always answer "a doggy" with a smile. Before eating, he'd say "thank you Jesus for our food, and our family, and the baby."
We saw this baby's beautiful heart flutter at the eight-week appointment. Just like with Angel and Austin, it was strong. Everything was perfect.
It was getting close to the time where we'd tell everyone. My grandfather died on September 23rd, and we let the news slip to a few members of our extended family at the funeral. Mainly because they asked or sensed something was up. We didn't want to lie, and figured some good news would be welcome during that time.
But only a short time later, just short of 10 weeks, Cassie started to get the sense that something was wrong. Her instincts turned out to be right.
She made an appointment with her OB/GYN, and the doctor was unable to find a heartbeat. With Angel, Cassie had to learn the terrible news alone in an emergency room. This time, I was with her at the doctor's office. I was able to hold her hand tightly, and we were able to face the reality together. The five or six hours it took for me to get home from a work trip in Lake Charles when we lost Angel were some of the longest of my life.
Chromosomal testing allowed us to learn the gender this time, and we learned it was a girl. Cassie and I decided to name our baby Hope Hazel Mycoskie. The situation and timing played a big role in that choice. Despite the miscarriage, we know the Lord has plans to prosper us and not harm us, to give us HOPE and a future. We have this HOPEas an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Cassie was also incredibly blessed by members of the Hope Mommies Dallas Chapter. And with Grandpa Bernie passing away during this time, we've been thinking a lot about Grandma Hazel. As it turns out, she was able to embrace her husband and her new great grandchild within days of each other.
With Hope, the aftermath of loss has been different than with Angel. We hurt just as much, but there's no time to mourn when a two-year old needs constant attention. Only in the quiet moments after he goes to sleep do I have much of a chance to think about Hope. I think about how far along Cassie would be right now, how big her belly would be, and what we'd be doing to get ready.
The grieving is also more specific. With Angel, we mourned a baby of unknown gender. With Hope, we are suffering the loss of a daughter.
There's one particular moment I started day dreaming about from the moment we found out that Cassie was pregnant. Austin walking into the hospital room and meeting his new sibling for the first time. While that still could happen with another baby later, he'll have to wait to meet Hope.
I've come to believe in a concept called the age of understanding. As Dr. John Piper put it, God "does not condemn those who did not have the mental capacities to put their faith in Him." He will welcome those souls into His kingdom. I believe this to be the case for all unborn babies, including Angel and Hope, as well as all children that have been miscarried or have been victims of abortion.
It will probably always be tough to say I have three children. The questions about kids are usually small talk. Nobody wants the truth in those moments. Just like when someone asks how you're doing. 99.99% of the time, you just say you're fine and move along. Don't tell them you're worried, hurting or troubled.
But three ultrasound pictures hang on our mantle. We will continue to talk to Austin about Angel and Hope. How we pray constantly that He will grow close to God and accept Christ as his savior, so he can join them (and us) in heaven. Our grandmothers and grandfathers are with those sweet babies right now, but more importantly, they're with Jesus for eternity.
Saturday night, the Rangers lost their 89th game of the season, 13-NOTHING to Seattle.
After that, Grandpa said, "I've had enough." He died early Sunday morning.
He and I bonded over the Rangers.
One memory stands out above them all.
It’s not going to Port Charlotte for spring training, splitting time between the ballpark and Palm Island resort.
It’s not Grandpa using his influence to land me the best job on the planet for a 16-year old kid, bat boy in a big league clubhouse.
It’s not seeing him run around with beer and champagne like a 20-year old rookie when the Rangers won their first division championship in club history.
And it’s not when I was working for ESPN Radio, trying to be a serious sports journalist and do interviews in the clubhouse. It was hard to do that when Grandpa wanted to walk me around and introduce me to ballplayers. "This is my grandson. He's a reporter! Do you want to ask him something, Chris?"
My favorite day at the ballpark was in June of 2005.
I was living in Monroe, Louisiana, and had fallen hard for this girl. I brought Cassie home to Arlington to meet Dad and Diane, and also to go to a ballgame with Grandpa.
Like he did with a lot of my friends when I brought them into town, he wanted to give a behind-the-scenes tour of the ballpark. So we went off to do that before first pitch.
He could tell I was in love, and he wanted to make this tour extra special. We must have seen every square inch of the stadium, and been introduced to nearly every employee. We saw the locker rooms, batting cages… of course the training room and his plaque… the press box, scoreboard, public address, all of the restaurants... EVERYTHING!
By the time we got back to our seats, it was the SEVENTH INNING!
So for Cassie's first game, she saw about two and a half innings of baseball.
Fast forward to December 2010.
Cassie and I were living in Baton Rouge. I had gone back to school, and just finished my degree. Cassie was in a job she HATED.
So we decided to leave, and move back to Arlington, on a hope and a prayer that we'd find something around here.
Phil and Diane were set to take us in, but then my dad calls me and says he heard Grandpa wanted us to move in with him.
So I called Grandpa up, and told him I had heard about that and would love to stay at his place. That sounded great.
There was a pause for a few seconds, then I heard, "Chris, I'm sorry about this… but I was kidding."
I think Dad and Aunt Suz twisted his arm a bit, telling him it may be a good thing to have some company and some help. So later that night he called back and apologized, and asked us to move in with him.
We were penniless. He gave us shelter, bought all of our food. So incredibly generous. Never said a word about it, until I finally got my first paycheck, when he made a crack about me finally paying for some groceries.
And we got to spend so much time together. Sharing meals, watching ballgames, and taking him to serve at Mission Arlington.
Cassie never met Grandma, but got to know her by living there. Grandpa talked about her all the time, showed Cassie so many pictures, and told her about the different aspects of the house that Grandma designed.
We ended up staying there for six months. I wish it could have been longer. But the commute back and forth to my job in Frisco was getting really difficult, plus Cassie and I knew we wanted to start a family soon. Living upstairs at Grandpa's may not have been the easiest set-up for a baby.
I was watching Senator John McCain’s funeral earlier this month, listening to President George W. Bush's eulogy. When I heard this, I thought it applied perfectly to Grandpa as well.
“Some lives are so vivid; it is difficult to imagine them ended. Some voices are so vibrant; it is hard to think of them stilled."
Today, Grandpa's basking in the glory of our Lord and Savior.
As much as he loved to tell stories here, he eventually ran out of them, and we starting hearing repeats.
Now that he's spending eternity with Jesus Christ, I can only imagine the amazing new stories he'll have to tell when his fellow believers join him there.
Many of you have sent notes, making sure I saw stories about American Sports Network's demise during my busy week at the basketball tournament. We found out a few days before it hit the wires thanks to Jeff Watts. They had some awesome people, and I hate the shutdown most for those men and women. Here's hoping their next opportunity is an even better one. I enjoyed working with them behind the scenes, and appreciated their trust in letting me in front of the camera from time to time. Although ASN is no longer an option, there are many good ones for Southland programming. I'll continue working to ensure great coverage for the league going forward. #SouthlandStrong
