Michael Boylan's blog

Mike's afternoon at Autrey's Armory

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:05:31 -0400

When summer time hits and the high school ball fields are empty, the sports pages need to be filled. We receive news of little league baseball teams, soccer teams, roller hockey teams, swimmers, golfers, drivers of all ages and track athletes. In addition to all of these stories, my colleague Kevin Wandra and I have started a summer tradition of challenging each other to sporting activities around the county and seeing how we stack up. Last year, we went miniature golfing at DixieLand Fun Park. I won the first course and Kevin won the second, also eking out a one-stroke overall win.

Wii are getting fit

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:15:36 -0400

That headline, while clever, is a little misleading. I am the one trying to get fit with the new Wii Fit. My wife is already in great shape. Just two months after the birth of our daughter, she is already back to her weight before we even had kids. And yes, I am more than a little jealous. I enjoyed all the sympathy weight gain while she was pregnant with our son, Colin (another brownie sundae, dear?), but didn’t get to enjoy any of the calorie draining breast-feeding after he was born.

The best concert at "The Fred" ever

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:14:21 -0400

The Citizen has certainly done its share of picking on The Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater in the past and not without reason (semi-annual REO Speedwagon/Foreigner shows anyone?), but the kick-off to the 2008 Summer Concert Series was fantastic.

Love your planet

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:31:41 -0400

The hot topic of the 1984 McKay Elementary School Science Fair, at least in the mind of a charming, fourth grade boy with the initials M.B., was acid rain. He had read about this in an issue of National Geographic, which came to his home faithfully thanks to a gift from his Grampy.

Thank Heaven

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:02:08 -0400

I forgot how small babies are when they are first born.

Our son, Colin, will be three years old at the end of April and he looks like a giant compared to his baby sister, Nora. When he holds her and tries to pat her head I am reminded of the giant in the Bugs Bunny cartoons, expecting him to start hugging and squeezing and calling his sister George at any minute.

Forever a northerner

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:05:25 -0500

From time to time, I get called a Yankee. It’s done mostly in a joking manner and the person calling me that isn’t thinking about my deep hatred for the baseball team with the same name. The word typically comes up when something truly southern comes up in conversation.

Stories about a girl

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:15:41 -0500

7th grade dance

We had been going out for a week, although we hadn’t actually gone anywhere.

We had agreed to meet at the school dance, which was to be held in the gym, that Friday. I don’t remember what I wore that night, other than a liberal amount of English Leather, and I can’t remember what she wore either.

The mind of a New England sports fan

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:10:20 -0500

I sat in the living room of my cousin Lisa’s apartment last year watching the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and Colts with family members I hadn’t seen in years. We ate this great chicken pot pie and had a few beers, celebrating and hooting and hollering as the Patriots ran up an 18 point lead over Peyton Manning and his boys.

Snow problem

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:45:53 -0500

Is everybody O.K.? Did you have enough bread and milk to last you the night on Saturday?

Whew, that was some batch of flurries.

An inside look at the news room

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:04:47 -0500

Close your eyes and try to imagine what the news room of The Citizen looks like. Don’t get scared. We won’t let Ben bite.

The year of being good

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:26:15 -0500

First off, this is not in response to not getting what I wanted from Santa Claus for Christmas. I understand that there is really no room in Santa’s sleigh for a vending machine full of Hostess’ Suzy-Qs and Drake’s Devil Dogs. Besides, it is important to be careful what you wish for. You wish for a mega-supply of delicious baked goods and you get something else, like a huge gut. Or worse.

Story of little hunter is just sad

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:30:06 -0500

“Merrit, Tre Merritt
King of Dewitt, Arkansas”

To the tune of “Davy Crockett”

The story of five-year-old Tre Merritt, a descendant of Davy Crockett, killing a 445-pound black bear lit up the internet on Tuesday. There were stories about the tiny hunter on both ESPN.com and Drudge Report, as well as video clips of little Merritt holding a rifle and driving an ATV.

Kisses of death (relatively speaking)

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:47:46 -0500

Ahhh, the slow news days of December. A time to read about Hannah Montana’s march across the country, raunchy mannequins in a shopping mall, teddy bears named Muhammad and the return of Don Imus to the airwaves.

How many shopping days left?

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:21:48 -0500

I have been racking my brain lately - and yes, this does require stretching it out on a medieval instrument of torture (it actually feels good for the first few turns) - not for column ideas but for Christmas gifts. How could I not be after Black Friday, Gray Saturday and Off-White Sunday? What they say is true, if you don’t have your gifts chosen by Taupe Thursday then you must not really love your loved ones.

Playing games with my kid

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:13:02 -0500

They say one of the joys of parenting is being able to re-live your childhood by playing with your children. You get to re-read classic tales like “Hop on Pop,” a book which my 2-and-a-half year old son, Colin, has just recently decided to take quite literally, play games like Hide and Seek, color and use some of the eight million toys, many of which are battery operated, annoying and/or noisy, that people have bestowed upon your child in the hopes of driving you as completely bonkers as their children drove them.