Volleyball Provides Father-Daughter Time

Two of my kids were invited to birthday parties on Saturday. So my wife suggested it would be nice for me to to something special with the third kid so she did not feel left out.

A nice marketing promotion -- free glow sticks -- led us to choose the Texas Tech Volleyball game. So after the great Tech football victory over A&M, we headed out to United Spirit Arena.

It was great to see the inside of the building in person for the first time. I had previously seen the building only on TV, while watching ESPN's Knight School and trying to decide whether applying for this professor position was the right thing to do.

This was Isabel's first collegiate volleyball game and my second. I admit that I know very little about the game. But it was a great time, and I have a lot of fun watching Isabel use her math skills to keep my constantly updated on how many points Tech needed to catch up with Missouri -- and how many points Missouri needed to win the game (it was a solid Tiger victory).

The advertising prof in me marveled at Isabel's interest in the rotating scoreboard advertisements. She kept me up-to-date on every ad.

"Look, dad! Sonic!"

After the game, Tech hosted a pizza party and autograph session. So we hung out, and Isabel added Domino's pizza to her hot dog and Starbursts. She got to say hello to a few of the players, and we visited with one of the players from El Paso, Texas (Isabel was born just up the road in Las Cruces).

It was a great night. The kind that continually leaves me thinking, "Why don't I do this more often?"