Happy birthday to my nephew Ryan, who turned 3 on Sunday. Last Sunday was all about him. By the way, if you're struggling with a gift idea for a 3 year old, I suggest a fish. Jen got one for Ryan, and a fun time was had by all watching Ryan carry on a conversation with his new companion, who Ryan insisted on naming Dorothy even though the fish was male. I believe that's a product of the marketing efforts of The Wiggles, with their character Dorothy the Dinosaur, and Pixar, who featured a fish named Dory in Finding Nemo.
As for this coming Sunday, Ryan (um, he's the littler one below) left little doubt as to what that's going to be all about. That's right, I'm going to be drilling him on the Cover 2. There comes a time in every child's life when he must trade in his Wiggles t-shirt for the uniform of his favorite sports team. As far as sports allegiances go, the father's genes are dominant.

At an early age, we should have noticed the signs.
"What's your favorite animal, Ryan?" we'd ask. And even though his vocabulary didn't include Urlacher yet, his gestures left no doubt.