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By Randy Gardner

There is nothing like a family vacation when you get some time off to go and unwind and relax. When you have three boys and you go trout fishing at the State Park, it is not relaxing. Many of you feel my pain and know exactly what I am talking about.

Standing on the banks of the river with three little kids throwing rods with pronged hooks on them is not the safest activity in the world. I spent more time yesterday getting hooks out of my father-in-law’s and wife’s back side  than I did fishing.

My second  oldest spent every waning second throwing the rod out and reeling it in with no chance of getting a fish. Every two throws, I had to  re-bait the hook. Now this is relaxing. Yeah right. It is an experience I will never forget.

We have to wait ‘till a bit later in the day so that there is no one else around  so they don’t catch a hook in the eye.

By that time most of the fish have been caught.

Last night we went fishing at night and my middle boy was afraid to pit the worm on the hook, he would cry every time the worm got near him. Finally he talked me into putting a fake worm on the hook. On the first toss out, we got a bite. I was so excited and shocked that I started reel- it in, and it got close to the shore and the fish got away. No I promise, it wasn’t just a fish story, everyone saw it.

I guess that’s good enough for me. It’s very sad though when everyone else is walking away with a couple of fish and we are empty handed. I think we would have a better chance of throwing rocks in and hitting the fish in the head. Overall though, it is about the experience of being in nature, fish or not.

Hopefully my father-in- law and wife don’t get an infection in their rear ends after I have to use the dirty pliers to get the hooks out. It has been a real experience as a family.

Soccer Dome Sellout Will Help MLS Cause

Sporting leagues  know how to strike  when things are hot, as we are finding out with International Soccer coming back to the Dome this August. It will hold about 20,000 more people than Busch Stadium  and you can bet it will be sold out by the time you read this.

We saw with the last the English premier teams here in May  that soccer would  be supported in St. Louis if it is at the right level. I really think these games are helping our cause of getting an MLS team here in St. Louis.

Tickets are not cheap either, they range from $40 to $250. If they sell this one out it will show that  St. Louisians will pay for MLS tickets. Look how many of us travel to Kansas City to see Sporting KC play.

There games are sold out all year long. What is cool about these games in St. Louis is that they will put real grass over the floor of the Dome so they can play the International Game. That is one requirement for all of these games is that they play on natural grass. I bet that’s not cheap to lay it in the Dome for the game.

Its a great time for soccer in St. Louis and remember that the St. Louis Ambush Indoor Soccer team will be back at the Family Arena by Fall.

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