Thoughts for the Day, June 9, 2025: My Daughter, Katy, is a Bad Ass.

She is a “bad ass”

Yesterday, my daughter, Katy Krieg, completed her fourth triathlon, a “Half Ironman” (her second half ironman) at the Grand Rapids Triathlon 2025. A half ironman consists of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride, and a 13.1-mile run. She finished in 6 hours, 41 minutes and 35 seconds. Her splits were 46:05 (swim), 3:18.14 (bike), 2:36.02 (run), with 11:16 transition time. She finished 22 of 34 females. Most importantly she finished with a smile, which is much better than her first half ironman three years ago, when she asked me to never let her do this again.

The fact that Katy competes at this level amazes me considering she has three kids aged 12, 10, and 7 which comes with all the responsibilities of two working parents and kids involved in travel-sports, rec-sports, school activities and everything else. She does all this while maintaining her day job as an Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge for Social Security Administration, where she is responsible for federal agents across three states.

Her husband Brad is very supportive. He knew what he was getting into when he married her, since Brad was the trainer on her national champion college softball team. Yesterday, Brad was up at 4:30 taking bikes and equipment to the starting line and then returning to pick up Katy and family for the start of the race.

The fun for Leah and me is getting to spend time with Brad, Alaina, Nolan, and Kaylen while we get to watch Katy transition from one event to the other and then to be at the finish line as she and the kids cross the line together.

When she competed in her first half ironman three years ago, I was quietly concerned that she was pushing the envelope too far and didn’t have the time to train like she should have. This time I did not have those concerns. This time she was up every morning at 5:00AM going to the gym to workout, swim or run. If she had an hour to spare during the day, she usually snuck in a run or bike ride. I knew she was ready this time. The smile on her face as she was two hundred yards from the finish-line told me everything I needed to know.

Katy gets me Orchid of the Day. See my Image of the Day.

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The Tigers are for Real

The Tigers entered their three-game series with the Cubs with the best record in baseball, while the Cubs had the second-best record in the National League and the best offense in baseball. The series did not disappoint. The Tigers won Friday 3-1 behind Tarik Skubal’s dominane on the mound and some of the best defense I have seen in years. The Cubs fought back on Saturday winning 6-1 as they hit five home runs. In the rubber-game on Sunday, Tiger pitcher Jack Flaherty was masterful as he stymied the potent Cubs’ offense with a mix of 95mph fastballs and a devastating knuckle-curveball. Flaherty struck out nine in 6.0 innings. The bullpen of Brenan Hannifee, Tommy Kahnle, and Will Vest preserved the 4-0 win for the Tigers.

Friday night’s game was filled with Tiger web-gems by Riley Greene, Javy Baez, Kerry Carpenter, Dillon Dingler and Zach McKinstry. On Sunday it was Carpenter and Parker Meadows showing their defensive wizardry. The series had the feel of the post-season as Comerica was sold out for all three games as 120,000 fans attended the series.

The national pundits are now believing in the Tigers, too. The Tigers are rated the number one team in MLB by most MLB national power rankings after their performance against the Cubs.

Baseball is back in Detroit, and I couldn’t be happier about it. For my birthday Leah, with the help of my son-in-law, Brad, got me one of the beautiful Tiger city-connect jerseys. I wore it proudly while attending the Grand Rapids Triathlon. I got many “Go Tigers” from people passing by.

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Tarik Skubal-One More Time

Tarik Skubal made MLB history with his 7.2 innings against the Cubs. His performance on Friday night makes him the first pitcher in the last 125 seasons to register 90 or more strikeouts while allowing three or fewer walks in an 11-start span. I repeat 90 plus strikeouts and three or few walks in an 11-start span. Amazing

To put Skubal’s performance into perspective, the average MLB pitcher walks 3.32 batters per nine innings. Skubal has walked only 3 batters over his last eleven games.

Since 2024, Skubal has a 24-6 record in games that he starts, and he could be on pace to earning a second straight Cy Young award if the lefty can continue his dominance

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Sly: May he Dance to the Music

From the Washington Post, Sly Stone, whose band Sly and the Family Stone electrified Woodstock audiences and introduced a genre-fusing brand of psychedelic funk with hits such as “Family Affair” and “Everyday People” but then mostly vanished from the music scene for decades in the grip of drug abuse, died June 9 at his home in Granada Hills, California. He was 82.

Mr. Stone’s musical adventurism and ear for the times created an enduring soundtrack of the 1960s and early ’70s. The joyful “Hot Fun in the Summertime” in 1969 was a break from the era’s political storms; the boom-laka-laka-laka mojo of “I Want to Take You Higher” that same year uncorked pure energy. The song had the Woodstock throng dancing at 4 a.m. on Aug. 17, 1969, with Mr. Stone jamming on keyboards and roaming the stage in a white jumpsuit with fringe flying and his Afro haloed by the lights. (Click on any of the links to see a video of his performance)

“I sang, ‘I want to take you higher,’ and they sang back the last word, ‘higher.’ All of them. Damn. We kept it going. I kept it going,” Mr. Stone wrote in his 2023 memoir, co-authored with music journalist Ben Greenman, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” the song title of another Sly and the Family Stone chart-climber in 1970.

Mr. Stone could be edgy and rebellious in his music, using the n-word in a song warning “Whitey” not to evoke the term. Then he’d amble into a happy place with tracks such as 1968’s slinky “Dance to the Music.” He channeled the Age of Aquarius with songs from 1969’s “Stand!” album such as “You Can Make It If You Try” and the prejudice-bashing “Everyday People.”

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Quote of the Day: “I survived my spouse training to do a triathlon” This was on the shirt of one of the dads at the Grand Rapids Triathlon. He spent the day taking care of his two young kids while his wife competed in one of the events. If he had printed up 100, he could have easily sold everyone.

Orchid of the Day: My daughter Katy Krieg.

Second Orchid of the Day: The organizers for the Grand Rapids Triathlon 2025. I have been around hundreds of various events in my life. This is one of the most organized I have ever seen.

Onion of the Day: No onion when I give out two orchids

Lyrics of the Day: There is a yellow one that won’t Accept the Black one. That won’t accept the red one. That won’t accept the White one. Different strokes for different folks

If you think you know the lyrics send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.

Answer to the Lyrics of the Day for June 4, 2025: Sweet Home Alabama, by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Question of the Day: Have you ever thought about doing something like a half ironman?

Image of the Day:

Katy with Leah and Me following her completion of the half ironman triathlon.