The story of Mack's big day

Man, I feel like I've told this story a thousand times over the last week, but here it is, in all it's detailed glory...

I've been nervous about work travel for the past couple months, but this is our busiest time of year as we launch NASCAR, NCAA Football, Madden and Tiger within a couple months. I've traveled 8 of the last 10 weeks for different launch events and planning meetings, but this was to be my last trip before mack's expected 10/9/08 arrival date. I kissed Katie goodbye and jokingly asked her to hang on for 3 more nights while I ran to NY for NFL Kickoff week activities.

I landed at JFK late Tuesday night and my cell phone wouldn't turn on. In hindsight, I should have known I was in for a long week. Luckily I was traveling with a fairly large group of guys from Tiburon, so after I checked into the hotel, I called Katie and gave her the hotel phone number, and the cell numbers of 4 of the guys I was traveling with. I figured I'd get a replacement phone after golf and before the reception on Wednesday evening.

We were up early and headed out to golf the next morning. There was typical NY traffic, so it took us 2 hours to get out to Glen Arbor up in Westchester, although I'm still not sure how far it actually is. We finally got to the club and I was stoked to see that Phil Holt, Dale Jackson and I were slated to play with Hall of Fame lineman Anthony Munoz. I was pretty excited about it as the former NFL Man of the Year was one of my boyhood idols. He's also a good friend of Sandy Sandoval's, and played in Cincinnati with an old Seattle friend of mine, Kevin Sargent. Lots to talk about... ANYWAY, we had a horrible round, but great day on the course, smoking cigars, talking football and enjoying the sun. It was 3:00 and we were limping into the 18th green for our final scramble putt when Dale's phone rang. He looked a bit startled as he handed me the phone. "Oh shit" is all I could get out...

Katie was understandably terrified on the other end of the phone. Her water broke while she was hanging out at the house. I remember saying "just stay calm and call the doctor" about a thousand times. Truth is, that's about all I could get out as my heart raced and nervous tears rolled down my face. My intention was for her to call the doctor to see if she needed to call an ambulance, or if she could wait for a friend or a cab. Hard core as she always is, decided to drive herself to the hospital when the Dr told her to get in ASAP...

Meanwhile, back on the golf course, I remembered that Todd Sitrin, Steve Chiang and Peter Moore had just left the golf course for an afternoon meeting back in the city, and they were gracious enough to turn around on the highway to pick me up. I left my clubs with the guys, handed Phil my hotel room key, and we were off to the airport; which one I wasn't yet sure. Thank God for Dale who loaned me his cell phone so I was able to keep in contact throughout the ordeal. Jen Foreman graciously stepped in to help find the best airport options, and Steve, Todd and Peter did their best to distract me with stories of their birth experiences. I jumped out of the car at 4:10 at JFK for a 4:30 flight, convinced that there was no way I'd make this flight and I was going to miss the birth of our 1st...

Luckily, you can train new yorkers to be security guards, but you can't take the NY out of them. I ran up to the first security guard I could find. "I'll give you a hundred bucks if you can get me on this flight". He didn't even respond, just grabbed me by the arm and we ran to a secret ticket agent, then past the security lines, literally sprinting through the airport like to old OJ Hertz ads. I made it to the plane, sweaty from the run, and stinking of cigars. The guy next to me was tolerant and understanding once I explained the story. The longest 2 1/2 hour flight of my life followed.

We landed in Orlando and I sprinted for the taxi stand (my car keys were still back at the NY hotel), jumped a cab and again bribed the guy to speed all the way to South Seminole Hospital. Julie Erb, Jillian Holt, and our friend Kate were already at the hospital. I called them at least 3 times, begging the Dr's to stall. I was getting a bit hot under the collar, convinced that some Ivy League punk wanted to be home by 8 (Mack was breech, so a C-section was required). I begged and begged, but the final call came in at 7:49, while I was crossing 17-92, just 2 1/2 miles from the hospital. I missed the birth by just 16 minutes...

It was obviously disappointing to miss the big moment, but I forgot all about it as soon as I saw my nose in 1/50th scale. Mack was perfect, and despite his early arrival there were no tubes, no incubator, and no worries. There is a picture of his little hand wrapped around my finger as we met for the first time. It was an incredible moment, interrupted only by the need to get back to Katie right away.

And there you have it, the crazy start to what I'm sure will be a crazy journey through parnethood!