JT1Wrestle's Final ACC Predictions

 NCAA DI QUALIFIER 

125
1. Eddie Ventresca Virginia Tech
2. Vince Robinson North Carolina State
3. Nico Provo Stanford
4. Kysen Terukina North Carolina
5. Tyler Chappell Pittsburgh
6. Keyveon Roller Virginia 

133
1. Aaron Seidel Virginia Tech
2. Tyler Knox Stanford
3. Ethan Oakley North Carolina
4. Zach Redding North Carolina State 

141
1. Ryan Jack North Carolina State
2. Jack Consiglio Stanford
3. Tom Crook Virginia Tech
4. Luke Simcox North Carolina
5. Briar Priest Pittsburgh
6. Gable Porter Virginia 

149
1. Collin Gaj Virginia Tech
2. Koy Buesgens North Carolina State
3. Anthony Valencia Stanford
4. Kade Brown Pittsburgh
5. Wynton Denkins Virginia 

157
1. Daniel Cardenas Stanford
2. Ethen Miller Virginia Tech
3. Dylan Evans Pittsburgh
4. Laird Root North Carolina 
5. Colton Washleski Virginia 

165
1. Bryce Hepner North Carolina
2. E.J. Parco Stanford
3. Will Denny North Carolina State
4. Mac Church Virginia Tech
5. Jared Keslar Pittsburgh

174
1. Luca Augustine Pittsburgh
2. Matty Singleton North Carolina State
3. Aidan Wallace Duke
4. Sergio DeSiante Virginia Tech
5. Nick Hamilton Virginia 

184
1. Jaden Bullock Virginia Tech
2. Chase Kranitz Pittsburgh
3. Abraham Wojcikiewicz Stanford
4. Jake Dailey North Carolina 
5. Don Cates North Carolina State 

197
1. Mac Stout Pittsburgh
2. Angelo Posada Stanford
3. Sammy Sasso Virginia Tech
4. Patrick Brophy North Carolina State 

HWT
1. Isaac Trumble North Carolina State
2. Dayton Pitzer Pittsburgh
3. Jimmy Mullen Virginia Tech
4. Connor Barket Duke
5. Brenan Morgan Virginia 

Stephen Stonebraker's 2026 Baseball Schedule

 
SUN MARCH 29th - UCLA @ Iowa 11 a.m. 
SAT APRIL 4th - Indian Hills @ Kirkwood 1:00 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. 
SUN APRIL 19th - Ellsworth @ Kirkwood 1:00 p.m. 
SUN APRIL 26th - Iowa Central @ Kirkwood - Noon
SUN MAY 3rd - Illinois @ Iowa 1:00 p.m. 

Stephen Stonebraker's Fall Schedule

 

SUNDAY AUG 31st 1:00 p.m. - Iowa Field Hockey Vs North Carolina 

SATURDAY SEPT 6th 1:00 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. - Coe Soccer (M&W) Vs Crown 


SATURDAY SEPT 13th 8:00 pm. Iowa Theater = Drag'daLore 

SATURDAY SEPT 20th 2:00 p.m Mount Mercy Volleyball Vs Mid American Nazarene
SATURDAY SEPT 20th 8:00 p.m. Iowa Theatre = 2006 

SATURDAY SEPT 27th 12 p.m.  Kirkwood Volleyball Vs Prairie State
SATURDAY SEPT 27th 8:00 p.m.  Iowa Theatre = A Starry Knight 

SATURDAY OCT 4th 12 p.m. Mount Mercy Volleyball Vs Central Methodist 12 p.m. 
SATURDAY OCT 4th Iowa Theatre = Earthus Terminus 

SATURDAY OCT 11th Coe Swimming & Diving Vs Illinois College 2 p.m. 

How Does an Agnostic End Up At One Of Iowa's Most Religious Colleges?

 There's no denying it.  I am an anomaly. Since day one, my life hasn't made much sense. There are a lot of things about me people find peculiar.  Things about who I am and my past that puzzle people. One of which, is how I, an agnostic, ended up at Northwestern College, one of Iowa's most religious institutions. It even dumbfounds me at times.  Who I am now. The way I think about things. The philosophies and perspectives I have. The soon to be 40 year old Stephen Stonebraker never would have ended up at a place like Northwestern College. So how did the 18 year old me end up there? 

I Was a Different Person at the Time

There was a time in my life where I was deeply religious.  A time in my life where I went to Church every Sunday, prayed every night and encompassed a lot of my life around the Christian faith.  I was never very vocal about it.  I wasn't one of these people that constantly had to reassure everyone around me that I was a Christian. I wore a St. Christopher necklace every day and if you really want to have your mind blown, I even considered going to seminary at one point.  That's a story for another day, but it is true. 

I Was Very Depressed and Suicidal at the Time Too 

I did my best to hide it and keep it from others, but during high school I was severely depressed.  I was suicidal as well. Once even standing on a bridge, on a cold February day, nearly all of the day, contemplating jumping. A lot of things weren't going right in my life. I had a lot of guilt over my sister Sydney's death and I had failed at my goals as a high school wrestler. There were many nights when I'd sit up at night and wonder why I felt the way I did.  Why did I feel so horrible? Why did I hate myself and hate my life? 

We'll come back to this in a bit.

Northwestern Had a Reputable Theatre Program

I made up my mind when I was very young that what I wanted to do with my life was be a screenplay writer.  Since about seven years old, I loved the idea of seeing characters and scenarios that came out of my head on the movie screen or the television.  When I got a little older, I'd even write my own episodes of some of my favorite TV shows.  Treatments, scripts, you name it, I daydreamed all the time.

Screenplay writing was a graduate degree though. Something you did post your undergrad.  That left me with a dilemma. What would I get my undergrad in? I looked into creative writing, but it too was a graduate degree.  So, what in the world would a guy who wanted to eventually get a degree in screenplay writing, study?  I thought the answer was theatre.  

We looked all around Iowa, as well as nearby Missouri and nearby Illinois for good theatre programs.  We narrowed it down to four institutions.  Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Luther and Simpson.  Northern Iowa was immediately eliminated because I was fearful of going to a larger college. I didn't know if I could perform well in a lecture hall setting.  

Why Northwestern over Luther and Simpson? 

This is a bit more complicated.  

I knew I wanted to focus on theatre and put my heart and work ethic into it.  On the same hand though, I love wrestling too much to completely stay away from it.  

At Luther, the head of the theatre seemed to have no interest in me at all.  I'd find out many years later in a long discussion with Professor Larson, that I misread him. He was trying to give me very valuable information, and I took it as an insult. I loved the wrestling coach, Coach Mitchell. He and I saw eye to eye.  He even talked to me about traveling with the wrestling team and being the media guy for the team. He knew my enthusiasm and passion for the sport.  He saw value in me, even if I weren't going to be an all star, All American for him.  

Ironically enough, Simpson was the exact opposite. I can't remember the head of the theatre's name, but he was extremely welcoming and seemed like he couldn't wait to get me aboard as a member of the theatre.  Coach Ron Peterson was an interested in me as is a shark in a piece of lettuce.  I had never gone to state; I had never accomplished anything in wrestling. I was a waste of his time. Feel free to buy a ticket and watch us wrestle if you want but keep your distance. I don't need your suckage potentially leaking on to my team. 

Northwestern on the surface seemed the goldilocks. Karen and Jeff Barker, the heads of Northwestern Theatre were very welcoming people.  I still think pretty highly of the Barkers, especially Karen.  I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but I will say she tried really hard to get the other kids to accept me, and take in someone who didn't fit the mold. I will always appreciate that about her. 

As to the wrestling coach, I don't think I could have found a better fit to the awkward situation I was in.  Coach Paul Barteltt got it.  As complicated and nonsensical as it was, I could not have asked for someone to be better to me than what Coach Bartlett was.  I was a messed up individual, and I needed someone like him in my life at the time.  He wanted me to be a part of his wrestling program.  To my surprise, he even wanted me on the team, as a wrestler.  Even offering me a partial scholarship. He made it clear I was welcome in the wrestling room anytime I wanted to be there. Covering the team, helping recruit, being at the matches.  He wanted me a part of Northwestern Red Raider wrestling.  I wish mentally I would have been in a place at the time to have done so.  Again, another story for another day. 

Back to the Depressed and Suicidal Part

Yes, Northwestern College having a reputable theatre department, along with the Barkers and Coach Bartlett were pieces of the puzzle that lead me to Northwestern College, but in essence there was one reason why Northwestern got the nod over everywhere else. 

I asked myself a couple of questions.  Why do I feel the way I feel?  Why have all of these horrible things happened to me?  The answer I came up with?  Obviously, I'm not a good person. I try and be, but obviously I'm not. Why else would these horrible things happen to me?  Why else would I feel as I do? 

What's wrong with me?  At the time I thought it has to be the fact that I'm not a good enough Christian.  I must not be doing enough to please God and make him happy with me.  What can I do to be a better Christian? 

Going to a Christian College!  That has to be the answer!  I want to get closer to God? I want to be a better Christian?  Be and do as God wants?  Northwestern College is the answer! 

Camp Okoboji 

I don't think I'll ever have a situation in my life where expectation and reality are further apart, than what they were at Northwestern.  I get asked sometimes, what was I expecting?  I can tell you exactly what I expected. 

Even today, as an agnostic, I can look you in the eye and tell you that one of my fondest memories in life was going to Church camp in sixth grade.  It was a week-long camp where I had the time of my life.  I wish I remembered my camp counselor's name.  I think it was something like Jason Jakes, or Jacks, or Jaacks or something like that.  I've tried looking him up many times over the years, but I've never been able to find him. Cool guy. Really enjoyed him. The overall experience of that camp was very rewarding. So rewarding in fact, that nearly 30 years later, I still have vivid memories. 

That's what I thought Northwestern College was going to be like. If being wrong were measured in distance, I thought I was in Ushuaia, Argentina. I was actually in Ellesmere Island, Northern Canada. 


And that's the story of how I ended up at Northwestern College. 

Stephen Stonebraker's 2025 College Baseball Schedule

 

Saturday April 5th - 3:30 pm- Mid-American Nazarene @ Mount Mercy (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

Saturday April 12th - 3:30 pm - Culver Stockton @ Clarke (Dubuque, Iowa) 

Saturday April 19th - 12 p.m. - NECC @ Kirkwood (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 

Saturday April 26th - 4 p.m. - Indiana @ Iowa 

Saturday May 3rd - 12 p.m. - Kirkwood @ Iowa Central (Fort Dodge, Iowa) 

Saturday May 10th - 3:30 p.m. - Oregon State @ Iowa

Saturday May 17th - 1:00 p.m. - Oregon @ Iowa 

Wooly Bully

 Life puts you in compromising positions sometimes. The line between right & wrong can often be difficult to distinguish. The blacks & whites become shades of grey, and what to do or what not to do becomes more a reflection of perspective & philosophy than it does anything else. I try and live my life in a just and fair manner. I want to be kind, considerate & friendly, but not at the cost of justice.  I feel life at times can be vicarious, putting us not in win/lose situations, but instead in lose/lose situations where we have to make the most of two evils. 

Now in my life, I have been an outright bully at times. I can think of times as a kid when without merit, I unsubstantially bullied someone. There weren't many times, as for the most part I was a good kid, but there were a handful of times.  There were times when there was no question, I was a little jackass and I own those particular times. 

In my adult life though, I have tried hard to never come across as a bully. However there have been a few times where I was put into a position where I felt & for that matter still feel that threatening someone was the best of the options I had put in front of me. 

This was one of those times....


Professional wrestling was a world unto itself. I've met a lot of strange & interesting characters in my life, but abnormal was the normal in pro wrestling. One of the guys I befriended for a while during my six years in the whacky business was a guy named Kevin. Kevin despite his flaws, had a good heart & would often do anything for anyone.  One of his good friends, also a pro wrestler was a guy named Alan. 

I never knew whether Alan was just plain stupid or if he was malicious. It was hard to tell with him if he honestly didn't realize how shitty of a person he could be at times or if he was aware of it. His inconsideration for others & his ungratefulness did more than annoy me. It outright angered me. What angered me even more was Kevin allowing him to do this to him. Kevin constantly making excuses for him and justifying his actions.  I let it go most of the time, but there was once when I couldn't let it go. 

We were on our way back to Des Moines from a wrestling show.  Kevin was driving, I was in the backseat and Alan was riding shotgun.  A police officer got behind us and put on his lights. Kevin pulled over.  We were all really curious about why we were being pulled over.  Kevin never sped & as far as we knew all of the lights on the vehicle were working properly.

Much to our surprise, the officer wasn't interested in Kevin. He wanted Alan to get out of the car.  I had never seen anything like this. I asked Kevin what in the Hell was going on. He didn't know anything more than I did.  Next thing we know, Alan is being handcuffed & put into the back of the squad car.  The officer comes back up to Kevin's car & informs us that we are allowed to leave. 

Kevin couldn't have been more polite asking the officer to explain what was going on, but the officer's only response was that it was not of our concern and we were free to go. 

Kevin was an outright mess. Hyperventilating and crying, he was in no shape to drive. I got into the driver's seat as we still had a good 70 miles or so to go before we reached our destination. 

I tried to tell Kevin not to worry about it. I said that Alan had probably done something stupid & got himself into trouble. I said he'd be fine. 

"Stephen I'm worried about him!  I don't know what's going happen to him!" 

I had to listen to Kevin's concerns for the next hour or so.  

When we got back, Kevin shared the news with a few others as we tried to get to the bottom of what exactly was going on. If you know the pro wrestling community, it's not really much on sympathy. Instead they wanted to see if they could rile Kevin up more by suggesting to him that Alan might get beat up or have certain things happen to him in the shower.  This made it even worse. 

There was no Kevin going up to his room and me crashing on his couch.  Instead we had to call around until we found out the real story. 

Alan had apparently gotten into a physical domestic dispute with his wife Heather. As a result he was told that he couldn't leave Polk County.  He left Polk County anyway, thinking he wouldn't get caught. Someone told the authorities where he was, who he was with and gave them the make, model & license plate of Kevin's vehicle.  Now he was being held at the Polk County Jail. 

It was like 2 a.m. or so when Kevin & I drove down to the jail.  I waited in the car while Kevin went in.  He came back out a few minutes later. 

I don't remember the exact number but it was a fairly high bail.  $300+ if memory serves me correct but shy of $400.  I'm almost certain of that.  It was not money that Kevin had to spend. 

I tried talking him out of it. I told him that Alan put himself in this position & a day or two, or whatever it was gonna be would do the guy some good.  Kevin refused to let it happen.  He went to the ATM & took out the money.  He bailed Alan out of jail that night. 

Alan's words said he was grateful, but I knew his actions would prove soon enough that he wasn't. 

It wasn't too long after that  when the bank foreclosed on Kevin's house.  He hadn't been able to keep up with his mortgage payments & as a result, the bank took his home.  He had something like 72 hours or something to get all of his stuff out. 

He found an apartment & he called up as many people as he knew to come help him move.  Most everyone he called was from Des Moines or from the Des Moines area.  The only guy who wasn't, was me.  He wanted us all to meet up at his place at 2 p.m. to help him move.  

I made the 90+ mile drive to Des Moines from Sigourney to help him move.  Arriving at about 1:50 p.m. I waited with Kevin until 2:00 p.m. for the others to show up.  No one was there at 2:00.  No one was there at 2:15 either. By 2:30 I realized that this moving job was gonna be me and Kevin. 

"Did you ask Alan to help?" I questioned Kevin. 

He had, but Alan had informed him that he had something very important going on today & he couldn't help.  Kevin wanted me to drive the Uhaul he had rented.  I told him before we did anything else, we were going to go over to Alan's. 

"I don't know why you insist on going over to Alan's," Kevin kept saying to me. "I already told you, he said he had something really important going on. I doubt he's even home." 

Much to Kevin's objections, I made him give me directions & when I parked the Uhaul next to Alan's house, I told Kevin to wait in the vehicle.  

I walked right up to Alan's front door.  It was open with only the screen door.  I could look right into his living room. There he was sitting comfortably on his couch playing video games. This was the "more important" thing he had to do instead of helping Kevin. 

I didn't knock. I didn't ask if I could come in. I opened up that door walked right into his living room and sat down right beside him on the couch. 

He was very surprised to see me and I think he could tell I wasn't happy. 

We made small talk for a while.  I asked him about the game he was playing. He told me all about it.  I then stood up from the couch & put it to him very simply. 

"I gotta take a leak," I said to him as I eyed where the bathroom was. "When I come out, you're gonna be one of two places. You're gonna be outside in the Uhaul truck with Kevin, ready to help us move him or you're gonna still be sitting here on the couch playing this game.  You don't wanna be on the couch." 

He could've called the Police
He might have had a weapon to defend himself

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I didn't care.  Kevin had bailed him out of jail.  Using money that he didn't have. Lawd knows how many times Kevin had spent money helping him out. Money that he could have used to pay his bills.  Money that might have kept him from losing his house. Kevin did all this for Alan and he couldn't take a few hours to help him move a few things from his house to his apartment? 

It wasn't an issue because when I came out of the bathroom, pumped and ready for a fight, Alan was no longer on the couch.  I prepared for a sneak attack, but when I looked outside, Alan was sitting right beside Kevin in the Uhaul.  The rest of the day went great & to Alan's credit he was very helpful in lifting things & carrying them. We got along fine & Kevin treated us both to a Chinese buffet.  

Did Alan come to his senses & realize that he owed this to Kevin? Or did he only do what he did because he knew that if he didn't, I was gonna beat his ass?  I don't know.  I think sometimes the mistake we make with people in life, is that we assume everyone has a conscious. That everyone will feel a sense of guilt. That isn't true for sociopaths. The only way to get them to understand something is fear. 

Now was I a bully?  Yeah, maybe I was, but I don't regret it.  I'd handle this situation the same way.  There's nothing about it I would change.  I'm glad that I didn't have to do anything, but I would have.  Alan needed to help Kevin or he needed to have a consequence for not helping Kevin.  If someone else thinks the right thing would have been for me to have let it go, I don't agree.  I did what I felt was right & if this marks a time in my life where I was a bully, then good. In this particular instance I wear the badge with honor. 

Dirty Laundry

 The other day my sister Sara called me up on the phone accusing me of harassing her ex-husband & supposedly trying to pry into her life.  That's not at all what happened, but I knew better than to try and explain it to her. She had her mind made up, so I just let her say what she had to say & then used some colorful language of my own & hung up the phone on her before she could say anymore. 

At this point in my life, I don't care anymore if I'm made out to be the bad guy in our situation. 

Here's what actually did happen...

Back in May of 2018, I attended my nephews graduation party. His father, Sara's ex-husband Eric was there. I always liked Eric. If you're curious to know, I've always liked Steve too. Like I said to Eric not too long ago, I don't like Sara, but I've always thought she had good taste in men.  I told Eric at the graduation party I was glad to see him & that I always thought a lot of him.  He gave me his phone number & then added me to facebook.  We talked about getting together sometime. 

Over the past few years, I've always meant to go down to Moline & have a beer with Eric.  Just because he divorced my sister didn't mean that I had to dislike him.  That's one thing I really wanted him to know.  So many in my family are so critical & judgmental.  I'm not sure what he thought everyone else felt about him, but I wanted to let him know that he didn't need to feel any animosity from me. 

I messaged him a couple of months ago, just to see how he was doing. It took him quite a while to get back to me, but when he did, he said that he still saw a lot of Garrett & that he talked to Sara quite a bit too.  I didn't quite know how to take that.  It really surprised me.  He said that he had a near death experience, had to be air lifted & have a blood transfusion.  I told him that I was really sorry to hear all of that & then he told me that Sara had come to visit him during this tough time in his life.  That really shocked me.  Of all things Eric could have told me, I don't know if there's anything else he could have said that would have thrown me more off guard.   Then he told me that my sister was the best thing that ever happened to him & that his biggest regret in life was letting that marriage fall apart. 

See I never knew why Sara & Eric got divorced. All I knew is that I sorta started to notice that Eric wasn't around at family get togethers & when we'd visit Sara, Eric never seemed to be there anymore. They had already been divorced for quite sometime when Grandpa Harry informed me that they were no longer together. 

With Eric now opening up to me about all of this, I couldn't help but wonder if pressure from my mother might have lead to their divorce. My mom never liked Eric.  She always thought Sara could do better than Eric & that Sara deserved better than Eric. It's not all that much different than my relationship with Ashley. My mom does nice things for Ashley & she would tell you that I'm wrong, but my mom has never liked Ashley.  My mom thinks I can do better than Ashley & that I deserve better than Ashley.  She's been very persuasive & manipulative in trying at different times to get me to breakup with Ashley. 

So my curiosity got the best of me & I asked Eric if my mom had anything to do with their divorce. 

I guess Eric must have taken it as me having some sort of an agenda or something. Like I was trying to get information out of him to use against Sara. That wasn't at all what I was doing.  I was just wanting to see if my mom had anything to do with their splitting apart, because if it did, I wanted to console in someone who had gone through the same something difficult that I was going through right now. 

Eric told Sara all of this & that's when she called me. 

My anger over the situation is more geared at Eric than it is anyone. I was so pissed off at him that I felt like driving down to Moline & beating his scrawny ass.  Here I was trying to be a friend to him, and he was taking it as me trying to pry information out of him for some sort of a agenda.  It's everyday, nothing new news with my sister, but I wasn't expecting that from him.  I sent him a message saying that if he didn't want to talk to me, then he shouldn't have.  If he would have asked me to not bother him, I wouldn't have bothered him.  "F you" "F you" it isn't complicated. I gave him my word I'd never bother him again & I won't. 

This is always how it is with Sara though. I'd be lying if I said it's been that way our entire lives, because we've had a few good times, but not many.  Throughout most of our lives we haven't liked one another. 

I think it all started with our parents. Especially my Dad. He made the two of us so competitive with one another. I can't remember a time when he ever liked both of us at the same time.  I can remember times when he didn't like either one of us. I can remember a lot of times when he liked me & he didn't like Sara. I can remember times when he liked Sara & he didn't like me.  But a time when he liked both of us?  Maybe when we were really, really little but that'd be it. 

Notice how I was specific to use the word like & not love. I hate it when I tell someone that my Dad doesn't like me & they fire back, "your dad loves you very much."  I didn't say a gawd damn word about love. I said like. I know my father loves me. I've never doubted that in my entire life.  I also know he doesn't like me. 

When we were in junior high & high school I was the one Dad liked & Sara was the one Dad disliked.  I was the B honor roll, liked well by my teachers, three time hardest worker of the year Captain of the wrestling team. It's not to say that my Dad wasn't exceptionally hard on me & still rather critical, but at least at the time he liked me. I was the one that was gonna go off to college & become a somebody in life.  He would brag about me all the time. Even to the point to where other people didn't like me & thought of me as being arrogant and cocky, because of how much my Dad would talk me up. 

His feelings on Sara at the time were completely different. Sara was a wild child. From his view, a fuck up.  I know & I'll say it because I was there. I had to listen to it every night.  Sara partied, Sara drank, she hung out with hoodlums. "You just watch. Sara will end up dead, on dope, in jail or pregnant. You just watch."  I can still hear him talking about it now. 

Considering Sara got in three drunk driving accidents, I feel fortunate that dead wasn't what we ended up with. I don't like my sister. I want nothing to do with her & I want her out of my life the rest of my life.  That doesn't mean I wanted anything bad to happen to her though.  I am glad that with the options my Dad laid out in front of me that pregnant is what she ended up.  It's the best of all the options. 

He was pissed about it though, and I mean PISSED. Sara wasn't around for him to yell out when he found out, but I was. He sat and shook in his chair & screamed at me all night until his voice finally gave out.  "She ruined her life!"  "She won't amount to jack shit!"  

I remember my wrestling coach telling us that whatever was going on in our lives outside of wrestling practice & competing, we had to leave outside of wrestling practice & competing. There were so many nights like this when I'd be kept up till 1 a.m. listening to my father's anger & then be expected to not have it effect me at all when I had to step out on the mat the next day for a dual or a tournament. Just another failure of the long list of failures I have in my life, cause I wasn't able to do that. 

I guess this is where a lot of Sara & I's inability to get along stems from. 

In reality, Sara had to completely change her path in life. The dreams she had, were now replaced with being a mom & taking care of a son. And I have to commend her on it. She did a great job with raising Garret & she's done a great job with Addison & Norah too.  I'll always say that Sara is an excellent mother, because she is. 

Our lives turned out the complete opposite of what my Dad thought they would.  Sara was the one that ended up the major bread winner. The one with the brand new vehicles & the one that ended up with the $500,000 house.  I've been the one who has lived in cheap apartments, done jobs my Dad doesn't respect & the one that has struggled. 

And again that's where Sara & I have an inability to get along. 

In Sara's estimation we both my mistakes & we both suffered for those mistakes. I don't see it that way.  Yes, choosing to go to Northwestern College was one of the worst decisions I've ever made in my life, but I didn't know that going in. There's no way I could have known going in the horrific experience it was going to be for me. There's no way I could have known that I was gonna have a girl cheat on me & then when people made her feel bad about it she was going to make up a story that I had been beating her.  You can't equate that with getting plastered drunk & getting into three drinking and driving accidents.  You know that when you are inebriated that you shouldn't operate a vehicle. You know going into it that it's the wrong thing to do & that it will most likely result in dire consequences. You know this.  So no, the mistakes Sara made in High School were a lot different than the ones I made in college.  They were a Hell of a lot different.  For Sara and my Dad to not grasp that, is frankly bullshit in my opinion.  Absolute bullshit. 

Sara likes to talk all the time about how she went out and got a real job, while I did the kind of jobs I did while still chasing a dream.  Yeah, when you do something practical, something safe & concrete, you're gonna get somewhere a lot faster.  Chasing you dreams is a risky proposition. I can admit that. It's why they call it, "struggling".  Struggling writer, struggling pro wrestler, struggling actor, struggling.  

You see when Sara was younger she wanted to be a fashion designer. How good was she? How realistic was this dream? I don't know. I saw some of Sara's designs for clothing & I always felt she had talent. I always felt that her ideas were as good as Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger. It wouldn't have surprised me any if Sara had gotten on somewhere as a fashion designer & helped design clothes for a major designing company.  

That was the plan. She wanted to attend Black Hawk community college to get a degree in fashion design.  That was her dream & getting knocked up in December of 1999 but an end to all of that.  

Sara never got to chase her dream & she has held a vendetta against me ever since because I've gotten to chase mine.  

When I was going after my dream of one day going out to Hollywood & really trying to make a go for it as a screenplay writer/actor, she would get infuriated.  I'd talk about learning the craft of screenplay writing to one of my relatives & she'd respond with something nasty like, "sure wish I could waste my time taking courses like that instead of having to actually work for a living." 

I'm supposed to feel bad for Sara & have empathy for her that her choices to screw around in high school, barely get by with C's & go out getting hammered every weekend, led to her not being able to go after being a fashion designer.  I'm supposed to be understanding and sympathetic to that. But when it comes to me not being able to make a real go at Hollywood, because my student loans financially crippled me, the response is, "Hey buddy, you made poor choices." 

It was even worse when I was trying to make it as a pro wrestler.  The six years I traveled all around Iowa & other parts of the Midwest performing as a pro wrestler, Sara hated it with a passion. Watching me chase this dream was absolute torture for her. Absolute torture. 

It's not any different with my goal of being a writer. It's worse. She hates that I'm still trying to make as a writer & it bugs her even more because writing doesn't have a window.  The window of time to make it as a pro wrestler is very, very small.  You have a a few short years while you're in your twenties, maybe your early thirties and then it's over. Hollywood ain't a whole heck of a lot different. I think the window is a tad bit bigger for an actor than it is for a pro wrestler, but the fact of the matter is the ship sails fast & once it's sailed, that's it. It's done. It's over. 

I'm never going to perform in a WWE or AEW ring. I'll never have a run in New Japan.  I'm never going to head out to L.A.   My dreams of being a big time pro wrestler are over. My dreams of trying to make it in some capacity in Hollywood, are dead.  This makes Sara happy & she wishes it were like this for my writing too. 

For those that side with Sara, I'm supposed to see where she's coming from.  I gotta understand that she didn't have a choice. She had a baby when she was young. She wasn't able to be exploratory. She didn't even get to try at her dreams. 

Look, I wish Sara had gotten a real shot to make it as a fashion designer. I wish things had been different for her, but here's where & why those that side with Sara on this can kiss my ass. 

There's nothing more that Sara would rather see for me than to either fail or give up on my dream as a writer & if there shoe were on the other foot, I wouldn't be that way.  I wouldn't be jealous, envious or angry. I might be bitter about my situation, but my attitude wouldn't be, "I didn't get to chase my dream, so she shouldn't be able to chase her's either."

Let's put the shoe on the other foot.  If I had fucked around in high school, been a screw off, & spent all my time partying & drinking, while she studied hard, got good grades & worked her ass off at sports/theatre/ect, I think I'd be upright about it. I know I would be because fairness is more important to me than anything.  

If I had knocked up a girl & suddenly there wasn't going to be pro wrestling, or acting, or writing, I'd accept my fate because I would feel that I deserved it. I didn't do that though & I don't feel that I've done anything in my life to where I should feel a need to where I should have to give up on myself as a writer.  If I had knocked up a girl when I was 17 & Sara had been the one to go off to college & she was out there trying to make it as a fashion designed, I guarantee you that I wouldn't be wanting her to fail or give up.  I'd be happy for her.  I'd want her to succeed. 

And that's what it comes down to for me.  We don't get along anyway & we have a million other things we can't stand about one another but that's the number one thing for me. That's why I won't talk to Sara anymore. It's why I want nothing to do with her.  Being a a writer and making it as a writer is a very important thing to me.  She made it clear as day to me on April 4th, 2020 that she didn't want me to succeed. That's all I'll ever need to know about Sara again.  

There are those of you that don't believe that, & think I'm full of shit. I know Sara would roll her eyes and try and convince you she doesn't feel that way either. Try and gaslight me as if I'm crazy.  I'm not.  I've been dealing with this for nearly 20 years.  If Sara were to find out that I closed my microsoft word & I threw away my notebooks, it'd make her happy.  While when in a state of depression my first hope is that no one I care about ever feels the pain I do, Sara wallows in her misery wanting the rest of the world to feel as shitty as she does. 

This hasn't been going on for a few months, or even a few years. That's why when people say to me, "have you tried talking to her about this?"  or "have you tried to fix it?"  I just can't help but grit my teeth and laugh.  Of course I've tried to fix this. I can't tell you the number of times I've tried to fix this. It's the same with my Dad too. I don't like not liking my sister. I wish we could get along. I can't tell you how many times since I was in the 7th grade I've tried to make peace with her.  I'm 38 years old. Damn near 40.  I've been at this for a long time.  Way to damn long & I don't owe it to anyone to keep trying. 

Sara and my Dad are exactly the same in this aspect. They only give you one of two options. 

A - They will sit there and tell you everything wrong with you and your life. How much of a fuck up you are. All the things you did wrong in your life. All of the things you're currently doing wrong in you life. How much you suck at life. How much you'll continue to suck at life. How much of a loser you are.  Just putdown after putdown after putdown. Nothing but negativity and you just sit there and you take it. 

Well I'm not going to just sit there and take it. This life is challenging enough as it is.  I don't need someone telling me how shitty of a job I'm doing or trying to convince me how terrible of a person I am.  

One of the last things Sara ever said to me was, "you sure do think a lot of yourself."   And that's when it dawned on me. That was the real issue that both her and my Dad had with me. They thought so lowly of me. So negatively of me and that was their problem with me.  They wanted me to feel the same way they did. To see me in the same light that they see me.  I don't.  There's a lot about me to improve. A lot about me I want to fix & make better. But I like me. Me's ok. 

The other option with my Dad and my sister is...

B - you dish it right back to them. I opened up about some of my sister's mishaps in life, but honestly I really don't like doing this.  I have to admit sometimes when my Dad or my sister is laying into me, doing all they can to make me feel like shit, it does feel kinda go to fire back at them. I have plenty of ammunition to where I could literally tear either one of them apart. But I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna make them feel like shit. This isn't a life I wanna lead. 

So I can't do A & I can't do B.  So what am I left with?

Well in the minds of those who don't know the situation & don't know the longevity of how long it has lasted, I guess there's an imaginary C.   The C that I've tried so many times to find, that just plain and simple doesn't exist.  The whole, "how bout you all get along & no body bashes anybody."  

There is No C    I wish there was.  The 17 year old me wished there was. The 18 year old me wished there was.  I looked for it, worked for it, pleaded for it, begged for it, I an agnostic even prayed for it up until I was 35 years old.  There is no C.

So what does that leave me with? 

D as in DON'T talk to them. DON'T have anything to do with them. 

Guilt trips. Trying to make me feel like I'm a bad son.  Like I don't appreciate anything & everything my Dad did for me when I was younger.  I appreciate all that, but I don't owe it to him to think so lowly of me anymore. I don't owe it to him for him to have such a negative image of me anymore. 

He found a way to forgive Sara for everything she did, but not me.  I went to college, I got a degree & I didn't become a huge success afterwards. He'll never forgive me for that. Ever.  

I was watching a documentary on Jeff Dahmer a few years back. It dawned on me that Lionel Dahmer thought more of his son than my Dad thought of me. Lionel Dahmer, the Dad of a serial killer, liked his son more than my Dad like me. 

I've had various friends over the years that I've introduced my Dad to. Girlfriends. They all get the same impression. I remember the first time I took Ashley over to meet my Dad. We sat and talked for about 20 minutes and the first thing Ashley said to me when we got into the car.... "Sheesh, he doesn't like you does he?" 

I love the guilt trips people try and lay on me.  I wanna say that my Dad began to dislike me when I broke my back in 8th grade & it led to my athletic career going down the drain. I'd say that's where it all started, but I know my Dad hasn't liked me since 2007.  

He'd criticize me and degrade me every time I came to visit him. Yet every time I came back to Sigourney, I'd stop over at his house anyway.  It was always how I didn't have a good job, I wasn't driving a new enough car, I didn't have a house.  Every time I'd visit him, I'd drive away feeling like shit. Yet, I'd go back anyway. Every time. 

I did this from April of 2007 until March of 2020.  I think that's long enough. 

When I moved out of my mom's house & began life on my own in August of 2009.  Between Iowa City & Des Moines I lived in 7 different places until March of 2020.  You know how many times my Dad visited me?  Twice.   Two times in 11 years.  You wanna know how many times I visited him? Every time I went back to Sigourney.  Every single time.  How many times has he visited Sara over the years?  I don't know. I guarantee you it's been a Hell of a lot more than two times in 11 years though. 


Sometime in late 2019 or early 2020 my Dad called me up on the phone and told me that he was selling his house, building a new house and that if I wanted my stuff to come and get it.  "Hey, I'm getting a bigger place, with plenty of room to store the small closet full of belongings that have a lot of meaning to you, but if you don't want me to pitch it, come over and get your shit."  No, my Dad didn't say it this harshly, but it sure did feel like that's what he was saying. 

After his house was complete I went over to see it & to let him know that I was leaving to head to Florida.  Wanting to see his new place, I walked all through it.  The entire thing. Every room. Twice. You know what I saw all over the walls? Pictures of my Sister & her family.  Photos of my Dad's girlfriends kids & their significant others.  There wasn't one picture of me anywhere in that house. Not a single one. 

"Good luck, you'll need it." A tone that said you'll most likely fail. You don't have what it takes to make it down in Florida.  These were the final words my Dad spoke to me. 

And this is really where I get bitter. Where I get angry.  Where I wanna go toe to toe with someone. Let's knock out some teeth. Let's lose an eye. Let's see some blood.  I didn't deserve to go through what Jason did to me. My Dad, my sister, anyone can believe what they want to believe. Believe that it served me right. That I deserved to go through What Jason Janes did to me. That there's a price for chasing a dream.  

My Dad has the satisfaction of knowing it all blew up in my face just the way he thought it would. My sister does too.  But I'll be damned if I'm gonna let them rub it in my face.  This isn't experimenting with drugs. This isn't getting plastered every weekend. This isn't driving while severely intoxicated. This was knowing a guy, trusting a guy, thinking of this guy a a good friend, as a brother for 10 years & having the guy turn out to be a con artist. I can't stop you from thinking what you think anymore than I can stop my Dad or my Sister. I can choose to ignore though. 

2007....2007....2020. 

It's never gonna end. It's never going to be different.  My sister will only be happy with me if I fail or give up on my writing & figure out a way to be as negative, bitter and unhappy as she is.  My Dad? I honestly don't know what the Hell he wants, and I'm finally done trying to figure it out. From the time I was real little all the way through my mid 30's, the only time he ever seemed to be happy with me was when I was doing well as wrestling or bringing home really good grades. Other than that, nothing I did was ever good enough for him. I could never please him.  Sara never tried.  She never worried about pleasing him.  If she knew what would upset him and piss him off, that's what she did. 

It's like he and those who look at it strictly from his vantage point always want to point out all of the sacrifices he made for me & all he did for me while I was growing up.  They want me to only look at the positives he did for me.  

Nobody ever wants to stop and think of the sacrifices I made for him. How hard I tried to satisfy him and be what he wanted me to be. 

My senior year there was this girl I liked named Kelly. I asked her out. She said yes.  A friend of mine told his Dad about it & his Dad told my Dad.  How did my Dad respond? He responded by yelling at me about it. He said some pretty choice words about Kelly, letting me know he didn't think to much of her and her reputation for being "friendly."  Just sat and bashed her.  What did I do?  I worried about upsetting my Dad.  So I completely ignored Kelly, made an ass of myself & when I tried to talk to her about it later, she did what she should have done.  

Faggot, queer, gay, I got called a lot of these names. I heard the rumors.  When someone like Ben Hammes calls you a faggot, you don't think much of it. He didn't like me. He never liked me. So obviously him calling me a fag was simply him expressing that he didn't like me. No big deal.  But it was different when people who didn't have anything against me wondered if I was gay.  My Dad never stops to think about this or how much it hurt me during high school.  I wanted to please him. Make him happy.  I knew that getting sexually involved with a girl, even simple kissing would upset him, so I didn't do it.  I had one girlfriend during high school & we made out one night in my car. The windows fogged up.  Was my Dad pissed about that.  It reminded him of Sara getting pregnant two years prior & I got to hear another 3 hour lecture till midnight.  I broke up with Shelly a short time after that & that's all fine and dandy.  I just wish my Dad would realize I made a few sacrifices too.  Shelly wasn't the only attractive girl who liked me.  I could've gotten lucky a time or two.  I didn't though because I wanted to please him.  Probably sucks a lot more to spend a small fortune sending you kid to college only to see him not amount to jack shit.  Right? No use seeing or thinking of anything else other than that, even if it did suck to not be homosexual, but have others, even some of your friends wonder if you were. 


It's 2:30 a.m.   I started working on this about 10 till midnight.  There's so much more I could say and so much more I could elaborate on, but is it really worth it?  This wasn't rhetoric.  You went into this the exact way you're gonna come out.  Perhaps you've gained a little perspective & perhaps it has enhanced or lightened it one way or the other but it hasn't changed it.  If you came into this understanding & respecting my decision, you left understanding and respecting my decision.  If you came into this not understanding and thinking I'm wrong  & that I should continue to have my sister & Dad in my life, then you still think that.  If you went into this indifferent, you came out of it indifferent. 

To Those who get it, no explanation is necessary. To those who don't, no explanation will do.

I could have just said that too, but anyway...