A Hat Tip To the Team...

Breck 7/8 Girls Soccer - Second Place SSAT Minneapolis Division

I have coached a lot of years, and there is nothing better than getting to the end of season and developing a terrific bond with a team.  There is nothing as good as walking off the field and knowing that those thirteen girls didn't leave anything in the tank.  They gave it their all.  What a great way to end.  I am so proud and so lucky.

Heavy Lifting....

I am not a very patient reader...I often think I know what to do, so I read a couple of directions and then head off thinking I know what I am doing.

Over the last eighteen months I have discovered that I missed the chapter about caring for your parents.  I am blessed in that I have lots of help, and that one of my parents is healthy as a horse at 83...

But, here is my father.  Here is what is left of my war torn father.  No, he didn't serve in any battles where medals were given.  But here he is.  As his father once said to me, "heels stuck in the mud" - for being wheel chair bound.  My grandfather didn't know who I was but he was able to carry on a wonderful conversation with me.  My father may know who I am - I think he still does, but he is increasingly robbed of the words he loved so much.  I still get glimpses into the man I grew up loving so much - "I have no data on that," or "Great".

I know that my father hated the idea of Jack Kevorkian, and assisted suicide, but I often wonder if he knew where he would be a 85 if he would still feel the same way.  It's hard to believe that anyone would chose this.

The trouble is that the road to here is filled with tiny steps and all of a sudden you don't know how you got here.

Every week, this is the hardest thing I do.  I go as stare at my future, and watch my father crumble away in pieces.  I don't know if he is still in there or not.

*******

This week I listened to a piece on NPR about mice and sleep.  If you are a mouse, sleeping is dangerous - cats and all.  What is the evolutionary advantage to sleeping?  It turns out that at night the cells in mouse brains get small and flat while they sleep.  This allows the fluid in their brains to wash out all the gunk.  Wow.  They have not found this to be true in humans yet, but I just can't help wondering if sleep might not turn out to be a bigger deal than we might realize...

Whores Go Home Smiling and Nick Punto's Learning Curve

So, if I have the story correctly, Senators Feinstein and Alexander wrote into the bill to fund the government 2.8 billion for a public works project in Kentucky, the home state of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

I understand the project is considered worthwhile, not just pork barrel spending, but -- every state has projects like this.  Certainly the folks in Kentucky are pleased to have jobs that will start or continue.

I guess I am hopelessly naive.  I sort of thought that public service meant more than holding up the other 49 states so that the folks back home get a sweet deal.

My gut reaction is a brief, "Fuck You Mitch".  I don't consider this type of politicking to be public service.  This feels more like dealing with organized crime in the neighborhood.  Maybe we can get McConnell on some racketeering charges...

**********

In the video above, Nick Punto gets picked off second after hitting a key double.  The Dodgers lost this game and went down in the series 3-1 to St. Louis.  The announcers didn't seem to know, but this isn't the first time Nick Punto has had a serious base running gaffe in the playoffs.  In the 2002 series against the Yankees Punto managed to get picked off third base after rounding the base and going 2/3 of the way down the baseline.  Jeter threw to Posada, who throws to A-Rod and Punto is dead.  So were the Twins.

This has to raise questions about Punto's learning curve.  This was a very rookie move.  Vin Scully's call on the situation is the best.  "Punto was full of beans".....yes he was.

Looking For Alaska by John Green

John Green has written a story about teenagers in a boarding school in Alabama.  He does a great job of presenting challenges for the main characters and then filling in the back story for each character as the seek to muddle through the social mess of high school.

The characters in this tale pulled me in and kept my attention.  They are clever and intelligent, but not over the top.

In the end, this is a story about trying to make meaning out of life, and we all know what a full time job that is.

I give this tale four paws up for great characters and a thoughtful story. Well done.

347