Gentlemen, Thank You Very Much...

Last Sunday the news came that Bill Russell had died.  No.

Bill Russell has held a place of great esteem in my life, and as I look back, I don't know how that happened.  I don't remember watching him play in the early sixties, but somehow, over the years, as I learned more about Bill Russell, I came to have great respect for the way he has lived his life.

This is one of those cases that the more you learn about a person, the more impressive their life seems.  I

Bill Russell - The master of the blocked shot.

grew up listening to Bill Russell's cackle of a laugh as he called NBA games on the Sunday CBS Game of the Week.  I knew Russell played center for the Celtics when they won a bunch of championships back in the early 1960s.  Something about Bill Russell caught my eye, or in this case, my ear, as I listened to him.  I remember that he would interview an important player before the game and end with, "I'd wish you 'Good Luck,' but it's better to be 'good' than 'lucky.'"  

This week I have learned that Bill Russell was at the 1963 March on Washington and declined to speak that day.  He sat in the front row during Dr. King's historic

Bill Russell with Mohammed Ali and Kareem.

speech.  I also learned that Bill Russell was with Mohammed Ali when he declared that he wasn't going to fight in Vietnam.  Russell wasn't a self promoter, but he was very much at the heart of the movement to improve opportunities for equity in our country.

I also learned that he was in twenty-one finals games and he went 21-0.  Bill Russell considered the measure of a successful game was - did his team win, and did he help his teammates play better.  That is a damn fine standard.

Apparently when Bill Russell was in high school the expected norm was that everyone stayed with the player they were assigned to guard.  Russell didn't do this.  If one of his teammates got beat, Russell would rotate over and stop the player from having an uncontested basket.  If I understand the story, because of this tendency colleges didn't offer Russell a scholarship.  He went to USF and won two national championships in 1955 & 1956.  He changed basketball.  Amazing.

Bill Russell wouldn't sign autographs, but he would shake your hand.  William Felton Russell - well done.

Vin Scully: 1928-2022

This morning I woke up to the news that Vin Scully has died.  The announcer of Dodgers baseball games for 67 years (1949-2016).  Scully was so artful at working in stories as the baseball game progress.  You
never had a sense that he was bored by the game (if it was a blowout) - he seemed to have a never ending supply of information about the players and people surrounding the game.  I read this morning that someone described him as "effortless excellence," –– that sums it up so well.  There was always great comfort in listening to a baseball game called by Vin Scully.

So as I head into this next chapter of my life...I want to take these men with me.  I want to helps others around me do better, and I aspire to living with "effortless excellence."  Thank you gentlemen.  I greatly appreciate the standard you have set.

Birding At Old Cedar Ave Bridge...20 March

Slightly foggy morning

Red wing blackbirds are using the first sign of spring. 

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Mergansers

Red tail hawk

Beaver or where A boat tied up?

Trumpeters...

 

Blindsided - In a Good Way

 So waking up this morning and the Minnesota Twins have signed free agent shortstop Carlos Correa.  This is a shocker.  

Carlos Correa. File Photo by Trask Smith/UPI |

 Spending big has not gone well for the Twins of late, so I expected the Twins to trade for talent not dive back into the free agent market.  We just off loaded Josh Donaldson and his 50 million contract on the Yankees, so I thought "once bitten, twice shy," but no, that is not the approach the Twins are taking.  This is a big jump in offense and defense for the Twins. 

My first thought after digesting this move was that the Twins are now like a beer league softball team.  We should hit the ball well, but our pitching...Our games might be 10-7 wins.  We score, they score, we hope to score more.

Hat tip to the Twins front office.  This should put butts in the seats.

A Day in the Woods...

Two chickadees

Downy woodpecker

Red bellied woodpecker

Hidden Brown creeper

Less hidden Brown Creeper

Another Red bellied.

The view from the bottom of the Minnesota River Valley.

Hairy woodpecker.

Decaying tree looking like rock.

 

Welcome Mr. Kiner-Falefa

Welcome to Minnesota Mr. Kiner-Falefa; you don't know how happy we are to see you.  We love that you are a glove man.  You help us in two ways, first your are a reassuring presence to our pitching staff, and second you keep Jorge Polanco at second base, where he has been killing it.  

The middle defense for the 2022 Twins is now a plus defense - according to Aaron Gleeman and Dan Hayes from theathletic.com.  Having Polanco at shortstop would not a plus defensive move...

This way if Martin or Royce Lewis comes along we have all sorts of positive options.  The two prospects won't be thrown in the deep end and expected to survive.  

 

The Stone Age

 So I have always known that if I were to become president, the first phone call goes to a friend named Steve.  He has the best analytical tool kit I know.  

When discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Steve is of the opinion that the Russians don't want to fight Ukrainians, so they will be content to bomb Ukraine into the Stone Age.

The slow to move line of transports fits this theory.  The random nature of the rocket attacks in several Ukrainian cities also speaks to a plan to break they Ukrainians by destroying everything.

All this because Russia is nervous about a westward looking Ukriane on her borders.  Can't risk having a democracy that has an economy that has connections with the West.

Today I Lost All Faith in the Cubs...

Today I lost all faith in the Cubs.  They signed Andrelton Simmons.  Did these people not watch a Twin's game last year?  I am floored by this signing.  Who thinks this is a good idea?

Talented player.  Yes, at times outstanding, but at other times not-at-home.

Good Guy In the Clubhouse:  I believe that Simmons refusal to get vaccinated did not help the Twins clubhouse.  I am sure there were other people who did not get vaccinated, but Simmons is not a guy to pull a clubhouse together.  I am without words for this.