Disclaimer

If you do not know me (I mean, really know me) then there is something you need to understand before you read this blog: I value the truth above everything else... except a good laugh. A good laugh will almost always beat the truth as far as I’m concerned. Everything you read on this blog will be true, somewhat true, or something I made up in an effort to get a laugh. Sometimes I will go on a rant that I don’t really mean (or only kind of mean). Sometimes I will mean what I write only to completely change my mind a year, month, or day later. Such is life. By reading this blog you agree not to get offended by anything I write (or, at the very least, you agree not to tell me or anyone else that you are offended). It is worth noting that my employer does not endorse my blog (or even read it, to tell you the truth). The Wife also does not endorse my blog (though she will read it from time to time). I am not paid to write this... it’s just my way of giving back to the community. I have, and will, touch on a wide range of subjects and will give my opinion on these subjects. Again, most of what I say is for laughs but every now and then I will say what I really think and feel (see my views on Westboro Baptist Cult). How will you know when I’m serious and when I’m trying to get a laugh? You’ll know. And if you don’t know, well... maybe this isn’t the best thing for you to be reading. So, sit back, read and enjoy. Leave comments if you want and don’t be afraid to publicly follow me.



Saturday, October 31, 2009

Thoughts while watching/listening to college football

The Winthrop basketball season tips-off in just two weeks! This is the most anticipated season for me since last year. I think this might be the year that The Eagles win the NCAA Tournament.

Could Clemson football games be on a worse radio station down here? I can’t get it to come in at my house. Fortunately, I have an internet radio out in my den so that I can listen to the game.


Can’t wait for the Gamecock/Vols game tonight. I think USC might win this game. Still, beating Tennessee at their place isn’t an easy thing to do… I think it’ll be a good game.


Don’t forget to turn your clocks back an hour tonight. Otherwise you’ll get to Ashley Ridge an hour early and you’ll have to help set-up. Haha… But really, come out to Ashley Ridge tomorrow to hear about Mark 9.


Well Goose Creek let me down last night. They fell to Berkeley making my prediction wrong. Congrats to Berkeley and Summerville for winning their regions.

Cleveland Cavs update: Don’t look now but my Cavs got their first win last night. It’s like I told LeBron on facebook and Shaq on Twitter… you’ve just got to relax and have fun out there. Good to see my advice worked.


Winthrop Eagles update: The Eagles are having their second Homecoming of the year on November 14. Homecoming for Winthrop has always (at least in recent memory) been the last Saturday home basketball game of the season (which usually lands anywhere from the middle of February to the first Saturday in March). Someone decided they wanted Winthrop to have their Homecoming in the fall like other schools. I would not have a problem with this… except that Winthrop doesn’t have football like all of those other schools. So Homecoming will now be on the first Saturday home game of the season. Here’s something you should know about fans at Winthrop games… most are also fans of either Clemson or USC. I say this based on the number of Clemson/USC shirts and hats I see at Winthrop home games. Why does this matter? Both Clemson and USC have football games on November 14 (Clemson will be at NC State and USC will host Florida). The Homecoming game usually has one of the biggest crowds of the season… but something tells me that won’t be the case this year. Given the choice between watching a football game and attending a Winthrop basketball game… I’ll go to the Winthrop basketball game. But other than Jeremy, there aren’t too many people like me. I have a feeling this is going to be a small Homecoming crowd on November 14.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday Thoughts.......

Well, well, well... The Wife ratted me out to The Mother-in-Law for my comments on here the other day. Neither was real happy with me... so they did a bunch of work around the house to prove me wrong. Boy, they really showed me...

It amazes me how The Wife and I can be in the same place at the same time and hear the same person talking and yet we’ll walk away with completely different feelings. For example, this past Monday we took Susie to the doctor. This was her first visit to our family doctor. He looked at her, talked about how some of her numbers were high, but they were going down (like we wanted) so that was a good thing. He told us some things we needed to do and then ended the visit by saying things were going in the right direction and we shouldn’t be worried. I walked out of there thinking things were going in the right direction and we shouldn’t be worried. The Wife walked out of there thinking at any minute the doctor was going to tell us to put Susie in the hospital and that we would be known throughout the land as the worst parents in the world and that they would probably take Susie, Mary Ruth and the dogs away from us because we can’t do anything right. You see, The Wife likes to read into things. Me? I take the doctor at his word. I figure I pay him good money to tell me how to feel. So if he says don’t worry, I won’t worry. If he says I need to be worried, I’ll worry. But I guess that’s just me... The good news is we had a better visit on Wednesday. The numbers had gone even lower and the doctor kept telling The Wife how great this was and how great he felt about this. Personally, I think he was overselling it... but The Wife was feeling good when we left so I’ll take it.

I think Mary Ruth loves taking Susie to the doctor. They do everything to Susie, but Mary Ruth is the one who gets a sticker and a sucker at the end of the visit.

Scooby is starting to come around. I warned him that once the baby got here, The Wife would start to cut him out. He didn’t listen then... but he’s finding out now how right I was. He’s still my 5th favorite dog behind Dach (who’s dead), Lucy, Maverick, and Auburn (who isn’t even my dog)... but he’s at least trying to work his way up. And he hasn’t done anything bad to Susie yet, so he’s got that going for him...


Don't forget that this Sunday is the first Sunday of the month... so come out to Ashley Ridge for church. The first 100 people there get the flu vaccine. Haha... just kidding (maybe).

Congrats to James Island OL Chad Hamilton for being selected to play in the 73rd annual Shrine Bowl.

The I'm Just Sayin... High School Game of the Week this week is Berkeley at Goose Creek. Goose Creek is favored in this game by 5 points. I say take the Gators and the points.

Cleveland Cavs update: The Cavs get back to their winning ways tonight when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves. Unfortunately, this game will not be on national TV.

Winthrop Eagles update: The Eagles have been hard at work this off-season not only improving their play on the court but also improving my experience at the game. I will now have a cushioned seat with the Eagle logo on the back. I didn’t want to look like a snob, so I asked that they do this for all of the seats in the lower section along both sidelines. They agreed to this. They have also improved the lighting in the rafters and added stobe-like lights underneath the main scoreboard.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Retreats and Halloween…

I can’t remember if I’ve shared my views on “retreats” before… if I have, you’ll get to hear them again.

During the Korean War, there came a point when a butt load of Chinese soldiers attacked not-as-many Marines. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but the Marines were outnumbered by a whole lot. How bad was it? The Marines were pretty much surrounded. They had to fight their way back to the good guys. At some point, someone mentioned the word “retreat” to Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith, division commander. His response to this was, “Retreat, hell. We're just attacking in a different direction.”

I tell you this story to tell you my views on church “retreats”. Every church I know loves to have retreats. To this I say, “Retreat, hell. We’re just attacking in a different direction.” You see, we (Christians) are at war… a war of Good vs. Evil. The good news (or should I say, Good News) is that we have Jesus on our side… and we win (it’s true… look it up). The bad news is that at this point we are surrounded by evil. So, like the Marines I just talked about… we’re just attacking in a different direction.

This isn’t just my opinion either. Look at music that you can find in a hymnal… Onward Christian Soldier, When the Saints Go Marching In, Battle Hymn of the Republic… these don’t sound like retreating songs to me. It’s not just in music… just take a look at the following verses in The Bible: 1 Corinthians 15:58 (Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain). Romans 16:20 (The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet). Ephesians 6:10-17 (Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God). There are others, but I think you get my point. None of those verses sounds like a call to retreat if you ask me. Therefore, I say we take a stand and stop calling these church trips “retreats”. Call them what they really are… Attacks.

Now a quick word about Halloween. I think this “holiday” is what is wrong with our country right now. Every year we tell children to walk around knocking on doors asking people to give them candy. Well, here’s a little hint boys and girls… there’s no such thing as free candy. Oh Greg, you’re over-reacting… Am I? Look around… look at all of the entitlement programs. Look at this new health care thing that is trying to be pushed on us. All of this stuff is because people think they should get free “candy”. Why do they think this? Halloween. ;)


Cleveland Cavs update: The Cavs are off today. Time to rest and regroup.


Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: The Eagles have won the Big South Tournament 9 times: 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.


*Oh, I forgot to mention in my other post that the video on De'Andre Adams that I posted the other day was created by my cousin Alan. He's got skills.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

What’s the deal with Vampires?

So when did vampires become cool? Books, movies, TV’s… they’re everywhere. How did this happen? More importantly, why hasn’t this happened with wookiees? Let’s be honest, wookiees are WAAAAAY better than vampires. It’s not even close.

So how good was the food that was brought to us last night? I finished it off for breakfast this morning. It was that dang good.

Went to the doctor again today. The visit to the doctor was great. All of the people there are wonderful…

The bad part was we (i.e. The Wife) had to take Susie to get blood drawn today… and the people at the hospital messed up. So we (The Wife) had to take Susie back to the hospital to have more blood drawn. Really, how much blood does a 10 day old baby have?! My new rule is going to be every time I take one of my girls to have blood drawn or to get a shot, I’m going to stick the person giving the shot or drawing the blood with a needle. Maybe then they’ll focus a little more and do it right the first time.

Some famous birthdays today: Charlie Daniels – 73, Bruce Jenner – 60, Bill Gates – 54, Julia Roberts – 42, Brad Paisley – 37.

Congrats to my good friend Bill Cosby for being awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Seems this was the 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor… leading me to ask, “What took so long?” Don’t get me wrong, the past 11 winners are funny people… but there’s no way Bill Cosby should be the 12th winner. At the very least, he should have been one of the first 5. Honestly, he should have been number 1 (maybe #2… Richard Pryor was number 1… hard to argue that). You have to think the other winners are now sitting there thinking, “Now this prize is legit”. The Cosby Show alone should have gotten him this award years ago… but he’s done so much more than that. There are just some awards or honors that won’t be taken seriously until some people receive them. This prize now means something since Bill Cosby has won it. The Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame was just a nice idea for the first couple of years until Chal Port was inducted… then it became a real Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame. The new NASCAR Hall of Fame would be a joke without Richard Petty in it.

I think it’s time for James Island to have a Baseball Hall of Fame.

It looks like Michael Palmer is “doubtful” for the Clemson game this Saturday against Coastal Carolina. Doubtful? Did anyone else see the hit he took last Saturday? He was KO’d. If he plays this Saturday, someone should arrest the coaches and trainers. You don’t mess around with concussions.

Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: The Cavs have gotten off to a slow start losing their game last night to the Celtics and losing their game tonight to the Raptors. So my boys are off to an 0-2 start. That's ok, it's a long season.

Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: Jeremy and I have season tickets for Winthrop men’s basketball season, making us (perhaps) the only two people outside of Rock Hill to have season tickets for the Winthrop men’s basketball season. Our seats? About mid-court, 3 rows up.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Thoughts compiled while eating poppy seed chicken and green beans…

I love having a baby. People are bringing us food. How great is this?! And I’m talking about good food… not what we usually eat in this house. Is this a Southern thing or do people do this everywhere? We might have two more kids just to get the food.

If people had brought us food when we brought Scooby home, I might have liked him more.

So Mary Ruth now lifts up her shirt to “nurse” her baby dolls. This is what I get for leaving her and The Wife at home together all day.

This might get me in trouble but it needs to be said… I’m trying to figure out what goes on in this house when I’m at work and school. When I’m at work, The Mother-in-Law comes over and helps The Wife. Are the dishes washed? No. Are the clothes washed? No. Have “Thank You” notes been written? No. So what the heck goes on when I’m not here? Mary Ruth takes care of Susie… so I know that’s not the reason these things aren’t getting done. I can only assume that The Mother-in-Law and The Wife sit around watching TV and playing on the internet.

Let’s talk about selling alcohol on Sunday. I can go either way on this one. As you know, I spent my college days in Rock Hill… which is in the Bible Belt. Alcohol sales were outlawed on Sunday up there. It only took me one week into my freshman year to figure out I needed to buy enough beer on Saturday to last me through Sunday. Haha… just kidding all of you anti-underage drinking people. But really, if you have to have alcohol on Sunday… buy it on Saturday. Then again, if you have to have alcohol… you might have a problem. Having said that… I doubt selling alcohol on Sunday will cause people to skip church so that they can go buy beer.

Here’s something to think about: How much would church attendance increase if there was a cash bar at the church? How about an open bar? Think about it… Jesus came not for the righteous, but for the sinners (or something like that). I think an open bar would help attract the sinners to church. I’m just saying…

It’s being reported that Andre Agassi admits in his upcoming autobiography that he used crystal meth in 1997. Well that feels like a kick to the gut to me… really like a kick below the gut if you know what I mean. Agassi, as you know, is my favorite tennis player. Always has been. I never thought of him as a role model, but still… meth? Say it ain’t so.

It seems some of you noticed I didn’t post on Sunday. I took a day off. I didn’t think anyone would notice. I was wrong. I would like to thank President Obama for sending me an email to make sure I was ok. Seems he’s a big fan of the blog. No, not really.

Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: The season got started tonight. I won’t spoil it by posting the score now… I’ll wait to post it until tomorrow.

Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: Winthropfans.com awards the De’Andre Adams Heart of the Game Award after each game to the Winthrop player who plays with the most heart in that game. The award is in honor of former Winthrop back-up PG De’Andre Adams who died in a car crash the May after his sophomore year. Dre was almost always the smallest guy on the court but he always played with the biggest heart.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Thoughts while waiting for Dr. Dre to release Detox…

Ever notice that wives don’t laugh at their husbands jokes in public (or ever). Why is that? I don’t remember that part of our vows. Hang around me and The Wife long enough and there’s a good chance I’ll say or do something to make you laugh. The Wife will just roll her eyes. Maybe she just doesn’t get it…

Good news… Scooby hasn’t killed Susie yet. I have to admit, he really does try to stay calm around her. He’s just so freakin’ huge and… challenged… that he can’t help it. Luckily Maverick and Lucy are around to keep an eye on him.

In related news, Scooby is still picking fights with the other two dogs. He hasn’t won yet.

It’s almost time for the fair. Chances are pretty good I won’t go this year. The Wife doesn’t want to go and I never want to go, so things might work in my favor. I will give the fair people some credit… they usually have some good music there. I remember back in high school I got to see The Charlie Daniels Band play at the fair. That was pretty cool.

I’ve had a chance to see some good music live over the years. Bon Jovi, Hootie and The Blowfish, Poison, Cinderella, Skid Row, Reba, Bare Naked Ladies, Gin Blossoms, and of course, The Charlie Daniels Band. I had a ticket to see Dr. Dre but the show was cancelled. They were all great, but the Bon Jovi concert might have been the best. I was on the third row for that one.
I think “Livin’ On a Prayer” would be a good song to play in a church.

Speaking of church, don’t forget the first Sunday of the month is coming up so come check out Ashley Ridge Church (located at Ashley Ridge High School). Real easy to get there… Drive to the high school, drive around until you see some cars, look for people. It’s a big school, but it’s not that big. Get to the high school and you’ll find us.

The Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: The Cavs team leader is a youngster by the name of LeBron James.

The Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: The Eagles team leader is senior Manny Robinson. My money says that Manny could shut down LeBron.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Saturday fun

Mary Ruth and I went to the Memory Walk today. As of today, my team was in second place in money raised with a little over $2,000. A total of $63,000 was raised in the tri-county area. I was the highest fundraiser on my team bringing in $830.

I wish I had ESPNU.

I hate that I’m still in grad school. It was hard enough getting homework done with Mary Ruth around… with Mary Ruth and Susie it’s almost impossible.

Looks like I made a good call yesterday… Summerville beat Berkeley 28-20.

Remember you heard it here first last Saturday… CJ Spiller is fast.

I played football for two years. I was a tight end on offense and a defensive end on defense. In two years, we never lost a game. On offense, we only had one pass play… a bootleg pass to me. It worked every time.

I have heard people say that it isn’t good to hate. I disagree. Just take a glance at Romans 12:9 and you’ll see that we should hate what is evil. Therefore, I hate Coastal Carolina.

I also hate (or at least have a strong dislike for) THE Ohio State, The U, Notre Dame, and any school with “State” in the name when the first part of the name isn’t one of the 50 states (example: Ball State).

Oh, and Sammy Sosa. I really hate Sammy Sosa. Always have. Always will.

Navy beat Wake Forest today, 13-10. The Midshipmen host the Temple Owls next Saturday.

The Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: This is the 40th season for the Cleveland Cavs.

The Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: This is the 32nd season for the Winthrop Eagles.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Is it Friday again....

I love me some Bernie Mac (may he rest in peace). How the Bernie Mac Show wasn’t a bigger hit is beyond me. I love it. It’s the kind of show I could sit and watch all day. He had some great movies too.

Susie had her first bath today. Scooby tried to get in there with her. Overall, I have to admit he hasn’t been all that bad around her. Not that I trust him yet.

I don’t understand why people like horror films. Life is scary enough for me.

The I’m Just Sayin… High School Football Game of the Week this week is Summerville at Berkeley. This is a battle between the top team in Region 8-AAAA (Summerville) and the top team in Region 7-AAAA (Berkeley). The line on this game is Berkeley by 6 ½. I say take Summerville and the points.

The Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: Mike Brown was named the 17th coach in Cavaliers history on June 2, 2005.

Brown joined the Cavaliers after spending two seasons as the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers. Brown is widely regarded as a defensive specialist. He helped lead Indiana to consecutive playoff appearances including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004.

Prior to his time with the Pacers, Brown was an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs for three seasons, including the 2003 World Championship season. While with the Spurs, Brown’s teams won at least 58 games each season. He also was the head coach for the Spurs’ summer league teams in Boston and Salt Lake City.

Brown spent three years with the Washington Wizards’ staff beginning in 1997, spending the first two years as an assistant under Bernie Bickerstaff, and his final year as the team’s professional scout.

Born on March, 5, 1970, Brown began his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets in 1992, where he spent five seasons, first as the team’s video coordinator and then as a scout. As an assistant coach in the NBA, Brown’s teams have compiled an overall record of 341-201 (.629).

Brown is a 1992 graduate of the University of San Diego with a degree in business. He played basketball two seasons at USD after spending two years at Mesa Community College. He and his wife, Carolyn, have two sons, Elijah and Cameron.

The Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: Randy Peele begins his third year as head men's basketball coach at Winthrop University following four years as an assistant coach for the Eagles. He led the Eagles to the 2008 Big South Conference title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in his first year as head coach.

Prior to arriving at Winthrop, Peele, 50, served as head coach at UNC Greensboro from 1995 until 1999. He led that program to the 1996 Big South Conference championship and the school’s first trip to the NCAA tournament during his first year as head coach. While an assistant at UNCG, the Spartans won two Big South titles and a conference tournament championship. In eight years as a Division I head coach, the Norfolk, Virginia native proved himself to be a top-notch recruiter. Five of his recruits have gone on to earn conference rookie of the year honors. The 2002-03 recruiting class for Virginia Tech was voted among the nation’s Top 30.

He also served as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech from 1999 to 2002, St. Michael’s College in Vermont (1983-85), Tennessee-Martin (1985-88), Campbell (1988-1991) and UNCG (1991-1995).

Peele is a 1980 graduate of Virginia Wesleyan where he earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and history. He is married to the former Debra Carter and they have three children, Aaron, Brad, and Blair.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Women... and being a dad

So there is an old joke that goes something like this… “Women, can’t live with ‘em… pass me a beer”. I’ve heard it a number of ways, but that way is my favorite.

I went to a luncheon today held by the Charleston Regional Business Journal to honor local women in business. A good friend of mine, Dr. Warachal Faison was the highest vote getter in the Volunteer category for the work she does in the community raising awareness for Alzheimer’s research. It was a great luncheon with a lot of great ladies who do a lot of good work in this area. It made me daydream about being there years from now to see Mary Ruth and/or Susie receive an award.

Just to set the record straight… I’ve never wanted a boy or a girl. All I’ve ever wanted was a healthy baby. You see, I made the mistake before Mary Ruth was born of learning about all of the things that could go wrong. All of the things that could happen to the baby before, during, or after birth. Plus don’t forget it wasn’t easy either time for The Wife to get pregnant (which was hard for her… not so much me, since it meant more ‘trying’… but still). So in all honesty, all I have ever hoped and prayed for is a healthy baby. So we had Mary Ruth (who has been better than I could have ever imagined) and people said maybe the next one will be a boy. I did my best to ignore it. Then The Wife got pregnant with baby number two. We found out we were having another girl and the people at the doctor’s office said, “Oh… I’m sorry”. What the hell are they sorry for? And these were women saying that. Who says that? I just left. I’m sure they thought I was mad that we were having another girl, but really I was pissed at them. So now we have Mary Ruth and Susie. It’s still early and The Wife doesn’t really want to think about it right now… but we’ve always talked about having three children. I’ve always wanted three. I’m no expert, but I think it’s probably because I’m the youngest of three kids. Let me go ahead and say right now that we are not trying for a boy or a girl. We’ll just want a healthy baby. Hey, I know that there are some people out there who want to have a boy. I know there are some (like The Wife the first time around) who want to have a girl. That’s cool. I don’t think they are bad people for wanting to have a girl or a boy. Just don’t assume that I feel the same way. And don’t act like I should be disappointed that I don’t have a boy. Do people do this when boys are born? Do people say, “Oh… I’m sorry.”? Do they say, “Don’t worry… maybe the next one will be a girl.”? I’ve never thought to say that to someone.

Speaking of little girls, I spent most of the afternoon watching Transformers with Mary Ruth (the cartoon from my childhood). I have the complete series on DVD. She has trouble keeping up with who the good guys are and who the bad guys are… but she’s starting to get it. She wanted to watch GI Joe, but we ran out of time (The Wife had to watch her TV shows). I also don’t mind sitting here and watching Dora, Veggie Tales, or any of the number of Disney Princess movies we have. I don’t mind it because it’s what she wants. Sometimes we rough-house, sometimes we play a game where she’s the princess and I’m the prince that has to save her. Guess what? I love it. Know why? Because she loves it. I can’t imagine how much I’d miss out on without Mary Ruth. How could I be disappointed that she’s not a boy? I have no idea how Susie will be, but I know I’m not going to miss out on anything just because she’s not a boy.

You know what’s great about being a dad? All you have to do is be there to be good at it. My Dad is great. You know what I remember my Dad doing while I was growing up that was so great? He was there. I could probably count on one hand how many baseball games of mine he missed in all of the years that I played. And don’t think it was always easy for him. A lot of times when I was in high school, that meant him waking up and leaving the house before 6:00am to drive to Columbia for meetings all day and then drive down to Beaufort or Hilton Head to watch my game and then drive home and wait up until I got home so we could talk about the game. I remember when I was younger, Dad would work all day and then come home and play catch with me. I’m sure he taught me other things… but he wouldn’t have been able to if he wasn’t there. I’m pretty sure he was there for my brother, too. I think he was even there for my sister… and she’s just a girl. :-)

The Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: The Cavs are the picked by many to win the Central Division. I agree with this.

The Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: The Eagles are picked by the coaches and media of the Big South to come in 3rd place this year. I understand why the Eagles were picked 3rd... but I think they'll end the season at #1.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Upon further review...

Well we got home last night. Just one more example of the power of this blog. Of course, The Wife thinks we were sent home because she called and talked to enough people. But I think we know the truth.

It has been brought to my attention that a doctor did come in yesterday morning and the only reason she didn’t wake us up was that the nurse told her we had just fallen asleep. A different doctor was supposed to tell us everything… he never came by. At first I, like you, did not believe this. However, I have since learned that the doctor (as well as the first fill-in doctor who saw Susie) is a fellow graduate of James Island High School. Knowing that these doctors are fellow Trojans leads me to believe that yesterday morning was just a result of some big misunderstanding. I’m sure the doctor who never showed up was a Stratford grad.

How cool was it for those doctors to get to check on the off-spring of one of the most well-known baseball families on James Island? The only way it would have been better for them is if The Wife’s maiden name was something like Tillman, Glaze, or Gigis. They didn’t really say anything… but I could see it in their eye’s when we met with them again today.

Big Sister Mary Ruth has been a big help with Susie so far. I would have no problem letting her watch Susie while I take a nap. Probably why The Wife isn’t going to leave me alone with the girls anytime soon.

The past couple of days I’ve had some complaints about how I was treated at the hospital. Some have felt the need to point out that I didn’t just push a baby out of me. My response to this is… That’s not the point. I’m not saying they should have given me the bed and make The Wife sleep in the chair. I’m not saying they should not bring anything for The Wife. Did she have some discomfort? Yes. Was the hospital doing what they could to help her? Yes. I just don’t think it would have killed them to have something there that I could sleep on.

With all of this baby talk, I have forgotten to post the Cleveland Cavs/Winthrop Eagles fact of the day. I will start this back up tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Welcome to the Hotel (err, Hospital) California

I’m starting to wonder if we’ll ever leave. I have to admit I’m not very happy right now. Part of that, I’m sure, has to do with the fact that I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep since I’ve been here. It has nothing to do with Susie… you see, it’s a little known fact that a baby crying does not bother me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like hearing a baby cry… and I really don’t like hearing my baby cry, but a baby crying will not wake me up. Now if a dog whines (even just a little) I’ll wake up from a deep sleep. I can’t explain it. Anyway, the reason I haven’t been sleeping well is that I’m still in this stupid chair that moves any time I shift my weight. So I’ve got that going against me.

We were going to go home today. At least that’s what we had been told on Monday. Before I continue, I should be fair and tell you that Susie has jaundice. Her bilirubin level is up. It is also worth noting that Mary Ruth’s bilirubin level was higher when they sent us home with her and things worked out well there. But ok, they aren’t going to let us go home… that makes me mad, but that’s not the main thing. The main thing that made me mad is that they didn’t tell us we weren’t going home. We were just sitting here when we noticed that it was 9am and we still hadn’t seen a doctor. We had to ask a nurse who had to go look and then come back and tell us we weren’t being discharged until tomorrow. No doctor ever came by. It’s now 1:30pm and we still haven’t seen a doctor. Our doctor (he sees me, Jennifer, Mary Ruth, and now Susie) is on vacation. He’s great. He wouldn’t have done this to us. I think he would have let us go home. Even if he wanted us to stay here one more night, he would have come in and talked to us and let us know why we needed to stay. He wouldn’t have just let us find out on our own. That’s not how you treat people. The nurse didn’t help things when she told us this is what we want… we want to stay here… the baby will be better here. No, this is not what we want. No, they are not doing anything here to Susie that we couldn’t do at home (and I know this because we did it with Mary Ruth almost 4 years ago). I’m sure she was just trying to help… but she didn’t really help. She didn’t want to hear what we had to say, she just wanted to tell us what she thought would make us happy. But at least she came and stood in front of us, I’ll give her that.


Things might be a little better if this stupid remote had numbers on it. We’ve got about 70 channels on this TV and we have to go one by one to get to the one that we want.

We got a nice little note from the finance people here at the hospital asking us to stop by and talk to them. I sent a nice little note back saying unless they are writing to tell us today/tonight is on them, now isn’t really a good time to talk to us.

On another note, I went home to see the dogs yesterday. Maverick was happy to see me. Scooby is just happy to be alive. Poor Lucy looks like she is worried sick. I could see it in her eyes. I let all of them smell the shirt I wore when I held Susie. Maverick sniffed it a little but then he wanted to just lick me. Scooby didn’t even sniff it, he just wanted to play with it. Lucy sniffed it the longest and seemed happy with what she smelled. Then she went back to worrying. She kept looking at the door wanting to know where everyone else was. Us staying here another night is going to be hard on her.

Just so you don’t think I hate everything about this hospital… I had a nurse ask me if I wanted him to get me a drink yesterday. I’m not sure if he asked because he’s a dad and we have to stick together in times like these, or if it is because he’s a student nurse and they haven’t trained him yet not to talk to the father. Either way, I thought it was nice of him to ask. Also, every time I get on the elevator with someone from the hospital staff, they are very nice (saying things like… “Oh, did you have a boy or a girl?” “I bet she’s pretty!” “Congrats” “Is this your first?”). I’ve had a nurse or two ask, but usually it’s other people like the lady pushing the food cart around or the maintenance man or someone from the security staff… people who aren’t really paid to make small talk with patients. Maybe there is some kind of policy telling them to do this, but it’s still nice of them.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Life of a father....

The following is an excerpt of a book I plan to write with my friend KC.

Ok, this ain’t exactly my first rodeo. I knew what to expect going in… yet I still can’t help but be amazed. As you know, we’ve been in the hospital since Saturday night. I won’t say what hospital, because that’s not important… I have a feeling it would be the same at all of them. Anyway, since Saturday night, we have had some great nurses helping us. They were very nice and attentive to Jennifer (and later, Susie)… yet none of them knew I was there. It’s like I was invisible. They asked Jennifer if she needed anything… wanted anything… like they were her best friend and would do anything in the world for her. Didn’t even look at me. Let’s be honest here, it’s not like that cup of ice water is coming out of their paycheck. I’m pretty sure we’re paying for it in the end… so would it kill them to ask me if I wanted anything? Hey, I get it… I’m not the one having the baby, but still.

Like I said, I’ve been around so I knew what to expect… but what about others? I’m married to The Wife, so I’m going to gut it out regardless… but what about boyfriend trying to do the right thing and be there for his baby’s momma? He gets treated the way I was and it’s so long. From the very beginning the hospital makes it clear that the father is not needed. Yet people are shocked with all the deadbeat dads in the world.

And don’t even get me started on the sleeping arrangements. The first night I had a chair that folds out into a bed. At least, that’s what they wanted me to think. First off, the “bed” it folds into was designed for your average size 1st grader and I’m sure has a weight limit I passed many moons ago. It also had the texture of a burlap sack. And The Wife had to ask multiple times for them to bring me a pillow and a sheet (maybe they were thinking I’d just leave if they didn’t bring me anything). The chair last night wasn’t much better. It doesn’t even lay flat and it feels like maybe I took the vinyl off the side of my house and decided to cover my chair with it. I really think they got these chairs from POW camps that the Red Cross has visited throughout the years. They’d get laughed at if they tried to donate these things to Goodwill.

And what’s with me having to do so much at the hospital? Listen, I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up paying for all of this stuff… so why don’t they do a little something? I can’t tell you how many times The Wife wanted me to do something and I told her to push that little button on her bed to get the nurse in here. Hey, none of these people pay me to come to my workplace and do my job.

Fear not! I have a feeling things are about to change. I’m sure when it’s time for us to leave, the hospital will act like we’ve been the best of friends and they’ll know exactly who I am. After all, they’ll want some money from me.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Thoughts while waiting for Susie...

I’m still on the road to recovery. Can’t say the same thing for Dingo (the dog I talked a little about yesterday). Word on the street is that Dingo was put to sleep last night. It looks like the driver will recover. Now all that’s left is for the charges against the owner to be dropped.

It seems I may have misread my James Island Trojans yesterday. I predicted the upset, but Goose Creek would have none of it shutting out JI 45-0.

I’ve owned vehicles that weren’t as fast as CJ Spiller.

Did you know that there are TV stations that show non-sporting events on Saturday’s this time of year? I didn’t either, until Scooby stepped on the remote and changed the channel.

If I could pick one announcer to call every college football game I watch, I think I would pick Brent Musburger. I love that guy.

With all that has been going on in my life lately, I have cheated one of my favorite teams of their deserved space on my blog. Therefore, I would like to take a minute to let everyone know that my Navy Midshipmen are 4-2 heading into their game tonight at SMU. With a win over Air Force two weeks ago, Navy is now is excellent position to win another Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy.

It looks like Clemson may have caught Wake Forest looking ahead to their game verses Navy next week.

Did the ACC pass a rule that says it has to rain at every Clemson home game this year?

The South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Alabama Crimson Tide tonight in Alabama. There are some who think the Gamecocks have a good chance to pull off the upset. After seeing USC play a few games this year, I think they could win. I don’t think they will… but they have a chance (which is more than I would have given them in the past).

Maybe tonight will be the night Susie decides to come into our world….

Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: The Cavs team colors are Wine, Gold, White, and Navy Blue.

Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: The Eagles team colors are Garnet and Gold.

Friday, October 16, 2009

TGIF!!!!!

I’m back at work today. Still not feeling 100%, but I’m going to gut it out. My boss (who shares an office with me) is out sick today. Seems she has a bad cough and a fever. I told her it would be best if she stayed home... I don’t want to catch what she has. I hope she can take a joke while she’s sick.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be back at work today if my co-workers weren’t throwing a party for me (they call it a shower). What can I say; I’m a sucker for free stuff. It must be the liberal in me.

So I just read this story in the post and courier: Seems a man was driving on a rural road in McClellanville yesterday morning and hit a dog. The man then decided he would “put the dog out of its misery” by hitting it with a machete and a hammer. Hold on, this gets better... The owner hears the dog yelping, runs out of his house, grabs the machete and hammer and uses the hammer to beat the you-know-what out of the driver. The dog’s owner is now in jail accused of trying to kill the driver. I’m not ever sure where to start with this one. Ok, the driver hit the dog (it was an accident) and he saw that the dog was badly hurt. He thought the dog’s back was broken and he didn’t want to just leave him there to die. I’m with him so far. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I see where he’s coming from. So, in an effort to put the dog out of his misery, he struck the dog SEVERAL TIMES with a machete and a hammer (and still didn’t kill the dog!). Now this is starting to sound like something out of a Monty Python movie. So the owner of the dog comes out and does what I think I would do... grabs the hammer and machete and starts swinging like there’s no tomorrow. To be honest, I think it was nice of him to just use the hammer. I would have probably gone with machete and hammer. Now the owner is in prison. I will, free of charge, let the authorities know how to deal with this. Let the man out of prison. Don’t charge the driver for doing what he did to the dog, and don’t charge the owner for doing what he did to the driver. Tell the men to say away from one another (which shouldn’t be hard) and move on. But Greg, you say, the driver ended up in the hospital! How is this fair? Well friends, I have a rule that I try to live by and maybe you should to... Never try to kill a dog with a hammer and a machete without being prepared for the owner of the dog to try and do the same thing to you.

The I’m Just Sayin... High School Football Game of the Week this week is James Island at Goose Creek. Coming off a disappointing (albeit expected) loss to Summerville last week, James Island is due for a big win and I think it will come tonight against the Gators of Goose Creek. This will not be easy, as Goose Creek is favored by 21 ½ points over the Trojans. Still, I feel the Trojans are due for a big win and something tells me tonight is the night.

The Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: The Cavs have a message board that seems to be tied in to all Cleveland sports teams.


The Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: The Eagles have an outstanding message board that was created by Eaglefan (who has the stunningly handsome, yet slightly overweight, Horrez help him moderate it). This site has been mentioned numerous times in the Rock Hill newspaper (The Herald) and was featured on CN2 (the Rock Hill TV station).

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Let's talk about... Crazy... Turn here!

Yes, I’m still sick. The wife says she isn’t mad at me for being sick, but I still think she is. I really hope I get over this thing before Susie comes or I’ll never hear the end of it.

I was watching Jay Leno last night and he showed a clip of President Obama dancing for a few seconds with a lady and then sitting back down with his wife. The look on the First Lady’s face was classic. Oh, she was smiling… but as a married guy, I couldn’t help but think The President was going to hear about this later on. It made me think back to a story Bill Simmons wrote about the NBA All-Star event (in 2004, I think). At one point he talked about Michael Jordan playing cards at a restaurant. MJ was smoking a cigar, talking trash, you know… all that fun stuff guys do together. His wife walked in, and everything changed. These two examples have made me realize something very important… a married man is treated the same way by his wife regardless of wealth, power, social status, political party or anything else. I might not know President Obama… I might not agree with him on various issues… but for a brief moment, I knew exactly what he was going through.

Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: The Cavs had a good season last year going 66-16 in the regular season and making it to the conference finals before losing to Orlando.

Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: The Eagles had a disappointing season last year ending the regular season with an 11-18 record before losing in the first round of the Big South Tournament to UNC Asheville.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Medical Update

I know my previous post caused a lot of you to worry, so I decided I would post an update now that I've been to the doctor. The good news is I don't have the flu. The bad news is I have a respiratory virus. So I have to rest and drink a lot of water, oj, all that stuff...

In other news, The Wife went to her doctor today and was told Susie could come any day now. While I would like her to get here ASAP, I do hope she waits until I'm feeling better. Otherwise, I'm sure The Wife will never forgive me....

I’ve got a fever! And the only prescription… is more cowbell!

Well, I really do have a fever. The Wife isn’t too happy with me because she thinks I’ve got this fever to get out of being in the delivery room should she go into labor now. Or maybe she’s just tired of my saying the whole cowbell line every time I check my temp and see that I have a fever. Nah… it has to be the first reason.

Tim McCarver has the ability to make me dislike watching baseball. If he is calling a game, I just can’t watch it. I try not to hate people, but he really makes it hard for me. Now that Billy Packer doesn’t call college basketball games anymore, and Bill Curry is not calling college football games…. McCarver is the only announcer left that can make me turn a game off (or at least mute it).

As you know, we at I’m just sayin… never shy away from controversial topics. So I will now share with you my idea for the Confederate battle flag. As best I can tell, one side wants to keep it on the state house grounds because it is part of this state’s history. The other side does not want it on the state house grounds (and really doesn’t want it where it is now… front and center on the state house grounds). So my idea is to put a (very nice) display of all of the flags that have flown over South Carolina (starting with the British flag) on the side of the state house grounds. The Confederate battle flag would be just one of many flags and this would still honor South Carolina’s history. Sounds like a win-win to me.

So Rush Limbaugh wants to own a NFL football team. I think people are making too big a deal over what he said in 2003. I didn’t agree with the comments (I’m a Donovan McNabb fan) but I don’t think what he said was all that bad. I think he was trying to take a shot at the liberal media and it backfired on him. Having said that, if the NFL wants to keep him out because of that, well that’s their business. I hear people all the time making the mistake about ‘freedom of speech’ in situations like this. The NFL doesn’t have to give a crap about Limbaugh’s freedom of speech. All that freedom of speech means is that Rush shouldn’t go to jail for saying what he said.


Did you hear about the 1st grader in Delaware who got in trouble for taking one of those camping utensil things to school (has a folding knife, fork, and spoon)? He was suspended and was going to have to spend 45 days in an alternative school for troublemakers. The reason for this harsh punishment (which has since been overturned… probably because the kid has been all over the news and the school district realized they were stupid) was the zero-tolerance policy that the Christina School District has. This is why I think zero-tolerance policies are (in general) a bad idea. I think the reason places have a zero-tolerance policy is that they don’t want to look at each case individually. It keeps things easy. It keeps them from having to defend their decisions. “Hey, there’s nothing we can do… it’s the policy”. The problem is that life isn’t always so clear cut. There are exceptions to the rule. And it should have been obvious from the start that this was an exception to that rule.

Cleveland Cavs fact of the day: The Cavs season gets started on October 27 when they host the Boston Celtics.

Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: The Eagles get their season started on November 14 when they host basketball powerhouse Limestone. This will be Winthrop's homecoming. Bonus fact: This will be the second Winthrop homecoming this year.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Tuesday Thinkings....

It has come to my attention that not everyone reading this blog is a Cleveland Cavalier fan. I even have the feeling that not everyone is a Winthrop Eagle fan. Since I will be talking about them a good bit, I thought it would be a good idea to share some facts about each. And since this is my blog, I can act on my good idea.

Cleveland Cavalier fact of the day:
The Cavs are in the Central division of the Eastern Conference (along with the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, and Milwaukee Bucks).

Winthrop Eagles fact of the day:
Winthrop is a founding member of the Big South Conference. Other Big South members are Charleston Southern University, Coastal Carolina University, Gardner-Webb University, High Point University, Liberty University, Presbyterian College, Radford University, UNC Asheville, and VMI (Stony Brook University is a member in football and College of The Holy Cross and Bucknell University are members in Women’s Golf).

It looks like the editors of the Post and Courier picked up on my talk yesterday about the
First Lady not wanting to visit South Carolina. They pretty much said what I was thinking.

While I’m sure none of you have noticed, the doctor here (aka, the boss of my boss) seems to think I’ve put on a few pounds. Well, the joke is on him because I’ve put on WAY more than a few pounds. I passed the ‘few pounds’ mark about a year ago. Anyway, he told me I need to lose weight. So, I guess I’ll start losing weight. It’s not like I didn’t want to lose weight before, I’ve just had a lot going on (this whole MBA thing + a soon to be newborn baby). But, like I’ve always said “Excuses don’t make you thin, fatty”. Haha, I’ve never said that... I just thought of it. I think I might start saying it, though. Anyway, I’ll start trying to get a little healthier. When I started this MBA program, I was at 180 pounds. Today I’m at 240 (which isn’t bad for a linebacker... wish I was a linebacker). My original plan that I’ve been trying was to grow to 6’4”. While I’m not giving up on this plan, I think it’s time to move on to plan B (lose weight). I would like to get back to 180... or maybe even 170. I’ll post weekly updates here to let everyone know how that’s going. Wish me luck.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Happy Monday!

As you know, I haven’t followed the NBA since my all-time favorite player Charles Oakley retired from the game. The one exception came a couple of years ago when I, without doing any research, went out on a limb and predicted that the Boston Celtics would win the championship... and I was right. This season, I have decided to follow my Cleveland Cavaliers. I had a chance to watch them play against the Charlotte Bobcats in an exhibition game in North Charleston last Saturday night. I was impressed enough that I am ready to predict that they will win the championship this season. Call me crazy, but I think that LeBron fella might turn out to be a pretty good player when it’s all said and done.

So I almost died this past Friday. Well, I didn’t almost die... I didn’t even get hurt. But I felt like I might die. You see, I rode my bike to check on my friend Auburn (he’s a dog). Auburn’s parents were out of town. Where, you ask? They were in Atlanta, which is where I was going to be before the Great Atlanta Compromise kept me from going. Anyway, I was looking after Auburn and decided I would ride my bike to his house to get a little exercise. Until I turned 16, I used to ride my bike all the time. I remember it being a fun way to exercise. So I rode my bike over there at what felt like a very slow pace with my legs fighting me the whole way. It took me 27 minutes to get there, but it felt like 27 hours. How bad was it? Bad enough that I didn’t ride home... I walked. It took me 1 hour to walk back home but I felt like I could have walked for another 10 hours. Anyway, I walked back home, got my truck and went back to get my bike. Seems I’m going to have to take baby steps with this whole biking thing.

Word on the street is the First Lady hasn’t visited this great state because there is a hostile environment here. I don’t think that’s it. I mean really, if this seems like a hostile environment, then maybe politics isn’t for the President and the First Lady. Does anyone remember what George W. Bush had to deal with? Compared to that, President Obama doesn’t know what hostile is. Maybe she just doesn’t want to come here. I’m ok with that. We can still be friends.

Having said that, I do think that some people could use a reminder on good manners. You don’t have to agree with someone to treat them with respect. It seems that respect is something that has been missing in politics for some time now. I know the last president didn’t get much of it. Even if you don’t want to respect the person, at least respect the office. That’s why I don’t like calling a president by their first name (while they are in office). This doesn’t mean people have to always agree with each other... just treat each other with respect. Oh, and I’m all for people making fun of presidents (and other public people). Some might take it too far... but for the most part, I’m all for humor. Some of the best SNL skits have been about presidents.

College basketball is right around the corner......

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Thought free day...

We didn't go to church today because The Wife didn't want to... therefore, I didn't have my regular "thinking" time (you know, during the sermon). Well, I could have gone to church but my new favorite church only meets on the first Sunday of the month (which, I admit, plays a big part in why it's my new favorite church).


Now that I think of it... My favorite preacher at my new favorite church will preach one time this month. My favorite brother (who is a middle school teacher) will preach at his church 4 times this month. Interesting...


So I was asked for an example of when I felt God's presence. Here it is: Back in 2004 I was driving to a baseball game in Conway. I was on Highway 17 just past Georgetown. Here is the ironic thing... before I had reached Georgetown, I was talking on my cellphone while eating and changing into my uniform (I was an assistant coach at the time). Oh, and it was raining. But I didn't get into an accident then, because I'm that good of a driver (and there weren't any cars around... maybe it had more to do with a lack of cars...). So anyway, I stopped to get some gas (and throw away my trash) at a gas station in Georgetown. It wasn't raining anymore and traffic wasn't too bad. I start driving and things are normal. Just past Georgetown I get in the left hand lane to pass a guy. Out of nowhere, the guy goes to make a U-turn (from the right hand lane). I used my Jedi-like reflexes to maneuver my truck around him. Just when I thought I might pull it off, his SUV hit my truck on my right rear tire. That's when the fun started. The truck rolled multiple times and at one point slide upside down for a little while. After all of that, all I had was a scratched elbow. Here are some pics...


Saturday, October 10, 2009

Thoughts while waiting for a baby....

Let me start today by congratulating President Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. As the First Runner-Up for this award, I feel I should let everyone know that I’m not bitter that I didn’t win. This really makes me feel like I have a good chance of winning next year.

So I’m thinking The Devil Went Down To Georgia might be the best song ever. Ok, there are a lot of songs that can be thrown into that mix. But let me make a case for this song. First let’s start with the title. That alone tells me two things: 1. The Devil came from somewhere up north (like New York) and 2. He’s not in South Carolina. More importantly, this is a song (perhaps the only song) that can make you play the air fiddle. Think about that.

A man on Fripp Island had his arm torn off by an alligator. How did this happen? Seems the man was reaching to get his golf ball out of a water hazard at a golf course down there. When I started playing golf a few years ago, I made a promise to myself… I said, “Winfield” (I call myself by my middle name, by the way)… anyway, I said, “Winfield, don’t ever spend so much on a golf ball that you feel like you can’t afford to lose it”. I bet this man wishes he’d made the same promise.

What’s the deal with Thank You notes? In general, I don’t think people should send them. Ok, I can understand sending them for graduation and wedding gifts. After all, you don’t always open those gifts with the giver there. The Thank You note is more of a way to let them know you got what they gave you. Using that logic, I guess I can see also sending them for birthday gifts that were mailed. But if I’m at your birthday party and you open my gift and tell me thank you… there’s no need to send a card. And really, most Thank You notes that are sent for graduation or wedding gifts are just form notes that say more than they should (like, “I’ll always think of you when I use _______”… what a bunch of crap. They should just say something like, “I got your gift. Thanks”). I think I might start including pre-written Thank You notes with every gift I give. That way, the person just needs to sign their name and then mail it back to me.

Having said that, I know there are people who think you need to send Thank You notes for everything. That’s ok… it’s their time and money. They can do what they want. I just don’t want people to think they need to send Thank You notes to me.


Great News! James Island covered the point spread last night against Summerville, only falling 56-21. Looks like I nailed that one.

The Wife had contractions last night. Thought it might be the real deal. They started coming close enough together that we sent Mary Ruth to spend the night with her Godparents. But then the contractions stopped. I think there is a good chance the baby will come at some point today. Why do I think this? Well….

Jeremy was able to get his hands on some tickets to the Cavs/Bobcats game tonight in North Charleston (I don’t know how… I didn’t ask… that way I won’t have to lie under oath). So I’m planning on going to what will be my first (and most likely last) NBA game. It’s free, so the chances are pretty good that it will be fun. Sure, it’s the NBA and the only two players I know might not play… but it’s free. Now excuse me while I practice my Eddie Murphy from Coming to America (“In da face!”).

Friday, October 9, 2009

Somebody say baseball?

Let me start by wishing my cousin Louis a Happy 31st Birthday (thus reminding my brother that today is Louis’ birthday).

A couple of days ago, I mentioned that the book The Machine made me remember a game (or games, I guess) from my junior season at James Island High School. It also made me think of a playoff game from my senior season. You see, a name that kept coming up in the book is Dan Driessen who was an outfielder/first baseman for the Reds in the 70’s. By the time I was in high school, Dan Driessen was an assistant baseball coach for Hilton Head High School. We were in the same region as Hilton Head back then, so I got to see Driessen a few times each year (and after each time he would tell me I played a good game… even if I hadn’t played… hmm, maybe he told everyone they played a good game… nah, he probably just said that to me). Anyway, we faced Hilton Head in the playoffs my senior year and I knew this would be my last chance to get his autograph. I decided that I would ask him to sign a baseball after the game. Then something happened. We 10-run ruled them… by me laying down a BEAUTIFUL squeeze bunt to bring in the 10th run.

So here’s the thing, Dan Driessen is a big man. I’m not saying he was mad at me for squeezing in the 10th run to end their season… I’m just saying had I missed the bunt I’m pretty sure the next pitch would have ended up in my ear. So now what do I do? I can’t walk up to him and say “Hey, did you see that bunt? Pretty sweet, huh? Can I get you to sign this ball for me?”. That’s what I wanted to do… but I just couldn’t. So I got the little brother of a teammate and asked him to go get the autograph (with very specific instructions to not say it was for me). Stick with me because this gets better. The young lad goes over, gets the ball signed and comes back. I look at it (it said, “Dan Driessen”) and say thanks. My buddy Chief sees it and says it’s not good enough. So he sends this young man back over (with the ball that Driessen just signed) and tells him to get Driessen to personalize the ball for me. Now, I’m standing there thinking this is just great. I fully expected to get a ball back that said “Greg, F**k You, Dan Driessen”. The good news is it didn’t. It just said, “Greg, Great Game, Dan Driessen”. Sad end to this story… I don’t know where the ball is now. I can’t find it. I hope to find it, but for some reason I don’t think I will (if I don't find it, I'm going to blame Scooby). Oh well, at least I’ve got the memory.

By the way, sorry about all these baseball stories. My plan was to post updates of the cool things I was learning in Atlanta while hanging out with Andy Stanley and Tony Dungy. But The Wife kept that from happening. So this is what you’re left with.

By the way… still no newborn baby in The House of Greg. I’m just sayin…

Oh, JI plays at Summerville tonight in the I'm Just Sayin... High School Football Game of the Week. The latest point spread has Summerville winning by 49. My advice? Take the Trojans and the points.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

TV... and more baseball...

So The Wife likes Grey’s Anatomy. I don’t. That show is just messed up. I don’t get it. What happened to TV? Sure, there are some good shows these days. But even these shows can’t be watched all the time with Mary Ruth in the room. And that’s fine. These shows aren’t designed for children and for the most part they come on after children are (or should be) in bed. That’s cool. Sex seems to be a big theme of a lot of shows. Here’s the thing, that’s not exactly a new thing. A lot of shows have had sex as a main theme. The difference is some of these shows like Grey’s Anatomy take it too far. Grey’s Anatomy will show to girls in bed together and The Wife doesn’t have a problem with it. Yet if I sit and watch… let’s call it a documentary… of a women’s prison, well that makes me a bad guy. I don’t get it. But really, some shows use sex in a humorous way, others just use it. And don’t get me started on “Reality TV”. Thank God, The Wife doesn’t like that stuff.

So I’ve had some questions about something that was said in the Greatest Game post. Let me take a minute to clear things up… the second baseman who struck out to end Game 1 was me. That’s right, I said it. Here’s the thing, I wasn’t what you would call a great hitter. I was batting 7th or 8th in that game, which means I was in the game for what I was good at… defense. Now, to be fair to myself, I did have a team high batting average of .400 heading into the playoffs that year (and I started every game but six… I missed those games because of a concussion). I have no problem telling you that it had to have been the weakest .400 batting average in the history of the game. I did not have one single extra base hit. Not one. I did, however, set a record for the number of infield hits in a game/season/career. Ok, I don’t think they keep that kind of record, but if they did I would own it. My offensive strategy went something like this:

1. Get hit by a pitch
2. Bunt
3. Walk
4. Hit the ball on the ground and run like hell

For the most part, it worked. And really, we didn’t have many big hitters on the team in 1996. We won by playing ‘small-ball’ and I was perfect for that kind of game. And let’s not forget, defense is what wins championships and that’s why I was in the game (only made one error that year with a ton of chances). Now that I think about it, I’m more of a defensive guy in just about anything. Football, basketball, baseball… even in my marriage I seem to spend more time on defense than I do scoring. Anyway, rest easy friends. My senior season saw me become a much more productive offensive player. I’m sure I’ll tell you about it one day.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Greatest Game...

So I just got done reading The Machine, a great book by Joe Posnanski about the 1975 Cincinnati Reds. There was one part of it that made me have a flashback. It was talking about Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. That game lasted 12 innings and didn’t end until after mid-night. That alone didn’t cause the flashback. What did it was when the book talked about Pete Rose going around during the game saying this was the greatest game ever. He didn’t want to be any other place at that time.

That took me back to what anyone who writes on the blog will tell you was the greatest baseball night ever on James Island. Ok, cases can be made for other games. There have been some great games played at James Island High School. I’ve been lucky enough to see (and even play) in most of them. But this one was special. For one thing, it wasn’t just one game. It was a double header. Going into it, we didn’t know it was going to be a double header, but that’s what it ended up being. You see, this was May 1996 and we were playing Fort Dorchester in the AAA playoffs. This was the District Championship game. We only needed to win once, Fort needed to win twice. Game one was a good game that didn’t go our way when their guy hit a homerun in the 7th inning to go up 5-4 and our second baseman stuck out with bases loaded to end the game.

Then came Game 2. Fort won a coin toss making them the home team. The game started… and for a while I thought it might never end. It was great. I loved every minute of it. I kept thinking, how cool would it be if we were still playing when school started (oh yeah, it was a school night)? I can remember a foul ball almost killed Carl Moore when it hit a spot in the dugout about 1 foot away from where he had fallen asleep. I can remember as the game went into extra innings seeing Mr. Belk, who usually looked so calm and sharp, walking around with his shirt un-tucked and a frazzled/sick look on his face after his son made an error that let Fort Dorchester tie the game and put the winning run on third base with only one out. I remember Adam Mims playing catcher (maybe for the first time ever) and having a bang-bang play at the plate where Adam had to tag the runner out (which he did). It felt like there were about 20 or 30 different times when our backs were against the wall and it looked like our season was going to end. Each time something would happen and we would get out of it. Game 2 ended up lasting 12 innings (and didn’t end until 2:15am). We ended up winning 24-14. I remember scoring the 15th and the 24th runs… Fort just ran out of pitching. I’m not 100% sure, but I think all of our runs in the 12th inning came from walks. So it was sloppy… but man it was fun. So if you are scoring at home… Game 1 started at 6pm and lasted 7 innings and Game 2 went 12 innings and didn’t end until 2:15am. So, while an argument can be made about it being the greatest game there is no doubt in my mind that it was the longest night in James Island baseball. And I’d love to do it just one more time…

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

I'm not bitter...

It’s a funny thing, this difference between men and women. I can remember when I went to a bachelor party for my cousin Louis. I think we started with 8 guys (or at least around 8 guys… I don’t remember all of the details from that night). Anyway, as the night went on, guys kept dropping (more like passing) out. Now girls in a situation like this will make sure their friend is ok and the pack will stay together. Guys in this situation will keep moving on. Casualties happen. Survive and advance, that’s how it is. That night we started with 8… by the end I was one of 3 guys left standing (or at least leaning). And here’s the thing, not only were we willing to leave the other guys behind, they were ok with it… expected it, even.

I have other examples of this, too. No long ago The Wife and I had work done on our bathroom. While this was going on, we had to move a bunch of stuff into our bedroom. Long story short, only one of us would be able to sleep in the bed while the other would have to sleep on the sofa in the den. So, The Wife gets the bed and I get the sofa… right? At least, that’s how I saw it. The Wife saw it a different way. In her mind, this situation called for her sleeping on the sofa and me sleeping… on the floor by the sofa so we could be in the same room. Don’t worry… you didn’t misread what I wrote.


Then there’s this whole thing with Atlanta. I have planned since July to be in Atlanta this Wednesday, Thursday, and come back Friday. I was going to Atlanta for Catalyst. It was going to be great. This was going to give some of the best young religious leaders a chance to meet me face to face. I was really looking forward to this but The Wife decided this past weekend that she didn’t want me to go. So we compromised and I’m not going.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Poor Green Wave....

As you are aware, it has taken less than a month for my blog to become very powerful. It was here that I talked about fighting in high school athletics and how the South Carolina High School League shouldn’t over-react to it. There had been talk after the Summerville/Stratford fight that both teams might be put on probation (which would keep both teams out of the playoffs) and have kids suspended for the rest of the season. I thought this would be excessive. I said that the players involved should be suspended for a game or two and everyone should move on. The SCHSL, for the most part, listened to me. They put both teams on double secret probation (i.e. gave them a warning) and suspended some of the players (I think the longest suspension is for 3 games). I thought that was as fair as you could expect from the SCHSL. It seems Summerville’s coach does not agree.

Listen, I know the great Coach McKissick has won more high school football games than I’ll ever watch. I’m sure he has earned the right to be wrong or live in whatever fantasy world he lives in. But I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read his reaction to the discipline handed down by the SCHSL. (NOTE: I’m not making this up... had I made it up, I would have been pretty close... but I’m not making this up):

“I though what the High School League did was unfair,” McKissick said. “The crime didn’t fit the punishment. It was just some pushing and shoving that lasted less than a minute after the game.”

I can only assume he said the first part with a straight face. Listen, I didn’t time the thing. Maybe he’s right. Maybe it did only last a minute. But to have him say that the punishment was unfair is just funny. Then again, maybe he is right. After all, if it had been West Ashley and Goose Creek players “pushing and shoving” for “less than a minute after the game” both of those teams probably would be on probation (the real kind... not the kind a Coach McKissick team gets). I looked to see if the Stratford coach had any reaction to the punishment. I have not been able to find anything. Maybe he wasn’t asked about it. Or maybe he didn’t want to give his real reaction (“Thank God it happened against Summerville, because if it had happened against anyone else we could kiss the playoffs goodbye!”). Come on Coach. Use it as a positive learning experience and move on.


Hey, remember years ago when Ken Griffey, Sr. and Ken Griffey, Jr. played in the major leagues together? Remember how everyone thought it was a big deal having a dad and son playing together? People in Summerville weren’t impressed. They had already seen that happen on their high school football team 3 different times. HA! I don’t care who you are, that’s funny. Ok, I’m done.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Thoughts from the Auditorium Seat…

I went to a new church today (Ashley Ridge Church, A United Methodist Family). It’s a church that I’m starting. Well, I’m not starting it… but I am a consultant for it (well, not really an official consultant… but I do email ideas on a regular [constant] basis). Anyway, it’s a new (yet awesome) church that meets in the auditorium at Ashley Ridge High School (which is why these thoughts are from the auditorium seat and not the pew).

An interesting research study would be to see how many Christians spend more money on their favorite college athletic team than they give to their church. The past few years I’ve given more to church… but before that I probably spent more on Winthrop Basketball. It would be an interesting study…

How many Christians will drive 2 (or 3… or 4) hours, sit out in the hot sun (or freezing rain) for hours to watch a football game, then spend about an hour sitting in traffic before driving 2 (or 3… or 4) hours home… but don’t attend church on a regular basis because they don’t have enough time?

How many Christians can be at a sporting event for 2-3 hours, but almost fall apart if the church service lasts one hour and five minutes? Ok, I have to admit that this question made me laugh when I thought of it. It made me laugh because this is me. I have no problem at all watching a game for 2-3 hours, but once the church service approaches the one hour mark I start to panic and think things like “What if something happened to the preacher and he (or she) just keeps talking and never stops? How long do I have to wait before I can just get up and leave even if he (or she) is still talking? Really if he (or she) had this much to say, we shouldn’t have had so many songs! Oh God, I’m so hungry. I’m going to die in this pew!” And that’s just what goes through my mind as the service gets close to the one hour mark. If the service goes over by 5 minutes I start to sweat and my thoughts become gibberish. How sad is that? And to make things worse, the 2-3 hours for the sporting event can happen multiple times in a week. So, I can spend anywhere from 2-6 hours a week to support sporting programs that, in all honesty, don’t really care about me… but then struggle to spend more than an hour worshiping God. Ouch.

How many Christians will give their heart and soul to their favorite sports team, but hold back a little when it comes to worshiping God?

Question: Faith+Hope+Love =?
Answer: The feelings a fan feels for their favorite sports team.

And perhaps my favorite question… How many Christians pray most of their prayers while watching sports?

Just a little something to think about…….

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Talkin Baseball...

If you are looking for a fun activity on a Saturday morning, go watch a baseball game. For the next 5 Saturdays in Summerville you can go watch Summerville Miracle League baseball games (two games each day… one at 9:30am and one at 10:45am). You may remember one of my rules for sports is that there are winners and losers… not everyone can be a winner. Like all good rules, this one has an exception and that exception is the Miracle League. I challenge you to go to one of these games and not smile. I went to my first game today. The Wife has been trying to get me out to a game since they started playing here in Summerville. I’ve always had reasons not to go, but I decided today there would be no excuses. Let me just say, “WOW”. It is amazing the amount of time and money that has gone into the Summerville Miracle League, but ask anyone and they’ll tell you it’s been worth it. Just seeing the faces of the kids who are getting to play the greatest game of all hit the ball and run around the bases is fantastic. It’s also special to see the look on a mom or dad’s face as they watch their boy or girl playing baseball.

The thing is, a lot of time is usually spent talking about what special needs children can’t do. But for about 1 hour on a few Saturday’s out of the year, baseball does what it was designed to do in its purist form… offer an escape. For that time, parents don’t have to think about what exercise they need to work on with their child or what meeting they have to go to at school to make sure their child is treated fairly. Instead… for that time, no matter how brief it might be, time seems to stop and parents can see something every parent should get to see… their child having fun. And fun is what the Miracle League is all about. Just go watch and you’ll see that the fans have fun, the umpires have fun, the coaches have fun, the volunteers have fun, the parents have fun, players have fun… and everyone is a winner.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Dogs

So I found some pictures of my dogs that I wanted to put up here. Before I get to that, it would good to point out that I love dogs. I always have. I love dogs more than I love people. It’s easier for me to become friends with dogs than it is people. That’s just how I am. When I come home, who is happy to see me? That’s right, my dogs. The Wife might be a little happy because she has something for me to do. Mary Ruth might be happy because she wants something and thinks I’m her best shot at getting it. But the dogs are just happy that I’m home. They fight to see me. Lucy (the “first born” of our dogs) will come up and sit, just like she was trained to do. Maverick, the shortest of the 3, will jump up and stand on the arm of the sofa so that he can make sure I see him. Even Scooby, the one that tests my “I love dogs” feeling everyday, will run up and try to knock the other two out of the way so that he will be the first one to greet me. None of them will leave me until they’ve received a kiss and a pat on the head. Of the 3, I have also noticed that Lucy will wait to see if anyone else is coming in before she moves. She is the sweetest of the three. She loves to give people kisses. She REALLY loves to give babies kisses. She does the best around Mary Ruth. Lucy also got to spend the most time with my childhood dog Dach (sounds like “Doc”, aka, the greatest dog EVER). Now would be a good time to say something about Dach. I got him for Christmas in 1989. At the time he was all skin. You could pick him up by his skin and he wouldn’t care (he finally grew into his skin). Dach would follow me all over the house (leading me to start singing Me and My Shadow). If I wanted to rest, Dach would lay down next to me and sleep. If I wanted to play, Dach was ready to play. He loved to play ball. I’d throw a tennis ball down the hall and he would get it and bring it back. This could go on for hours. It didn’t matter how tired he got, if I threw the ball he would get it and bring it back. He slept in his own bed except for Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve he would sleep in my bed. He was great.




Maverick and I didn’t get along so well at first. When we got Maverick, Dach was on his last leg (he would only live 2 months after we brought Maverick home). Dach was living with my parents, but we’d still keep him at our place when they went out of town. By this point, Dach was old and couldn’t move too well. Lucy loved that, because she didn’t really like to move around too much so they would just lie on the sofa together. Maverick, though, was still a puppy and he wanted to play. He wouldn’t leave Dach alone... that was strike 2. Strike 1 actually came when we first brought Maverick home. He would wake me up in the morning by standing on my chest, and then with his nose almost touching my nose... he would cough. See, he was getting over kennel cough when we brought him home. So things didn’t start off on the right foot with us. But Maverick has since earned my love. One way he did this was by becoming a hunter. At the time, we had a problem with rats in our back yard. Over the course of one year, he had 5 confirmed kills. It was great. We haven’t had rats in our backyard in years. The other thing he did (as I have mentioned in a previous post) is started singing with me. Of the 3, he’s the one that wants to be with me the most.


Then there is Scooby. The youngest and biggest of the group. Scooby is also the first dog we’ve had that didn’t have any contact with Dach. I think Dach could have really helped Scooby. As it is... well, The Wife doesn’t want me to say bad things about Scooby on here so I won’t. But if I did, I would say that he has to be the dumbest dog I’ve ever had. I’m convinced he out grew his brain after he was a month old. He picks fights with Maverick and Lucy even though he has yet to win one single fight. He takes Mary Ruth’s toys (something the other two never did) and he runs into everything (if you are walking in front of him and aren’t careful, he will clip you). His tail is a deadly weapon, and he is just a general pain in my butt. However, since The Wife doesn’t want me to talk bad about him on here, I won’t say any of that stuff. I will say that out of the 3 of them, he is learning how to play ball. He’s no Dach, but he’s the best I’ve got right now at it. He also is the only one that will sleep in a cage. He actually likes it. And for the most part, he doesn’t really bark all that much... so he’s got that going for him.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

A little of this... a little of that

Mary Ruth rolled her eyes at me last night. For any of you scoring at home, she’s only 3. I was able to make it three years before this happened. I thought she would at least be 13 before this would happen. Of course, there is no one to blame for this but the left-wing, ultra-liberal, child rights activists with all of their “Children are people too” talk. Even at 3 years old, Mary Ruth knows that I can only do so much before these people will step in and put me in jail. Just to compare this with my relationship to my Dad… He’s made it 30 years (and counting) without me rolling my eyes right in his face. Don’t get me wrong, my Dad is a good guy. He never beat me excessively or anything like that. (Disclaimer: Now would be a good time to say that I don’t think parents should abuse their children). But even though he didn’t spank me all the time… he still had the option. I don’t want to do things to make my daughter scared of me… I just want to have that option. That’s how it was when I was growing up...

I saw a while back that a football coach was found ‘not guilty’ in a case where he was accused of murder because a player died during a practice. The fact that he was brought up on murder charges made me question if I could bring my high school baseball coach up on attempted murder charges? I know there were plenty of practices where we thought he was trying to kill us. There were some practices where we thought of killing one of our own just so the practice would stop. It’s funny, in a way, but back then I didn’t think it was possible to die in practice. I don’t know why... I just thought that there was some magical rule that said players couldn’t die in practice. Seeing reports of kids dying in practice kind of burst that bubble for me. Now I’m amazed I made it through playing high school baseball.

Isn’t it funny that there are people in this world who think I’m stupid (or naïve... or uneducated... however they want to word it) because I believe in God, but they think they are educated because they believe our ancestors were monkeys.

Speaking of funny things... Bob Dylan. Is there any other singer out there who has songs that everyone else can sing better? You show me where someone has covered a Bob Dylan song and I’ll show you someone who sounds better singing the song than Dylan. Honestly, I think he is the reason Karaoke became so big. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to get up in front of a group and sing a song, sing a Dylan song. At worst, you’ll sound like him. (****SIDE NOTE: I would not recommend singing Dixie on Karaoke night at your local bar. Don’t get me wrong, it’ll probably be a hit. The problem is, at least the one time I did this with two good friends, Dixie actually has about 50 verses. Who knew? The last thing you want to do is sing a song that is so long people will walk in, start drinking, get drunk, and then sober up before you’re done singing. END NOTE****). Don’t get me wrong, I love Dylan. He gives me hope that one day I’ll become a successful singer.

There are two (non-Dylan) songs that I think actually sound better with “imperfections”... Amazing Grace and With a Little Help From My Friends. You don’t have to sound good to sing these songs. I bet these would sound great with Dylan singing them.

If you are in a band, my advice to you is this: Learn how to play Free Bird. My other advice is this: Until you learn how to play Free Bird, don’t ask people what song they want to hear. I don’t care what the situation is... you can be in a bar, on a sidewalk, or in the middle of a worship service, it doesn’t matter... if you ask people what song is it that they want to hear, someone will yell “Free Bird!” There is a good chance that someone will be me.