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.



Monday, June 28, 2010

Friends

I saw in the paper today where educators around the country (but not in this area, I don’t believe) don’t want children to have best friends. It seems they feel it’s better for children to have a large group of friends and not have one “best friend”. Friends, I come from a family of educators (and The Wife got her degree in Early Childhood Education... or something like that) so I feel safe in telling you that educators don’t know as much as they think they know. Hey, it’s one thing to tell kids they need to be open to new friendships and try not to form cliques and don’t be mean to people and all that other crap, but to actively try to keep kids from having a best friend is going too far in my mind. Also, I couldn’t find where it was written that children couldn’t have a large group of friends AND a best friend. And “best friend” is somewhat of a relative term in my mind. I had best friends growing up who I haven’t seen since middle school. If not for Facebook, I wouldn’t even know if 99% of my friends from high school were still alive. That doesn’t mean I didn’t need those friends back then... it just means that over time we grew a part. It happens. It’s called life. I say let kids have best friends. Let them have as many (or as few) friends as they want. Tell them it’s ok not to be friends with everyone (because it is). Tell them it’s ok if people don’t want to be friends with them (it happens). Teach them the importance of having friends (people you can count on). And if these educators insist on saying having a “best friend” is bad for a child, I ask that they take a look in the Old Testament at the story of David and Jonathan. I would then ask if having Jonathan as a best friend was a good thing or a bad thing for David?

Mary Ruth came home the other day upset because a friend of hers didn’t want to play with her (and yelled at her... something like “Stop following me!”). It doesn’t take much for MR to have her feeling hurt, so this really hurt her. The Wife talked to her about it and that’s probably a good thing... because she’d probably get in trouble if she did what I was going to tell her to do.

My advice: “MR, the next time a friend yells that at you just say ‘WhattheHell’dyoujustsaytome?!’ real fast. If it happens again, punch them in the face and walk away”. (note: It's very importatnt to throw the first punch because it's usually the person throwing the second punch who gets in trouble).

Something tells me that’s not “appropriate” advice for a 4 year old... but I can’t think of anything better, so that’s what I’d tell her.

Saturday I was invited to the House of Clark to watch soccer. Really, the family was invited, but The Wife and the girls were out shopping. I told The Wife I was going to do some yard work before I went over there. I then mentioned the yard work I would LIKE to get done. I’m not sure if you were in the area this past Saturday, but the “heat index” was somewhere in the 200’s in my backyard around the time I was working (and trust me, it was NOT a dry heat). My goal was to dig up the bushes in the backyard, weed-eat & cut the front yard, and weed-eat & cut the backyard. I was able to dig up the bushes (5 total... each one surrounded by monkey grass... which should be outlawed). After digging up the bushes (and monkey grass) I noticed I was about 1... maybe 2 minutes away from a heat stroke. Even the dogs looked like they were about to tap out. So I decided to stop right there and call it a day. I went inside, took a cold shower (and was still hot when I got out), laid down for a minute or ten, then threw on some shorts and a t-shirt and went to watch some soccer. I got a call about halfway through the game (or match, as my friend Jamin would call it) from The Wife getting on me for not cutting the grass before going over to the House of Clark. It should be pointed out that I didn’t say anything about her going shopping while we had more dirty clothes than clean clothes in the house, more dirty dishes than clean dishes in the house, and dirt all over the floor from that freak of nature I call Donkey. I think I should get some credit for not saying any of that.

We at I’m just sayin... would like to congratulate Jeremy and Rebecca who are looking to enter the parenting world in January. I trust if they have a boy they will at least consider some of the names I’ve come up with. Or they could use my name. Whatever works. I wanted to break this story a while ago but didn’t because I like Jeremy too much to do that... and more importantly, I’m too scared of Rebecca to do it.

Goodbye and good luck to my friend Ross as he leaves to become the preacher of 2 churches (Hampton and Varnville).

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!

I would like to start today by wishing The Wife a Happy Anniversary! Today is our 8th Anniversary and I don’t know what I’d do without her (though I’m guessing there would be a lot of beer and video games… but there’s no use dwelling on what might have been).

I remember the day before The Wedding was the longest day of the year. HA! Get it?! The day before was June 21… the longest day of the year. Anyway, I remember it like it was yesterday. I woke up to the sounds of rain. Maybe, I thought, it’s only raining over our house. A short time later I got a call from Rebecca saying that The Wife wanted to talk to me because it was pouring down rain where they were (note: Rebecca was the maid of honor in The Wedding. Here, I feel, she dropped the ball in her role. In a situation like this, she should have been the one talking to The Wife… not me). So, it rained. It poured. At least our wedding wasn’t in a flood zone… wait a minute… it WAS in a flood zone. Downtown Charleston. I think it was also high tide.

I remember Coach Hatley coming into the church right before the service started.

I remember standing and waiting for The Wife to walk down the aisle… while my 2nd cousin Jim and my Uncle Keith were sitting behind me trying to make me laugh.

I remember my sister-in-law (Terry) boycotting The Wedding because she didn’t approve of The Wife. Or maybe it was because she’d just given birth to my favorite nephew a couple weeks before. I’ve heard it both ways.

I remember The Wife’s Aunt trying to talk me out of getting married (the rumor going around at the time was that she wanted me for herself... at least, I think that’s what I was telling people).

I remember slow dancing with The Wife to our song (You Shook Me All Night Long, by AC/DC).

You will note in the pictures below that I have hair. I have a theory about events in my life that happen when I have hair, but I’ll save that for another day.

I remember how beautiful The Wife looked.

I remember looking pretty good myself. ;)

Here was the starting line-up for the Groom’s team:



Back row (L to R): Michael, Louis, ME, Jeremy, Sonny. Front row (L to R): Dumpy, Thomas, Brent, Dad (Best Man)


And for the Bride’s team:


Back row (L to R): Jen, Meg, Elizabeth. Middle row (L to R): Rebecca (Maid of Honor), Daniella (Jr. Bridesmaid), The Wife, Rosalyn, Clair. Front row: Rebekah (Jr. Bridesmaid).



We also had two people read from the Bible – Teri and Old Jeremy (who, looking back really wasn’t all that old at the time). Below is a picture of my Kappa Sigma brothers who made it to the wedding. Old Jeremy is the guy on the far right. The other two guys not already seen in a picture before are Brock and Rhett.



This next pic is of me and The Wife leaving the party...




Over the past 8 years we’ve gained 3 dogs (Lucy – 2002, Maverick – 2004, Scooby – 2009), 2 children (Mary Ruth – 2005, Susie - 2009) and 1 house (2003).

What else was going on June 22, 2002?

*Texas beat South Carolina to win The College World Series.

*Europe was declared polio-free by the World Health Organization.

*Ann Landers died.

*Darryl Kile died.

People who have died on June 22: Judy Garland (1969), Fred Astaire (1987), Greg Horres (2002... HA! Just kidding), George Carlin (2008).

People think that I give The Wife a hard time on here... but that’s just not true. You see, on this date 8 years ago we became one. Therefore, when I “make fun of her” I’m really making fun of me. Of course, that means when she rolls her eyes at me, she’s really rolling her eyes at herself...

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Happy Day-before-Father’s Day!

On the way back from swim lessons today, I decided to drive by Aunt Sister’s old house to show Mary Ruth where Granny lived when I was a little boy (side note: I think I was well into my 20’s before I realized Sister wasn’t Aunt Sister’s real name… I think it’s Lula Belle or something like that). Any way, we drive by and the conversation went a little like this…

Me: “Look MR, that’s the house Granny lived in when I was a little boy”.

MR: “Does Granny live there now?”

Me: “No, sweetie, she just lived there when I was little”.

MR: “Where does Granny live now?”

Me: “Granny is in Heaven now”.

MR: “In South Carolina?”

Me: “No, baby, Granny is in Heaven with God”.

MR: “In South Carolina?”

Me: “Yeah, I guess you could say that”.
*****************

Susie threw-up in The Wife’s mouth the other day.

You read that right. That’s why I don’t kiss babies. Ok, I kiss babies, but I always make sure I’m above them and not the other way around. Let that be a lesson for everyone.

I’m not one to criticize sports officials, but I find it hard not to criticize an official I don’t know from a country I can’t remember in a sport I know next to nothing about (what I do know, I learned from video games). Yesterday the US was down 0-2 to a country about the size of Summerville High School. For you non-soccer people reading this blog (i.e. Americans) being down 0-2 in soccer is like being down 17-63 in football. I’ll be the first to admit, after seeing that score I pulled a Billy Packer and called the game over. Well, friends, it wasn’t over. The US scored two goals to tie it all up (the first came when the goalie for the other country screamed like a little girl and got out of the way of a ball that was coming right at him… well, right at his face at least… still, no guts, no glory right?). The US then scored yet another goal to take the lead!!!! Except the ref blew his whistle (and the game) and called a… well, here’s the thing, I’m not sure what he called. As far as I can tell, no one knows what he called. But the goal didn’t count and so the US ended up with another tie. The good news is all the US has to do to advance is win their next match.

Chase Towne had the tube removed from his chest this past Thursday. Keep sending up prayers of thanks for all God has done for the Towne family.

Happy early Father’s Day to all you dads out there.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Happy Birthday Mother-In-Law!!!!!!!

That's right, friends, today is The Mother-In-Law's 51st birthday!! We went out to dinner tonight and it was all I could do not to ask her what it was like to serve in the Navy with John Paul Jones. Seriously, she is a great mother-in-law and I, for one, don't think she looks a day over 61.

I had lunch with some great friends yesterday which was just the "pick-me-up" I needed.

I learned something new about baseball last night. I've been around the game my whole life and each year I still learn something new.

Not sure how much I'll get to post these next few weeks. June 30th is the end of our fiscal year at work which means I'm slammed.

Thank you to Spain for screwing up my World Cup bracket.

How 'bout that English goalie? I know how he feels. Not really... I never booted a ball in one of the biggest games of my life. So I have no idea how he feels.

Speaking of soccer (or, futbol as my friend Jamin calls it), I have to say I was wrong about one thing... I've always been of the opinion that when you rank players of different sports based on toughness, these guys would be dead last (far behind golfers/bowlers/fishermen) and hockey players would be in first place by a long shot (it's not even close). I would like to move the soccer goalie higher up on the list. At least the American goalie. My boy cracked some ribs and stayed in the game. Not only that, but he had some impressive saves after cracking the ribs. My hats off to him.

Congrats to Clemson and USC for making it to the CWS. Haha to Coastal for not making it.

GREAT NEWS!!!!
Update on Chase Towne: (from his dad, I think): The results are back and Chase is getting his Broviac tube out on Thursday (6/17). Another MAJOR milestone on Chase's road to BEATING IT! That's right the blood work was clean, the urine was NORMAL and the scans were unchanged. It has been a long four days since the tests last week, but it was worth the wait! Chase has been doing well and if you saw him today you would not know the journey he has been on (see pic) his hair has almost covered his scar on his head. After the Broviac is removed, Chase will go to Clinic once a month for blood and urine work and he will have scans every two months. We are extremely excited and thankful for today and the news it brought. With God's blessing the surgery Thursday will be on a outpatient basis and hopefully we will all be home Thursday night. We would not be where we are today without God's grace and each and every prayer that has been said for Chase. THANK YOU! When we get the details of the surgery we will let you know. Please say a prayer of Thanks and continued healing for our Miracle Baby!

So if you've been praying for him (like I've been telling you to), don't forget to send up a big "Thank You" prayer tonight. And if you haven't been praying for him... it's not too late to start.

Mazel tov!

Friday, June 11, 2010

World Cup predictions

Friends, as you know we here at I’m just sayin... know very little about soccer. Some might even claim we (at times) look down on the sport and say only women should play it. However, we are pretty big World Cup fans. So even though we know nothing about the teams (honestly, I didn’t even know some of the places were countries until I saw them on the schedule) we will provide you with our World Cup predictions (i.e. teams we’re pulling for) for the Group Stage:

June 11:
South Africa will tie Mexico
Uruguay will tie France (ok, these matches already happened)

June 12:
South Korea over Greece
Argentina over Nigeria
US over England (2:30pm on ABC)

June 13:
Algeria over Slovenia
Ghana over Serbia
Germany over Australia

June 14:
Netherlands over Denmark
Cameroon over Japan
Italy over Paraguay

June 15:
New Zealand over Slovakia
Portugal over Ivory Coast
Brazil over North Korea

June 16:
Chile over Honduras
Spain over Switzerland
South Africa over Uruguay

June 17:
Argentina over South Korea
Greece over Nigeria
Mexico over France

June 18:
Germany over Serbia
US over Slovenia (10:00am on ESPN)
England over Algeria

June 19:
Netherlands over Japan
Australia over Ghana
Cameroon over Denmark

June 20:
Paraguay over Slovakia
Italy over New Zealand
Brazil over Ivory Coast

June 21:
Portugal over North Korea
Switzerland over Chile
Spain over Honduras

June 22:
Mexico over Uruguay
South Africa over France
South Korea over Nigeria
Argentina over Greece

June 23:
England over Slovenia
US over Algeria (10:00am on ESPN)
Germany over Ghana
Australia over Serbia

June 24:
Italy over Slovakia
Paraguay over New Zealand
Denmark over Japan
Cameroon over Netherlands

June 25:
Ivory Coast over North Korea
Brazil over Portugal
Switzerland over Honduras
Spain over Chile

So go ahead and place your bets now!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Happy Birthday Austin!!!!!!!

I would like to start by wishing my favorite nephew a Happy 8th Birthday! He’s a great guy who I wish had been with us earlier this week to dig holes.

So, let’s talk about my summer camp at the lake this past Sunday to Wednesday. I had a great time. I was there with Sonny, Dad, Jim & Deeny (who, if I’m right about this, are my 2nd cousins), and Mary Beth (Jim & Deeny’s daughter... which I think would make her my 3rd cousin). Others were also there for some of the time, but these were the people there the whole time I was there. So what did we do? Drank beer and played in the pool, lake, and game room for about 99% of the time and worked for 1%. God, I wish that were true. What we really did was work. You know movies showing guys in prison down in Georgia working on a chain gang out in the heat doing “hard time”? That was us. Just without the chains. We had some big projects on our plate and had anyone asked me before hand I would have told them there is no way we would get even one of them done. I’m not 100% sure, but I think we got all of them done. Our list included: moving the fence, repairing the dock, finding the leak in the pool (and then stopping it), cutting the front yard (fyi... it ain’t as small as my front yard), replacing the propeller on the boat, and numerous other smaller projects.

Let’s start with moving the fence (this took about 2 days). This required us to dig holes (for the posts of the fence... try to keep up). If you have a paved driveway, I want you to go out there with a post hole digger (make sure the blades are dull) and then dig about 10 holes. Oh, make sure you are out there in the middle of a sunny day. That’s about what it was like for us. We approached it like a hockey team with almost constant line changes. We then had to pour redi-mix concrete into the holes (which involved lifting an 80 pound bag of concrete, pouring it into the hole, pouring water in there, and mixing it... with the post in there... while making sure everything was level... a step I didn’t exactly agree with, but I wasn’t in charge of this worksite). It was this job that made me re-think my views on illegal immigration. We at I’m just sayin... are now in favor of leaving our boarder with Mexico unguarded (as long as the people crossing over are willing to dig holes in the hard Georgia clay).

The next job (and perhaps the most important) was finding the leak in the pool. This took about 3 days. I have a new understanding of what BP is going through. The good news here is Jim was absolutely, without a doubt, 100% sure of where the leak was. The bad news is we had to cut through the concrete deck around the pool, dig down through the clay making sure we didn’t hit the pipes down there (which wasn’t great, but not as bad as the clay where the fence was going) and find/repair the leak. The worse news is the leak wasn’t there. The good news here is Jim was now absolutely, without a doubt, 100% sure of where the leak was. The bad news is we had to cut through the concrete deck around the pool, dig down through the clay making sure we didn’t hit the pipes down there (which wasn’t great, but again, not as bad as the clay where the fence was going) and find/repair the leak. The worse news is the leak wasn’t there either (which really hurt because we thought we had it that time). The good news here is Jim really was now absolutely, without a doubt, 100% sure of where the leak was. The bad news is we had to cut through the concrete deck around the pool, dig down through the clay making sure we didn’t hit the pipes down there (which still wasn’t great, but still not as bad as the clay where the fence was going) and find/repair the leak. The worse news is the leak wasn’t there either. Now, I wasn’t around for most of the third dig because I had to get back to James Island for a baseball game. From what Sonny told me, the next step was to completely stop up the jets around the pool. This got the job done. I don’t know if this is the long-term solution or just a short-term solution, but I do know it was the only solution that worked.

The dock work (1 day) was the easiest because we had some back-up show up (a couple of 3rd cousins). They knew what they were doing and they did most of the work there (though me and Sonny were still needed).

The front yard (a handful of acres) involved cutting the grass and picking up trash/logs/limbs/large sticks and throwing them in a trash pile. It took about half a day and was only hard because we were tired from the work we’ve done the previous days and it was HOT. Replacing the propeller was also hard only because it was so freaking hot out there.

Overall, it was hard work but at least I got a tan out of it (without getting burnt... which was amazing... yes, Jenn, I did put on sunscreen... SPF 12). Of course, The Wife thinks that it was all fun and games down there.......

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Getting to Know Me – Part 2

The following are places where I do business (or will do business). As you know, the only reason to write a wildly successful blog is to help your friends, crush your enemies, and get stuff for free. Today is the “help my friends” day… although some of these places may not even realize they are my friends.

Let’s start with my new favorite church: Ashley Ridge, A United Methodist Community of people not calling themselves United Methodist (aka, Ashley Ridge Church).

Grocery Store: Piggly Wiggly

Electronic Communication Needs: Carter Electronics

Mortgage: SunTrust Mortgage

Fast Food: Chic-fil-A

Lumber: Berlin G. Meyers Lumber Corporation

Steel: Nucor Steel

Work/Western Clothes: The Bootjack

Bookstore: Barnes and Noble

Vacation Rental: Da Casa Banana2

Charities of Choice: Alzheimer’s Association, Summerville Miracle League, Pattison’s Academy, Charleston Animal Society, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

So there you have it. I expect to hear about a big spike in business from all of these places. And when you buy (or give) make sure you tell them I’m just sayin… sent you. Really, if you go to the church, tell them I sent you (even if you were going to go anyway). :-)

Monday, June 7, 2010

Getting to know me – Part I

What went on the year I was born...

I was born January 21, 1979 in Charleston, South Carolina. Super Bowl XIII was that night... The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys 35-31 setting me on the path of being a Steelers fan and not a Cowboys fan (thank God).

My sister cried... she wanted a sister, not another brother.

“Sonny” probably showed no emotion.

The United States and the People’s Republic of China established full diplomatic relations.

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran fled Iran (who could blame him?)

Former US Attorney General John Mitchell was released on parole after 19 months in a federal prison in Alabama.

Brenda Ann Spencer opened fire at a school in San Diego, California killing 2 faculty members and wounding 8 students. Her response to the action, “I don’t like Mondays,” (who does, I ask) inspired the Boomtown Rats to make a song with that title (I very good song, if I do say so myself... and I do).

Patty Hearst had her sentence commuted by US President Jimmy Carter.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran, Iran after 15 years of exile.

Supporters of Khomeini take over Iran.

Pluto was still a planet.

Following her 1972 sex reassignment surgery, musician Wendy Carlos legally changes her name from Walter. She later reveals this information in an interview in the May 1979 issue of Playboy Magazine. This freaks out most men and causes sales of Playboy to drop drastically (… ok, I made that part up).

Mr. Ed, the talking horse, died.

President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign a peace treaty.

The nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island happens.

The Nickelodeon Television Channel launches at The Pinwheel Network.

Margaret Thatcher becomes the new British prime minister.

John Spenkelink is executed in Florida, in the first use of the electric chair in America after the reintroduction of death penalty in 1976.

A Disco Demolition Night publicity stunt goes awry at Comiskey Park, forcing the Chicago White Sox to forfeit their game against the Detroit Tigers.

Carmine Galante, boss of the Bonanno crime family, is assassinated.

Saddam Hussein becomes president of Iraq.

The first British nudist beach is established in Brighton.

Raymond Washington, co-founder of the Crips, is shot and killed.

Michael Jackson releases his album Off The Wall, which included the great song “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough”.

Chrysler Corporation asks the US government for $1 billion to avoid bankruptcy.

The comic strip For Better of For Worse begins its run.

ESPN debuts.

Iran hostage crisis begins.

French police shoot gangster Jacques Mesrine in Paris… leading people all over the world to say, “The French know how to shoot guns?”

Edward Kennedy announces that he will challenge President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination… stating that 10 years after killing someone is long enough to wait before running for president. Okay, he didn’t state that.

The World premiere for Star Trek: The Motion Picture is held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.

The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.

Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Notable Births (other than me):

Chris Smith (of Kris Kross fame)
Drew Brees
Jesse Spencer (Dr. Chase from House)
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Kevin Youkilis (of the Red Sox)
Heath Ledger
Keshia Knight Pulliam (Rudy Huxtable)
Kate Hudson
Tracy McGrady
LaDainian Tomlinson
Jamal Lewis
Coco Crisp (baseball player)
Kourtney Kardashian
Ron Artest
Lamar Odom
Cote de Pablo (Ziva from NCIS) – You will remember, of course, that the NCIS personality quiz I took said that I am most like Ziva. You will also remember, I’m sure, that The Wife hates Ziva.

Notable Deaths:
Nelson Rockefeller
John Wayne
Thurman Munson
Walter O’Malley

Notable Singles:
I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
Reunited – Peaches & Herb
Hot Stuff – Donna Summer
My Sharona – The Knack
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough – Michael Jackson
Heartache Tonight – The Eagles
Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen
The Devil Went Down to Georgia – Charlie Daniels Band
Do That To Me One More Time – Captain & Tennille
The Gambler – Kenny Rogers
Highway to Hell – AC/DC
In the Navy – Village People
The Long Run – The Eagles
Rapper’s Delight – The Sugarhill Gang
I Don’t Like Mondays – The Boomtown Rats

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Happy Birthday Danny! Goodbye Coach Wooden

Let me start off by wishing my good friend Danny a very special Happy Birthday. Danny, as you know, is an avid reader of I’m just sayin… and was kind enough to find me the Oklahoma quarter I was missing. Danny is also a founding member of a yet-to-be-named church consulting firm (along with myself and our friend KC). Happy Birthday, Danny.

Friends, I’m sure you’ve seen by now that Coach John Wooden passed away last night. He was 99 years old. I’m not going to sit here and tell you he was a saint, because frankly I didn’t know the man. What I will tell you is very few coaches (the good ones, at least) in any sport do not use something learned from Coach Wooden. Maybe it’s something they got from one of his books, or maybe it’s something they picked up from a story being told by one of his former players… whatever it is, I’d say a large majority of coaches use something learned from Coach Wooden.

My favorite thing to do is hear Bill Walton talk about Coach Wooden (and Bill Walton loves to talk… he also seems to enjoy specifically talking about Coach Wooden). One story (and I think I’m telling this right) is about when Walton was playing at UCLA. He was a big star (and he knew it) so he decided he was going to test the rules. Coach Wooden had a “no long hair” policy and Walton showed up to practice with long hair. Coach told him to cut it. Walton said no… I have a right to have my hair as long as I want. Coach said, “Bill, you’re right. We sure are going to miss you this season”. Walton cut his hair.

The thing that I’ve always heard from former UCLA players is that Coach Wooden probably taught them more about life than he did basketball. To me, that’s what a great does. Of course, he did win a few games along the way as a coach, too. ;)

I will be busy (on vacation) the early part of next week helping my Dad do manly type stuff (you know, outside type work where you sweat and don’t play on the internet all day) so I’m not sure how much time I will have to post. Therefore, we will not have a “live” posting on Monday or Tuesday of next week. Instead, I will be posting a “getting to know me” series that is pre-written. If you want any live updates on me while I am away, you may follow me on twitter (I might tweet something) or you can text me (I might respond).

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Happy Birthday Adrian! Daddy stop talking, Shots fired, Almost perfect, Junior

Let me start by wishing my dear friend Adrian a very, very, very Happy 30th Birthday! As some of you may remember, there was a time in the not too distant past when Adrian hated me so much that she wouldn't let her husband hang out with me (it was never an official policy... just a theory of mine). But that was back when she was in her 20's... We have since made up (though, I must point out, I still haven't seen her husband around much lately). Anyway, I hope Adrian has a very happy 30th Birthday.

I went for a walk Tuesday night with Mary Ruth. We walked to a pond in our subdivision so we could feed the ducks. We’re walking and she is talking to me non-stop (“Look, Daddy, isn’t the world beautiful? God made the world so beautiful! There are no bugs on us...”). So we get to the pond and we feed the ducks and life is good. We are walking back and she’s still talking non-stop (“Look at the sky Daddy, isn’t it beautiful? Weren’t the little baby duckies so cute!” and on and on and on). Well, we’re walking and she gets a little quite so I figure it was my turn to talk to her. So I’m pointing out things (“Look at that bird, Mary Ruth, isn’t it pretty?) and then I say “Mary Ruth, weren’t the little duckies just so cute” (in a “baby voice” like what she had used when she said it). She looks up at me and says “Daddy, stop talking”. She doesn’t yell, she doesn’t scream, she just calmly looks up and says “Daddy, stop talking”. At that moment I notice some long-haired hippy looking young boy (If I had to guess, maybe 6 years old) on a skateboard going by us. That can’t be the reason she told me to stop talking (I thought to myself). As soon as the young boy went past us, she looked up at me and in the sweetest little girl voice said “Ok, Daddy, what were you saying?” SHE IS FOUR YEARS OLD! WOW! If she’s already embarrassed by me, it’s going to be a long life for her! Haha.

You may have seen an article in the Post & Courier today titled: 4 wounded, 1 gravely, in barrage of gunfire. You will note the address of the shots (Seaside Lane). That road runs right behind the James Island baseball field (which is where I was last night with Jeremy for an American Legion baseball game). Having played 5 years on that field, hearing gunshots (or, for that matter, smelling burning flesh... don’t ask) coming from Seaside Lane does not faze me at all. But when the shots started last night it was all I could do to keep Jeremy from returning fire. The good news is West Ashley was playing Goose Creek last night, so there wasn’t even a pause in the game when the shots were being fired. It was brought to my attention that we did not hear police sirens after the shooting (which really wasn’t very far from us... probably closer to us than the pond from my previous story is to my house). Again, this did not shock me. My guess is they didn’t want to let the people with guns know that another “target” was in the area. Oh, before I forget, West Ashley lost 7-0... but at least they got a hit (which is more than they did the previous game they played).

Did you hear about the almost perfect game last night? The only runner to reach base got there because of an error by the first base umpire. Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers had his perfect game blown by (a very good) veteran umpire, Jim Joyce. Replays show the runner was out. Watching it in “real time” it looked like the ball was starting to come out of the pitchers glove (he was covering first), though it never came out. Here’s the thing, I’d love to rip the umpire but I just can’t. After he saw the replay (after the game) he knew he got it wrong. So, he went to the pitcher and apologized and said he got the call wrong. He even said in public that he was wrong and he was sorry. Umps don’t usually do that... so it’s hard for me to be mad at one who does. I thought that was real classy of him. Also classy, was the way Galarraga handled everything. He didn’t talk bad about Joyce (even though nobody would have blamed him)... instead he said that it was ok, nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. What a classy way to handle that situation... especially considering the odds are very much against him even coming close to throwing another perfect game. I think what I would do, is put him in the record books as having thrown a perfect game and I would put an asterisk by his name with a note explaining the situation. I know mistakes are part of the game and we can’t go back and “replay” every game, but this is a unique situation in my mind. And it’s not like other records aren’t able to be reviewed. Official scorers are able to go back during a game to change an error to a hit (or the other way around). And the umpire even said he messed it up. Everyone knows it was a perfect game. Time to make it official.

Ken Griffey, Jr. retired last night. I wish we would have had a chance to see him play his career injury free. He had one of the sweetest swings of any player I saw play. He was a guy who just looked like he was born to play baseball. So here’s to you, Ken Griffey, Jr. I hope you have a great retirement.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Happy June

We went to the zoo yesterday. It rained. Hard. I might have been the only one in our group that didn’t mind it too much. Why? Because when you’re outside in Columbia this time of year and you are my size, you are going to be soaking wet... either by rain or sweat. At least the rain cooled things off a little.

The bad news is I didn’t get to see any tigers. But we did get to see just about everything else (it didn’t rain too bad the whole time we were there... just most of the time).

The good news is we got to hang out with my old college roommates (Thomas and Jeremy) and their wives (Sarah and Rebecca). It was fun having everyone together again (something that hadn’t happened in a long time... since Thomas and Jeremy had a falling out over whose native country had a better soccer team [Thomas said England, Jeremy said Spain, I said “What the hell are we talking about soccer for? The World Cup isn’t until 2010... save that talk for the day before it starts like everyone else in this country is doing”]). Anyway, it was good to have everyone together and a good time was had by all.

When Susie is sitting on the floor, she looks like a gorilla. I’m trying to get a good picture to confirm this.

I know people have different tastes in music. I like what I feel is a pretty wide range of music genres, but I do like some more than others. I hear a lot of people say they don’t like Country Music. My theory is they just haven’t listened to the right songs. Really, how can anyone listen to Merle Haggard’s I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink or Brad Paisley’s I’m Gonna Miss Her and not like country music?

The Wife thinks that I make fun of her on here. Can you believe that? I say nothing but sweet things about her.

Speaking of The Wife, she went out with some friends one night last week (shooting guns... so maybe I should watch what I say on here...). I had both girls by myself. So I’m trying to take care of the girls while also trying to take care of myself (which is hard enough). Mary Ruth was done eating and I was almost done (very important... ALMOST done) when Susie started crying. So I got her out of her crib and brought her into the den so I could keep an eye on her while I was eating. I thought this probably wasn’t something The Wife would do, but as the Dad I could get away with it. I put Susie down so she could play with some toys, put in a DVD for Mary Ruth to watch (something from the 4th season of House, I think. Haha... just kidding. Maybe) and turned to go back to the table. There, standing on the table as still as a statue with his head about a foot from my plate was Maverick giving me a look that said “Are you going to finish this?” He might be the only dog in my house who could get away with a stunt like that.

Congrats to The Citadel Bulldogs baseball team on winning the Southern Conference Tournament this past weekend. I hope they make a run to the College World Series.

Good luck to the Stony Brook baseball team this Friday.