Playoffs?

I was watching the NHL All-Star game yesterday and they discussed during the broadcast, that the NHL was considering having the Stanley Cup home-ice determined by the winning conference of the All-Star game. It's no that I don't understand the need to make the All-Star game more valuable, but... Major League baseball has the same in place already. STOOOOPID! Why should an exhibition between players that would not normally even make it to the World Series or Stanley Cup have to do with where the game is played? Why in the world would you give a team an advantage half a season before the event is played? Granted you' get all the best players together, they need to have motivation to win such a game and not let it be just a romp or farce. How about this, the winners gets paid more. Didn't they already do this? How about Professional Pride, or is that gone from the athlete's of today. Love of the game has been replaced by the ever weakening dollar bill. 10 million dollars for one season of baseball is becoming common place. All-Star games are a showcase of the best of the best, usually. sometimes they add a player fro a team that is not represented. How can such an advantage in championship series be allowed to be even considered? Let's take the Milwaukee Brewer's for example, they put 2-3 players in the All-Star game, they play well and help decide the outcome and the National League wins the classic game. These players do not even make the playoffs, annually! So the team from the AL has to go to the NL series and they may have earned the best record in baseball! Why, ... how, should this be? What if the NL team was barely over .500 in winning percentage, but made it to the Series, why should they have home field advantage over a season of dominance by an AL team? I think this should be reconsidered and dropped as a motivational instrument for players in All-Star games! Make the All-Star game a show, pay the winners more than the losers, make it a circus, so we can see their talents, but do not make it a determining factor in how major athletic championships can be influenced!

Money Matters

Before the Baseball season begins, we again see the Yankees spending un-Godly amounts of cash on star players. What they continue to fail at in their business is that it takes more than money to buy a championship team. Look at the teams in this past years series, Philadelphia and yes, Tampa Bay! Tampa is the greatest example that team chemistry and pitching are the most essential parts of winning teams. Did they realize by signing Tiexiera, that he and A-Rod did not get along swimmingly in Texas? I'm not bitching because the Sox didn't get him, but the pitchers they acquired suck against the Red Sox too! If I were them, I would've gotten Peavey, Sabbathia and a couple of dependable pitchers. They also need catching help. The Red Sox on the other hand seem to have gotten the right idea that it is the parts that make the whole. It's a necessity to make it gel! Oh, how is the free agency market Manny? He has no one to blame but himself. He has been the most consistent productive batter in the past 2 decades, and he can't find anyone to give him what he is worth. It is because you are not mature! You cut-off throws from the outfield to the infield, you lay on balls that you should have caught. Who the %^$#$^#!^ does that? No one that is considered the best all around player. who else has been a part of a successful franchise and then push it aside for money you already have. We could have used him in the playoffs for his offense. I predict that the end of his career, he will be a DH, which is the only place Barry Bonds could end up, if at all. I love baseball, the longevity, grace, athleticism are drawing points. Family, hot dogs, afternoon games are Americana at it's best.

Beauty and the Beast

As I continue through this journey of life, I believe that natural beauty is such a precious thing. To support this I will define what natural beauty is to me. When I see a child laugh no matter how physically/visually appealing or not, but showing/expressing their heart and happiness as a purity is such beauty. Hearing the melody and words in a flow of music that never wanes or sours. The last time you heard it is as good as the first time it struck you. Seeing a woman, without make-up, in a sweatshirt, still looking beautiful in every chance she is viewed without trying and with a smile, is totally time freezing for me. Seeing a beautiful flower garden or a vegetable garden that is thoroughly green, from sprout to fruit. Seeing the sunrise/set on a wave or a calm lake is perfection. Seeing a dark night sky lit by millions of stars, so clear that you see both shooting and falling stars, add in the milky way and there isn't much in nature that out-does that. And finally feeling loved, knowing you screwed up but are still appreciated and cared for. My generalization of what I think others believe natural beauty is all in the sight, but I think it is much deeper. In my constant search for truth and definition, I believe God's part in this is suttle. His hand, eye, ear, senses and love shine in the simplest, undemanding circumstances. I am more and more thankful for each day given and treasure life more everyday. blessings to you my friends and take the time this minute, hour, day week, etc... to spot the things that are naturally beautiful in your life. We rarely take the time to identify them, but when you do such introspection, you too will find Grace and Peace. You may realize that you have more blessings than you ever imagined! Love, Mike
Oh yeah the beast reference is me, if you hadn't figured it out. ;)

Poli-Tricks

I have always tried to keep up with politics, and the more I do the less I like it and hold destain for it. Being an election year, I believe in exerting one's right to vote for whomever they feel is the best choice. I feel patriotic in that I believe in America, it's ideals, it's history and sacrifices, but the system bites! So many interest groups, money being necessary for a limited few to run, and selecting what each major party decides is not necessarily in my best interest. I'll point to one special interest group with money = oil. Personally I believe their record profits are being made so that when oil resources are used up, they will own the next best thing. With this group the idea is that 30 billion dollar PROFIT in 2006, could only be because of supply and demand. Well who controls that? I need it to get to and from work, kid's stuff, shopping and occasional leisure trips. I use the car less and less because it has gone up so fast. Politics helps decide what is allowed and what gets hammered, like when they finally decided that tobacco companies were finished. War fuels money and demand also. What I propose is this: (Being an idealist) We should no longer have primaries, whoever wants to run gets an allotted amount of money to spend on promoting what they will do for the public. Voters would get the information they need to make choices, and they should demand it by voting their preferences. No party system allowed. I want this to be real, really for it's intention; serving the public! I want the electoral college to be a second option if an exact tie has occurred, which will probably never happen since we have millions of people. Give me the written plan you will use in office, and if you stray from it, you would be held accountable. I know shit happens, but don't cause it. I would like to see that incumbents get a review, much like teachers as far as evaluation tools to be included in their information. Lists of what they voted for, why and their tax records be public. They serve us right? If a voted in official is found taking any money, they will be thrown out. If we were to simplify political roles, they themselves would be more invested into doing a better and complete job for the people. Is this too far fetched? Maybe, if I ran for office, I'd be shot, or I know that someone would lie and try to screw with my life! Is that really how we want things to be? But we allow it, we sit back, status quo is fine, that is if it isn't screwing me often. I've even seen these kind of improprieties in the church system, and I believe it has pulled people away from where we should be running to. Systems and their courts have been so abused and loop holed to the point that middle America is dissolving while we speak. The history of man has shown that when you have countries, establishments where there end up with those that have and have not, end in rebellion. This totally reminds me of how the U.S. started. whether we were thrown out of other countries, dragged here, so poor this offered the only solution, we sought freedom, chance for financial growth, and open choice of religion. How many rights have we given up over the last 10-15 years? Politics, religion and economy are areas I believe we need reformed. As our forefathers agreed in our first Constitution if it ain't working rebuild it and start again. Does that mean we wait until their is rebellion? Can somebody tell me why we now have to buy our water? When we were a kid we joked about it. I understand to get it from one place to another costs moolah, but I buy it by the case, because my tap sucks! We continue to acquiesce. I guess I'm not happy with how things are going. I feel in less control of things. I feel others are profiting at the majorities expense. Why is it those that have get away with giving less than they should, because they can buy their way out? Is that even cheaper? Probably or they wouldn't do it. When I drive around my city I have seen social change. Areas that used to be prime are now middle class or less, all the new homes are on the outskirts of town and house those that have. White flight is rampant in many cities. Give me a simpler time when people's word meant something and people held back saying what they thought, respect meant respectful to others first. "The times they are a changing!" I'll write some happier thoughts next. I will try not to repeat myself through these rants. I really do have a lot of the same feelings that happened in the sixties and early seventies, why is that?

What I don't know

Most of the time, when people write blogs they tell you what they know, so I believe it is a great place to start discussion. I'd like to share what I don't know.

"I do not know:
1. ... why people think believing in a God is a bad thing.
2. ... why people have to be selfish to get what they want.
3. ... why people hold on to anger, when it hurts themselves.
4. ... how others don't try to do good.
5. ... how come people don't simplify their lives.
6. ... why do we make life as difficult as we make it.
7. ... when is it okay to satisfied.
8. ... why are people not humble.
9. ... why does Christmas seem to be such a down time, when it should focus on love and selflessness.
10. ... why do we focus on material things, when eventually their value will be worthless.
11. ... who said gold has the most value in life? Do we eat it, breathe it, need it?
12. ... why people can't moderate themselves.
13. ... why women do what they do. I will probably never understand this one!
14. ...why people do not see the uniqueness, and beautiful things in every single one of us.
15. ... why I could go on forever listing things I don't know!

When I write blogs here, I hope you comment, and even start sensible discussions that are important to you! I love you and thank God you are a part of my life! Have a safe + Merry Christmas! Mike

I'm back and baseball is Whack!

Okay, It' has been over a year!? Much has happened, good and bad.
I would like to restart my blog by focusing on baseball and the use of enhancing drugs used in sports. First off, this concerns more than baseball. Every sport looks for an edge! That should be the root of all this, but oh ya... money too. I'll focus in on baseball this time because it is in the news forefront and should have been handled much earlier than now. Everyone, and I mean everyone knows the drugs have been and are still being used. The catch now will be to keep up with those that are undetectable through urine tests! We all have an honest idea as to who has used them, many of which were not included in the "puppets" report. There is no way we can go back 10 or more years to prove who did it, but let's stare at the records that stood for almost 90 or so years. The human body has a limit. Once we see super-human feats, I'm picturing Mark McGwire's All-Star derby, home run tape measure homers, multiple 500 foot jobs. Fun to watch but not fair to those who earned there way HUMANLY. Within a five year period 40 home runs a year would not win the home run title. Why? Duh! Not only did they hit 50 or more, they made 61 homers seem like a whitehead on the face of baseball, eventually a pock mark. Henry Aaron achieved a feat over a career of consistency, not in a 6-8 year period of over 45 homers. I cannot comment on Babe Ruth, because, 1 he is a Yankee, and 2 I never saw him play. Take everything we know today, right now, we will not be able to prove Clemen's got it in the ass, by needle I'm guessing, ;) but look how his career got better and did not include his neck being as big as his melon. Nolan Ryan is a good comparison. He got better, because he was on better teams, he worked out like Clemens, but his physical dimensions stayed nearly the same. He also had the balls to fight, whereas Clemens would rather throw a bat at you. Barry Bonds wears big clothes for a reason, to disguise his thickness, compare pictures of him when he came to S.F.! I eat a lot and it doesn't work that well for me! ;) I do understand why they have taken enhancements, our whole country now is focused on such external issues, how things look, how to prolong careers and hard-ons, bigger breasts and peni, better looks and less fat. Shit people are dying while doing this! (e.g. Kanye West's 40 year old mom). Look at the pre-cursors in Football, Lyle Alzado and John Matuzak. All made it their choice and paid, and now we see on the news that high schoolers are using it to be better and paying the ultimate price. How %^!#$ is that! Let's say it's for money. What good is that if you are dead and can't use it? Baseball selected it's own man to explore the history, use and abuse of drugs in it's sport. Get independent parties to research this, and there are no reprecussions of "He's your boy! He's a Red Sox guy and there are no Red Sox on there! Look at all the Yankees!" What happened was a 1.8 million download of a document that is almost worthless! How will they prove this? By the time they come up with a drug to find a drug, there will be a new one! The player's Union will not allow people's names to be "Drug" under public spotlight without retribution! What should morally happen next is for people to admit it if they did it, get this crap over! Because it happened before a rule or law was in place they should be exonerated. Those that did this AFTER the laws and rules are in place should be punished accordingly. Personally I think so many ball players have done this that we should just plan for the future of outlawing any, ANY enhancements. I believe if HGH is used for a temporary time to help speed up rehabilitation than that is acceptable, but put a time limit on it! The Report names names, well they better be able to prove it! If people just admitted it we could move on, again re-start MLB to what it could be, a game you can take the family too, a game of precious stats and history of humans doing inhuman things, without help! If I were in the player's union, and supposedly the majority have not taken enhancers, I would want these mother pluckers to be dealt with not protected! If my union thought more of those that cheated, I would want new representation. A level playing field is more than a flat surface! As a kid I revelled in baseball cards, stats, who was doing those in-human things, hitting .400, belting 48 homers and driving in 125 runs, and in less games. I liked the rivalry, the atmosphere, workday games, great defensive plays and timely hits, fooling a batter with an unexpected pitch. Baseball has a catch to it that other sports lack. Football has it's physical play, basketball it's finesse, hockey it's skill, and beach volleyball has flesh! Everything in it's place and baseball, even though there are so many people attending, (don't forget that those numbers are surrounded by the increase in population) Father's have to explain these things to their children. My son wants to be a professional baseball player, and what has he seen in his 11 years of life, travesty, cheating, immoral and general dishonesty to get the cash. He loves playing, loves the games nuances, the art, I want it to be that way for him the rest of his life. Now when we watch games, we have to discuss whether we think they are"on it" or not. For baseball to start anew, they should flush this poison, which I believe they handle terribly, from today's news.

Do it right Damn it! My next tyrannical blog will deal with the f-ing cheaters -the refs!

Ghosts of CHRISTmas Past

As I remember Christmas, I only remember the joys of sitting between a decorated, tinseled, pine scented real tree and a cardboard fireplace. The fireplace had a hearth of cardboard logs with a cellophane backing, and behind that sat a lit bulb, with a spinning windmill-like piece of metal on top. I would blow towards it and make the fire roar! We had red candles on top and Christmas cards, and we would tape our empty stockings on it too. It was duct taped to the door so that it wouldn't fall over, and the door was lined with masking tape (not very effective) to keep the cold out. I would set for hours in the chair next to the tree and just stare, stare at the lights and the shiny bulbs, and dream, dream of new toys and laughter. At night before I fell asleep, I would look outside to see if I could see that star the Christmas star. I could never just fall asleep, I wanted to see the man, the sleigh, the flying reindeer. I'd fall asleep eventually, but I'd be back up by 4 AM to wake up Mom. She'd be pissed and I would have to go back to bed and zombie out. Can I at least open my stocking? Can I open 1 present from my stocking? Can I eat a chocolate? Have an orange?

Nowadays, I don't have the same excitement and the magic, but I see it in my children's eyes and it brings me back. I still have a couple of decorations from those old days. Like the elves (see picture) that used to be on bottles of Joy dishwashing liquid, and my albino Rudolph doll. This year is the first one that I had to get rid of the ornaments that were on the old trees from Mom. They were beaten and scarred, but they were a part of me.

They looked like these -->

The presents I remembered most were usually one's I didn't have for very long, or wasn't allowed to play with. My mom had this thing about noisy toys, toys that needed batteries and toys used outside. They were for rainy days, or when we had batteries or could only use them in the yard. One year I got an electric dashboard. It had a winshield wiper, a horn, a key that would turn the engine over, a coin tray and turn indicators. It was yellow and had a plastic glass windshield. I could never play with it, because I had to use the horn and it took batteries, 2 strikes right there! And the batteries I'd get would have to last me until they leaked!

Another year I got a pedal go-cart that looked

like this ----->

I was only allowed to use it in the backyard. Well in Massachusetts, if you got an outside toy for Christmas, it would be late March or April, before you had a lawn! Then I had to pedal ot in the fricking grass!!!!! Not on the road, where we had three cars go by a day! not on a road that had a great hill! Not on a road that had a storage facility that had bumps at each garage level! I could have been Evel Knievel!!!! Damn!

When my brother came home from the War (Vietnam), it seemed like our Christmases got better! My sister Bernie bought us a crap load of stuff the year before, but it felt better that Joe was home! Well he got me this race car set. I guess on Christmas Eve he wanted to make sure that it worked, so he set it up and played with it. When I got it on Christmas I was elated! so after watching all the presents get opened up, i got a chance to put the booger together and the ^^%^^$%@^#&^#*^*# didn't work. It would only go in reverse! He broke my toy!

It looked like this, but went backward! ------->

I wonder what my children will remember.? I wonder what they connect with. This year my youngest is finding the truth about the fat man and I'm sure it is upsetting. I remember how I felt. It was like a loss. The magic was gone, just like that! I wanted to believe a fat guy could pop out of any home opening! What traditions will they carry. One day will they throw out my ornaments? Yes they will. It is a part of the progression of life. When our parents are gone, we either carry on or start new traditions. The ghosts of Christmas past live on inside us, carry us forward, remind us of the love and happiness we shared. With God giving us his most cherished possession, his son, he has shown us what really matters, love. Love for each other, family and ourselves. The gift of life we share is priceless. The memories that linger will never happen again, so their value is increased! May the love you have burst through this Christmas season. Go out of your way to open up the doors to your heart and remove them so that love can flow through! Step outside your shell and give, you reap two-fold for all you do! God Bless you and have a safe and joyful holiday! Love, Mike

Growing Older but not Up!

As time has been going by faster and faster, it is hard to say how much I've really matured. There are many things I'm constantly working on: Finishing my Master's program with an A+ average, cleaning my house slowly but surely, taking better care of my money and getting to even and decreasing my cursing. As I listed those, I unintentionally listed them by how I'm succeeding. Getting older has never interested me. I imagined by 47 I'd be working on one Master's (done that, onto #2), have my children succeeding in school (2 in college, 1 in gifted classes, 1 an A student and a jock), married (O for 2), planning retirement (just starting, so OK there), owning a house (O for 2) and beginning to travel (almost there). As you can see great successes, great failures. I've always given myself a grade of B+ as an athlete, teacher, student, Dad and person. I give myself a C- as a husband and a C- in finances. I don't own much, but I don't owe much. So as I grow older, I still need to grow up. As I approach the magic 50, I have nothing to lose, no time to waste and although I've given credit to God, I don't lean on him enough, I try to show him I can do it alone. I need to be more appreciative by acting better. I love life, I love people, I have begun to appreciate my elders more and more. I can't help but see older women and think of my Mom. I look to tomorrow to try harder and do more. I hope whomever reads this, reflects and learns something to take with them. I love seeing goodness in others. I love nature more and seeing it less. So without pointing to a New Year's resolution already, I know what I have to do and I will do better. I will be better at those things I am weak in and I will remember that I can still have fun doing it. I have kind of had to learn that over again. Time is running and to take adavantage of it, I can only live it to it's fullest potential, if I approach it as such. Blessings for you and love, Mike

Jimmy get's his Doo.

(Photos courtesy of Buffettnews.com)

I've been a parrothead and Jimmy Buffett fan since I saw him in 1978 (see Oct. 14, 2005 blog). It has been said that an artist that lasts a long time, does his best work at the beginning and the end of his/her career. Well Jimmy is proving that again, with all his recent accolades. At almost 60 now, Jimmy has gone from driving a city of Mobile, Alabama work truck, with a clothes hanger keeping the hood from popping up, to being almost as rich as his namesake Uncle "Warren" (no relation to know of). What started this path, was up until 3 or 4 years ago, his 2 1/2 hits (Come Monday, Margaritaville + Cheeseburger in Paradise). Now he just looks crooked and it spits out millions of parrot caged lining dollars! Jimmy just recieived a new award, entering the Nashville Song Writer's Hall of Fame. He used to say something like this, "I've never won any awards for what I've written, but to be here with you (fans) is reward enough!" Well no more of that chum! (I meant in the literal fishfood sense)

He just put out an album "Take the Weather with You" (a great, mellow Crowded House song) and I think this is his best album since Off to See the Lizard! Yes, it is mellow, but that's my bag baby! I imagine listening to his song, Duke's on Sunday, watching 10 foot waves, and eating seafood on a rocky Hawaiian coast. Jimmy has another song, that brought back Sunday afternoons, listening to my Mama sing along with her old LP standards, Whoop De Doo, warms my ticker. So I suggest you all get on board, listen to it, and if you get the chance check out Jimmy's Havana Daydreamin' or A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean or Livin' and Dying in 3/4 Time! To me they are classic Buffett. If you want to know more, post me a note here and I'll direct you to the music that's carried me for about 30 years. Phins up!

Note to Jimmy: "We Went to Paris..... and had to turn around real quicklike!" RunRummer

Green for Red

(photo courtesy of nba.com)

This year I've had some memorable icons pass in my life. As a child from Upton, Massachusetts, I listened to and watched Boston Celtics games. The Celtics of course were successful way before I was born but I thought because they won all the time, that was the way it was supposed to be. Yesterday was another proofing that my expectations and reality are two different things. The mastermind of the Celtics dynasty passed at 89 years old. Arnold "Red" Auerbach was a New England icon. Red helped the Boston organization to a record 16 NBA titles. Whoa is me though, since my oldest son's birth, they haven't won any. 1986 was the last title, and the Celtics haven't been the same, or even close to a championship team, since then. As Red's influence will continue in the world of basketball, I can't help but feel that without Boston Garden, the leaky parquet floor, the baseline trappings, the lights going off during games, the fog during a basketball game, we've lost a lot as Celtic fans. Today I wear green in honor of the Red that demonstrated success, in a man that didn't care that Bill Russell was black, in a man that until recently had won more basketball games than any other coach, and in a man that puffed on a big, fat stogey and looked great doing it! We all long for success in our lives, Red was one of us who will carry that success for all time! Thanks RED!