Mizzou Wins the Music City Bowl!

My beloved Missouri Tigers football team always figures out a way to finish the job. Today they came from behind to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Nashville Music City Bowl 27-24. Iowa and Mizzou were evenly matched teams, each missing a strong offensive weapon. If they played each other ten times my guess is they would both win five.

Congratulations to Coach Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers for another fun season! For the second year in a row the Tigers have secured ten wins. I am so proud of this Tiger team! M-I-Z!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. -Luke 2:1 - 14.

I hope you and your loved ones have a very merry and blessed Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I thank the Lord God Almighty for so much on this Thanksgiving Day! I am more richly blessed than I ever deserved and have so many blessings and gifts I cannot begin to count all of them.

This year I have much, much more reason to be thankful. I am so thankful for the new kidney I received in May and the second chance at life it has given me. It's been six and a half months and all restrictions have been lifted. I am doing everything I want and the organ is doing its job very well. I give thanks to God for this gift! I also give thanks to God for my family, friends, nurses, doctors, surgeons, therapists and support staff. With all of their help my recovery has been easy!

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all my Facebook family and friends. May God bless each of you richly!

The Campaign is Finally Over

Thank God the 2024 US Presidential election is over after months of name calling, idiocy and outright stupidity expressed by both Democrats and Republicans. Donald Trump defeated Kamela Harris 312 to 226 votes in the electoral college, which is the antiquated system used to pick presidents in the United States.

The Republicans, it appears will control both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.  This combined with Trump being in the White House gives that party a trifecta in the legislative and executive branches of the US federal government.  This is the same situation as Trump had when he was elected to his first presidency in 2017.

Thanksgiving takes place in the US later this month on the 28th.  I am already thankful that this election is over.

World Series Game Five = 3:42 Boredom Factor = 33

The Los Angeles Dodgers wrapped up the 2024 World Series coming from behind twice to beat the New York Yankees 7-6.  The Yankees were up 5-0 before the Dodgers clawed back to score five of their own in the fifth inning to tie it. The Yanks went back up in the 6th inning with a run before the Dodgers scored two more in the top of the eighth.  Blake Treinen and Walker Buehler then combined to close out New York and win Game 5 and the World Series.

This was the longest game of the series clocking in at 3:42.  It was an exciting game, but still three hours and 42 minutes for a nine inning game?  MLB needs to go back to the drawing board and tighten up the rules in place to speed up play.

The Boredom Factor is a combined total of 18 strikeouts and 16 walks as well as a hit batsman.  But, the biggest time waster was all of the pitching changes. The Dodgers changed hurlers seven times and the Yankees made four changes. I realize numerous pitching changes have become a part of today's game, but it is also killing the game. MLB "leadership", if there really is any, needs to figure out how to tighten up the game even more. I could write at length about this and will when I have more time.

Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers was selected by writers and broadcasters as the World Series MVP. He homered four times and drove in 13.  The only other player who I would have considered for the MVP is Mookie Betts who drove in 16 runs while batting .290

I mentioned Aaron Judge in the post prior to this one.  For the record, he ended up climbing over the Mendoza line, hitting .184 for the series. He was 2 for 3, with a double and a home run.