Merry Christmas!

 

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace". -Isaiah 9:6

To all of my family and friends Merry Christmas!

Thoughts Before Christmas

The older I get the more I hate cold weather.  And, where I live today it is freezing!  As I started writing this the temperature was seven degrees and the wind chill index was 14 below zero.  And to top this off it's snowing...sideways, because the wind is gusting over 30 miles per hour.  Did I tell you I hate winter?  Why can't one of the big drug companies, that keep selling their snake oil over the public airwaves, come up with a pill that helps to keep old people warm in the winter time? 

Speaking of drug companies, when will the US congress wake up and look out for their constituents and not multibillion dollar international corporations?  The only ones benefitting from the United States' inane drug laws are big pharma and the individual representatives and senators.  I observed a 95 year old family member have to dig into her life time savings and pull money out of investments to pay for a drug called Eliquis, because she had reached what Medicare calls the donut hole.  The company that makes this drug, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is reaping huge profits at the expense of retirees and those at risk for stroke.  And Bristol-Myers Squibb isn't the only one by any means.  Any time you see a drug advertised on TV to the masses it is not going to be cheap.  Wake up congress! 

And speaking of congress, it needs to stop sending money and military hardware to the Ukraine.  I understand the need to help, but let the European Union send more resources to the Ukraine.  I am willing to do my fair share but not continue to pay higher taxes to interfere in a war between two countries that were part of the old Soviet Union.  I watched liberal democrats on TV last night and it appears Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi would like to give away the store to the Ukrainian government. 

Finally, I have the TV news on in the background and a reporter on the local CBS station just said, and I kid you not, "It has been snowing and the roads are slick".  No kidding? 

That's all for now but stay tuned.  As I get older I get more opinionated and am willing to share those opinions with you whether you like them or not.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Day to you and your loved ones!

I am thankful for all that has been given to me.  I have been so richly blessed I sometimes take those gifts for granted. I cannot begin to express my thanks for the love shown to me by family and friends. I live in a nation where I am free to worship Almighty God as I wish without fear of reprisal from the government; a nation where I am free to come and go wherever I want and whenever I want.

I have a roof over my head and a warm comfortable bed to sleep in each night.  My home is filled with much more than I could have ever imagined. My safety is made possible by the sacrifices of others who put their lives on the line to protect me 24 hours a day. When I open the refrigerator there are way more food and beverages in it than I have ever done anything to deserve.  If I want for anything, I have been given the means to buy it by the jobs that were given to me during my working years.

For all of these blessings and all past blessings I say thank you Lord!

Game Six = 3:18

It's over and done for another year.  Thankfully.  One of the least entertaining World Series I can recall in the last 60 years came to a merciful conclusion last night in Houston.  For the record the Astros won the series four games to two.  The score last night was 5-2 obviously in favor of the Astros.

The game will not go down in history as memorable except for Houston beating a mediocre Philadelphia team and bringing the series to a close.  This game featured 17 strikeouts and seven walks.  Add to that five pitching changes and well, you get the idea.

According to those who think it's a big deal Jeremy Pena was named the series MVP.  And according to yours truly, Rhys Hoskins was the least valuable player of the Series.

The average time of game this year was 3 hours and 36 minutes.  (That includes game one which lasted ten innings, but that opening game also lasted an ungodly four hours and 34 minutes.)  Game one was the longest game of this year World Series and game three was the shortest coming in at three hours and eight minutes.

Both of my predictions prior to the start of the series were on the money.  I picked the Astros to win in five games (it took six) and I wrote the average time of game would be 3:35.  I missed that forecast by one minute.

Game Five = 3:57

Image owned by MLB

This game started just after seven p.m. and was so long it didn't end until after eleven where I live.  Three hours and 57 minutes is a very long time for a 3-2 game that was won by the Astros in Philadelphia.

The game featured lots of boredom as 24 batters struck out.  That's 44 percent of all of the outs recorded last night.  Chief of the strikeout artists was the Phillies Rhys Hoskins who whiffed four times in five at bats.  That shouldn't be too surprising as this Phillie has struck out 23 times in post season in just 69 plate appearances.  Hoskins also hurt his team in the eighth inning when he booted a ball that ended up giving the Astros a run that turned out to be the game winner.

Here is a look at the times of games for every ten years going back sixty years.

Game 5 - October 10, 1962 = 2:42     Yankees 5 - Giants 3

Game 5 - October 20, 1972 = 2:26     Reds 5 - Athletics 4

Game 5 - October 17, 1982 = 3:02     Brewers 6 - Cardinals 4

Game 5 - October 22, 1992 = 3:05     Braves 7 - Blue Jays 2

Game 5 - October 24, 2002 = 3:53     Giants 16 - Angels 4

In 2012 there was no game five as the Giants swept the Tigers in four games.

As you can see the trend is games have gotten longer and longer as pitching became more specialized, pitchers and hitters failed to stay on the mound or in the batter's box and umpires failed to call the strike zone as it is written.

For baseball more time at the ballpark does not mean improved quality.  If anything it drives the public to other forms of entertainment.  At the same time baseball's popularity has waned the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League have all seen huge increases in attendance and rising television ratings.  You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see where baseball is headed.

Game Four = 3:25

Image owned by MLB

The fourth game of the 2022 World Series lasted 185 minutes with the Astros shutting out the Phillies 5-0.  Four Houston pitchers led by Christian Javier held the Phillies hitless.  (The game was a no hitter, but to me a true no hitter is one pitcher throwing a complete game, not four guys joining together to keep the other team hitless for nine innings.)  It marked the first time a team had gone an entire World Series game without a hit since 1956, when the Yankees' Don Larsen pitched a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in game five.

As a comparison, that game in the 1956 series lasted two hours and six minutes.  This game lasted one hour and 19 minutes longer.  The Phillies also managed to strike out 14 times, while the Astros whiffed another eleven times.  That means 25 of the games 54 putouts (46%) had absolutely no action on the field except for the batter failing to make contact.

The reason for this is MLB's infatuation with the long ball.  Singles hitters don't get paid their worth, while hitters that strike out over 100 times a year and hit 30+ home runs are getting huge contracts.  MLB is trying to put butts in seats and believes fans would rather see home run derbies than games featuring pitching, speed and defense.  And a whole generation of fans has bought into that mentality.  That has led to more pitching specialists and more money being paid to big league pitchers.  With teams investing in pitchers arms they are more protective of those arms, thus the shortened pitching stints in a game for big league and to a certain extent minor league pitchers. The bottom line is, and it's been this way for a very long time, is the game is big, big business.  The fan can either take it or leave it.

Apparently, more fans are opting to leave it.  The latest ratings reveal that more than 300 thousand TV viewers chose not to watch game two this year compared to the second game of the 2021 World Series.  Why you ask.  The game has become so specialized at the big league level it's boring.  While MLB believes changing rules to implement a pitch clock will speed up the game next year, it must still deal with too many pitching changes and too many plate appearances where nothing happens.

Unless a strong commissioner comes along, who is given the power to make drastic changes, the game will continue to die a slow death.

Game Three = 3:08

Image owned by MLB

The third game of the World Series was completed last night with Philadelphia winning 7-0 in a boring lopsided affair.  The time of the game was three hours and eight minutes, which based on today's standard is not that long.  But in the long history of the game it is very long.  For example game three of the 1962 World Series between the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants was completed in two hours and six minutes before a crowd of more than 71 thousand at Yankee Stadium.  The Yankees won that game three to two.

Last night's game was marked by the same lack of activity as the first two games of this series.  In total there were 23 plate appearances where the ball was not put into play.  There were "only" six pitching changes this game which helped to speed it up slightly from the first two games.  Still, how dull is it to sit at the ballpark and watch pitchers warm up?  Very dull.  So much so I did not watch the game.

And while I'm ranting, Astro pitchers needs to drill a Phillie slugger in the back after the hitter stands at the plate and admires a home run they've just hit.  Philly you may be the National League champ in the Series, but you've proven yourself to be a bush league team.

GameTwo = 3:18

The Houston Astros bounced back to win game two of the 2022 World Series 5-2 over the Philadelphia Phillies in a game played at Minute Maid Park in Houston.  The game was completed in three hours and 18 minutes.  But, keep in mind Houston didn't bat in the ninth inning.

The game was seven minutes longer than Game Two of the 2021 series between the Astros and Atlanta Braves.  Last night's game was 52 minutes longer than game two of the 1972 World Series between the Oakland A's and Cincinnati Reds.  That game 50 years ago featured A's Hall of Fame pitcher Catfish Hunter outdueling the Reds Ross Grimsley 2-1 at old Riverfront Stadium.

Last night's contest featured 24 plate appearances in which the batter failed to put the ball in play.  There were 17 batters who whiffed and seven more that took a walk.  And to drag it out even more there were five pitching changes in a game that was never close.

Game One = 4:34

Image owned by MLB

The first game of the 2022 World Series is behind us.  Philadelphia came from behind to beat Houston 6-5 in ten innings.

The time of the game, in case you didn't look at the headline was four hours and 34 minutes.  Yes, 274 minutes long.  It started just after seven p.m. where I live and didn't end until after 11:30 p.m.  That means 12:30 a.m. along the east coast of the US.  I wonder how many kids fell asleep or had to go to bed before it ended.  MLB you really need to be cultivating those young fans because your future is not bright.

For the record there were 23 strikeouts and nine walks in the game.  That means there was no action on the field outside of the pitcher and catcher where fans watching at the field and on TV waited for the ball to be put into play.  And to add to the boredom there were eleven pitching changes when fans sat around waiting for the game to resume.  Your fans are asleep MLB, but even with next year's planned rules changes to speed up the game you are in trouble.  Wake up!

2022 World Series

Baseball's popularity at the major league level continues to wane due to the lack of action it provides to its patrons.  And the 2022 post-season is no different.  This year the rocket scientists that manage Major League Baseball expanded the playoffs to permit two more mediocre teams into the post season tournament.

That hasn't worked out very well for the suits in New York as a team that has no business playing this post season, the Philadelphia Phillies, is now in the World Series.  And the best team in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is home for the winter doing whatever millionaire baseball players do in the winter in Southern California.

I won't be watching any of the games from start to finish because I don't care to invest four hours in a game.  Then multiply that by up to seven depending on the number of games that are played.  No thanks.  I have a life and if Major League Baseball (MLB) really wanted me to watch, the games would start about 4 p.m. where I live in the central time zone.  But, baseball has to show them in primetime for the FOX TV network, which has literally millions of dollars wrapped up in rights payments to Major League Baseball.

If you want to know my take on this year's matchup you can read this post from earlier this evening.  I won't have much to say about the individual games outside of writing about them the same way I have the past couple of years.  I will be keeping track of the time of the games since they are extremely long and frequently become incredibly boring.  Based on the last two seasons my guess is the average length of game for this series will be about three hours and 35 minutes.  Time will tell.  Check back here after each game for an update.

Fearless World Series Prediction

As I finally get around to writing this, the 2022 World Series is underway in Houston with the Astros leading the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 in the fourth inning of Game One.

After seeing both teams play during the regular and post-season I can say with a fair amount of certainty Houston is superior in all aspects to Philadelphia.  The Phillies momentum has taken them as far as they will go this year..

Houston has the better pitching, hitting and defense.  Phillies bats have come alive in the post season but they haven't faced the likes of Verlander and the rest of the Houston pitching staff.  I don't have a dog in this fight and really don't care who wins.  But, for what it's worth my fearless prediction is the Astros in five games.

Congratulations Albert

Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals has just joined the 700 club.  700 HOME RUNS.  Pujols drove a 1-1 slider from Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Phil Bickford deep to left field at Dodger Stadium in the top of the fourth inning to reach the milestone homer.

Ironically, Pujols did it in Los Angeles where he had played the last 10 years of his career before signing with the Cardinals earlier this year.

Pujols is 4th all time on the home run leader list behind Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.  Bonds achieved his record during baseball's steroid era and many so called experts believe it to be tainted by steroid usage.

Earlier in the game, during the third inning, Pujols hit homer 699 off of Dodger starter Andrew Heaney into the left field pavillion.  It was measured at 434 feet.

Pujols is in the final season of his career with the Cardinals having announced earlier this year this would be his last.

Happy Labor Day 2022!

 

Today the United States of America recognizes the hard working men and women who have helped build this nation into what it is today.  Much of the credit for advancements and improvements in the lives of many Americans go to labor unions and guilds.

Health insurance, the 40 hour work week, paid vacations and most benefits from employers are the results of labor taking a stand against management.  In 2022 America it seems as if the divide between management and the rank and file worker is more divided than ever.  So, with that in mind thank labor for stopping some of the more inane proposals from ownership and top management.  Sure, there have been abuses from big labor, as well as management, but those have usually been corrected when rank and file union members have stood for what is right.

I hope wherever you are and whatever you are doing today you celebrate labor and have a happy, safe and blessed Labor Day!

Congratulations Dick Vermeil!

It was 22 years in the making but it finally happened.  Saint Louis Rams head coach Dick Vermeil was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame yesterday afternoon.  Vermeil coached the Rams to their only Super Bowl Championship in St. Louis in the fall of 1999 and won the big game in late January 2000.

Vermeil came to the Rams and had losing records in 1997 and 1998 winning just nine games over those two years.  But, then in 1999 a pre-season injury to starter Trent Green led to Kurt Warner taking the reins of a very talented team that came to be known as "The Greatest Show on Turf".

Under Vermeil's direction and tutelage that 1999 Rams team turned it around posting a 13-3 record.  It then beat the Vikings in the playoffs and the Buccaneers to win the NFC Championship.  On Sunday January 30, 2000 the St. Louis Rams became world champions beating the Tennessee Titans 23-17 in Super Bowl 34.  I remember watching the NFL's highlight film a few months later and Vermeils only audible reaction to the win was simply "Super Bowl Champions".

Vermeil won his gold jacket to the Hall of Fame by coaching 15 seasons in the NFL and winning 120 games.  He also took the Philadelphia Eagles to Super Bowl 15 in 1980 where the Eagles lost to the Oakland Raiders and John Madden 27-10.  Vermeil also coached the Kansas City Chiefs for five years taking them to the playoffs one time.  All together Vermeil's NFL teams appeared in the post season six times.

A total of eight men were elected to the Hall in Canton, Ohio.  In addition to Vermeil, Tony Boselli, Cliff Branch, Leroy Butler, Art McNally, Sam Mills, Richard Seymour, and Bryant Young were enshrined in a nationally broadcast ceremony.

Congratulations to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022!

Baseball HOF Class of 2022

Congratulations to the National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees for 2022.  Nine new members joined the hall this afternoon in ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York.

The newest members are:  Bud Fowler, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso, Tony Oliva, Buck O'Neil, and David Ortiz.  For a well written article and videos from the induction ceremony, check out this article by Anthony Castrovince written for MLB.com.

I was lucky enough to see four of them play or manage in person during their careers.

Gil Hodges - I did not see Hodges play in person because I was too young as he completed his playing career.  But, I saw him manage the "Miracle Mets" of 1969.  That team won the National League pennant and then went on to upset a highly favored Baltimore Oriole team in the World Series.  I can remember watching a St. Louis Cardinal - New York Mets doubleheader in July and not being impressed so much by Hodges managerial skills, but the amount of talent the Mets had on that team and pitching staff.   But, in looking back, I realize now that team was managed by a man who knew he had talent and managed those young players to an NL Championship over a highly regarded Chicago Cubs club that faded down the stretch in September.  One other thing about Hodges, he died way too  young of a heart attack.

Jim Kaat - I had the opportunity to watch Kaat play with the St. Louis Cardinals for four years at the end of his career and saw him at Busch Stadium II eight or nine times in 1982 when the Cardinals won the World Series.  Kaat was a pitcher at the end of his career.  He craftily changed speeds and locations to keep hitters off balance.  In that 1982 season Kaat was 5-3 with an ERA of 4.08.  In his four years with Cards Kaat was a work horse pitching in 176 games and over 290 innings.  Kaat pitched a total of 25 years and ended his career with 283 wins and a career ERA of 3.45.  His selection is long overdue.

Minnie Miñoso - I believe I saw Miñoso play for St. Louis in 1962.  (I was nine years old and my Dad took me to several games that year, but I can't say for certain it was before Miñoso got injured on May 11, when he collided head first into the concrete left field wall).  His season was cut short by the skull fracture and wrist fracture from trying to chase down that Duke Snider line drive.  He came back later in the season but  got hit in his left arm on August 19th by a pitch from the Mets Craig Anderson.  Two days later while playing left field he had to leave the game with a swollen arm.  X-rays revealed a broken forearm.  It was somewhat ironic that his career in St. Louis ended with being hit by a pitch.  Miñoso had led the American League in being hit-by-pitches for ten years as a member of the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians.  Miñoso had a career that started when he was 25 with the Indians and stretched over five decades.  Minnie played a game with the White Sox when he was 56 years old to be able to say he had played in those five decades.  He amassed a total of 2113 hits, 195 homers and 216 stolen bases leading the American League in that category three times.  To say Miñoso was fast during his prime, would be an understatement. He was selected to the Hall by the Old Timers committee.

David Ortiz - There's not much I can say about him that hasn't been written.  I saw him and the Boston Red Sox play in person against the Cardinals in Game Three of the 2013 WorldSeries.  The Redbirds won the game 5-4 on a bizarre play in the bottom of the ninth.  But, Ortiz was on base three of four times he came to the plate.  He had a single and two walks.  In that series he hit .688 with a 1.948 OPS.  It was a small sample but indicative of his whole career.  I was also at Fenway Park on September 9, 2015 while on vacation; Ortiz's second to last active season.  He came up in the third inning and hit a three run home run off of Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchinson.  But, what was more impressive was his show of strength in batting practice.  From my perch on top of the Green Monster, I watched him drive ball after ball into the outfield seats, including one that flew over our heads above the "Monster" and out of Fenway onto Lansdowne Street.  He was a very strong man and a very good baseball player.  He is deserving of his first ballot election.

Them Darn Squirrels

I have been growing tomato plants this season since early May. I have tended them faithfully, fertilizing, caging and watering them as needed.  They have put out many flowers and those blossoms have opened into fruit which has grown larger by the day.  I've dreamt about the taste of those tomatoes for about the last three weeks.

But, in the past few weeks, the temperatures where I live have soared into the 90s and 100s.  And that's when the trouble began.  Those ripening pieces of fruit have been under attack.

Apparently, the local squirrel community sent out a message saying the buffet in my backyard is open for their dining pleasure. Every single developing tomato from baseball size to pea size has vanished in the past week.  I've tried using rubber owls and snakes to deter them and that didn't faze them.  Several days ago I decided to put out mothballs around each of the plants.  It stopped the little bastards for a few days but tonight when I watered the plants I noticed each of the budding fruits was either eaten from or was gone completely.

I don't know what else to do.  So, if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them.  Just enter your reader comments and I'll read them.  The only other option, and it would be illegal to use where I live, is to get out my shotgun and let them have it.

Hypocrites

I've debated posting this for two weeks but I'll get to the point.

On June 24th, the United States Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion.

The hypocrisy lies in several women I know who are pro-choice, screaming about the court's decision and blaming conservative members of the High Court for the reversal.  Three of the conservative justices were appointed by former President Donald Trump.  The women I find to be hypocrites are the same ones who voted for Trump in 2016 and last year.  It doesn't make sense to me that they are now blaming the court and not Trump.  See what I mean by hypocrites?

Personally I have an opinion on the matter of Pro Choice vs. Right to Life, but being a man it doesn't matter.  It's women who are impacted.

 Happy 246th birthday to the United States of America! And more importantly thank you to all of the brave troops stationed around the world defending the American way of life. I realize we're not the most beloved of nations, but why is it when another country is in trouble or needs help, the US is always the first one it asks?

246 years old and going strong. God Bless the USA!

Happy Juneteenth

Happy Juneteenth Holiday!

Honestly, I did not support making it a federal holiday because we already have the M L King Holiday in January and Independence Day two weeks from now.

Still, it is something that was requested by the African American community, including many of my friends and it was a huge day when Lincoln emancipated the slaves in 1863.  The fact that a bunch of cracker morons already knew of the proclamation and didn't pass the news along to thousands of the people who were taking care of them and doing back breaking labor, is what is extremely hard to comprehend.

So, Happy Juneteenth to America for recognizing the day and the injustice by so many to thousands almost 160 years ago.

Happy Flag Day 2022

Today is Flag Day in the United States of America.  It is a chance for Americans to take pride in the nation's flag and a chance for everyone to display it prominently.  Long may she wave!

Happy Memorial Day - Part II

Happy Memorial Day from my holiday home away from home. Watching the world go by on a beautiful Spring afternoon from Main Street USA!

Happy Memorial Day 2022!

 Thank you to the courageous soldiers who have paid the ultimate price to keep the United States of America free. I also want to say thank you to the brave men and women of our armed forces who put their lives on the line each and every day to keep the rest of us safe. Happy Memorial Day!  May God bless the United States of America!

This was taken in the early evening of a warm summer evening in September 2016 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.  It is looking east towards the Washington Momument from near the John F. Kennedy burial site.

A New Season, But It's The Same Boring Game

Major League Baseball is back for the 2022 season with a number of rule changes and gimmicks designed to speed up play and add interest to what has become a dying business.

MLB's first weekend is in the books and the times are just as long as they have ever been despite gimmicks like electronic pitch signaling and larger bases.  This year also marks the use of the designated hitter in all National League games.  This is a change the league resisted for 45 years but finally at the will of MLB "experts" was added despite numerous NL team objections.

I have yet to watch a game in its entirety because I don't care to waste time watching batters wander in and out of the batter's box and pitchers waste time blowing on their hands, adjusting their hats and walking around the back of the pitcher's mound.

Until baseball forces these players to play instead of wasting the time of thousands at each game MLB will continue to lose fan support and that translates to lost revenue for both sides.

Make the pitchers throw the ball to the plate in 15 seconds when no one is on and 20 seconds when a base is occupied and it will speed up the process and the hitter will have to be ready too.  If not, then a strike will be called against them.  Unless, a stick is poking out of their eye, the batter will no longer be granted time out at will. 

Another way to keep things moving is for the home plate umpire to call the strike zone as it is written in the rule book;  from the knees to the letters.  Currently the strike zone is being called from the middle of the thigh to the waste.  Make the hitters swing instead of waiting for called balls.  Now, when the hitter gets ahead in the count he is looking to drive the pitch into the next time zone.  This fascination with long homeruns is being fueled by MLB.  You need look no farther than the daily highlights on the business' own application.  This obsession with home runs has become detrimental to the rest of the skills in baseball.  Stealing bases and "small ball" have become a lost art.

Until, Major League Baseball starts enforcing the rules, the games will grow longer and even more tedious.  It will deteriorate even further until it finally starts hurting both the players and owners economically.  As a former season ticket holder to a major league baseball team, I guarantee you I will not buy another ticket unless the game swings back to what it used to be.

Saint Peter's Rules on National Peacock Day

The feel good story of the 2022 NCAA Basketball Tournament continues Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.  Just a short time ago, the #15 seed Saint Peter's Peacocks knocked off the #3 seed Purdue Boilermakers 67-64 in a sweet sixteen game in Philadelphia.  Saint Peter's becomes the first #15 seed to ever reach the elite eight in the Men's tournament.

The Peacocks were led by Daryl Banks III with 14 points and Clarence Rupert with 11.  The Boilermakers top scorers were Trevion Williams with 16.

Saint Peter's is now 22-11 and will face 8 seed, basketball blueblood North Carolina late Sunday afternoon.  The Boilermakers end their season at 29-8.

Great Year Bengals!

Congratulations to the Cincinnati Bengals  on a tremendous 2021 football season.  They made it to the Super Bowl only to lose to a west coast team playing on its own home field.  Not exactly an equal playing field.  Cincinnati ended the year at 13-8 and could have won the NFL Championship game but the officials seemed hell bent on throwing flags against the Bengals in the last two minutes of the game.

I didn't watch the game except for the last seven minutes because I refuse to support a league that dumps all over fans and pockets billions of dollars each year while hiring felons to line the owner's pockets. In fact I didn't watch any games in their entirety all season long because I just don't care anymore.  It turns out there's much more to life than watching the national felons league on Sunday afternoons.  Fall is a beautiful time of the year with many outdoor events and activities to be shared with family and friends.

I'm glad the season is over and all of the hype from the media (ESPN to name names) is over for another six months.

Now, one can only hope the greedy players and owners in Major League Baseball will fight over a new collective bargaining agreement all season and we won't have to watch what is now the world's dullest sport.

Congratulations Big Papi!

In the event you missed it, David Ortiz has been elected as the newest member of baseball's Hall of Fame.  Ortiz was named on over 78% of the votes in his first time on the ballot.  75% was needed to win election into the hall.

"Big Papi" as he was known to Boston Red Sox fans and his teammates was a powerful player who slammed 541 career home runs, ranking him 17th in baseball history.  In addition to the 541 HRs, Ortiz ended his career with a .286 lifetime batting average along with 1768 RBI.  And during an era in which PEDs were used extensively, Ortiz was tested frequently and every time was clean.

I was fortunate to see him in person in mid September of 2015 at Fenway Park.  I was on vacation and took a tour of the park early in the afternoon prior to that night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.  During our time on the field I was within about 30 feet of Big Papi and he was enjoying life laughing and joking with his Red Sox teammates.

The tour ended with a trip to the top of the Green Monster in left field while the Sox took batting practice.  I was visiting with some Blue Jay fans when another fan yelled "heads up".  I looked up to see a baseball screaming about ten feet over our heads before departing Fenway and landing across Lansdowne Street.  I knew he was strong but that blast removed any doubt of how much power he really had.  He repeated this two more times while I looked on in awe.

I had a chance to buy tickets to the Jays - Red Sox game that night, but because of having to leave early the next morning and the length of American League games I decided against it.  I should have gone to the game.  That same evening Ortiz slammed a three run homer to deep left center field off of Jay's starter Drew Hutchinson.  I looked it up today and it was his then 32nd homer of the year.  He would go on to hit 37 that season even though he was in the twilight of his career and 39 years old.

Ortiz's WAR was 55.3 which was a little lower than some of his peers in the hall, and I really didn't think he would get elected in the first year he was eligible.  But, I am glad he is the Hall of Fame's newest member.  Congratulations David Ortiz!

How 'Bout Them Dawgs!!

Those words are hard to write for a Mizzou fan.  But, those words have never been more true.  Congratulations to the University of Georgia which won the NCAA Collegiate Football Playoffs on Monday night over the University of Alabama.  The Bulldogs camefrom behind in the fourth quarter to beat the Crimson Tide 33-18.

The score was not indicative of the game.  It was even until late in the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs intercepted a bad Alabama pass and ran it back 79 yards to seal the victory.

Georgia ended the season with a 14-1 record and avenged its only loss to 'Bama in the SEC conference championship game in December.  The team under coach KirbySmart then came back to beat Michigan in the national semifinals on New Year's Eve 34-11 and then won it on Monday night in Indianapolis with the victory over Alabama.  Alabama ended the season at 13-2, with its only previous loss coming at the hands of Texas A&M in early October.

I watched Georgia play my beloved Missouri Tigers the first week in November and Georgia dominated them 43-6.  It could have been worse.  Next fall the Bulldogs will come back to Columbia and while Mizzou will be much better, I am afraid it still won't be enough to knock off the champs.

This must have been a magical past three months for residents of the state of Georgia and the Atlanta area.  First the Braves won the World Series over Houston but now the 'Dawgs are national champions.  Congratulations to Kirby Smart, his coaching staff and the players.  How 'bout them Dawgs!

Happy New Year - 2022

 

I said it at the start of last year and I am going to say it again; may 2022 be a far site better than 2021.

The United States changed administrations in '21 but the country still struggled to get anything accomplished as there was very little change in cooperation between the parties.

The solution to this is term limits along with serious campaign finance reform.  I will write more on these topics when I have time.

Personally, it was a good year.  I was able to have a surgery that changed the way I see the world and I was able to vacation in the southeast United States.

Here's hoping you and yours have a verry blessed, healthy and prosperous 2022!