what day is it? saturday. good. it's light outside, it's warm, and i want to check the internet for news and my sites...i need to help others of my family get up so that we can leave the house by seven thirty...i wanted to be up by six, but it is now close to seven...
what a luxury to wake up this late...i usually have to get up at four, always dark, or maybe five thirty, which has been light lately but early and i have to get to work...things to do, even homework...
i am in school but it is my paid job...i go by a tight schedule most of the time...this weekend we are going to our temple and the kids have a special program...my wife will hang out with them as i do special ordinances for the ancestor of my hometeacher...lingo that is common to me but uncommon to most other human beings...
i looked at peegs.com to see goings on of the indiana hoosiers...terry hoeppner to be inducted into the college hall of fame...good for him and his wife and his family and his former players and schools...
i didn't think of the pittsburgh quarterback, but he is one of them...from university of miami...ohio...don't ride motor bikes without a helmet...i am afraid of motorcycles...and combatives (a form of Brazilian jujitzu)...my left shoulder still hurts...i hope it isn't serious, it does seem to be getting better...
i check the blogs and check mine...i think i did some comments...what time do the cubs and white sox play?
1:05 eastern standard time...i will be in the temple, after driving a ways...gas is too high but we have a mostly full tank...my wife didn't use up too much of the tank this week, thank goodness...
my little boy woke up without too much crying, that is good and unusual...he was sick this week and he went through a lot of diapers with diarrhea and vomiting...he drank a lot of fluids...it tired my wife out and me a bit but we ended up not taking him to the emergency room, good thing...
my two daughters are done with the school year and it is warm this summer...my wife took them to a cool pool yesterday, indoor...it was unusually hot yesterday, 95 at least, which is really hot for here...
i listened to about five innings of the cards versus the red sox on 1050 am...on the way home, air conditioning pumping...we saw lighting ahead of us to the south, and some smoke from some fires...
it is dry and hot, but not as hot as yesterday...we like air conditioning, and drive through restaurants where we buy lunch for seven and change, sixteen cents to be exact...
white sox lost to the impressive cubbies eleven to seven...they are now ahead of the streaky twins by just a few, who beat their opponent, come to find out...
i like baseball...i like it, love it when my internet works...
and this is just a small fraction of my streams and flow...
When it comes to sports, I have argued for a number of years that a mediocre utility player in the major leagues of baseball is a better athlete than the most elite of golfers.
I still maintain that point of view, to a degree.
Of course, elite golfers do something that thrills certain masses more than the mediocre back up in the major leagues.
But the point of this article is to draw attention to the stellar everymen and women of the world.
Some call them normal, or even boring or dull.
But they are the hard working, steady and constant engines that keep the world pumping. Moving. Thriving. Alive. Content.
And they sacrifice to do so.
They get up early in the morning and do their jobs. Some get up at odd hours to contribute their portion.
They are consummate and thorough.
They sometimes get hurt or uncomfortable in the workplace or areas of service, but they know how to compensate for deficiencies and they plug on.
They keep a steady pace, they are consistent and fair.
And they are even kind and generous, but always underlyingly disciplined and no fool.
Some louses think that they can take advantage of them, but under their cool exterior is the soul of a sage.
1. NFL Football is probably the biggest story right now (in the US).
I have connections to the Colts, for my Indiana background. I am tired of the Patriots. Indy for two? Green Bay would be a great story. If not Indy, I could go for a wounded Chargers squad, which has never won it. Seattle? It might be nice. NY? Ahhhhhh---no. Anybody else?
Me? I'm trying to lose a good 10 pounds of unneeded fat. Love handles. I've been working out, however. But the biggest story is work. Oh, things are moving along, I suppose. I'm holding my own.
2. College basketball is cool when IU is so stocked with talent. BYU was top 25 but has blown it to Boise State and Wake Forest. The conference games should let them go to the Dance come March.
Indiana should make the Final Four, and if not, I will be dispappointed. Is 30 wins possible? Lots of good times and good teams, UCLA and Memphis...Georgetown and UNC... What decade is this? 1980s?
I have to learn Arabic. Have you ever tried this?
3. NBA. Love it. Certain teams are excelling and the others are struggling for their identities. I like it when the Spurs lose, similar to seeing the Pats lose in football. Phoenix? LA? Boston? Detroit? Has a never won it team got a prayer? Orlando? New Orleans?
4. NASCAR and golf? Give me the Australian Open. Tennis is a better individual sport than those pasttimes...People really claim that baseball is boring? How can you really get excited by car racing and putt putt? Is that all that athletic?
5. The Beijing Olympics, 2008. China is a big story, always.
Most of these sports we do not identify a ton with. Running, swimming, diving, gymastics, wrestling. Sure, we need these athletic skills to survive evolutionarily as a race...
But it doesn't pay a lot here in the US, except for at the college level of scholarships...
But we SHOULD identify with these competitions. An instinctual thing.
I love the Olympics because it reminds me of our common humanity.
Don't be a cynic on those who reap financially benefits. Really. They are the best in the world, if they earn some coin, good for them.
More later...or soon.
Top world stories?
1. Dual state process of the Holy Land.
2. Iraqi developments of government and stability.
3. Pakistani democratic process.
4. US presidential primaries.
5. Oil prices, demand from China.
That is my opinion, Gunaquat lovers, what is yours?
[disclaimer: Originally, my font will not go bigger as I like to make it! No editing tools!]
Part of the reason that I like to write and blog is to get to know my own thoughts and feelings better, to clarify the way I think and believe, to get to know myself better.
Sound selfish? Maybe. Maybe not. Whatever.
It is good for me overall, of this I am sure.
Sometimes I can spend too much time on here, that is true. But as far as I am able to write out my angsts and issues, this is a healthy thing. And it all isn't sports, for sure.
I, of all bloggers, love to delve into non-sports topics (even though I think that everything eventually relates back to sports anyway. Eg. Mormonism? Steve Young is LDS. Great athlete. Went to BYU--the Mormon school. Didn't serve a mission. Why? Why not? Discuss...) and write about whatever tickles my fancy.
So here is a foray into my current state....Status...Condition. I truly care about social and world events. Wars. Murders. Economics. Elections. Migration. Employment. Population growth. Scientific innovations. Cultural events. International relations. Etc...I get interested in a lot of things. Religion, too, as I am an active member of my faith and I am constantly learning about others...
And I am conerned and alarmed by violence. I am asurvivor, at heart. Ironic that I am in the military now. An assassination and random killings across the globe (Palestine) raise my eyebrow and set me thinking, pondering...And sports is a nicer, perhaps healthier subject to brood on...
Endlessly fascinating. The "real' world. As is my interest in sports.
Now here is the rub: As far as my own constant care about the sports that I follow, I think it has a lot to do with how I formulate my wolrd view. I realized that perhaps this is whay, as a child, I was so taken by the knowledge of American Indians. I wanted a topic, a broad and deep topic, that I could learn well, and perhpas gain a sense of power or control of part of my brain, or my universe, or the greater known world that we all share.
Does that make sense? I think that we all either consciously or sub-consciously crave this. If this reminds anyone of a real theory or hypothosis, let me know. You know where.
1. The BYU football team ended their season on a lucky FG block against UCLA, and now with Hawaii have the longest winning streaks in the nation. Next fall, they have to beat a resurging Washington team plus take the Bruins back in Provo. And schedule another opponent after Nevada backed out, plus Utah State. And the Mountain West thing.
If they can find a good replacement or two for Sete Aulai, their stud center, their offense will be better than 2007. Their defense has more spots to reload, but they should be solid and perhaps even better.
So what am I saying? BYU might push the BCS envelope! And they were the reason for the collusion of the BCS powers due to their 1984 championship. Brigham Young likes to stir things up. Both the man and his namesake school.
2. The ball team of my alma mater on the Wasatch range lost to a feisty Boise State club on the road. Tough environment. With three losses, BYU will drop out of the top 25. No biggie. The Cougars will get 20 wins, enter the Big Dance and there prove if they are worth their salt. The question will be: how many MWC teams make it? Two? Three? Four? New Mexico looks good, as does a couple of others...Maybe San Diego State or Utah, or UNLV...
Oh, yes, two of those three Cougar losses were to UNC and Michigan State, and BYU played tough in both. Unlike Pitt to Dayton yesterday. And the Cougars still have Wake Forest to impress the nation on the schedule amoung the Mountain West...
[There. That is a little longer than my original postings. I forgot to mention more on the BYU football experience on offense, but that is good enough. They may be BCS worthy, that was my point...]
3. The IU football team plays Monday. Trying to get their fourth bowl win out of nine, all time. Hoosiers! Emotional story with Hoeppner having passed away last June. Indiana has talent, but has proven that they can get handled. We'll see.
4. The basketball team is deep and talented, and unproven. The Big 10 might be better than people had thought. Wisconsin and Michigan State are definite powers. We'll see how good IU and the conference are soon enough. Eric Gordon has made IU a real threat. But don't forget about newcomers Ellis and Crawford. Whew! My Hoosiers!
5. I love the NBA. I like looking at the box scores. I like watching the highlights. I love all the stories. Giricek for Korver? Wow. I will watch how they both do...I am an NBA geek. I need to see someone eliminate the Spurs. Nash? KG?
5a. Kind of college b-ball and football nerd, too... I look up where Florida Atlantic is located. Like, how close to the beach! Or if the majority of their players are from Florida or not...Or their bowl history...(Check that case!)
6. NFL. I'm on top of it. Anybody but the Pats. The Pack, the Bolts, or the Colts again. Anybody else would be fine, too. Not Brady.
7. What else? Oh yeah, baseball. Love it. The seeds are germinating, who cares who did chemicals...Should my all time favorite player Tim Raines have a higher batting average becasue he batted against steroid monters like Clemens?
Or did he juice? Who do I mean? Exactly. Love the game.
8. Golf. Not really. Occasionally a story grabs me.
9. Car racing? Nope. Well, ditto as above.
10. Tennis. I like the big tours, starting in Australia soon enough. I like certain players a lot. Great game. Lots of subplots... Go Rodd|ck! The consummate antihero underdog.
11. NHL? Not so much.
12. The Olympics. Yes! Nothing better to bring the wife to the TV for...All sports, even wrestling.
13. UFC. A little bit.
14. Boxing. I used to get pumped for at least one fight per year. Perhaps Pay per view has killed us off?
15. The endless blah blah of convictions and cheating....? Ehhh...It can be way out of context, too often. While OJ probably killed two people, dozens more were dying...By the hands of other non-athletes or former high school athletes, whatever...I like the bigger picture of crime, not crime through the "sports lense". If it brings about knowledge and human advancement, then I suppose it is all right...
And that is all for now. [There. Next day addition]
Clinch rogers out...
PS: Vote Tim Raines for Hall of Fame, and Pete Gammons was convinced that he is worthy...He got on base more than Tony Gwynn...
Perhaps my favorite "intellectual" pursuit is demographics and population studies.
I recently read a surprising article citing that the state of Utah added a record number of new residents last year, at the tune of 84,000 plus. That is a big number, especially for a state ranked at 34th in the nation. What makes it more noteworthy, perhaps, is that it is lining up to surpass an older or the more traditional state of Arkansas, and then would be in reach of passing up Mississippi, Kansas and not much longer after Iowa at about 3 million inhabitants.
Sports ramifications? I will get to that, too, hopefully.
I was aware of the dynamic growth of the Beehive State when I moved there in January of 1993. Newspaper articles talked about 40,000 of us moving there for the first time that year, bringing the overall population ever closer to the vaunted two million mark, which eventually happened after a few more big growth years in the 1990s. Both job growth and natural increase account for the growth. Western states in general attract interstate migration, but Utah some critical factors that contribute to this phenomenon. Nevada is a boom place as well, and this post will mention that neighbor state a bit also.
I moved away from the Wasatch Front (accountable for 90% of the state population, an area immediately to the west of the Wasatch Mountains of central northern Utah, including greater Salt Lake and Provo and its environs to the south) in 1997. I have been curious as to the cumulative permanent growth of this unique place ever since.
Here is a stat line of the five states in question:
State July 2005 pop.1 July 2004 pop. Pop.rank, 2004 July 2003 pop. Pop.rank, 2003 Percent change, 1990–2000 Pop. per sq mi, 2000 2000 Pop. rank 2000, 1990
All right. For starters, this has everything to do with recruiting and money bases for future teams. I hope all the sports fans can see the relevance despite the pertinent "non-sports" stats.
So. Now the colors.
Light green. In July of 2005, the counts for the five states were Utah(34) at 2.47 million, Kansas(33) at 2.74, Arkansas(32) at 2.78, Mississippi(31) at 2.91 and Iowa(30) at 2.97 million.
At first glance the distance between Utah at 34 and Iowa at 30 seems to be a half million people, which is true.
But the surprising or dynamic part of this count is that that was the middle of 2005. July of 2007, apparently the best time to get a sample population count, (now that I think about it, that is the way demographers like to do it), Utah has added enough in the two years since '05 to be up to 2.7 million! Fast closing in on lesser growing states such as Kansas and Arkansas.
Both of these states have proud athletic traditions in basketball and football. Could Utah start to be a bigger draw for both recruiters and eventual signees? And attendance?
By 2010 will Utah be bigger than Iowa and Mississippi?
I think it will. Current Division I schools in Utah in football: U of Utah, Utah State and Brigham Young. Watch out for UVU---the Utah Valley University based out of Orem coming along soon enough.
Kansas only has two: KU and KSU. Arkansas likewise. Iowa, too. Mississipi has three. Future expansion seems to favor the state of Utah, unless someone out there knows different.
See another part to this story, Population Matters Part II...
I will be be freed up from my duties in a few years, so maybe I could schedule it as follows...
September to December in the odd years, live in Bloomington, Indiana, my home town.
Sundays would be dedicated to family and church, and a few drives into the countryside, perhaps saving a soul here or there, or at least proclaiming some of the gospel of happiness to a few fellow Hoosiers. With my family and friends, normally.
Mondays: Reading and writing and research. Evenings dedicated to family home evenings, the NFL GOTW or any other pressing matter...
Tuesdays: A good religion institute class in the morning, surrounded by reading and blogging, followed by an early dinner and some evening hoops...Baseball races or basketball games at night, as appropos...
Wednesdays: IU related classes on the subjects of my fancy: History and languages, demography and regional studies would be the most interesting...Although you never know, there are a hundred other subjects out there...
Thursdays: A combination of the first three days, plus perhaps a few helicopter/plane trips to accessible cities and regions...Possibly carrying overnight through until the next day, or possibly Saturday when IU plays away games...
Fridays: Follow up on research, writing for the week. Date night with wife and alternate trips to the temple in Louisville, Saint Louis, Chicago, or whatever is most convenient.
Movie? Yes, when attractive, early in the day or later...Some kid shows with my children...And tennis or other games with them.
Saturdays: IU home games, and many away games. Watch other college games around the country, especially Brigham Young...Catch and shooting hoops with the kids. Early morning b-ball sessions, too...Regular reading and possible blogging/writing fores...
January: Travel about the world, primarily to southern hemisphere locals. Apart from the last two continents that I have a goal to visit, there are at least 100 nations suitable to visit in the month of January, right?
If I did that for 10 Januaries straight, I might end up seeing a few things...
February-April: Working at some college somewhere, doing and learning a lot of good and cool things. Could be domestic or abroad, but I would always have total access to college basketball and the NBA.
April-August: Spending time in the northern hemisphere, working for my church in various capacities...Spreading good will, bridging cultures and communities.
And spending a lot of good time with my family, at their various ages.
While going to all these places, I would like to attend my church temples as they are presently numbered well over a hundred worldwide.
It would also be fun/fulfilling to visit many campuses and other sites of interest across the nation and globe.
On even years, I would'nt mind spending the falls in Utah, California, or Virginia....
And more or less follow the aforementioned schedule of the Bloomington itinerary...
Would I get sick of all the traveling? Would my family?
I don't know.
But dreams can come true, right?
?Quien sabe?
And IU would win a few NCAA championships in hoops, and a couple Rose Bowls for good measure, and BYU would do the reverse with ther football and basketball programs...
Life would be something, at least for me and a few people I know...
I heard the classic pop tune "1999" by Prince today on the way home from work. Right now (late Friday night) I recall the 70s sci-fi series "Space 1999". I always thought the theme music was cool.
But I wanted to go back a hundred years.
To 1899. The last year before this last century, the one that made me and most of the rest of us.
This was the advent of the "modern" era, no? The late 19th century thinkers and innovators had heaped up their influences and ramifications upon the world; placed on the shoulders of the other revolutionary Enlightened and modernizing minds and developers of the human strain, Darwin, Marx and Freud were running rampant through out the circles of the continents, from lecture halls to libraries, spread by the printed papers and other periodicals of the day.
Spain had fallen as an empire to the great United States. Japan and Russia were expanding through ocean and inland, at the expense of their neighbors, while Germany and Italy figured out that they were unifiable. Foreshadowing noted.
France and Britain were trying to hold on to what they had been, while the Ottomans were desperate in the same.
Holland and Belgium had their places internationally, as well as Portugal.
And baseball was collecting scheme in the United States while we created a national hero at San Juan Hill in tropical Cuba, a near-distant land not far from a place called the Keys.
The US was expanding, mostly in oceanic vastness, not only the traditionally European Caribbean and the Atlantic, but also across the gigantic Pacific, rubbing shoulders with the aforementioned powers. Siberia and Honshu, Moscow and Tokyo, were our new transworld competitors. And this theme would play out for the decades to come in our ever so modern world, to the tune of millions of bereaved families, at home and abroad.
But we baseball. A man named Ty Cobb showed how a tough guy like Teddy Roosevelt could capture the imagine on a diamond with "base paths".
Sports modernized and quantified, as did the world.
When did radios become universal?
When did Americans truly tune in to those original 16 teams, from the Northeast (Boston had two) to fa off Saint Louis?
My grandparents were born in 1896.
My mom's folks grew up around Boston, Mass. I always thought of my red headed Grandpa McWilliams as a Red Sox fan. Maybe he like the Braves better? Perhaps both. Why not?
He collected the cigarrette baseball cards (circa 1910-25), worth a small fortune today. Those have belonged to my Uncle Bill. Cape Cod man.
My dad's folks grew up around Boston, too, and I have no idea what they may have thought about the baseball thing. I would like to know when they got their radios, at least. My father was adopted by his grandparents, and they were both born in the early 1890s.
They could tell you a few stories about 1899. Maybe even about baseball.
I believe in heaven, and I believe in eternal familes. This is a Latter-day Saint belief that we as families will be together again someday. With God. Because of Christ.
And to me, I think there is going to nbe some baseball involved.
I remember my mom's dad, senile and wrinkled, blaring the Sox games on the "new" color TV in the 1970s. Reception was better with bigger antennas...You could go out on your roof and arrange it better. That and rabbit ears.
Those darn static lines!
And now we have these little satellites, after two decades of giant parabolic dishes....
Dish it out, Direct TV. Will you be my service this fall football season?
But I digress: 1899.
Radio was new. Electricity. Edison would light up New York City with his 99% perspiration.
Did this attract the great players? Light?
Night games?
Money? Hubbub?
Immigrants packed into poor neighborhoods, dreaming of the American dreamy Polo Grounds?
What was 1899?
How much of it was baseball ? Basketball and football were just in diapers.
Did more Americans care about boxing?
Who had ever heard about karate? Yoga? Tai chi?
Opium dens of China were a hiss and byword, and the University of Berlin was gearing up an academic/scientific basis for a "Master Plan". Scary.
What terror our 20th century would bring.
By "Saving Private Ryan", we ushered in "Dr. Strangelove" and "Apocalypse Now".
Us baseball playing, home-run-swatting, beer-swilliing, hot dog-eating, apple pie-loving Yankees...
And 16 teams grew as a known commodity and steady source of sanity on the air waves, a frequency known as AM.
And then we got Alexander Graham Bell.
Somehow I think he did more for the Internet than Al Gore ever did.
But history will decide. Or maybe God. Then again, in God's plan of plans, maybe all that type of manly praise makes no difference.
Who knows? Not me.
And 1899 is just a year linking us from there to here.
Thanks, 1899. You got me thinking.
And maybe IU have to read a few more books, at least about baseball, and at least pay more attention to those shows out there, like Ken Burn's "Baseball."
1899. A year like any other.
Right?
Maybe so. Cobb was a nobody then. As was a guy named Cy Young.
I like (am obsessed with) the big US sports of football, basketball and baseball. And I love how they expand globally. I am fascinated by World Cup soccer, Olympics and certain tennis matches.
Oh, yeah, and I will talk your ear off when it comes to religion, politics, right, wrong, demography, history and truth.
Blog on and blog it.
Uh, also I have a Foxsports blog called papaclinch'si t and that was the original, and this was created as a mistake and then a parallel world for more spiritual topics on occasion. More BYU here, more IU over there...
Make sense? I love both schools with an odd type of crazed loyalty... Hard to explain. Thus the blogging.
Keeps me out of trouble, maybe?
