R.I.P. Kobe

Life is no brief candle to me.  It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
―  George Bernard Shaw
[Although I grew up a Warriors and Celtics fan and therefor detested all things “Lakers”,  I have never really been able to “hate on” any of the specific Laker players.  To be honest, except when they were playing my two teams, I usually looked forward to watching the Lakers – from Chamberlain and “the Streak”, through Kareem / Magic and “Showtime”, and on down through Shaq and Kobe.  Due to his competitive nature, I feel Kobe was never able to find rest in this life.  Even before fully retiring from the game he was transitioning his brand and his businesses in order to be “the best” at those, too.  Sometimes that is the price you must pay to be the very best at your profession.  I hope he can find that rest now.  But I bet he’s trying to get a one-on-one going with Wilt…
Thanks for the memories!  R.I.P. Kobe Bryant   —   KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2019	Looks A Lot Like #45
2018	Trying To Stay Young
2017	Seems Reasonable To Me
2016	We Can Get Through This Together (In Time)
2015	How Long Is A Piece Of String?
2014	Heathen, n.
2013	Wisdom’s Folly
2012	When The Student Is Ready
	Disconnected Leadership
2011	The Complex Richness Of Life

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On To Superbowl LIV (54)!!

49ers Going To SB54!!!
Yes!!!   Today, my “local” American Football team, the San Francisco 49ers (who are actually based in the San Jose / Santa Clara area) defeated the Green Bay Packers by the score of 37 to 20 (and it really wasn’t that close) in the NFL National Conference championship game.  Now, on we move on to face the Kansas City Chiefs in two weeks at a neutral location (Miami, Florida) for Superbowl LIV (that’s 54 for those of you who don’t know your Roman numerals).
This is a hard game for me because although I’m a lifetime supporter of the “Niners”, but I was born in Kansas City and, until the 1990’s, supported the Chiefs as my “AFC” (American Football Conference) team.  The 49ers are in the Western Division of the National Football Conference (“NFC”).  So, either way, I can’t “lose” the game, but I sure will be rooting for the Red and Gold.  Go Niners!!!
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On This Day In:
2019	Are Your Dogs Barking?
	Dangerous Waistcoats
2018	And 40+ Years Later?
2017	He Is Alone
2016	Compensation
2015	Charlie Redux
2014	The Crux
2013	Erosion And Rechannelling
	Alliance, n.
2012	How Many Thought… (One I Know Of)
	Choices And Decisions
2011	Speed Spoils
	Simply Intended
2010	A Second 4 Hour Jog

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2019 49ers Season Starts 5-0!!

EVERY year I say the same thing in August:  “There are only two valid tests for a successful San Francisco Forty-Niner season – Did we win the Super Bowl or did we beat the Rams twice?“
You see I grew up watching the Niners win one(1!!!) game against the Los Angeles Rams in ten years.  In the 1980s-90s, when we went on to win five Super Bowls in fourteen years, I still had the same question?  I don’t care about anything else if we don’t win the Super Bowl that year except:  “Did we beat the Rams twice?”  If the answer to either question is “yes”, then we had a good year.  Otherwise, I don’t want to hear about appearing in the Super Bowl, winning the NFC, winning the Western Division, having a winning record – or ANYTHING else.  Win the Super Bowl or beat the Rams twice…
Of course, anybody will tell you it’s also nice to beat the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders in the same season as either of the two above, but they are DISTANT seconds to the two defining conditions mentioned above.
Anyway, my point is we (the Forty-Niners) are halfway there…  Today, we went down to LA and put a whipping on the Rams (27-7).  We are now halfway to a successful season without even having to play in the Super Bowl.  Traditionally, NFL teams which finish with 10 wins in a season, make the playoffs.  We now have 5 wins with 11 games to go.  In theory, we only have to play .500 ball to make the playoffs.  Bottom Line:  our next game against the Rams is on 22 December.  Go Niners!!!
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On This Day In:
2018	VOTE – We Need A Wave
2017	Soothe, Inspire And Recharge
2016	Aren’t We?
2015	Cold Embrace
2014	Delightful
2013	Apprenticeship
2012	Curtain Rods
2011	A Living Force
2010	BART Rides – A Tipping Point

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Dodgers Choke AGAIN

Let’s just get it out there…  I am a Giants fan; ergo: I HATE the Dodgers!  I MAY have to grant a grudging respect to one or two of their players, but it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  Especially if it’s a current player…
There has been little sweeter for this Giants fan than watching the Dodgers lose the last two World Series at home, but this year’s playoff elimination is pretty close…  (Yes, I am a small enough person to gloat about this!)
The Dodgers won 13 more regular season games than the Washington Nationals (their opponents).
The Dodgers had a regular season run differential of +273 compared to +149 for the Nats!
Game 5 (the “deciding” game) was played in Dodger Stadium.
Clayton Kershaw has been one of – if not THE – most dominant pitcher of the last decade.  (Please recall:  I LOVE me some Madison Bumgarner!!)
The Dodgers were leading in game 5 by two(2) runs going into the 8th inning.
And, then, the collapse…  Kershaw surrenders two home runs and the game is tied.  Two innings later (in the 10th), the Nats get a grand-slam and go on to with the game 7-3.  The Dodgers are eliminated from the 2018 playoffs!
Now, Kershaw has always seemed to me to be a decent person: In victory, he shares the credit.  In defeat, he claims ownership and responsibility for the loss.  So, I have one request for the Dodgers:  PLEASE trade Kershaw to some other team so I can root for him to win a World Series before he ends his illustrious career.  I saw his post-game (series) interview and I really want to support him.   But, I can’t!!!   I can’t!!!!  If Kershaw gets enough post-season appearances, eventually he will win a World Series…  Please (Baseball Gods) let it be for anyone but the Dodgers!
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On This Day In:
2018	Thinking About My Hil
	Remember Your Duty In November
2017	Play Well With Others
2016	Surviving And Challenging
2015	On Destroying Historic / Archaeological Sites
2014	Magical Power
2013	How Awesome Would That Be
2012	Two Views
2011	Still Looking For Examples
2010	Giants Win Away 3 – 2!!

 

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Missing Failure

I have missed more than 9,000 shots, lost almost 300 games, on 26 occasions been entrusted to take the game winning shot — and missed.  I have failed over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.
—  Michael Jordan
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On This Day In:
2018	Praise God
2017	Necessary Gaps
2016	Nor My Dogs
2015	Say What?
	I’m A Dog, Too!
	Beginnings
2014	Astonishing Choices
2013	Three Hard Tasks
2012	The Only Remains
2011	Personal Capability
	What Price Failure?
	Both Of W’s Elections
	Tea (Baggers) Anyone?

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The Mark Against Your Name

Alumnus Football
Bill Jones had been the shining star upon his college team.
His tackling was ferocious and his bucking was a dream.
When husky William took the ball beneath his brawny arm
They had two extra men to ring the ambulance alarm.
Bill hit the line and ran the ends like some mad bull amuck.
The other team would shiver when they saw him start to buck.
And when some rival tackler tried to block his dashing pace,
On waking up, he’d ask, “Who drove that truck across my face?”
Bill had the speed-Bill had the weight-Bill never bucked in vain;
From goal to goal he whizzed along while fragments, strewed the plain,
And there had been a standing bet, which no one tried to call,
That he could make his distance through a ten-foot granite wall.
When he wound up his college course each student’s heart was sore.
They wept to think bull-throated Bill would sock the line no more.
Not so with William – in his dreams he saw the Field of Fame,
Where he would buck to glory in the swirl of Life’s big game.
Sweet are the dreams of college life, before our faith is nicked-
The world is but a cherry tree that’s waiting to be picked;
The world is but an open road-until we find, one day,
How far away the goal posts are that called us to the play.
So, with the sheepskin tucked beneath his arm in football style,
Bill put on steam and dashed into the thickest of the pile;
With eyes ablaze he sprinted where the laureled highway led-
When Bill woke up his scalp hung loose and knots adorned his head.
He tried to run the ends of life, but with rib-crushing toss
A rent collector tackled him and threw him for a loss.
And when he switched his course again and dashed into the line
The massive Guard named Failure did a toddle on his spine.
Bill tried to punt out of the rut, but ere he turned the trick
Right Tackle Competition scuttled through and blocked the kick.
And when he tackled at Success in one long, vicious prod
The Fullback Disappointment steered his features in sod.
Bill was no quitter, so he tried a buck in higher gear,
But Left Guard Envy broke it up and stood him on his ear.
Whereat he aimed a forward pass, but in two vicious bounds
Big Center Greed slipped through a hole and rammed him out of bounds.
But one day, when across the Field of Fame the goal seemed dim,
The wise old coach, Experience, came up and spoke to him.
“Oh Boy,” he said, “the main point now before you win your bout
Is keep on bucking Failure till you’ve worn the piker out!”
“And, kid, cut out this fancy stuff – go in there, low and hard;
Just keep your eye upon the ball and plug on, yard by yard,
And more than all, when you are thrown or tumbled with a crack,
Don’t sit there whining-hustle up and keep on coming back;
“Keep coming back with all you’ve got, without an alibi,
If Competition trips you up or lands upon your eye,
Until at last above the din you hear this sentence spilled:
‘We might as well let this bird through before we all get killed.’
“You’ll find the road is long and rough, with soft spots far apart,
Where only those can make the grade who have the Uphill Heart.
And when they stop you with a thud or halt you with a crack,
Let Courage call the signals as you keep on coming back.
“Keep coming back, and though the world may romp across your spine,
Let every game’s end find you still upon the battling line;
For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
He writes – not that you won or lost – but how you played the Game.”
Written by:  Grantland Rice
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On This Day In:
2018	Nice To Meet You
2017	All Nations & Religions
2016	Given The Choice
	Why Is He Wearing Red?
2015	Within The System
2014	None But…
2013	Obviously Longer
2012	A Childhood Poem
	Who Are You Callin’ Leather-Faced?
2011	In No Particular Order
	The Need For Proof

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Fighting With Oneself

Amateur (2018©)  —  book review
Over Christmas, my daughter gave me a couple of books as prezzies.  One of them was “Amateur“, written by Thomas Page McBee.  The premise of the book is that the author has gone from being a woman to a man and is seeking to become the first transgender person to box in Madison Square Garden in New Your City.  He is fighting in a charity event against a non-professional fighter (like himself), who is presumably non-trans – at least there is no mention of the male opponent being transgender as well.  Anyway, the book is autobiographical and describes the training and preparation leading up to the match.  The book also relates background information about the authors parents and siblings.  It also has a small amount about the stages of being / becoming transgender.
I asked my daughter why she got me this particular book and if she had read it.  She replied she had not read it and she just wanted to expose me to different perspectives.  The other book she gave me was the Michelle Obama bio, which I have not read yet.
Anyway, I found the book difficult to “get into” because I didn’t (and don’t) care for the author’s writing style.  I found the ideas being expressed unclear and the sentences “stilted”.  Several times I had to re-read a sentence or a paragraph because I wasn’t sure I understood what the author was saying or how it added to or followed on with whatever else was being said.  Eventually, I got the hang of the writing and had fewer problems reading along.
Although the book is “about” boxing and preparing for a fight, it is also about aggression and “being male” – or at least what the author believes is being male in modern society.  I found much of this to be “interesting” even if I don’t necessarily agree with everything the author was trying to relate.  That is, much of it makes sense / rings true, but I’m not sure it (the points being made) are uniquely “male” or modern.  I also don’t know if they are unique to western / American society.  “Interesting” because I am not transgender, did not grow up as a “tom-boy”, and have not spent a great deal of time thinking about being a “straight” “male” as opposed to being “gay” or “trans”.  To this extent, my daughter was successful in getting me to think outside the box.
Final recommendation: moderate to strong.  It is difficult for me to know who the target audience for this book is, so it is equally hard to recommend it to anyone stumbling on this post / review.  I don’t know that LGBQ folks would want to read about someone who is “trans” or about boxing and preparing for a fight.  I (personally) did find the writing about the training and preparation for the fight to be pretty interesting, enjoyable and well described.  In one way, the book made me chuckle.  Although I personally participated in a boxing tournament as a teen, I went into it completely unprepared, untrained and unfit.  LOL – and the results showed.  I guess, my question is would another trans person (female to male) find this book interesting.  I am not sure they would, except maybe to know there are others (like themselves) out there and they are adjusting to being their “new” selves.  And, maybe that’s enough…
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On This Day In:
2018	Feeling Both
2017	Just Start
2016	Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall
2015	Restraint At The Inn
2014	To Not Discovering
2013	I Have Less To Say
2012	Not The Best Prediction I’ve Ever Read

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