Horse Manure Park

There has not been a live sporting event on television for a couple of months now and I'm reaching the depths of despair.  The wide world of sports have always been one of my main escapes from the real world and I'm not afraid to confess that I really, really   miss it. So how desperate am I to watch a little friendly competition? Well, yesterday I watched Korean baseball.  For real. Korean baseball.  The game featured the Samsung Lions versus the LG Twins. The game interested me deeply because my Samsung television is connected to an LG soundbar. I mean, what are the chances? (Trust me, I can't make this stuff up).  Members of the LG Twins, whose names I cannot pronounce. As the contest unfolded, the broadcasters (who were quarantined in their own hotel rooms, watching the game on t.v.) remarked that Korean baseball was different from Japanese baseball, which itself was different from American baseball.  To be honest, it looked like baseball to me. And it ...

It is a day of celebration. A day when family and friends brave the wintry cold and gather together to eat, drink and be merry. No, I'm not talking about Thanksgiving. I am talking, of course, about Super Bowl Sunday. Tomorrow is the unofficial national holiday of the United States. It is the most analyzed, debated, commercialized, consumerized and overly-hyped spectacle our country has to offer. It is uniquely American. A few numbers to ponder: $5.6 billion: the amount money Americans will spend on Super Bowl related items 1.33 billion: the number of chicken wings to be consumed 325 million: gallons of beer to be drank 4.4 million: pizzas to be ordered from Pizza Hut, Papa John's and Dominoes $6,250: average ticket price to the Super Bowl $5 million: the cost of a 30 second ad during the game $132 million: the amount of money wagered on the Super Bow in Las Vegas In fact, you can bet on anything , from the color of Gatorade dumped on the winning coac...

An unforgettable and historic World Series has come to a thrilling conclusion and somewhere up there, my mom is smiling. My mom loved baseball. It was probably her favorite sport. In fact, the main reason I enjoy baseball to this day is because it reminds me of her. Of course, she loved the Minnesota Twins and when I was a kid, the Twins play-by-play was tuned in on our kitchen radio every summer evening (this was back when we only had one t.v. channel -- yes, only one! -- and it was very rare to be able to watch a regular season Twins game). I am so thankful she was able to see the Twins win a World Series in 1987; she was absolutely thrilled. She had her favorite Twins sweatshirt which she wore all the time. I have just one picture of her wearing that shirt, but for the life of me I can't find it. In fact, when my mom died unexpectedly on May 2, 1990, she was wearing that shirt. I found this picture online. It is identical to my mom's favorite Twins shirt. But he...

I could categorize this weekend as "first world problems" for myself. Petty stuff, I know, considering some people don't know where their next meal is coming from or don't have clean water to drink. Still, they're my problems. It started last night when I tripped walking up the steps while carrying my iPad (yes, I was still sober at this point). My left forearm hit the stairs and my right hand (with iPad) reached out to break my fall. Somehow the iPad still works, but the case didn't fare so well. I almost had my excuse to get a new iPad since mine is old and S-L-O-W. Maybe better luck next time. Also, yesterday I solidified my reputation as a wold class computer-illiterate moron.  I wanted to update my Mac with the new Sierra operating system. I decided to back up my iTunes data via external hard drive (good idea, Sam). It had been five years since I backed up anything (yes, five years) and I could not remember how to do it. I went to the Apple web s...

So I checked my Twitter feed today and I almost fainted.  Even my dad would have gotten a chuckle out of this. A couple of days ago, Michael Vick opened his mouth and proclaimed he revolutionized the game as a running quarterback. As a lifelong Vikings fan, I know (and anyone who understands football knows) that Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton revolutionized the game.  (It also happens that I follow Mr. Tarkenton on Twitter.) Sunday Night Football (their handle is "SNFonNBC") posted Vick's comments on Twitter this weekend, so I responded to it: This morning, I received this message in my Notifications feed: Yes, this is 100% legitimate.  It's really him (just go to Twitter, search Fran Tarkenton and you'll see the message posted there). My dad is looking down and smiling right now.  He loved Fran Tarkenton. And I'm giddy as a school girl.  What a great way to start my week!

Still trying to figure out this crazy cat, Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. So last month, recordings surfaced of him spewing out racist garbage; he pleaded with his mistress to stop bringing black people to basketball games and to stop taking pictures with them. He was quickly fined by NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, and received a lifetime ban from league activities. Sterling went on CNN last week, publicly apologized and asked America for forgiveness. Now Sterling (or his lawyer) is reversing course;  he won't pay his $2.5 million fine levied by the NBA commissioner, because he "didn't do anything wrong" and he was "not granted due process."  In fact, Sterling (or his lawyer) plans to sue the NBA. First of all, the NBA (like the NFL, NHL and MLB) is a private club; it's a league with its own constitution and by-laws, and it is governed by an appointed commissioner.   It is not a government bureaucracy. When Commissio...

The Olympic opening ceremonies begin Friday, and we will certainly see the spectacle that is the Olympiad. Not what it's cracked up to be... Everything will be glossed over and shiny and look magnificent.  But don't judge the book by its cover. Unfortunately for President Putin and the Sochi Olympic officials, we live in the age of social media.  Many have said Putin is using the Sochi Olympics to show the Western world how advanced Russia truly is, but reports via Twitter and other social media outlets tell the opposite story. Journalists are Tweeting private thoughts and pictures as they work on "official" stories.  And what is being revealed behind that glossy Olympic curtain is ugly. The newest story today is the Olympic Village simply does not have enough pillows for the athletes.  Much of the Village does not have hot water, and overall, the plumbing system is abysmal. I must emphasize that the pictures below are not doctored or Photoshopped. ...

If you watch the steer get slaughtered, that  filet mignon  might not taste as good. First impressions are powerful things. One of the interesting exercises in writing (and debate) is to look at the other side of an argument.  It can be a humbling experience. In order to see the other side, you must acknowledge that your side is not necessarily correct; you simply have an opinion.  That's usually enough to scare most people off. This brings me to the interesting "controversy" over Richard Sherman, cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks. And before you stop reading because this is "football talk," please understand that it is not. This is more to do with first impressions, fledgling opinions, and having the courage to admit that you just might be wrong. You see, most of the world, including myself, had an initial 20-second impression of Richard Sherman immediately after the biggest play in the biggest game of his life. Seconds after the game, h...

One week ends, another begins and time keeps on slipping into the future...  There's a song in there somewhere. Saturday was a memorable day, friends. A member of our troupe was involved in a head-on collision Saturday morning.  Luckily, he walked away with just a few scrapes. You see, the dingo and the boxer were in the backyard playing some kind of doggy freeze-tag and the dingo zigged while the boxer zagged, and... well... This is what happens when a 70 pound boxer hits a metal gazebo frame while running full sprint.  The gazebo lost. The boxer let out a loud "Yipe!" and the Wife was certain he broke something.  Visions of an early morning emergency visit to the Lakeland Vet Hospital danced in her head.  What a great way to start the weekend!  However, after recovering from the initial shock of ruining my damn gazebo , the boxer appeared pretty much none the worse for wear. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the gazebo.  It's fi...

Well, my daughter finally got to the point of being so frustrated because she couldn't tie her shoes that she actually sat down and let me show her how.  It is sort of funny because I remember learning to tie my shoes under similar circumstances.  She's very proud of herself!  July 11, 2011     They took away the tee at tee ball last night.  But Ava hit the ball well.  Here's a couple of pics of the action... Look at that form! Ready to run to second base. That's all for now!

The rain finally stayed away, so tonight was night #2 of tee ball.  A few tears were shed tonight... a skinned knee which finally convinced our ball player that "long pants" are a better choice than shorts when it comes to playing ball.  The big news is Ava hit a single on her first at bat (okay,  ALL the kids hit singles... and doubles... and triples... to quote my brother-in-law, Jon, the game resembled a "goat rodeo"). Still, we had fun! Ava's first official "at bat." Safe at third!

It's just the preseason, but I had to check out how the ol' Purple and Gold looks on my boy. I think he looks pretty sharp. Yep, he likes it!! Okay, nap time. (Gotta save your energy for the regular season)

I normally don't talk about football on this blog. That's what my "other" blog is for . However, this is a memorable day for Vikings fans. For better or worse, it's a memorable day!!

I sat down tonight and thought it would be kind of fun to watch some high school basketball, since the Minnesota state tournament is going on right now. I have to admit I ended up changing the channel after about 20 minutes. You see, at some point in the last couple of decades, basketball stopped becoming a team sport. What I saw tonight was a bunch of selfish, three-point shooting showboats, with no concept of teamwork, no respect for the game, no respect for their opponents and certainly no respect for the officials. It was absolutely disgusting and I sure won't waste my time watching the remainder of the tournament this weekend. The old saying is true: You reap what you sow. And the prevailing "winning is everything" attitude which these kids have been raised on has sown a whole lot of crap.

Congratulations to the North Dakota State Men's Basketball Team! They have advanced to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament (a.k.a. "The Big Dance") in their first year of division 1 eligibility. This is only the second time in collegiate history a school has advanced to the national tournament in their first year of eligibility. It will be fun to watch them play. Unfortunately they will probably have to play one of the Goliaths, such as North Carolina or Pittsburgh -- but anything can happen once the teams take the court. That's why I love March Madness!