Pages

Friday, June 30, 2023

Meet Goose

Today Anna and Caleb picked up their new puppy, Goose. Our lives are changed forever.

Finished the book “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ”. A tough read. How teaching kids how to work through challenges more positively can derail later violence and other truancy issues. I’ll count it as one of my two educational books that I have to read for work this year.

Up early Tuesday to play golf. Teed off at 6:10 am. Hit two balls most of the time (or three).

1. Hit a good drive. Thought it went left, but found it in the middle of the fairway. Popped up a mulligan to the right. Accidentally pulled out a 3 wood for my fairway shot. Popped it up to the right. Drove the mulligan low and left, but it didn’t roll far in the wet grass. Three poor chips. Three great lag putts. “Bogey”.

2. Hit two decent 7 irons off the tee. Both left, but I didn’t think they were that far left. Couldn’t find either. Two poor chips. Three good lag putts. “Bogey”.

3. Hit a good 8 iron that bounced off the green. Popped up a mulligan short. Decent chip that also bounced off the green. Two poor chips, then a better one. Two good lag putts. “Double”.

4. Skidded a 7 iron off the tee. Mulligan was better. Tailed off to the left. Never found it in the high rough. Weak chip. “Double”.

5. Decent hybrid off tee that caught knocked down by the branches on the left side of the fairway. Skidded the mulligan. Hit a great 9 iron from my second ball, past the hole to the fringe. Good lag putt. “Bogey”.

6. Skidded my first two tee shots, then drew a great hybrid past the big oak to the middle of the fairway. My best tee shot ever on that hole. Then I hit a 6 iron onto the green – my best second shot ever on that hole. I wasn’t sure where my first shot had ended up, so I hit a mulligan. Low and not as good. Hit two good lag putts, then drained my third attempt for a “birdie”. I should’ve stepped off the distance. Well over 20 feet, maybe 30.

7. Sliced a drive off the tee, but not too bad. Popped up my mulligan. Flubbed a 6 iron, then hit two decent mulligans. Poor chip, better chip. Two more passible chips. Two putt. “Double”.

8. Decent drive. Hit one wedge just short of the green, then a mulligan to the fringe. Three putt. “Bogey”.

9. Okay 3 wood off tee. Drove my mulligan right. Poor chips. Two putt. “Double”. Finished at 7:32 am.

Stopped by Taco Bell on the way to work for a free breakfast crunchwrap.

Wednesday: Ceil cooked pizza. M took several carloads down to his new house but still has more to pick up, including his cat. We watched some Hallmark-type movie.

When my kids were young we bought them a lot of Duplo sets, that had to be put together like on Christmas Eve. Larger than Lego but still pretty small. A castle. Pirate ship with sails and netting and cannons. Even the fire truck had lots of pieces to put together. Every fireman (several) had a fire hat. Lots of accessories. Things for their wrists. Capes. Swords. Guns. An ambulance. We have piles of that stuff still in our attic.

A month or two ago I drove to the bank and went inside because I wanted to deal with a person face to face. A young man said hello and asked if he could help me. I told him I wanted to make a cash deposit, and he directed me to an ATM machine. Couldn’t get a teller to take the deposit !!

French journalist Anatole France: “If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”

New York Times columnist David Brooks is right: “People don’t behave badly because they lack information about their shortcomings. They behave badly because they’ve fallen into patterns of destructive behavior from which they’re unable to escape.” 

Saw this cool "car" at Avalon tonight. Mag wheels. 

PETE ROSE [SABR Bio] played 24 years, retired with 1,314 RBI, but never had a season with as many as 85 RBI. He had 100 or more hits in each of his first 23 seasons (1963-1984). Had ten seasons with 200+ hits. Hie led the majors in doubles four times: 1974 (45), 1975 (47), 1976 (42), and 1978 (51).

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Hottest Team in Baseball

Braves the hottest team in baseball with a 10-1 record in their last elevan games. At least. Best record in the NL with 53 wins. Only Tampa has more. Braves have won 27 at home and 26 on the road. 19-4 for the month of June, and everyone’s complaining about Kolby Allard starting today’s game. Soon the Braves will add three All-Star caliber pitchers: Fried, Wright, and Matzek. Phillies and Marlins have won 7 of their last ten, and fell behind two games.

The mighty Mets, who all the experts picked to win the division, are 16-1/2 games back. “But they’ve had injuries”. Dan Patrick talking Mets today. The Braves have been dealing with injuries as well. Fried. Wright. Harris. D’Arnaud. Matzek. Ian Anderson and Mike Soroka were supposed to be 40% of the rotation, and they didn’t work out. Both the Braves starters and relievers have been a patchwork all season.

Great play Tuesday night – Ozzie Albies made a diving stop, then flipped to shortstop Orlando Arcia, who gunned down the batter at first. Riley made a great play over at third as well. Another win.

Not sure about the all-star voting sounds like the top 2 vote getters at each position get on the team. Does every team still get represented? Over the years lots of deserving candidates didn’t get to go because the Pirates needed a player on the team. But back in the day the 8 starters would play all 9 innings, so few subs got in the all star game.

I really don’t watch much of the all star game any more either. I know so few of the players except the Braves and other top stars. JUST IN: Bravos to have three all star starters: Acuna, Murphy, and SS Arcia.

Take him out, Cox !!! So many factors that all MLB managers consider these days. Not just Snitker. Today part of it was keeping the pitcher’s confidence high. Also pitch count, righty/lefty, and the fact the Braves have an off day tomorrow. Before the game everyone was complaining that Allard was pitching in the first place !!! 

Not sure how but me and C are getting bitten by bugs. Not sure where they came from. Using the calamine lotion.

Gave an anniversary speech Tuesday afternoon. Not the greatest on delivery. Should’ve stuck more to the script. Said “…and everything” too much. Last week I saw something in the office that had I shared it, would’ve been real juicy gossip. Not sure exactly what I saw so I would’ve been rumormongering. I gossip too much as it is, but I knew I had to draw the line.

Anna and friends hung out on the rooftop of Ponce City Market Tuesday night.

C rarely eats hot dogs, but ate one at her women’s ministry last night. Usually she doesn’t tell me what was on the menu, but did so last night. We found 2 packs of hot dogs in the freezer. Not sure when we will eat them. C might make a trip to SC in July. Some of the ladies are going to Mrytle Beach in late July so C might go. Not sure the guys are invited.

Gonna be slower at work for 2 weeks so I am trying to get caught up on things. Down to 3 emails in my in box. Catching up on odds and ends. Should be in good shape when things crank back up in mid July. With our customer taking a break I will try to squeeze in more golf. Already played twice this week. Dreaded recaps to follow.

Arbys has their 5 roast beef sandwiches for $5.00 deal this week. Sounds tempting, but I bet the sandwiches are a lot smaller than they used to be.

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Weekend in Carolina

                                

Friday: needed to leave for NC between 9 & 10 am. So we didn’t leave until after 11. Not much margin on a 5-1/2 hour trip. Stopped in Commerce Ga. Mistake. Line for Chick-fil-A was out on the street. Bad traffic between Spartanburg & NC line. We stayed in an old renovated factory house Airbnb in Concord NC not far from Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is huge, like a big stadium a mile around.

Got to visit with Joel Norman and wife Addie. She works at Trinity Church, in Brookhaven I think. Their newborn son is Patton. J&A and W&MC went to the rehearsal dinner. Grabbed supper at Chipotle. Later grabbed groceries at Publix. When the couples got home Joel mixed a good fruit punch drink, and we all got to chat. C had gone to bed.

Saturday morning back to Publix and Starbucks. For lunch back to Publix for sub sandwiches and chips. With little Patton and Millie and big sister Shivonne there is plenty of babysitting to do. Will and Joel were gone most of the day, first to a guys breakfast and then pictures and stuff. More to follow on the wedding.

Sunday: stopped on the way home in downtown Greenville. Ate at Tupelo Honey. Funny we never went to the Tupelo Honey here in Sandy Springs. But did go there in both Asheville and Greenville.

After Greenville we drove to Dekalb Farmers Market, so we didn’t get home after 6 pm. Y’all get any damage from those high winds late Sunday afternoon? Heard about that tree that fell in Garden Hills, killing that man. Bad winds in Memphis as well.

Monday: up early to run 3 miles. Busy day at work catching up and such.  Worked past 5:30 and drove home. Had to gas up on the way. Got 600 miles on the last tank. Made it to Commerce past Charlotte, then all the way home and then to work.

Ceil and Matthew went with me to Ponko Chicken Monday night. The prize I’d won was two meals and drinks, but to make it easy the manager comped the entire meal for all three of us. C ate a chicken salad. M got wings and fries. I got 5 tenders, fries, and sweet potato fries. Very good.

EDDIE COLLINS  [SABR Bio] his25-year career never produced a batting title. His hit total (3,315) was 5th all-time when he retired. His final cumulative batting average is .333. He holds the career record for most sacrifice hits even though he never led the league in any season. His 512 sacrifice hits will have him atop the leader board for generations, possibly forever. In second place is Jake Daubert’s 392. Eight out of the top 10 active leaders in 2023 are all pitchers, with Clayton Kershaw’s 110 leading the way. To underscore the near-untouchable status of Collins’ mark, Kershaw’s total on the all-time list has him tied with Mel Ott and others for 325th place (Tom Glavine has the most sacrifice hits for a pitcher, with 216 - 69th all time). Collins and Lou Brock are tied for most career bases stolen in World Series play, with 14.

DENISON: we are seeing numerous stories about a reported decline in religiosity in our society. From empty church buildings being repurposed to headlines like “US Church Attendance Still Lower Than Pre-Pandemic,” to articles on “Americans moving away from religion,” you would think that biblical faith is on life support in the US. But pull back the curtain, and the story changes. The repurposed church buildings are in Europe. The decline in US church attendance is from 34% pre-pandemic to 31% today. This is three times higher than the percentage of Americans who watch sports on TV and 50 percent higher than those who go to movies multiple times a month or engage in sports and exercise regularly. Of the “Americans moving away from religion,” the New York Times notes that nearly half are Buddhists and Jews and “around 30% of most Christian denominations.” Mainline churches are seeing much higher rates of decline than evangelical churches. In fact, according to cultural commentator Glenn Stanton, church attendance is at an all-time high, both in raw numbers and as a percentage of the population. “The number of Christians in the world today is larger than it has ever been in the history of the world.”

https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/worlds-ugliest-dog-2023/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Meet+the+newest+winner+of+the+%22World+s+Ugliest+Dog%22+competition&utm_campaign=06-28-23+DA+Meet+the+newest+winner+of+the+%22World+s+Ugliest+Dog%22+competition

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Best NBA Player by State

 

The best NBA player from each state. I added a few women and other legends not mentioned in the article. Also a few players from other countries.

Alabama Charles Barkley

Alaska wasn't listed. I nominate Trajan Langdon

Arizona Sean Elliott Fat Lever

Arkansas Scottie Pippen

Bahamas Rick Fox

California Bill Russell B Walton R Westbrook G Payton P Pierce R Allen J Kidd R Miller J Harden D Taurasi S Miller

Canada Steve Nash

China Yao Ming

Connecticut Calvin Murphy Rebecca Lobo

Colorado Chauncey Billups

Congo Dikembe Mutombo

Croatia Toni Kukoc

Delaware Walt Hazzard Elena Delle Donne

Florida Vince Carter

Georgia Walt Frazier Teresa Edwards

Germany Dirk Nowitzki Shawn Bradley

Greece Giannis Antetokounmpo

Hawaii Cederic Ceballos

Idaho Luke Ridnour

Illinois Dwayne Wade (over George Mikan?)

Indiana Larry Bird Rick Mount

Iowa Harrison Barnes

Jamaica Patrick Ewing

Kansas Lucius Allen

Kentucky Dave Cowens  

Lithuania Arvydas Sabonis Šarūnas Marčiulionis

Louisiana Karl Malone B Pettit W Reed (not Bill Russell?) Drexler E Hayes R Parrish

Lovetron Darryl Dawkins

Maine Jeff Turner

Maryland Kevin Durant Sam Cassell Mugsy Bouges

Massachusetts Bill Laimbeer

Michigan Magic Johnson

Minnesota Kevin McHale Paige Bueckers

Mississippi Spencer Haywood Danny Manning Mo Williams

Missouri Jo Jo White (not Bill Bradley?) Maya Moore

Montana Phil Jackson

Nebraska Bob Boozer

Nevada Greg Anthony

New Hampshire Matt Bonner

New Jersey Rick Barry

New Mexico Bill Bridges

New York Kareem Abdul-Jabbar J Erving B Cousy S Bird N Lieberman Breanna Stewart

North Dakota Tyler Johnson

North Carolina Michael Jordan

Ohio LeBron James Havlicek C Oakley N Thurmond S Curry

Oklahoma Blake Griffin Mark Price J Starks W Tisdale

Oregon Kevin Love Danny Ainge AC Green

Pennsylvania TIE: Kobe Bryant & Wilt Chamberlain

Rhode Island Ernie DiGregorio

Russia Alexander Volkov

Slovenia Luka Doncic

South Carolina Kevin Garnett A English J O'Neal. Not Pete Maravich? (below, at Georgia Tech's old Alexander Memorial Coliseum).

South Dakota Mike Miller

Spain Pau Gasol Ricky Rubio Marc Gasol

Sudan Manute Bol

Tennessee Penny Hardaway. Not Oscar Robertson? (above, guarded by Maravich)

Texas Shaquille O'Neal Chris Bosh

Utah Tom Chambers Bryon Scott

Vermont Taylor Coppenrath

Virgin Islands Tim Duncan (below)

Virginia Allen Iverson M Malone A Mourning

Washington John Stockton

West Virginia Jerry West

Wisconsin Jordan Poole

Wyoming James Johnson Nets

Yugoslavia Drazen Petrovic

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://en.12up.com/view/?id=best-nba-player-each-state-12u&layout=app__;!!AE29DT8V!UvTd4p7zcJczUynz5ehNMEsSrItUpLb58c1ThDriCl3dtPeccWoSKymwb6hPT9KFzFATqj4iOcfPauWpSuo$

Since retirement, Tim Duncan is looking slightly different these days. Maybe Grizz Gaming can add him to their roster.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://thespun.com/nba/legendary-nba-star-tim-duncan-is-barely-recognizable-today__;!!AE29DT8V!WoEhbx-PUvbYepfvkkNIJykXdlTmCbPhg9v4vLq2g0oxJtUTxiNyftjzWmtXLBcAQsYb_2Km-fYagEVjwY8$

MLB players active in 2023 who won a league MVP then played for another team(s).

MVP               Lg/Year   Team Current WAR

Abreu............AL 2020...CHW....HOU.... 30.8

Bellinger.......NL 2019...LAD.....CHC..... 19.2

Betts.............AL 2018....BOS....LAD.......59.0

Bryant...........NL 2016...CHC....COL.......28.8

Donaldson...AL 2015....TOR....NYY.......46.8

Freeman.......NL 2021...ATL.....LAD........52.4

Harper..........NL 2015....WSN...PHI.........43.2

McCutchen..NL 2013....PIT......PIT.........48.2

Stanton........NL 2017....MIA.....NYY.......44.7

Verlander.....AL 2011....DET....HOU.......77.9

DENISON: Ray Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund firm. Forbes estimates his personal net worth at $19.1 billion. He has achieved such success by studying events and cycles across history. I follow his cultural analysis for reasons that transcend their financial implications. Dalio's new article for Time is titled "Why the World Is on the Brink of Great Disorder." In it, he identifies the "Five Big Forces" that compose what he calls the "Big Cycle that produces big changes in the world order": (1) Financial/economic forces, (2)  the domestic order force, (3) the international world order force, (4) acts of nature, and (5) technology. We're currently experiencing unprecedented changes in all five areas like no other time in history. 

https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/russia-coup-matters-us/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=3+reasons+the+coup+in+Russia+matters+to+the+US&utm_campaign=06-27-23+DA+title


Monday, June 26, 2023

Best Rotation Ever?

Many thought Baltimore’s 1971 starting rotation was the best in history, with four 20 game winners. How do they compare to Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz? All-time, the Braves have them beat.

WAR W  -  L  ERA

68.5 268-152 2.86 Jim Palmer HOF

26.9 185-130 3.14 Mike Cuellar

25.5 184-119 3.24 Dave McNally

16.7 122-129 3.54 Pat Dobson

106.6 355-227 3.16 Greg Maddux HOF

080.7 305-203 3.54 Tom Glavine HOF

069.0 213-155 3.33 John Smoltz HOF

029.8 169-152 4.11 Kevin Millwood

022.4 124-092 4.24 Denny Neagle

013.8 096-083 4.19 Steve Avery

The Braves never had four 20 game winners in any one season, like the 1971 Orioles. Back then pitchers got more starts and pitched longer into games. By the 90’s more five man rotations were used.

20-9 2.68 Palmer

20-9 3.08 Cuellar

21-5 2.89 McNally

20-8 2.90 Dobson

81 wins by 4 starting pitchers

Since Glavine and Maddux were consistently good, I have looked at the years Smoltz, Avery, Millwood, and Neagle were best. There was less offense back in the 70’s so ERAs were lower, though in the 90’s the Braves kept their ERAs at comparable levels. Not as many 20 win seasons, but almost a decade of great pitching.

22-06 3.20 93 Glavine

20-10 2.36 93 Maddux

15-11 3.62 93 Smoltz

18-06 2.94 93 Avery

15-10 2.98 96 Glavine

15-11 2.72 96 Maddux

24-08 2.94 96 Smoltz

07-10 4.47 96 Millwood

14-07 2.96 97 Glavine

19-04 2.20 97 Maddux

15-12 3.02 97 Smoltz

20-05 2.97 97 Neagle

20-06 2.47 98 Glavine

18-09 2.22 98 Maddux

17-03 2.90 98 Smoltz

17-08 4.08 98 Millwood

16-11 3.55 98 Neagle

88 wins by 5 starting pitchers

14-11 4.12 99 Glavine

19-09 3.57 99 Maddux

11-08 3.19 99 Smoltz

18-07 2.68 99 Millwood

 

18-11 2.96 02 Glavine

16-06 2.62 02 Maddux

18-08 3.24 02 Millwood

12-06 3.42 02 Damien Moss

03-02 3.25 08 Smoltz + 55 saves

JOSH DONALDSON [B-R Bio] won MVP, then changed teams in the majors four times in the next six seasons. Won MVP with Toronto in 2015 then played for Cleveland, Atlanta, Minnesota, and the Yankees by 2022. Played for the Auburn Tigers in college. His own teammates criticized him publicly for a controversial remark. Fellow Yankees agreed with MLB management’s one-game suspension of Donaldson for his kidding comment to Tim Anderson of the White Sox. Donaldson stood on second base after hitting a double and kidded Anderson about his self-proclamation that Anderson was “today’s Jackie Robinson”. In high school, Donaldson led his baseball team to the state title, hitting .515 and was named the state’s Player of the Year. His mother moved him to Faith Academy in Mobile, Alabama to reunite him with a friend. Not only did he set multiple school records in baseball but also holds the school record for interceptions in a year, with eleven.

ARTICLE: players that should be removed from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://en.12up.com/view/?id=remove-from-hall-of-fame-12u&layout=app__;!!AE29DT8V!WFT-9Fwe0Sz4lmv6qJNZiAb842vhl-QPsI41v079B7mgk95QSLn4coU80DDewSu2DFcCfdS0gNyUdUH4SgY$

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Sermon Notes: Hebrews

Hebrews 13:20-25
Clay Smith JFBC Senior Pastor
27th and final message in the series

Essential building blocks to running a good race:

1. Purpose - end goal
2. Strategy - why you're doing this
3. Pace - steady progress
4. Perseverance - keep going, finish the race

Getting to know Jesus is just the beginning

Hebrews:
Chapters 1-12 reads like a sermon
Chapter 13 reads like a letter tacked on to the end
Not sure who wrote Hebrews, but he was a preacher. Takes an hour to read the book, but he called it a brief word

1. Purpose v 20 to do God's will, to equip, mend, fix, resetting a bone back into place. God had a Will for all of us

Ephesians 4:10 we are his workmanship. We are valued by God to do his Will to benefit his mission.

Living the Christian life is…
A. To be able to hear from God
B. Do his will

2. Power. Strategy. No one is born a Christian. We all start separate from God. But with Jesus he brings us peace, brings us back from the dead…bigger than just his resurrection. He is exalted, sitting at the right hand of his father God

Purpose is different from the world. Not finding the thing that gives me satisfaction, makes me happy - but doing what God wants us to do

3. Prepare - keep our focus on God. Strategy. Don't do thing's because it feels like the right thing to do. Keep our focus on Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1 fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith, our leader. He initiated an eternal covenant of his blood. Jews keep covenants.

Hebrews 8:13 Jesus brought a new covenant and made the old covenant obsolete. We all come equally to God. Faith is only found in Jesus.

Five benefits

A. We have cleansing
B. We can be sincere
C. He changes our desires
D. Gives us grace and mercy
E. Hebrews 12 we have an unshakable kingdom with God

Hopefully this series has widened our view of God

4. Pace. See better the opportunities that God gives us. Run further. Gain endurance. God's view of my life is so much bigger than my own

Hebrews 12:7-12 stay disciplined, is painful but yields peaceful fruit. Comes through challenges and difficulty. Teach your kids how to handle adversity. See challenges as opportunities

5. Persevere. 13:24 greet the saints. You are not in isolation. You are not alone. So many leaders have failed. Most were all alone. To finish well we need the help of other strong believers and family

Hebrews 10:24-25 pledge to encourage other believers around us.

Saturday, June 24, 2023

Doing Hard Things

Clay Smith
Sermon notes "Do Hard Things"
Hebrews 13:1-6

Counselors discuss anxiety. Our usual response is to avoid challenges. But when we do avoid, those hard things just get larger and harder. Swimming upstream isn't easy. What we are called to do as followers of Jesus. Hebrews is written to a group who were struggling to follow Jesus publicly. Chapter 13 is a list of things the author wants the Hebrews people to do.

Three reasons to do hard things

1. They push us out of our comfort zone

2. They help us grow in our sanctification, to grow in our Christian maturity. We grow the most in times of trouble. Reveals the fruit of the Spirit

3. Helps others

Here in East Cobb the culture is of abundance. Many love to do hard things. Warning: we can't do these things to get God's approval. God loves us despite our sins. Doing hard things should be our lifestyle as followers of Christ

Four areas of hard things we should be doing.

1. Hospitality. Verse 2. We are part of a family. Be hospitable to strangers. Share with others. An odd thing back in the first century, but this was the normal posture for believers back then. Same have entertained angels, like when Abraham and Sarah had entertained who turned out to be messengers of God.

Rosario Butterfield's books. She was a professor critical of Christianity but was loved by a pastor who disciplined and shared with her. She changed her lifestyle. She wrote Get close enough to the stranger to put their hand in the hand of the Saviour.

2. Persecution. Verse 3. Back then prisoners weren't given food or blankets. Go and visit and feed. Have empathy. By doing this they were publicly identifying with the weak and persecuted. Two resources:


3. Marriage is to be held in honor among all (within the church), as opposed to looking and acting like the world. God will judge the adulterer. Otherwise we can't love others. We can't love those in the world. We sin, but God extends His grace. "Such were some of you". God will heal us. Trying harder doesn't help. It's an issue of discipleship, not an issue of discipline. JFBC offers help.

4. Contentment. Verse 4-5. I Timothy 6. Greed and sexual immorality are both symptoms of idolatry. "I will never desert you" - Psalm 118:6. What can man do to me. Needing and buying more stuff, changing jobs, trying to find contentment.

Book: The Jesus Story Bible