Thursday Friday Saturday

NCAA’s scrappy teams: the players for the larger schools all think it will be an easy game, despite the annual history of upsets and despite what the coaches are constantly telling them to beware. It could never happen to them. Was UGA not playing lots of true freshmen and sophomores? Hopefully they have a great future set for the next seasons.

Thursday: left work at 6 pm. Supper was black beans and rice, plus roasted okra. I walked Winnie and did the dishes, and didn’t sit down until after 830. Wound up not going to bed until after 11 pm.

Spent an hour at the gym Friday morning. Left the house without my earphones, so I couldn’t listen to my book. My treadmill made loud thumps when I ran, so I walked for 30 minutes while watching SportsCenter, then lifted weights for 30 minutes.

Friday afternoon I didn’t leave the reception until it had ended at 4 pm. Drove up to Cobb Parkway for a free carwash, then on up to a thrift store near the Big Chicken. Shouldn’t have, but I bought a pair of sneakers: Nike Men’s Crater Impact. Might take them back. 

Also bought what appears to be an authentic game-worn #17 Atlanta Hawks Dennis Schroder jersey, complete with the sponsor logo and everything. I'll give it to Will if he wants it.

Had to go to two different RaceTracs to get my free pizza. Pretty good pizza for a gas station. Didn’t get home until 7 pm. Walked and fed Winnie.

Watched two movies: Lonely Planet with Laura Dern, and Red Notice with Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot.

Up early to play golf. 40 degrees but not bad. Teed off at 7 am.

1. One of my flubs got a decent roll. Thought I hit my third light up ball well, but it failed to light up. Good 6 iron. OK chip, poor chip. OK chip. Poor chip. Never thought I’d finish the first hole. Triple.   

2. Pulled my tee shot left. Decent chip. Poor chips. Double.

3. Hit two good 8 irons off the tee. Both rolled down into the right rough near the green. Two decent lag putts. Bogey.

4. An okay 6 iron off the tee. Flubbed two chips. Hit one good lag putt out of two. Bogey.

5. Pulled my lightup ball left off the tee. It hopped into some leaves, but I found it. Two decent chips. Two ok lags. Bogey.

6. Hit a hybrid well off the tee, but it faded into the deep left rough. Thought I had popped up my mulligan, but it plopped down near the 150 yard marker. Then a decent 5 iron. From there I hit a great chip – to two feet. Quite rare to have a 2 footer for par, but I sank it.

7. Hit two good hybrids off the tee. Decent 5 wood down the fairway. Chip to the front fringe. Three putt. Double. Found five balls on the hole.

8. Drive faded right into the trees. Flubbed a 6 iron. Nine iron rolled off the back of the green. After my first chip I thought “could’ve been worse”. Mulligan was worse. Third chip hit the stick. Two putt for a double.

9. Good hybrid off tee. Chipped three balls, one to the fringe. Three putt for a closing double. Finished at 820.

Crazy good menu at Walk-Ons, a sports bar way out in West Cobb. Hadn’t ever heard of the place, then heard an ad on the radio. Not sure if I’ll ever get out there, but I signed up for their reward club. I’ll get free mozzarella logs and a birthday treat. What I like on the menu, from top to bottom: boneless wings, waffle cheese fries, artichoke dip, cobb salad, chicken alfredo, chicken tenders, cali wrap, turkey melt, hangover burger, double bacon cheeseburger, hickory burger, rings, sweet potato fries, hush puppies, cheddar grits, cookie sundae.

DIZZY TROUT [SABR Bio] the 1944 AL MVP went to future Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser likely because Newhouser’s 29 wins edged Trout’s 27. Trout received ten 1st-place votes to Newhouser’s seven. Trout’s  2.12 ERA edged Hal’s 2.22. Trout’s 10.9 WAR topped all of MLB. Newhouser had a 8.4 WAR. Trout pitched for Baltimore in 1957 at age 42 & 74 days, the oldest Oriole pitcher in the 20th century. He said “I even could throw hard at an early age.  They say I had a hop on my baby rattle.” His first ball was a ball with rolled-up rags and walnuts.

Denison: the 2025 World Happiness Report was just published; the US fell to its lowest-ever ranking, 24th (Israel, despite its ongoing war with Hamas and internal divisions, ranked far higher than we did.) We should not be surprised: anxiety, loneliness, and overdose deaths are all at all-time highs in the US.

How to not become an asshole: do real things in the real world…gain confidence through mastering tasks…gain satisfaction through becoming competent…keep your cool during high pressure situations.