The 11th Day of Christmas

My beef? It's January fourth, and grown people are still talking about the twelve days of Christmas. It's a cute little song, but churches and grown men shouldn't be making such a big deal about it. The good news of Christ gets diluted enough as it is, but those droning on about the 12 days of Christmas need to simplify their message.

The Twelve Days of Christmas did used to be a celebration, with the following meanings. Why have I never heard this? You shouldn't have to read a thousand word article to decipher the hidden meaning. Christians shouldn't speak in codes.

1. partridge = Jesus.

2. turtledoves = the Old and New Testaments

3. French hens = faith, hope, and love

4. calling birds = the four gospels.

5. rings = the 1st five books of the Old Testament

6. geese a-laying = the 6 days of creation

7. swans = 7 gifts of the Spirit: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, compassion

8. maids = Jesus came for the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those persecuted for righteousness' sake.

9. dancers = fruit of the Spirit: love joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control.

10. lords = the ten commandments

11. pipers = the disciples (less Judas).

12. drummers = the 12 points of the Apostles Creed

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holidays/the-12-days-of-christmas-lyrics-meaning.html 

Sometimes I just want to say: you want to know what the twelve days of Christmas are? Let me simplify it further:

1. Jesus
2. Jesus
3. Jesus
4. Jesus
5. Jesus
6. Jesus
7. Jesus
8. Jesus
9. Jesus
10. Jesus
11. Jesus
12. Jesus

Just thought of this after eleven days of some people making such a big deal about nine ladies dancing social media posts. Maybe I'll put this on next year's Christmas card. Now get off my lawn.

There was another recent re-write of the song:

Didn't do much on Sunday. Watched some of the Falcons and other games. Got a lot of leftover BBQ. Had some for lunch. Homemade pizza for supper.

Monday was Ceil's first day helping MC out with Shivonne. I tried to sleep late but Winnie was howling and wanted to play. Lately all she wants to do is look out the window and bark at squirrels. So I was babysitting as well.

At noon I checked the golf course and they were open, so I bundled up and went out. With a stocking cap and gloves, it wasn't really cold at all (39 degrees). Hard to see where I hit the ball when hitting into the sun. There were three guys playing super slow. When I first saw them they were three holes ahead of me. I started playing super slow, hitting three balls on each shot. Caught up to them four holes later.

1. Hit one tee shot into the sun. No idea where it went. Decent 5 wood from the fairway. Chip over green. Okay chip back onto green. Nice one putt.

2. Two decent tee shots. Several poor wedge shots. Great lag putt to a couple of inches.

3. After flubbing a tee shot, I hit one okay. More poor wedge shots. At least I'm getting lots of practice. The putts were better.

4. First tee shot was great. Shot of the day. Never saw the second. Third was a worm burner that got a good roll. Tried to chip that one without much success. Saw my first tee shot had stopped at the far end of the green. That never happens. Two putted it for "par".

5. Three tee shots all short of the green to the right. Poor chips but decent putts.

6. First drive off tee felt great but I never saw it. Second a worm burner that went straight. Third blooped to the right. Second shot a great 5 wood. From there three 7 irons that were okay but not great. Three poor chips.

7. Tee shots weren't great, but stayed left. While looking for my ball I found two more. An okay 5 wood to the top of the hill. A few cruddy fairway shots but one to the fringe. Several poor putts. 

8. The last three holes are hilly, and always wear me out. Didn't mind waiting on the tee for the three slowpokes. Hit three 3 woods, all settling close together. Not bad. Then three 5 woods down the hill, not too far from the hole. Chips not bad, one actually decent. Two putt.

9. Had to wait on the tee again. Had considered playing 7 again but a threesome was just finishing six. Hit a good straight 3 wood, then two cruddy shots. More poor chips and putts. But I am improving, really.

On the way home I stopped to renew my library card. Leftover chili for a late lunch/early supper. Lupper.

Watched the Rob Lowe movie A Perfect Day, about a down on his luck man who gains success, then turns his back on his family. Interesting twist on how he finds his way back. With a Christian undertones, if that's a thing.

Also re-watched the movie The Family Stone. Star-studded cast. Craig T Nelson, Diane Keaton. Luke Wilson. Rachel McAdams. Sarah Jessica Parker. Claire Danes. Michael B Jordan. Dermot Mulroney. And others.

Small group. Went up to church but the building was closed, so we met at a table at Whole Foods. Ceil has been watch the Passion Conference down at Mercedes Benz. David Pratt, Christine Caine, and Tim Tebow spoke in addition to Louie and his wife.

Monday: started the morning with 45 emails. Last week I had it down to less than ten. Currently at 18.

Denison: as we end 2021 and look to 2022, will anything change? Will the pandemic become permanent? Will inflation stay with us? Will violence escalate? Will the midterm elections deepen our partisan divides? Will our culture continue its slide into dogmatic secularism and unbiblical immorality? A New York Times guest essay titled "Is the West Becoming Pagan Again?" answers largely in the affirmative. But: H. G. Wells called Jesus "the most dominant figure in all history." Newsweek editor Kenneth Woodward agreed: "By any secular standard, Jesus is the dominant figure of Western culture." Daniel Webster attested, "All that is best in the civilization of today is the fruit of Christ's appearance among men."

MLB All-Stars who played for manager Casey Stengel in AAA Oakland 1946, 47 & 48.

Player      On Oaks  MLB All-Star    (Career) WAR

DiMaggio...1947.......1943, 44.........................17.8

Etten..........1947, 48.1945...............................16.0

Fox............1946........1944...............................16.1

Lavagetto 1948........1938, 39, 40, 41.............12.9

Lombardi..1948 1936, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43 37.9

Martin........1947, 48 1956................................ 3.0

Mulcahy....1947........1940................................ 4.3

Shea..........1946........1947................................ 5.8

Tobin.........1948........1944...............................19.3

Westlake...1946........1951...............................14.6

When Michigan arrived at the Orange Bowl all dressed in white, they looked like astronauts on the way to board the space shuttle to blast off.

Fewest Walks

A tweet about Greg Maddux was recently going viral, how he won 355 games and pitched 5008 innings, but went to a 3-0 count less than 700 times. Many clever yet uncreative soles claimed the wide strike zone umpires allegedly afforded him was the cause, and not his super high rate of throwing the first pitch right down the middle for strike one.

A few brought up analytics, and two compared Maddux to Roger Clemens and Dan Quisenbury. Let’s add Curt Schilling and Maddux-wannabe Max Scherzer. While closer Quisenberry is an outlier as a closer, Mad Dog’s ultra-low walks per inning rate is lowest among starters. Pretty sure I blogged about that before. Several times.

YR.INN…BB..IBB….K..K/BB.BB/INN

24 4917 1580 063 4672 2.96 ,321 Roger

23 5008 0999 177 3371 3.37 .199 Maddux

12 1043 0162 070 0379 2.34 .155 Quis

20 3261 0711 043 3116 4.38 ,218 Curt

14 2537 0677 020 3020 4.46 .267 Max

Of the nineteen pitchers with 3,000 career strikeouts, CURT SCHILLING [SABR Bio] has the best second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio, with 3,116 Ks to 711 BB for a 4.38 avg in 569 career games. Max Scherzer passed Schilling with 4.46 after recently recording his 3000th strikeout. Schilling received votes for the Cy Young Awards only four times, thrice finishing runner-up. In 2001 & 2002, he finished just behind Randy Johnson; in 2004 behind Johann Santana. In 1997, while leading the majors in GS & Ks, he finished fourth. Part of his white hosiery was tinted bright red during a playoff game on 19-Oct-2004.

I'm surprised Red Sox fans haven't made a bloody sock lamp, similar to the Christmas Story leg lamp.

Tim Keller: "The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever hoped."

Denison compares John Madden to...Jesus Christ?

https://www.denisonforum.org/columns/daily-article/why-was-john-madden-so-beloved/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=199592294&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9BYLv1nZuLYtzR0es4IWS_OOn01uLAOnSBCekCD8gLTZw0xHFF8gTrmoxFzwj_7TAgQ2b8aPRfJOaLTjviAINxOs-lTg&utm_content=199592294&utm_source=hs_email

The story behind the 'Star Trek IV' punk on bus.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.sfchronicle.com/culture/amp/The-story-behind-the-Star-Trek-IV-punk-on-15944341.php__;!!AE29DT8V!HRHlzP_IFqUh0FV_Kaz19lF8PTIFG1LHHREOWK7EGkzF1A219a5-VijfqBbad2NKw-E$

Idolatry should be rejected.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://notthebee.com/article/its-called-idolatry-and-christians-should-reject-it__;!!AE29DT8V!HuMFzCiUftYKkl_bPllQQem8e9kwwccTdgtv3JryfNlrc3I3S09gbxj71jCTJCCWYXo$

SAM McDOWELL [SABR Bio] was a highly-touted Pittsburgh recruit, who appeared in New York City on the To Tell the Truth television show before debuting in the majors at age nineteen. He went 6-1/3 innings in his debut 15-Sep-1961, six days before his 20th birthday. He pitched batting practice to the major league team in his hometown while still a junior in high school. McDowell grew up just a few blocks from Forbes Field and was a favorite of the Pirates. A four-sport star in high school, he pitched at every level and was recruited heavily while in high school. He had thrown forty no-hitters before turning professional.

JUSTIN VERLANDER  [B-R Bio] got fifteen wins in his team's first 125 games. Verlander won his 15th game on 21-Aug-2006, Detroit's 125th game that season. He won two more, and won the AL ROY as his team won the AL pennant. In college he played for Old Dominion University Monarchs. Pitching in college for three years, he averaged with11.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He had 427 K in 335⅔ innings while pitching for ODU. His height (6'5") no doubt helped him regularly hit triple digits on the radar gun. Earlier in his career, a Verlander fastball at 100+ mph was not unusual.

ERNIE LOMBARDI  [SABR Bio] was the first Cincinnati Reds player to receive the National League Most Valuable Player Award, 1938  He was the first alumnus from his high school to be elected to the Hall of Fame, but he wasn't the last. Lombardi grew up in Oakland, California.  He attended McClymonds High School, the same school as Frank Robinson. Curt Flood and Vada Pinson also went there, as well as basketball HOFers Bill Russell & Paul Silas. A catcher, he caught both of Johnny Vander Meer's no-hitters, on 11-Jun- vs. Boston, then 15-Jun-1938 at Brooklyn.

Reminders From Christmas

Andy Stanley's four reminders from the Christmas story:

1. Perfect faith is not faith that moves God; perfect faith is faith that moves us to trust God when he doesn't seem to be moving.

2.God has a purpose for our stories that can run counter to what we want or expect. But in those unexpected interruptions, God is at work.

3. There is a difference between questioning God and asking God a question.

4.  Your faith is not in vain, because your faith is not in faith. It is in your risen Savior, who came into the world to save us.

In the future all football games will be played by teams in all black against teams wearing all white. Kids today think this is so cool, forgetting the wise words of Syndrome in The Incredibles: "When everyone is super, then no one is."  I just might start listing all time times football teams wear head to toe black (or navy or grey). Teams have been wearing all white for years, but now pro teams are wearing all white socks as well. I recently noted the Saints/Dolphins MNF game was a black vs white affair, as was a bowl game a few days later.  Here are more:

12/17: Toledo (black over black). Coastal Carolina (black teal black).

12/18: Oregon State (black black black) vs Utah State (white white white). Also App State (black black black) vs Western Kentucky (red over red). Liberty (navy navy navy) vs Eastern Michigan (white over white).

12/20: Saints (black over black) vs Dolphins (white white white white). Texans in navy navy navy. Eagles in black over black.

12/21: SD State (black over black) vs UTSA (white/grey/white). Also Kent State in all yellow.

12/22: Army in black over black.

12/25: Ball State in black/black/black vs Georgia State in white/white/white.

12/28: Minnesota in maroon / maroon / maroon.

12/30: Purdue (black black black) vs Tennessee (white white white). Arizona State (yellow over yellow) vs Wisconsin (white white white).

12/31: Michigan (black black black).

1/1: Kentucky (blue over blue).

1/2 Ravens (purple purple purple purple) vs Rams (white over white), and Patriots (navy over navy) vs Jaguars (white over white).

Dec 22nd: got a lot done that needed to be done before year end. At 4 pm everyone went home, then all the emails started hitting, mostly bad news that needed to be fixed. Boom boom boom! So I stayed late. Again. The next day, a holiday, wasn't much better. 

Habits to increase longevity: get enough sleep, eat fiber, healthy diet, maintain a healthy weight, eat nuts, socialize, exercise, keep learning, fast, limit carbs, don't smoke or drink, avoid stress and processed meat. 

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.lifehack.org/913930/increase-longevity__;!!AE29DT8V!H7dH-fIhpX94FyUMC0RTjrTR-BiL7pq-QW3_Sg4e7UvjzIUFA62jWTgSomk1QpYXbDc$ 

Internet safely: things you should never do online

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.komando.com/tech-tips/12-things-you-should-never-do-online/557071/__;!!AE29DT8V!GWMi3O676N5UGaORqAlYE8wBkYtJZCal32nren7Li0mBxwfyuSoZ1B5boLpgClKGqFo$

Tricks to look better in family photos and selfies.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.komando.com/tech-tips/look-better-in-photos/817668/__;!!AE29DT8V!DtGmIdglpv_4nNsOroUVSgPfvme-tJgIxY-YKAo9jbMPboEs0AXgobitbFQfcwDpjac$

VIDA BLUE [SABR Bio] a switch-hitting lefty, he won his league's MVP in his first full season in the majors after receiving zero votes for Rookie of the Year. Was AL MVP in 1971 after playing in only 12 games in 1969 & 1970. A teammate was runner-up in the voting that year. - #1 Sal Bando was the distant silver silver-medalist in 1971. Blue was a leading factor in his team's winning their team's winning the division by more than fifteen games. OAK won the AL West by 16 games in 1971, but were swept by BAL in the ALCS. Blue was on the cover of Time for the July 28 issue.

STEVE CARLTON  [SABR Bio] holds the record for most balks in a National League season, with eleven in 1979. He also holds the records for most balks in a National League career (82) and most balks in a major league career (90). No other pitcher amassed more career strikeouts in the 145-year history of the National League. Carlton had exactly 4,000 NL Ks. He added 136 more AL Ks. The only grand slam he hit in the majors was off Fernando Valenzuela, on 16-May-1984 in L.A. ME: I liked Carlton because he was a light-out lefty, who wore the cool 70's Phillies powder blue road uniform as well as anyone in baseball. 

Sunday night: homemade pizza.

Bama and Dawgs Advance

                           

Bama played their best game of the season last month against UGA. Cincy played tough but made numerous mistakes, and came up far short. Yesterday Bama played perhaps their second best game of the year, do you think?

Some "fans" are never happy. Last night the Dawgs took the lead, but some complained when UGA didn't keep their foot on the gas and win 50-3. Many Bama fans are the same way. Saban had spoken out about that, and the fans keep complaining. Most games don't play out that way, especially against one of the top four teams in the country. What should Georgia have done, open up their playbook in the second half and not leave anything for Bama?

Good to see the Dawgs hit so hard last night. Several more pass interference penalties could've been called against both teams. A few were called against Georgia.

Bennett and Daniels are both gunslingers, able to get rid of the ball quickly and without hesitation, and stand in the pocket without getting rattled by the pressure. Stetson is very mobile, faster and quicker than the more powerful but plodding Clemson QB DJ Ukulele. BTW several times during the Cheez-It Bowl the announcers hinted that the incoming freshman QB would be competing for DJ's starting position.

Sure most every QB's stats aren't as good when they're pressured. Most QBs don't play well against Bama. Look at "first round pick" Desmond Ritter last night. Against Bama he looked like Stetson.

That's another pet peeve. So many players are described as a first round pick. Bearcats had two CBs that are supposed to be first round picks. That's three first rounders on one team. There's only what, 31 first round picks. So many highly touted players fall to later rounds. Some leave school early then don't get drafted at all.

A few months ago I hung out with a big fan. Season ticket holder. But when I tried to talk to him about the team, he acted like he knew everything and my opinion was worthless. He didn't even go to the school. Just because fans go to games and sit in the stands doesn't mean they're more knowledgeable. They may see things the fans at home don't see, but fans at games miss out on analysis and can't watch other games while they're traveling to and from their games.

Both Bama and UGA should be bringing their best to the championship game.

Babe Ruth hit over 500 home runs after Betty White was born. 

I'm pretty sure she was the last living person named Betty.

Dan Reeves passed away early this morning. He was 77. 

After playing at South Carolina he won championships and Super Bowls as a player, assistant coach, and head coach - with the Cowboys, Broncos, Giants, and Falcons. 

Yesterday was the anniversary of the Ice Bowl in Green Bay. Reeves threw a go-ahead 50 yard TD pass in that game.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.si.com/.amp/nfl/2015/01/09/dan-reeves-cowboys-packers-ice-bowl-memories 

Friday was my ninth day off in a row, and I have three more days off including today. I kinda hit a wall yesterday. Crashed. After golf I did a decent amount of organizing and cleaning out upstairs. Still a long way to go, which can be overwhelming. Ran out to Wendy's and the bank. Just didn't feel like socializing. Glad we weren't going out anywhere. Just wanted to veg out. M ate supper with us: chicken meatballs on jasmine rice, and green beans with potatoes.

Saturday: slept late. I was a bum today as well. Pretty much was in my PJ's - I just threw on a pair of shorts and slid into my Crocs.

Good discussion on College GameDay today about how many of today's college players are more focused on making it to the pros than having any allegiance to a school, with so many entering the transfer portal and opting out of bowl games. It's like they're only in it for themselves and don't really care about anyone else. I know at work it's easy to spot people like that. There are still tons of players who just love to play and love to be with their teammates. Perhaps Stetson Bennett should opt out of the natty and transfer.

Later I kept some games on while I did a little organizing. Ceil was making the BBQ and turned on Heartland, her Canadian horse whisperer show. M made a run to Dekalb Farmers Market. Ate supper earlier than usual. BBQ was great. On toasted buns. Cole slaw. I ate too much.

Rose Bowl: Utah came to play. Making up 78% of the crowd. Buckeyes must've had some players opt out. Herbstreit thought OSU would come out motivated. So far he's been wrong. The son of former Colts receiver Marvin Harrison scored a TD for Ohio State. Instead of wearing dad's number 88 he wears the number of his father's QB - Peyton Manning's 18.

Seeing several defenses this bowl season not finishing the play. Buckeyes, Michigan, & others. Utah made a few mistakes, and let OSU back in the game.

SPdL: the church is close to 170 years old, right?