Mendoza Wins Heisman

Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza was the runaway Heisman winner. He delivered a most memorable acceptance speech. Sour grapes from Vandy QB Deigo Pavia. Quite the contrast in character. I’m going to deliver my next speech Fernando Mendoza style. Will probably go over better than using the Diego Pavia method.

There was a rule change 2 or 3 years ago that caused the number of plays in a game to be reduced. The end of the first quarter has been coming much faster than the past. In fact despite the 2023 rule change that decreased the number of plays run per game, games continue to last longer and longer. From Google: “to reduce plays per game, the NCAA implemented rule changes in 2023, most notably running the clock after first downs (except in the final two minutes of halves), banning consecutive timeouts, and carrying over end-of-quarter penalties, aiming to cut 7-8 plays and 7-8 minutes from games for better pace and safety. Fan reaction is mixed.  Some coaches see benefits (like better clock management). Others coaches dislike the change, feeling it disrupts game flow and doesn't truly shorten games due to increased commercial breaks, leading to fan frustration.”

I was reminded of the time the chapel choir was singing in the evening service. An old girlfriend arrived late and sat down front near the piano. When the choir filed out of the loft from the other side past the organ. I walked up the far side aisle all the way out into the vestibule, then came around to the other far side ailse and went down to sit with my old friend. What I hadn’t realized was that several of the high school boys had followed me out – and didn’t return – until Mr Condra told me.

Busy weekend: Friday night I Netflixed the first four episodes of the Ted Danson show “Man on the Inside”, about a 75 year old widower who accepts a job as a “detective” infiltrating a retirement home to track down a serial thief. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Saturday: housework, haircut. Then I drove down to Macon & back for my football team reunion. Got home at midnight, then couldn’t get to sleep until 3 am.

Sunday: up at 820 to be at church by 930. Will dropped of the girlies. Then a busy afternoon with Ceil with the girls. I went ahead to the class party with the food. 

C was going to bring the girls. Will was going to pick up the girls from the party but had to work late due to a difficult case in the ER. C stayed home. I don’t think she minded. After eating too much on Friday and Sunday, hopefully I can get back to normal this week. Slept until 717 this morning. Made it to work an hour later. 

Denison on Rob Reiner’s murder: studies have shown that social media makes people less empathetic to the news. It reduces time spent with people offline; the epidemic of misinformation online especially hardens us to what we read. Being inundated with bad news can desensitize us to it. We respond with less empathy. Social media creates a culture of comparison and competition, negatively affecting our compassion for others.

MILT PAPPAS [Wiki Bio] was the first pitcher to win 200 games without ever winning 20 in a season. Pappas finished with 206 but the most in any one season was 17, which he did twice. He was born and raised in Detroit. In the 4th inning on 24-Sep-1971, pitching for the Cubs, Pappas threw 9 consecutive strikes, striking out the Phillies Greg Luzinski swinging, Don Money looking, and Mike Anderson swinging. Pappas was signed out of high school by Baltimore at the suggestion of HOF pitcher & major league talent scout Hal Newhouser. Newhouser had recommended Jeter to the Astros before losing him to the Yankees. When the Astoes ignored Newhouser’s recommendation, the scout resigned in protest.

IT IS COLD.

Return to Stoney River & Kimchi Red

Tuesday night we had our work dinner at Stoney River. Pretty good. The two bigwigs weren’t there, so it was a little more relaxed. When we were sitting down Ceil had to sit on the end since she can only hear out of one ear. Coworker Jonathan made a point of coming over to sit by me, which was nice. Good stories from him and wife Valerie about their three kids, and their chickens. Also in attendance were Eric, Angie, Brad (and their spouses), and Alex.

I ordered the 10 ounce filet, which was delicious. Salad, rolls, spinach dip, shrimp on biscuits with gravy, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, asparagus, and chocolate cake. A good evening. I was one of the last ones to finish eating. Stayed up till 11 pm. Went to bed but couldn’t sleep. At 3 am I got up. Remembered that I hadn’t taken my magnesium before bed. Took the vitamin and slept better the rest of the way.

Wednesday: stopped by Chickfila on the way home to cash in my free milkshake. Got in the mobile pickup line while I was still placing my order. Messed up and added tow milkshakes to my cart. Was trying to delete one of them when a car got in line behind me. Ugh. I just went ahead and got the two milkshakes. They were good. Then I was full.

Work was busy on Wednesday afternoon. Ceil baked some cookies and cleaned. From 5 pm to 7:15 I cleaned, and cleared off the driveway and front walk. Small group was good. Took my magnesium pill and slept real good. Man I took the entire week off from the gym past this week. I’ve been a bum. A busy bum.

My friend wanted to meet at Kimchi Red for lunch on Thursday. I hadn’t really liked it from the first time I went, but I figured I’d ordered the wrong thing. Thursday morning at work I looked over the menu and talked to coworkers Leo and Daniel. They recommended the soy garlic sauce, which is sweet not spicy. I ordered the half chicken boneless, coated in the soy garlic sauce. From the first bite I knew I’d ordered the right thing. Delicious. Had a good time catching up with my friend David. He and his family might spend Christmas in NYC. A longer than usual lunch, from 1130 to 115.

Then the rest of the afternoon was super busy. A long chat with my friend Tim Kurtz talking about his late brother Ricky. We’d all played football together in high school. I was supposed to deliver a short memorial about Ricky Saturday night at our reunion. Sat with Leo to knock out some work, and had to enter orders since Brad and Sherryl were out. Busy again on Friday, with Brad, Leo, and Sherryl all on vacation. Plus Angie was remote. Rachel and Lauren wanted me to record my voice on a Build A Bear. I was able to organize notes for the first time all week. Still have a ways to go.

Supper was grilled chicken and rice, with salsa. Christmas luncheon at work on Friday. Smoked turkey and ham from Dreamland BBQ, with all the fixins.

Did Ashley Corbitt retire? I just learned that at his church he was the deacon assigned to Mariah, the single girl who recently married to son of my other friend Reid.

RED RUFFING [SABR Bio] drove in more runs than any other pitcher in the Modern Era: 273, ahead of Walter Johnson’ 255. Cy Young leads all pitchers with 290, but the first ten years of his career were in the 1800s. Ruffing was drafted into the Army Air Corps during WWII, despite being nearly 38 years old and missing four toes. He was drafted 04-Jan-1943. In 1928, playing for the Red Sox, Ruffing led the league with 25 complete games. He led the majors in losses, with a record of 10-25.

There is a Santa Claus

Christmas arrived early this year. Yes, Atlanta, there is a Santa Claus. His name is Kirk Cousins.

1. The Falcons will be getting new uniforms for 2026. Most probably red helmets and silver britches, perhaps harkening to the William Andrews era. Most probably a new Falcon logo, since the current logo is too related to years of losing football. A complete break from the current uniforms as well as from the Matt Ryan era uniforms. The current 1966 throwback uniforms will be retained. All exciting news. Prediction: they'll screw it up and trade the beautiful grey facemasks for ugly white black masks. Ugh.

2. Both the Falcons and the Buccaneers wore their throwback uniforms last night. Both wore dark jerseys. A super rare color on color matchup. The Uni Watch game of the year.

3. The Falcons actually won the game. Call me a hater, but QB Kirk Cousins is a way more efficient QB than Phenix. Cousins may not scramble, but Phenix is no Fran Tarkenton either. Kirk knows how to get rid of the ball, usually without throwing the ball away. Kirk had a high passer rating – 116.9. Went 30-44 for 373 yards, three TDs & zero interceptions.

4. Georgia State has begun construction on their new baseball stadium, to be built on the footprint of the old Atlanta Stadium. Will include a Hank Aaron 715 memorial. Should be finished before the end of 2026. 

The Georgia State women's softball field may be built just west of the baseball stadium. Georgia State may also place a marker where Atlanta Stadium's home plate used to be, so future celebrations on the anniversary of Sid Slid will have a place to meet. 

The Aaron statue is being relocated from old Turner Field a few hundred feet north to the new baseball park. Back in the 90's Atlanta Stadium had been the first home of the statue.

5. The Braves signed a second closer / setup reliever this week. And a DH / fourth outfielder. With two months before spring training, and 3-1/2 months before opening day, I’m certain GM Alex Anthropolis will be making several moves to round out the roster.

6. Saw where the super cool Detlef Schrempf iSlides are still available in my size (12), for 4 payments of $13.00. Something I for sure don’t need. Alas, the royal & green Maravich era Hawks iSlides are nowhere to be found.

Andrew Peterson lives in Nashville, and the tour stop in Nashville will be in the Ryman. He will also have another concert in the Ryman next June. When Will had a baseball tournament in Nashville we stopped by the Ryman when we were sightseeing. Ceil wants to go back. The water park where Opryland and the new Grand Old Opry is? I’ve never been there, but did stop in front of the old Ryman Auditorium. There are still big name concerts at the Ryman just about every night – here’s the schedule.

Wish I had traveled more when I was single. I went to Camp SPdL and on youth and singles retreats, but that was about it. Never really made my career a focus or priority, but God provided. Our office building was just where I went to provide for my family. For the most part I had enjoyable coworkers. Only a few stretches where the work was overbearing. Enjoyed the few times I traveled for work, and was able to attend a few “road Games” along the way.

Denison on the “new” US position on foreign policy: the administration states, “The purpose of foreign policy is the protection of core national interests; that is the sole focus of this strategy.” The document adds that previous approaches “allowed allies to offload the cost of their defense onto the American people, and suck us into conflicts central to their interests but peripheral to our own.” The US has decided that America’s allies have too often been a hindrance to the nation than help. 

ME: is it not right for the US to put the best interests of its own citizens ahead of the interests of other countries?

JIM BUNNING [SABR Bio] pitched the first National League perfect game in the Modern Era, on Fathers’ Day 21-Jun-1964. Previously there were two perfect games in the NL, both in 1880. There have been 6 since. He was the first 20th century pitcher to rack up 1000 career strikeouts in each league. Bunning’s total was 2,855 — 1,406 with the Tigers and 1449 with the Phillies, Pirates, and Dodgers. After his playing and coaching career, he began representing players as their agent. He had at 30 clients when he first entered politics.

Kohls: Complicated & Expensive

After supper last Friday night I drove Ceil to Michaels, Kohls, and Target. Picked up dessert from the Cheesecake Factory. Wimped out of golf Saturday morning, blaming the tolerable 42 degree weather. Got the Christmas tree decorated today. Cleaned out a little of the attic.

We'd gone to Kohls Friday night and it had taken 15 minutes to check out, but we had to look up gift cards and sign up for memberships so it would be free. Went back Sunday afternoon but the line to check out was long, long – would've taken over an hour, so I left. They credit the sale price, then members get another discount, and if you have a gift card that's a third step. Never used the last $20 of the gift card. Had thought about going back at 9 pm last night but didn't. Too complicated and inconvenient to buy at Kohls. And expensive.

After church Sunday I met up with a guy and sold him the 36 batting helmets I'd had up in the attic. Sold them for $35.00 to get rid of them. After I'd made the deal another guy offered me 50. Kept two Braves helmets for my office, from 1974 and 1982.

Also sold two more pairs of old sneakers.

Attended a neighborhood zoom call Sunday, about changing covenants. It was going well, then 30 minutes into it a cranky lady joined in and began dominating the discussion, erroneously getting things wrong that had been covered before she logged on.

A&C were in north Georgia for a wedding, so we kept Goose. A big deer was wandering around our front yard. A couple of coyotes were spotted in our neighborhood. Lots of deer. Owls and hawks and crows. Wild turkeys, even. Squirrels and chipmunks, dogs and cats. Haven't seen any opossums in a while.

Cold. Been wearing my fingerless gloves all day. Monday night we went over to the Chiles house for supper. Rob grilled tenderloin for supper. Nancy prepared fresh baked squash and rice with mushrooms. Noelle brought salad.

Ceil was to bring an appetizer. Matthew had stopped by our house yesterday and told Ceil that she was too good of a cook to take an ordinary appetizer, and helped her make some delicious miniature tomato pie / tarts. Very good.

Made a little progress on a Christmas card. A long way to go.

Annie Norman is home recovering. Still much pain but she seems to be all there. Praise God. Yesterday Charles took Annie out for a one mile walk. I hadn't realized that the whole Norman family were there at the hospital during the surgery, along with all the spouses and Becky.

Moes is celebrating an anniversary by dialing back prices, so I may cash in on that.

Saw a story about a state representative with a case in the state supreme court that judge Fani Willis is hearing. I grew up going to church and school with the lawyer – Bill Cowsert. Hadn't heard of him in 45 years. Is now related to Governor Brian Kemp by marriage. Had been a nice, pleasant, reserved guy back in the day.

In the "Year of the Pitcher", the major league All-Star Game ended 1-0. WILLIE MAYS [SABR Bio] grounded out twice, struck out, and was picked off - but scored the game's only run. On 09-Jul-1968, in the bottom of the 1st, Mays singled but was picked off by Luis Tiant, but was ruled safe on Harmon Killebrew's error, and eventually scored. Details here. Mays once stole a home run with a bare-handed catch. In his first weekend with the B-level Trenton Giants in 1950, Mays went back on a deep drive vs. York, leaped at the fence & caught it with his bare hand against the wall.  A teammate recalled that the ball would have gone over the fence. In the latter days of racial segregation, some white teammates broke into his hotel room & slept on the floor so the young rookie would feel more comfortable.

What life was like growing up in the 60's & 70's.

The Lou Groza Award

My Lou Groza Award Vote. Comparing the three finalist and UGA kicker Peyton Woodring. All four made 100% of their extra points.

FG-ATT % long 50+

25-28 89.3 55 1-3 Birr GT

15-16 93.8 53 3-3 Woodring UGA

25-26 96.2 52 1-1 Matsuzawa Hawaii

23-24 95.8 55 7-7 Sandell OK

4. Peyton Woodring, UGA. Currently the SEC’s all-time most accurate kicker. Went 3-3 from beyond 50 yards. Only missed one field goal all year, but only attempted 16.

3. Aiden Birr Georgia Tech. Tied for most made field goals in the nation. Two of the three field goals he missed were beyond 50 yards. Otherwise his stats are equal to Matsuzawa.

2. Kansei Matsuzawa, Hawaii. Tied for the most made field goals in the nation. Only missed one field goal all year.

WINNER: Tate Sandell, Oklahoma. Went 7-7 from beyond 50 yards, with a long off 55. Missed one field goal all year.  

What criteria does the college football playoff committee use? The five highest ranked conference champions make the field of 12. Then the next seven highest ranked teams. Principles used to rank the teams: (1) strength of schedule, (2) head to head competition, (3) outcomes against common opponents. 

What message does Notre Dame send to opt out of a bowl game? Notre Dame's athletic director is pulling the school out of the ACC. Basketball, baseball, women’s sports, etc. The Irish will have to pay a hefty exit fee – millions. The AD was mad that the ACC didn’t better support Notre Dame’s bid to be in the playoff – even though the Notre Dame football team is not a member of the ACC conference, and Miami is.

Teams who turned down bowl bids: Notre Dame, Auburn, FSU, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, UCF, Baylor, Rutgers, Temple. By not playing in a bowl, teams miss out on a couple weeks of practice. This is when younger players can really develop. Fans love bowls, and bowls bring in more money for the school and conference. I wonder if conferences will start forcing teams to accept bowl bids.

Teams used to care about going to a bowl, becoming bowl eligible, etc. They’d list the bowls they’d been to, and how many years in a row they’d been to a bowl. Now there are so many meaningless bowls that no one cares any more. The bowls should’ve gotten together and told Notre Dame that they could go to whatever bowl game they wanted.

Next year according to an agreement with the playoff committee, if Notre Dame is ranked 12 or higher, the playoff committee is required to have the Irish in the playoff.

BABE RUTH  [SABR Bio] once endorsed a brand of athletic underwear called “Babe Ruth All America Athletic Underwear.” He was the first player to hit three home runs in a game in each league. Ruth only did it one time each. On 21-May-1930, he hit 3 HR off two A’s pitchers in a losing, 15-7 effort in Philadelphia. Babe was responsible for 6 of his team’s 7 runs. Ruth hit the last 3 HR of his career  for the NL’s Boston Braves. Playing Pittsburgh on 25-May-1935, Ruth took two Pirate hurlers deep, hitting career HR’s 712, 713, & 714. The Bambino only played five more games, had 9 more at bats, without a hit in any of them. At St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys in Baltimore, “little George” met a giant of a man (6'6") named Brother Matthias, who Ruth said was the most influential person in his life.

Article: things boomers understand that younger generations are still figuring out.

1. You won’t be able to get the big things you want soon after first starting out.

2. Financial stability comes from consistency, not intelligence.

3. The ability to focus is a superpower.

4. Relationships survive on effort, not vibes. Relationships often require compromise, repair after conflict, long term investment, and sometimes giving more than you get.

5. You can disagree with someone and still respect them.

2005 Bowl Schedule

Bowls: there’s no way to pick them any more, with all the player and coach movement. Even before the bowl bids there were daily reports of coaches changing jobs and players transferring. UGA has one CB leaving. Several Ole Miss coaches and probably players – and they’re in the playoff! Tech has two coaches leaving and a couple of players. Texas fears many will opt out of the bowl against Michigan.

The Irish decided to not go to a bowl game, in protest of not getting in the 12 team playoff. One of the top factors the playoff committee is supposed to consider is head to head competition, so Miami made it in, since they beat the Irish. Lots of Irish fans are mad at the Notre Dame football team for not playing.

The Birmingham Bowl asked several teams to come to their bowl, but many turned them down, like Auburn and others.

12.13 1200 Cricket Bowl: SC State vs Prairie View in Atlanta

12.13 300 Army @ Navy in Baltimore

12.13 800 LA Bowl: Boise State vs Washington

12.16 900 Veterans Bowl: Troy vs Jacksonville State in Montgomery

12.17 500 Cure Bowl: Old Dominion vs South Florida in Orlando

12.17 830 68 Ventures Bowl: Louisiana vs Delaware in Mobile

12.18 900 Xbox Bowl Missouri State vs Arkansas State in Frisco Texas

12.19 1100 Mrytle Brach Bowl: Kennesaw State vs Western Michigan

12.19 230 Gasparilla Bowl: Memphis vs NC State in Tampa

12.19 800 #9 Alabama @ #8 Oklahoma in Norman

12.20 1200 #10 Miami @ #7 Texas A&M in College Station

12.20 330 #11 Tulane @ #6 Ole Miss in Oxford

12.20 730 #12 James Madison @ #5 Oregon in Eugene

12.22 200 Potato Bowl: Washington State vs Utah State in Boise

12.23 200 Boca Raton Bowl: Toledo vs Louisville

12.23 530 New Orleans Bowl: Western Kentucky vs Southern Miss

12.23 900 Frisco Bowl: UNLV vs Ohio

12.24 800 Hawaii Bowl: Cal vs Hawaii

12.26 100 Sports Bowl: Central Michigan vs Northwestern in Detroit

12.26 430 Rate Bowl: New Mexico vs Minnesota in Phoenix

12.26 800 First Responder Bowl: Florida International vs UTSA in Dallas

12.27 1100 Military Bowl: Pitt vs East Carolina in Annapolis

12.27 1200 Pinstripe Bowl: Penn State vs Clemson

12.27 215 Fenway Bowl: UConn vs Army

12.27 330 Pop-Tarts Bowl: Georgia Tech vs BYU in Orlando

12.27 430 Arizona Bowl: Miami Ohio vs Fresno State in Tucson

12.27 545 New Mexico Bowl: N Texas vs SD State, Albuquerque

12.27 730 Gator Bowl: Virginia vs Missouri

12.27 915 Texas Bowl: LSU vs Houston in Houston

12.29 200 Birmingham Bowl: Georgia Southern vs Appalachian State  

12.30 200 Independence Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs La Tech, Shreveport

12.30 530 Music City: Bowl Tennesee vs Illinois in Nashville

12.30 900 Alamo Bowl: USC vs TCU in San Antonio

12.31 1200 ReliaQuest: Bowl Iowa vs Vanderbilt in Tampa

12.31 200 Sun Bowl: Arizona State vs Duke in El Paso

12.31 300 Citrus Bowl: Michigan vs Texas in Orlando

12.31 330 Las Vegas Bowl: Nebraska vs Utah

12.31 730 Cotton Bowl: Ohio State vs Miami/Texas A&M

1.1 1200 Orange Bowl: Texas Tech vs Oregon

1.1 400 Rose Bowl: Indiana vs Oklahoma/Alabama

1.1 800 Sugar Bowl: UGA vs Ole Miss

1.2 100 Armed Forces Bowl: Rice vs Texas State in Ft Worth

1.2 430 Liberty Bowl: Navy vs Cincinnati in Memphis  

1.2 800 Dukes Mayo Bowl: Wake Forest vs Mississippi State in Charlotte 

1.2 800 Holiday Bowl: Arizona vs SMU in San Diego

1.8 730 Fiesta Bowl: UGA vs Ohio State

1.9 730 Peach Bowl: Indiana vs Texas Tech

1.19 730 Championship Game in Miami 

Me and this one other old guy in the office print more stuff than the rest of the office combined. Not sure what I will do when I retire.

My Heisman Vote

My Heisman vote. For comparison’s sake, let’s see how preseason frontrunner Arch Manning finished the season.

TD W-L SoR QBR yd INT yd/game…yd rushing

39 13-0 01 88.5 3220 6 247 Mendoza 240

36 10-2 11 87.7 4018 8 335 Pavia         826

32 09-3 12 70.6 3186 7 266 Arch           244

31 12-1 02 85.8 3133 5 241 Gunner     442

31 12-1 05 89.6 3223 6 255 Sayin         000

27 09-3 27 77.7 3619 5 302 King           922

My order of finish…

6. Arch Manning, Texas sophomore. Lost to Ohio State, UGA, & Florida. Had stats comparable to the top five Heisman candidates.

5. Julian Sayin, Ohio State. Only top QB with no rushing yards. Finished with the most passing yards and second highest QBR. Led the nation with a 78.4% completion percentage.

4. Haynes King, Georgia Tech. Led all QBs in rushing yards and rush TDs. Only Pavia gained more yards.

3. Gunner Stockton, UGA. Was one dropped pass from being undefeated. Avenged UGA’s only loss by beating Bama for the SEC Championship. Faced second toughest strength of record.

2. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt. Gained the most yards passing + rushing. Led Commodores to a 10-2 record in the SEC.

WINNER: Fernando Mandoza, Indiana. Led Hoosiers to the only undefeated season in college football. Beat #1 Ohio State in the Big10 Championship Game. Faced the toughest strength of record. Threw for the most TD’s (33) and ran for 6 more.

SEC Champions

UGA dominated on Saturday night, cruising to a win in the SEC Championship inside Mercedes Benz Stadium. Only a late unnecessary roughness penalty on UGA turned a drive ending play into an Alabama first down, then Bama drove for a score. But then Bama went for it on fourth down deep in Georgia territory. Not the greatest play call, and the Dawgs make the stop and score on 3rd & 11 to go up 28-7.

Gunner was 20 of 26 and 3 touchdowns, without his starting center. Gunner took a pounding, as well as their top two running backs.

In the fourth quarter the Dawgs backed off on the blitzes and pressure, and Bama started to move the ball a little more. The Georgia defense basically cost Bama QB Ty Simpson a shot at the Heisman Trophy. Held Bama to minus 3 yards rushing.

Ernie Johnson Jr was the celebrity guest picker on ESPN College GameDay, and did a great job.

Texas Tech looked dominant, beating #11 BYU 34-7. Dawgs and Red Raiders earn their first round byes, and get to rest until New Years.

Kennesaw State beat Jacksonville State for the conference championship, as did Tulane.

You’d think Bama would make the playoff, and they did. So did Miami. Texas was on the outside looking in.  

Indiana’s kicker hadn’t missed all year, but missed Saturday night. Hoosiers needed everything to go right in order to win. QB Mendoza may have had his Heisman moment. Some loved his postgame interview thanking God, others hated it. We’ll see what the Heisman voters thought.

Maybe if Ohio State QB Julian Sayin wins the Heisman, then it might jinx them in the playoffs.

Teams who turned down bowl bids: Notre Dame, Auburn, FSU, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, UCF, Baylor, Rutgers, Temple. By not playing in a bowl, teams miss out on a couple weeks of practice. This is when younger players can really develop. Fans love bowls, and bowls bring in more money for the school and conference. I wonder if conferences will start forcing teams to accept bowl bids.

No way to pick winners in bowl games, with all the player and coach movement. Even before the bowl bids there were daily reports of coaches changing jobs and players transferring. UGA has one CB leaving. Several Ole Miss coaches and probably players – and they’re in the playoff! Tech has two coaches leaving and a couple of players. Texas fears many will opt out of the bowl against Michigan. Tech’s offensive line coach is headed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Teams used to care about going to a bowl, becoming bowl eligible, etc. They’d list the bowls they’d been to, and how many years in a row they’d been to a bowl. Now there are so many meaningless bowls that no one cares any more. The bowls should’ve gotten together and told Notre Dame that they could go to whatever bowl game they wanted. Next year according to an agreement with the playoff committee, if Notre Dame is ranked 12 or higher, the playoff committee is required to have the Irish in the playoff.

HENRY AARON [SABR Bio] is baseball’s career leader in total bases, with 6,856 TB. The current active leader is Freddie Freeman at 4,145. Hank led the NL eight times, with four of those times leading the majors. Aaron led in TB in 1956 (340), 1957 (369), 1959 (400), 1960 (334), 1961 (358), 1963 (370), 1967 (334), & 1969 (332). Sportswriter Michal Clair tells us Aaron fondly remembered directing traffic as a Boy Scout down the busy main thoroughfare in Mobile, and even recorded a commercial for the Scouts in the 1970s.

It Was Brain Surgery

Annie Norman had brain aneurism surgery Thursday. Charles Norman’s wife. As a teenager Charles met Annie Blass at East Cobb Presbyterian youth group. Charles was a normal kid who loved sports. For the longest time he was small and cute, tagging along with his taller brothers. Always a smile on his face. Annie took to Charles back in high school, and loved hanging out at the Norman house in Roswell. Annie always has a bright smile in every picture you see – the exact same smile she wears all day every day. I just know who she is. We’ve had a few conversations over the past 10-15 years, but not many. Will is best friends with Charles, so the two families do a lot of life together. Ceil and my Anna know Annie. So precious. Two cute little boys who play with Shivonne and Millie.

Small group Wednesday night with John H and Dan and Chris, with John R on zoom. During our time of sharing we all had wonderful thanksgivings. Mostly all good news. I didn’t get to share about Annie. After Bible study on Genesis 20-21 we were wrapping up, and I was able to share about Annie. Just about every time I’ve been thinking about her surgery I’ve started to cry (like when typing this). I was really having a tough time holding it together while sharing with the guys. Dan, with his cancer and issues with business and family, jumped in and prayed for Annie.

Annie seemed to be doing well Friday morning. The surgery was in the part of the brain where speech can be affected, but she doesn’t appear to have any problems speaking. They’re pleased with the neuro checks. She had trouble sleeping and was in pain, most probably from the surgery. Makes me cry every time I think about her. She’s so precious. I’m praying the surgery won’t have an effect on her memory, personality, etc. Charles Norman is quiet and reserved, and all this has really been hard on him. MC is close to Annie, so it’s been a struggle for her as well.

Puzzles help keep the mind sharp. I need to do more puzzles, and will step it up when I retire. Need to get Ceil doing more to keep her brain sharp as well.  

Article: scientists say that when you cross the street in front of a car, and smile and wave to the driver for letting you cross, you are a good person. I thought about this article as I hustled across the street Friday night in front of a car, making sure to give the courtesy wave.

Behold the Lamb

Had a good time Thursday night at the Andrew Peterson Behold the Lamb of God concert. Peterson was first known for the worship song he wrote “He Is”. The concert started at 715, then there was an intermission at 845. In the first part the artists spent a chunk of time introducing and explaining their songs. The last hour there was hardly any talk, instead moving quickly from one song to another, performing 13 songs between 9 and 10 pm – telling the story of Jesus’ birth. Very worshipful. After taking their bows at the end, Peterson led the congregation in the Doxology, which the concertgoers sang as the musicians walked off stage.

This is the 26th annual Lamb of God tour. Thursday was the first concert in the 2025 tour, a sellout. The tour lasts 13 nights between last night and Dec 20.

After work I met Matthew and Ceil at the Peachtree Corners Forum to eat at Kimchi Red, a highly regarded Korean fried chicken restaurant in the Politan Row food court. M and C enjoyed it, but it really wasn’t my cup of tea. Then a few miles up Peachtree Parkway to Perimeter Church, at the corner of Old Alabama Road. W&MC and A&C joined us.

Will had come from work at Northside Hospital, where he had been able to be with Charles Norman during part of Annie’s four hour brain aneurism surgery. Just as the concert was starting, Will heard that the surgeon had come out to report that the surgery had gone well. They’ll continue to monitor Annie today. Both W&MC were drained from the day’s events.

So it’s decided - January 15th will be my last day at work. It’s starting to get real. They’ll have a cake at the office, then a steak dinner that evening with coworkers. Better start working on my speech. A very nice send-away. But we’ll be keeping the girlies the next week after that.

Another thing about my going away party day – some EZGo people will be coming all the way from Augusta to say goodbye. Very nice. 23 more work days.

I won’t be needing as many clothes in my closet. Or as many shoes. Really won’t be using a backpack to carry around my laptop any more. So many things I won’t be needing. Looking forward to The Great De-Cluttering of 2026.