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

1.1 1200 Orange Bowl: Texas Tech vs Oregon

1.1 400 Rose Bowl: Indiana vs 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: Miami vs Ole Miss

1.9 730 Peach Bowl: Indiana vs Oregon

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.

Yellow Jacket Insider

Bad news: GT offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner is leaving the Flats and becoming the new offensive coordinator for the Florida Gators. Rumors on social media that backup QB Philo and WR Stockton will be transferring from Tech. I can see following a good coach, but when you’re pretty much guaranteed the starting job next year at Tech, and probably gonna make decent NIL money, not sure I would be transferring.

A few days ago I was reading what a self described “GT expert” was saying about the GT OC. He saif Faulkner didn’t want to be a head coach, that he was happy here at GT as offensive coordinator. That GT had recently given him a raise. I read what Lang said about getting him to Memphis. But the Florida move is supposedly a done deal (was it in your morning paper?) – so I doubt he’ll take the head job at Memphis. I had heard the Memphis rumors about the Kennesaw coach. Didn’t realize the Kennesaw coach was from Memphis.

On Saturday mornings in the fall, ESPN College GameDay is must see TV, but I have to admit that I’ve been tuning in to Marty & McGee during the 9 am hour. This weekend’s slate of football games...

700 Friday Kennesaw State @ Jacksonville State

730 Friday 12-1 Marist @ 10-2 Benedictine (state semifinal)

800 Friday North Texas @ Tulane

1200 Saturday BYU vs Texas Tech

400 Saturday UGA vs Alabama

800 Saturday Duke vs Virginia

800 Saturday Ohio State vs Indiana

100 Sunday Seahawks @ Falcons

820 Sunday Texans @ Chiefs

815 Monday Eagles @ Chargers

Waiting until after this weekend’s games are played to compute my Heisman vote. I’ll share my pick next week. 

ALBERT PUJOLS  [SABR Bio] played more games than any other player born in the Dominican Republic: 3080 – 5th all-time, one behind Rickey Henderson. Only Pujols and Ray Jablonski drove in more than 100 runs in their rookie seasons for the Cardinals. Jablonski had a career-high 112 RBI in 1953, hitting behind Hall of Famers Red Schoendienst, Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter. Pujols had 130 in 2001, but had 14 seasons with 100+ RBI. Pujols got his 3000th career hit on a broken-bat single. His 3,000^th was in Seattle on 04-May-2018.

Pet peeve; when someone sneezes, some people can make a show of saying “bless you”, making it more about themselves than the person who sneezed. That might just be me. Kinda like when someone shares something (like your suffering) and instead of having empathy the other person makes it about themselves (like I so often do). I hate it when I do that.

I took one multivitamin at 5 pm and another just before bed. I think the magnesium helped me sleep better. Need to continue that practice. I really need to make an eyedoctor appt but I haven’t been motivated. Lots of little odds and ends I need to work on.

Just One More

I have way too many Braves caps, but I just figured out one more that I “need” – an all-black Braves cap. Black logos, front and back. Can wear in the winter when its cold to places that aren’t quite as casual, when I’m around a bunch of old people.

Since 1946, Tech has played UGA every year except 2020. They’ve lost their last eleven games wearing their traditional gold helmets, white jerseys, and gold britches. Tech’s record against UGA, by uniform...

W - L helmet jersey pants

15-32 gold white gold  

00-05 gold gold white

00-04 white white gold

02-01 white gold white

04-04 gold white white

04-05 gold black gold

00-01 gold navy gold

Obviously the prior record does not factor into future uniform choice decision making process. Without exception, for the past 45 years (since 1981) against Tech the Dawgs have worn red helmets, silver britches, and either a red or white jersey.

Leo shared an old Portuguese saying: “If you hide, the beast will find you. If you run, the beast will catch you”. Kinda like “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t”.

Every December coworker Rachel wears a different Christmas sweater every day – at least 25 different sweaters. Yet whenever the office has a Christmas sweater contest, she never wins. It’s a shame.

Brain health article of the day: eating 60 peanuts every day will improve your brain function by 6%. That’s one peanut every 12 minutes, for 12 hours a day.

Went back to Cheeseburger Bobbys for the last day of the free cheeseburger deal again. Come January I won’t be able to do these deals.

FRED McGRIFF [SABR Bio] was the first Atlanta Brave to hit a home run in his first World Series at-bat. McGriff took Cleveland starter Orel Hershiser deep leading off the 2nd inning of Game 1 of the 1995 WS in Atlanta. McGriff played for the Dodgers in 2003. Toward the end of McGriff’s rookie season, on 14-Sep-1987, the Blue Jays set a major league record that still stands: ten home runs by one team in a single game against Baltimore: Ernie Whit (3), Rance Mulliniks and George Bell (2 each), and Lloyd Moseby, Rob Ducey, and McGriff with one apiece. McGriff grew up four blocks from Al Lopez Field, the longtime spring training home of the Cincinnati Reds.

Denison: top ten most sinful cites in America ranked: Vegas (1), Houston (2), LA (3), Philadelphia (4), Atlanta (5), Denver (6), Miami (7), Dallas (8), Phoenix (9), New Orleans (10). Memphis was 15 and NYC 17. Not sure what the definition of sin was.

Christmas Movies

Do you like the Christmas movie Elf? It’s one of the best. Bob Newhart. Ed Asner. James Caan. Mary Steenburgen. Will Ferrell. That girl with the funny name, from New Girl. Other Christmas movies that I like: The Polar Express. The Santa Clause movies. John Grisham wrote the short story “Christmas With the Kranks” which was made into a pretty good movie. Trading Places is kinda a Christmas movie. These off the top of my head. I’ve never seen It’s a Wonderful Life.

Other classic Christmas movies: Home Alone, A Christmas Carol, The Family Stone, While You Were Sleeping, Miracle on 34th Street, Scrooged, White Christmas, A Christmas Story.

They’re decorating our office at work for the “holidays’, with a “holiday tree”, presents, etc. There’s been a wicker reindeer that’s been part of the lobby decorations for years and years. About ten years ago I started moving the reindeer around the lobby to see if anyone noticed. Well the ladies in  purchasing sure did – they were MAD! They were trying to get security camera footage to see who was messing with their decorations. Those ladies have long since retired, so every year I move the reindeer around the lobby. This year I will really have to go big on moving the reindeer around, perhaps upstairs to the breakroom and to other departments.

When Santa arrived at the end of last Thursday’s Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, Ceil noticed that Mrs. Claus appeared to be Asian. Was hard to detect Santa’s ethnicity. Then I saw the new Lexus Christmas advertisement, featuring the same Mrs. Claus as last year – though she appeared to have colored her hair from all white to black. Could’ve been Asian, not sure.

The Chick-fil-A milkshake: always a good choice. What flavor? I got me a peppermint milkshake from CFA last week.

The father/son golf tournament is coming up in a few weeks, the PNC. Dec 18-21. Trevino. Gary Player. Cink. John Daly. Singh. Annika. Nellie Korda. Did Justin Thomas recently have surgery? No Tiger this year. I completely missed the MLB golf tournament. Smoltz and Michael Harris came in third. Two guys from the Twins won it. The Capital One MLB Open.

A coworker ran the Atlanta Half Marathon last Thursday. I told her that she didn’t do it right – she forgot to talk about it every day for the two months leading up to the race.

Don’t be one of these people…

1. Have the constant need to be right. People who can’t consider other perspectives or admit that they might be wrong. Reveals low self awareness.  They reject feedback and stay stuck, instead of growing as a person.

2. Blame others instead of owning their own actions. They shift responsibility to anyone but themselves, which keeps them from growing.  

3. They talk more than listen. They dominate conversations and ignore what other people have to say. They care more about their own voice than learning anything new.    

4. Refuse to learn. Avoids challenges and dismisses advice. A closed mind keeps them stagnant. Smarter people remain curious and adaptable.  

5. Be overconfident without having substance. They act like experts without real knowledge or experience, often speaking impulsively, revealing and exposing their lack of depth. People can see right through this – they are not fooling anyone.   

6. Judge others too quickly. Snap assumptions and stereotypes show a lack of empathy, and almost always leads to unfair conclusions and strained relationships.

Life In The Fast Food Lane

Monday was a typical fast food day for me (which needs to stop). Free RaceTrac drink on the way to work. Free cheeseburger from Cheeseburger Bobby’s, with purchase of fries and drink. Left the office and stopped for a free junior frosty at Wendys. Then I bought a cookie from Chickfila to save for breakfast today. By buying the cookie I receive a free treat later this week. Plus Chickfila awarded me another treat for December.

 

At Halloween you buy five junior frosty coupons for a dollar, then when try to use one they don’t want to take your coupon. So I’ve been getting a free junior frosty every day. Hits the spot.

Ceil fixed beef stew for supper. The stew was good, but the beef was too chewy. Watched Jeopardy, the new Peyton’s Places with Gronk and Edelman, and the Manningcast with Danny Devito, a Giants fan. Crazy play involving Younghoe Koo, who inexplicably failed to swing his foot through the ball on a field goal attempt. Not sure what happened. Could be the end of his career.

Just happened to stumble across this article last night: the best places to stop when driving cross country, and the worst.

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

Ohio: Buckeye Lake State Park…not great.

Pharmacy Burger Parlor in Nashville.

Dolly Parton’s White Limozeen in Nashville

Rendezvous BBQ in Memphis

Cheers Restaurant in Fayetteville Arkansas

The Blue Whale of Catoosa in Tulsa.

The Philbrook Art Deco Museum in Tulsa.

Cadillac Ranch outside of Amarillo

Stonehenge in Odessa

Stockyard Station & Cowtown Museum in Ft Worth

Santa Fe: Ojo Santa Fe Thermal Spa & Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Arizona: Petrified Forest National Park & the Painted Desert Inn & Newspaper Rock

Sedona: Cathedral Rock, Yavapai Apache Fry Bread & Jewelry.

I need to come up with my own list of places that I want to visit on my cross country trip. Except now I hate to drive, so it probably won't happen. Off the top of my head: New Orleans, Austin, Four Corners Arizona, White Sands National Park, Alaska, Mount Rushmore, Green Bay, Milwaukee, the Field of Dreams in Iowa, Nashville, Memphis, Key West, Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Japan. Also other national parks that our kids had visited out west. Not that we’re going to any of these places, but it’s fun to list them.

Route 66 runs from Chicago to Santa Monica…2448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica. Attractions include…

Pontiac IL: Route 66 hall of fame

Springfield IL: Cozy Dog drive in and Lauterbach giant figure.

St Louis Gateway Arch & Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

Stanton MO: Meramec Caverns

Cuba MO restored hotels

Galena Kansas service station inspired the movie Cars

Baxter Springs historic downtown

Catoosa OK blue whale

Tulsa art deco downtown

Oklahoma City

Clinton OK route 66 museum

Amarillo Cadillac Ranch & Big Texan Steak House

Vega: midpoint, classic cafes

Tucumcari classic neon signs

Santa Rosa auto museum, blue hole swimming spot

Albuquerque Old Town Plaza, historic downtown

Holbrook: Petrified Forest National Park & Painted Desert.

Winslow AZ “standin’ on the corner” park, La Posada Hotel.

Seligman & Oatman classic storefronts

Amboy Crater, Roy’s Motel & Café sign in the Mojave

Victorville / Barstow: route 66 museum, Harvey House depot.

Pasadena roadside architecture to Santa Monica Pier.

Denison on Dick Van Dyke’s lack of belief in the afterlife: I have been amazed by the assumption of so many people that their subjective beliefs about the afterlife will unquestionably correspond to what actually happens to them when they die. I remember a woman who told me, “I don’t believe in hell,” as if hell must therefore not exist. This seems to me like saying “I don’t believe in Australia” and therefore assuming there is no such thing as Australia.

The Girlies Invade Athens

More photos from the girlies first UGA game.

They also went to the UGA Botanical Garden, where Will spent time as a student.

Charles Norman and fam had their photo taken with Santa Blooper. I think someone gifted them the experience. Charles’ wife Addie is having surgery this week. She’s been so courageous. Pray for her.

Three of my coworkers were road tripping to Waukesha Wisconsin this weekend. They left out on Friday morning and stopped in Nashville to eat hot dogs at a place called “I Dream of Weinie”. Spent the night in Effingham Illinois – four hours away from Waukesha. They woke up Saturday morning to find that a snowstorm had passed through. They tried the highway but soon turned back, spending the day in Effingham, playing Uno and eating inside a snow globe diner.    

Have a good weekend? After a busy Wednesday and Thursday, I was a slug on Friday Saturday and Sunday. Hardly did anything on Friday and Saturday except eat, sleep, watch football, and walk Winnie outside. Goose played in the leaves.

Sunday I went to Sunday School. Wasn’t feeling well. Left church and stopped by Dollar Tree, RaceTrac for a drink, and Wendys for a free frosty. The Wendys lady gave me two of the small frostys. I’d grabbed a frozen pizza at Dollar Tree, so that stuffed me for the afternoon. Napped through most of the Falcons game and was facetiming with Millie when they lost the game at the end.

I won a big bad $100 Kohls gift card in the Kohls Christmas Sweepstakes. Grand prize was $100,000.00. For those who say “you’re always winning” – remember, I spend 15-30 minutes a day entering sweepstakes – EVERY DAY – to win one or two things. A solid 7 days of my year. I consider it a hobby, a pastime. Usually I’m entering sweepstakes at night while plopped on the couch watching TV.

Ten minutes of Jay Leno talking about his parents, including the famous “Stingman?” bit.

Scientists Discover Speech Trait That Foreshadows Cognitive Decline. 

Players with 5,000+ career at-bats but fewer than 200 career strikeouts.

Player                     AB    SO      %  games hits   WAR

Joe Sewell........... 7132  114....016 . 1903  2226  54.9

Willie Keeler.........8591...136...016.. 2123..2932..54.3

Lloyd Waner.........7772...173...022.. 1993..2459..29.9

Charlie Comiskey 5796...132...023.. 1390..1529... 7.7

George Miller........5171...129...025.. 1318..1381..19.1

Lou Bierbauer..... 5713... 160...028.. 1385..1524..13.9

Frank McCormick 5723...189...033... 1534. 1711..31.9

Ezra Sutton...........5360..182...034....1263. 1574..32.9

Tommy McCarthy..5120..185  036....1273..1493...16.2

Always liked the old Far Side cartoon about the guy in Hell who whispered to his friend “I hate this place.” Reminds me of the long joke about the guy who’s just arrived in hell, who got to pick out what room he’d spend eternity in. “Coffee break is over – back on your heads!”

Sharing this article so I will remember: Tips To Help Improve Memory and Brain Aging.

1. Get plenty of Omega-3’s and Vitamin B, C, and D. Eat fish, leafy greens, dark chocolate, and rosemary.

2. Take creatine and citicoline.

3. Get plenty of sleep.

4. Keep moving throughout the day.

5. Challenge your brain by playing games and working puzzles.

6. Prayer supports brain health.

7. thinking you're younger helps your mind and body work better.

8. Finding connection and purpose helps with brain longevity.