Regime Change?

I'm torn between sharing my feelings on the current events of the day, or not adding to all the shouting. I'm listening and reading and struggling with a lot of what I'm seeing and hearing. Some is obvious. some harder to figure out. What is true in an age when truth is determined not by right and wrong, but by the judgement of the beholder?

Hopefully all these protests and unrest will tear down some of the racial injustice in our country and get rid of police brutality - though seeing the social media responses from one young acquaintance in law enforcement, we may still have a ways to go.

But what some are missing is the chaos being created by the Marxists and Communists working to further divide and destroy our country. Perhaps it’s time to take down monuments to Confederate generals (though Jews wanted Auschwitz to remain as a reminder of those atrocities). Rioters aren’t stopping at the Confederate statues: they’re attacking statues and monuments honoring those who worked to free slaves, churches, and statues of Jesus. There’s a move afoot to change the name of the state of Rhode Island. Yale bears the name of a slave trader, but liberals have yet to call for its name to change. What’s next – the state of Washington? Or the name of the tournament put on by the Augusta National Golf Club?

Read the entire article here.

 

If you look hard enough there’s something wrong with everyone. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Should all monuments be torn down? At some point grace and forgiveness must enter the equation.

 

Can similarities be seen between today's riots and Jim Jones' cult?

Yesterday Ceil left around 9:15 to take her mom to the dermatologist. Got the places on her forehead removed as well as something on her back. Then they went to the plastic surgeon to help with her forehead. They didn’t get home until after 9 pm. They stopped by Chickfila on the way home. Both were exhausted from the day. 

Barney and I had a quiet day of work. Just after 5 pm Uncle Lennie and Aunt Corrine stopped by to visit. At six I drove to CVS to pick up a prescription for C’s mom. The line at Wendy’s was long so I settled for Taco Bell across the street. Watched The Hunt for Red October, a great movie.

RANDY JOHNSON  [SABR Bio] has struck out more batters than any other lefty in history - 4,875 career strikeouts, second all-time. Some of his best work was done wearing a mullet. “Business in front—party in back.” He was the first pitcher to win both games six and seven of a World Series on consecutive days – games 6 & 7 won on 03- & 04-Nov-2001

Shoe # 34: a slightly different dad shoe - another white leather New Balance walking shoe. To be clear, these shoes are not owned by me. Wearers of these will soon be a target of the rioters.

R.I.P. Sundance

Former Dolphins running back Jim Kiick passed away yesterday.

He was 73.

In my early teens Kiick became one of my favorites. I could identify with a slow, hard-nosed running back who could block and catch passes. I liked the way he wore his socks and taped his shoes, as well as his facemask and mustache. As a high school junior I was able to snag his number 21, and ever since have worn it whenever possible. 

Kiick met Csonka in Chicago at the old College All Star Game. 

 Kiick was Sundance to Larry Csonka's Butch Cassidy.

Spent a good chunk of Friday getting my new phone set up. Still can't get my work email to work on my phone. My many many contacts have yet to move over. For awhile I thought I'd lost them on my old phone, but they finally reappeared. Picked up Moxie Burger chicken sandwich takeout.

Saturday I cleaned up upstairs and did laundry tried to take it easy. For lunch I was going to make my usual quesadillas but we were out of the shells. Instead I made BBQ chicken nachos – very good.

Anna and Matthew joined us for dinner. The burgers Ceil cooked were the flatter Smash Burger-type burgers, per Matthew's request. I used an English muffin for the bun. C chopped and baked French fried potatoes and made an apple oatmeal crisp dish for dessert, with vanilla ice cream.

Will has been busy at the hospital. He's two thirds through a three week stretch where he's been working almost every day.   

Sunday: packed the car and drove to Jefferson. Long stop in Augusta so Ceil could shop at her Final Cut store. She found several silver spoons and bought them. Later she discovered they were engraved with the phrase "I Love you Idiot"! No wonder it was on sale. 

While C shopped I drove through Checkers for lunch. They were advertising a strawberry swirl ice cream cone, but the lady handed me a droopy cone that would quickly melt if I didn't gobble it down fast.  The checkerburgers were okay but the buns tasteless. Then I stopped for gas, then drove through McDonalds to get Ceil a plain hamburger, fries, and Coke. Then called my dad and texted with Anna. Finally C got through with her shopping.

Watched the Heritage golf tournament. Supper was ground beef quesadillas. We eat so much chicken that the beef was a nice change. Later I watched the ESPYs, which is always full of social justice stories. Instead of standing out this year it just blended in with everything all other media has been reporting. Nice to see Kevin Love's story about speaking out for mental illness.  

Finally got my phone completely set up this morning. Still have to add in several apps for various restaurants, etc. Ceil is taking her mom to her dermatologist appointment in Columbia today. I have the house all to myself. Tuned in to your man Cowherd so it wouldn't be silent in the house. Had to shut down and reboot my laptop because the wi-fi was so slow. Had to turn off the wi-fi radio. Got tired of ESPN talking about the same thing for five straight hours.

CURTIS GRANDERSON [BR Bio] the one-time Dodger and Brewer is the only man to receive the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award more than twice - won the Miller Award in 2009, 2016, 2018 & 2019. He is the only player to have more than 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 20 triples and 20 doubles in one season since the Deadball Era. Had 23 HR, 26 SB, 23 3B & 38 2B in 2007 w/DET. In 1911, Frank "Wildfire" Schulte , the NL's first-ever MVP, amassed 21 HR, 23 SB, 21 3B & 30 2B with CHC. Willie Mays and Jimmy Rollins each came within 1 triple of being included in this list. He has one of the best smiles in baseball - Smile

Players who have hit at least 75 triples in the 21st century.

Player…Triples since 2000

Reyes.......... 131

Crawford......123

Rollins..........115

Ichiro..............96

Granderson….95

Pierre..............94

Fowler.............82

What type blood do you have? Did you read that Those with type A are more likely to get the virus? I can't remember what type blood I have.

#33: in honor of Father's Day yesterday I borrowed some dad shoes. White leather New Balance walking shoes. Made in USA. Standard issue in East Cobb. Don't worry, they're not actually mine.

Memories by State

Some of my memories by state. Not sure if this idea turned out to be what I originally thought it to be, but here it is.

 

Alabama/Auburn game, Huntsville, Lake Guntersville, Gulf Shores Zoo

Arizona: Cubs fantasy camp

Arkansas: Clinton Library, Little Rock, Fort Smith

California: LA, SF, Yosemite, Universal Studios, Berkeley, Giants game, Golden Gate
 

Colorado: Flying W Ranch, Air Force Academy chapel

Delaware road trip

District of Columbia: Ford’s Theater, Capitol, Smithsonian

Florida: Disney, Cape Canaveral, Tampa Bay Rays, Orange Bowl   

Georgia: Cumberland Island, whitewater rafting, Masters

Illinois: Cubs & White Sox games, Lincoln’s tomb

Indiana: Torch Relay, Terre Haute, Crawfordsville, Auburn

Iowa: bird hits windshield, Winterset

Kentucky: Mammoth Cave National Park, Lexington, Louisville

Louisiana: Sugar Bowl, New Years in French Quarter, Shreveport, Monroe

Maine: Arcadia National Park, Kennebunk, LL Bean

Maryland: Orioles game, Fort McHenry, Charm City Cakes

Massachusetts: Fenway Park, Harvard Yard

Michigan: Detroit

Mississippi: Hattiesburg

Missouri: Cardinals game, St. Louis, KC, Tarkio

Nebraska: Will’s baseball tourney

New Hampshire: fall leaf viewing trip

New Jersey road trip

New York: NYC, Cooperstown, Shea Stadium, Corning, Niagara Falls

North Carolina: Torch Relays, Kitty Hawk, Durham, Greensboro, Asheville, Chapel Hill

Ohio: Cincinnati, Dayton

Oklahoma: Tulsa, W&MC

Pennsylvania road trips

South Carolina: Charleston, Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, Clemson

Tennessee: Nashville, Memphis, Graceland, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Neyland Stadium, Sevierville, Gatlinburg

Texas Roundup, Houston, Dallas, Amarillo, Astros, Rangers, Cowboys

Virginia: Chancellorsville, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Mt Vernon, Arlington

West Virginia: ski trip

Wyoming: Jackson Hole, Kurt’s wedding

Shoe photo # 32: my old white Puma Romas that I can't seem to get rid of.

Heisman Busts & Stars

Heisman winners: 17 NFL busts and ten who became stars, according to TheSportsDrop.com. The flaw in this is that the Heisman goes to the best college player, not the top NFL prospect. The player is only a bust if they are drafted high and don’t work out. Then perhaps the team was the one making the mistake. If the player falls in the draft to a later round, or isn’t drafted at all, it’s hard to consider that player a bust. And being drafted high by a bad team bodes poorly for success.  

Some of these players were one year wonders, or won the Heisman in down years when there wasn’t much competition.

1. 2014 Johnny Manziel 22nd overall

2. 2011 Robert Griffin 2nd overall injuries

3. 2007 Tim Tebow 25th overall

4. 2008 Sam Bradford 1st overall

5. 2004 Matt Leinart 10th overall

6. 2000 Chris Weinke 4th round too old

7. 1999 Ron Dayne 11th overall

8. 2006 Troy Smith fell to 5th round

9. 2003 Jason White wasn’t drafted bad knees

10. 1996 Danny Wuerffel 4th round

11. 1966 Steve Spurrier 3rd overall 

12. 1994 Rashaan Salaam 21st overall

13. 1990 Ty Detmer 9th round too small

14. 1989 Andre Ware 1st overall to Lions

15. 1992 Gino Torretta 7th round

16. 1976 Archie Griffin 24th overall

17. 1991 Desmond Howard 4th overall won SB MVP

Ten Heisman winners who became stars. How do you define a star? There’s a difference between being popular, having a great season or two versus a hall of fame career. And shouldn’t the first overall pick become a star?

1. 2010 Cam Newton 1st overall

2. 1997 Charles Woodson 4th overall HOF

3. 1988 Barry Sanders 3rd overall HOF

4. 1968 OJ Simpson 1st overall HOF

5. 1985 Bo Jackson 1st overall

6. 1981 Marcus Allen 10th overall HOF

7. 1987 Tim Brown 6th overall HOF

8. 1976 Tony Dorsett 2nd overall HOF 

9. 1963 Roger Staubach HOF

10. 1977 Earl Campbell 1st overall HOF

Bo Jackson will not make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and its very doubtful Cam Newton will either.

As far as clickbait articles go, this one’s worse than average. For the most part the first 50 years of the NFL are ignored. The top nine busts all came in the past 21 years, with six of the other eight in the ten years before that. Not very much out of the box thinking here. What about Pat Sullivan? I could go on.

https://thesportsdrop.com/15-heisman-trophy-winners-who-were-complete-busts-in-the-nfl-and-10-who-became-stars/?utm_term=msn-defaulthomepage&utm_content=1047944&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=msn-defaulthomepage&utm_campaign=Heisman_Busts_3a_DT&test=pre

Shoe of the day # 31: my old Hoka Ones.

Lately they're just biding their time.

Year of the Black Jersey?

 

The Tennessee Vols will wear black jerseys in one of their football games this fall, then auction them off to benefit Black charities. Expect both UGA and GT to follow suit. Alabama and Clemson will not, but might auction off their regular jerseys. You heard it here first.

Actually so much has to happen that the Vols announcement may have been premature. Much can happen between now and November, with the riots, police, and virus. Might not be football. If Trump wins in November more riots may shut down the country again. Martial Law. You heard it here first.

Today is Juneteenth, the day slaves in Texas learned of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation - two years after the fact. Celebrated ever since, it's an official holiday in all but a few states.  

Song in my head today is “Along Came Jones” by the Platters, performed by young 9th graders Catharine Sanders and Melanie Sheffield in the Camp SPdL talent show back in the day.

Wednesday stopped for ice cream on the way home. Then cut the grass, which took an hour. Then a late supper – a spicy Thai chicken dish. Brought the leftover plain noodles for lunch Thursday and added Chickfila sauce. Hallmark Channel movies. Missed L on ESPN2.

Thursday: watched my company’s quarterly webcast, hosted by the CEO from his basement. I appeared in a short video (5 seconds). Both the GM and VP commented on my appearance. I’ll see if it gets posted on YouTube.

Looks there will be baseball after all, which is good. Wait, maybe not.

In early 2018 I had outpatient hernia operation and ever since I could feel it in my abdomen. Not sure what I did last night but I can really feel it today.

Thursday afternoon Ceil was out picking things up at Costco and Whole Foods. I left work shortly after five. Got gas and drove home. Did my Hinge Health exercises and made ham & cheese quesadillas for supper.  Hallmark Channel and played on my laptop.

Ordered a protective case for my new phone. Phone arrivied today and the case tomorrow.

Finished my Buck O’Neil book. Gotta find another book to read. Wasn’t crazy about Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolf, but might check it out again so I can finish it.

My Sunday School class is blessed with four Godly teachers. Staff member Brian teaches the most, Dan the next most, Joe every now and then, and once in a blue moon Larry will teach. Larry has headed up several ministries throughout his life, and has worked as a pastor as well. Dan’s wife had surgery to remove cancer from her lymph nodes. The surgeon accidentally cut all the way through the vocal chords on one side. Looks like the damage is permanent. She’s got to see the ENT and speech pathologist, and facing lots of therapy. Brian’s father passed away last night. Joe had a pipe burst in his house last week. Larry was the lone white representative on a discussion about racism, with three or four Black women. He said it did not go well.

Today's shoe # 30: some odd old black Chaco Pedshed Gunnisons. Kinda flat. Better with jeans, which I should've worn. And camo for Friday cap day. 

Injustice

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Including politicians, who by nature are power hungry, even the supposed good guys. In choosing who to vote for, I need to look beyond the person and look at the platform, and what the candidate has or hasn't done in the past. Does this politician want to roll up their sleeves and dialog with opponents to get things done, to govern, to do what's best for the country – or do they just want to fight and tear down the other side? Most are not living their lives sold out for Jesus Christ (am I?) so the choice must go beyond that. The choice is which fallen man will do what's right for our state and country. 

 

If neither of the top two candidates are righteous, above reproach God-fearing men, as a Christian should I vote for a third party candidate who has no chance of election? Should I choose a Christian electrician to wire my house even if he isn't qualified – or a non-Christian electrician who can do the job right?

 

Just because one guy is a braggart, a rube, even a liar – does that mean I should vote for the other guy? What if the other guy has just as many flaws? Some have been in office for decades, and what have they accomplished besides lining their own pockets, and the pockets of their family? I want to vote for the person who will do what's best for the country. I'll look for the most Godly man when I'm choosing a pastor for my church.

 

Should government do what's best in the eyes of God (isn't that the church's job?) or should the government do what's best for their own citizens/taxpayers?

 

Like a household budget, the government has to make choices in what they do. Reducing emissions and saving the planet would be nice. Defending the country from foreign and domestic terrorism has to be a priority. Choosing between funding for the arts, preserving natural resources, and other perhaps non-essential yet expensive quality of life programs are high-level decisions. Should the government fund everything, and raise taxes to unbearable levels?

 

Which politicians are looking at cutting excess and unnecessary items from the budget? Shouldn't that be a consideration as well?

 

The Sovietization Of American Culture - but by who? Is it the government that's limiting all these freedoms, or the press, or is this coming from the people? Are the people being coerced into behaving this way? By what the media chooses to report (and not report)?

 

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.theamericanconservative.com_dreher_sovietization-2Dof-2Damerican-2Dculture-2Dsoft-2Dtotalitarianism_&d=DwIFAg&c=UXihhqr7vvdA-hrKyTiC1Q&r=wMWwaEbn9nr4zXI4p6CDP7FGwn1DrBd77MJElrWsP6U&m=mE_bfQzeevZ6-2JFKDIsAQtha12NlGklD_UTuBzw1Ug&s=IJmXtk0FeN0jcGXcW9Hvq1lnmOs21JzMvqvNzSqaK3Q&e= 

 

My prayer is people of faith won't be fooled by Satan – led to do the wrong thing. I pray we wouldn't follow the wrong people, to vet who our leaders are.

 

As a white person wanting to fight racism, I'm hearing different voices telling me what I should and shouldn't do. I'm told to "first listen/read/watch and speak against injustice" and to acknowledge "I will make mistakes but be grateful for the lesson." Good advice. But when Louie misspeaks for injustice he becomes "the white guy' and gets barraged with hundreds of hateful comments. Listening is not enough, I'm hearing. I've got to say this and not say that. If I don't play by the rules then I am racist. What I listen/read/watch may not be the "correct" things. "Injustice" is sounding like a narrowly defined term.  

 

Like many in our country, all this is discouraging and frustrating to me. I certainly don't have it as bad as most. I want to understand. I want to help.

Shoe #29: my older black ECCO loafers. Slightly different from my newer ECCO loafers. Not very photogenic. They've been spending a lot of time in the closet these days. 

Lucius

Former GT linebacker Lucius Sanford has been nominated for the College Football Hall of Fame. Always thought Lucius was the meanest looking football player I’d ever seen: wide shoulders and skinny waist. UGA DB/WR Champ Bailey was also nominated. Also several kickers: Morten Andersen (Michigan State), Jason Elam (Hawaii), Tony Franklin (Texas), John Lee (UCLA), Luis Zendejas (Arizona State), and Sebastian Janakowski (FSU).
  

Heard that an NBA player has the option to not play in Orlando if he doesn’t want. Some baseball players are expressing how bad they want to play, like Mike Trout and Braves pitcher Luke Jackson. I asked Luke to please keep wearing his striped socks.

Hear where someone at a WWE event someone tested positive, but no one told the wrestlers? I get our management’s concern about wearing masks. Our region has only had one positive case out of 45 locations, but one of our Texas facilities now has 11 positive cases (most are asymptomatic).  

 

Peachtree Road Methodist being saved from vandalism by five homeless people.

  

See where Aunt Jemima is changing their name and packaging? The name came from a character in a minstrel show. What is next? Quaker Oats could be considered too religious (but Quakers were anti-slavery).  What about Eskimo Pie, Uncle Ben, Rastus the Cream of Wheat guy? They’ve already taken the Indian maiden off boxes of Land O’Lakes butter. We have a winner: Uncle Bens will change as well. Some say predictions are coming true: the US is becoming communist. Look out Pillsbury Dough Boy, Michelin Man, and Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. Reminds me of Jay Leno’s old comedy bit about the Big Boy statue, mounted in front of the front door to Shoney’s. How many more senseless deaths from people running into that thing?”

 

Nike is donating millions to Black causes, but is saying nothing about the poor working conditions inside their Chinese factories. Workers are paid peanuts and work long hours, but actually have it better than millions of other Chinese peasants. Adidas is donating millions as well.

See where a citizen of the new nation of CHAZ (or is it CHAD?) who completely duped a network reporter by giving an answer straight out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail? I rarely hear from David Hurt, but he clued me in to the story.

 

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986

 

Tom Hanks is coming out with a new movie about the Atlantic war, based on the 1955 CS Forester novel “The Good Shepherd.” Have you read it?  

 

Big news: I’ve been approved for a new iPhone at work.

Tuesday supper was baked chicken, pot stickers, and chopped squash and carrots. Used my own BBQ sauce this time. Nothing on TV.  That’s right, I did see that Grizz Gaming was on ESPN2.

 

Got my in box down to 5 emails. Should have it down to 4 tomorrow

 

Once during the big Cub Scout gathering at Ingleside Baptist Church my pack mouthed the words to the Alley Oop song. Don’t ever remember practicing. They just pushed us out there to perform it. Maybe I missed the practice or something.

 

R.I.P. MIKE McCORMICK  [SABR Bio] [Obit] his record for the most pitching wins before turning age 23 did Dwight Gooden break in 1986. McCormick had 50 wins before age 23. Gooden topped that with his 51st on 29-Jun-1986 at the tender age of 21 yrs, 200 days. McCormick is widely believed to have hit the 500th home run ever hit by a pitcher in the National League. Certain, however, is that he surrendered Hank Aaron’s 500th career homer. Can thus be forgiven his personalized license plated “MR 500”. The 500th HR by a NL pitcher was most likely the one he hit in Candlestick off the Mets’ Cal Koonce 11-Aug-1968; Aaron’s 500th = 14-Jul-1968. McCormick was the first Giant (New York or San Francisco) to win the Cy Young Award - CYA in 1967. He received 18 of the 20 votes cast. It was the only year of his sixteen year career in the majors that he received even a single CYA vote. The year he led the National League in ERA, he was on two All-Star teams. In fact in merely two seasons, he was on four All-Star teams. He made the All-Star team in two consecutive seasons, but was on the National League All-Star team four times - ERA Crown won in 1960 with a 2.70 ERA. In MLB seasons 1959-62, two ASGs were held each year. McCormick was an AS in 1960 & 1961. Even though not a Hall of Famer himself, he was a teammate with ten who were later inducted to the Hall. HOF teammates: Willie Mays, Red Schoendienst, Hoyt Wilhelm, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Robin Roberts, Brooks Robinson, Luis Aparicio. He completely skipped the minors and went straight to the majors to start his professional career. He came to the Giants under the Bonus Baby Rule which obligated the team to keep the player on the team’s major league roster for two years. He did play in the minors well after his debut in the majors.

Last night I took the northern route home and stopped by two thrift stores. Struck out at the first one, but found a pair of adidas Alphabounce at the second. Back when I was shopping for running shoes I’d considered this style before picking the Hokas. Kinda roomy for a size 12 but they could replace my black Nikes as my most worn shoe.

 

In May l decided to wear a different pair of shoes every day. Today is day 28: my black ECCO chukka boots. Well I hadn’t worn those black ECCO boots in a couple of months, until today. At lunchtime I was going upstairs and the heels of both shoes completely fell apart. Took them off and tossed them in the trash. Had to walk outside in my socks to get a pair to wear out of my trunk.