Well...today's the day!

I had my birthday the other day, but MDB chose to celebrate it today. I have to admit...she's pretty good about keeping a secret and I have no idea what I have in store (very mysterious!!!), but I DO know that we're going in to Houston for this activity (whatever it is) and I can wear jeans (don't have to get dressed up....Hmmmmm.....)

I'll report back with details later, but for now....I have NO IDEA!!!!

I DO know one thing; I'm tired of the writer's strike already, but not for the reason you'd probably think. Shows are starting to cave and reach agreements with the writer's guild, and that's not necessarily a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Maybe, without a television telling us what and how to think, we could actually come up with an original idea of our own occasionally. We might even (perish the thought!!!) pick up a book! OH NO!!!!

More later! - Dan

I'm trying to be the bigger person....

...but my 13 year-old 21 year-old is about to drive me around the corner with her "gimme-gimme" ungrateful attitude!



Two nights ago(23rd), all four of my kids came over for a birthday dinner in their honor. Kim worked like a dog preparing a wonderful meal and a "from scratch" birthday cake that was simply marvelous (Kim's an AWESOME cook!). All of the kids seemed to enjoy it, but I could tell when "present" time rolled around, my youngest was upset that she only got a token gift for her birthday (recall that she used up her Christmas/Birthday goodwill on overages on her cell phone, which is paid for by ME lock, stock, and barrel) instead of the nice cash gift that I gave her sister. Her twin brother got the same treatment - I'm having to pay the deductible for his knee surgery, so I told him that Christmas/Birthday wasn't going to be any great shakes and he understood! Anyway, a couple of them asked me if was sending Christmas home with them two days before Christmas, and I told them no - if they wanted a Christmas present, they needed to come and see me on Christmas!



I said all that to say this - last evening, the thirteen year-old called me and asked if she could return the boxes she'd borrowed when Kim and I moved her back into her mother's house. I said, uh....sure, I suppose; timing's a little strange, but I guess you can return boxes right about now if you like. Anyway, I knew it was just a lame excuse to come and get their Christmas presents. So, after we put the boxes back into the garage, they came inside (my oldest, Lauren made the trip with her) and just sort of waited. For that matter, Lauren never did sit down! So, I said, "well, since y'all are here, why don't you open your Christmas presents!" So they did and then, within no more than another 2.5 minutes, they were gone!



We were remarking about the strangeness of the event when the phone rang. "Dad!" (it was Katelyn) "I just wanted to make sure that I didn't drop some cash or leave some in a crack or something - there was only $5 in this envelope, is that right?" (subtle child!) "Yes, Katelyn, there was only $5 in your envelope - your Christmas was my paying your $135 overage on your cell phone bill....remember?" (Katelyn) "Well...how much did Lauren get?" (Me) "Frankly, Katelyn, that's none of your business! What I give Lauren is between me and Lauren and it's nobody else's affair! I will tell you this - her birthday and Christmas together didn't add up to $145, which is what you were given altogether!" (Katelyn) "Oh....well I was just wondering; I wanted to make sure I didn't lose any if there was more." (Me) "No, that's all there was; you're safe! Merry Christmas! I love you!" (KK) "click"



Oh, I see how it is. I'm supposed to forget the $135 cell phone bill that I had to pay over and above the regular cell phone bill AND give you the same amount for Christmas that I give everyone else, is that it? Hmmmm.....Cameron's deductible is $187 so, according to that logic, I ought to just give everyone the same and no one would feel left out. Hmmmm....that's $748 just on the four with whom I share DNA; if I extended that package to the other two (we'll call it $150 for Christmas and $37 for birthday), that's an additional $300, for a grand total of $1048 just for the kids, not to mention parents, party expenses, hostess gifts, gifts for friends, etc. Uhhhhhh.....my name's not Gates! I can't afford that kind of expenditure for Christmas, which is why I told the little ingrate that her cell phone bill WAS her Christmas and birthday!



I think I'll pay the $75 fee and have her line disabled. I wonder how she'll feel about paying for it by herself! Merry Christmas! - Dan

Must be Christmas! The kids came to visit!

My Darling Bride, Kim, with my youngest daughter, Katelyn, and her daughter,

Lexie (our granddaughter [Duh!])

Me and Lexie (I must've just told her one of my jokes...she's giggling pretty good!)

My oldest son, Ryan, Lexie, Me (the fat guy in the striped green shirt), Katelyn, my
oldest daughter, Lauren, and Katelyn's twin brother, Cameron. MDB is behind the camera!

Maybe in the next day or two, I'll show you the rest of my family. Kim's son Chris is coming in on Monday, so you'll get a look at Kim with Chris and her daughter Casey.

Merry Christmas! - Dan

Salmon

I may have posted this particular sentiment before, but it bears repeating.

I never noticed satan or his minions until November of 1996, when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Almost from the start, I noticed "resistance" to my salvation; people being ugly to me unecessarily, people driving strangely, making obscene gestures without reason; strange and rude behavior from people who'd been at least civil before, that sort of thing.

I say that to say this; today, MDB came home from a trip to the store VERY frustrated and harried. When I asked what was the matter, she told me that a lady had cut her off on her way through the parking lot to get her eyebrows done and then given her "the high sign" when she honked to warn her of her presence (the lady obviously didn't see Kim - she almost hit her in the parking lot and then took the space Kim had been inching toward) and then, at Wally World, she was again inching along and a lady SCREAMED at her to slow down because she may splash her!

Look....I KNOW Kim; she's a very cautious driver under the best of circumstances and, after a rain in a parking lot, I can believe her when she says that turtles were passing her in the parking lot! So, for a lady to scream at her to slow down is just totally ludicrous!

I told her that she must be especially close to God right now, because I never noticed any resistance from satan or his minions until I became a salmon and started swimming opposite the "flow" of worldly desires or goals and it sounded to me as though people were treating her the way I was treated in those heady days after my salvation! Good news all around!

God bless you, lady who cut Kim off! I hope your eyebrows came out looking really great and I hope Jesus comes into your heart this Christmas and gives you His love to share with His other children! God bless you, lady who called Kim a "B----h" and screamed at her about driving faster than the speed of dust; I hope you got into Wally World totally dry and found everything you were looking for. May God grant you the grace of His love and melt your heart of stone so that you have a more positive outlook in the future.

But then, I pray that God will grant His peace to all of His children and give us His love to share with all. - Dan

Jason Whitlock should run for president!

I mean, seriously!

Jason Whitlock is perhaps the soundest thinker I've ever read. His latest column on Fox Sports.com has to do with "Teflon" Roger Clemens and the predicament he finds himself in with the steroid allegations of the Mitchell report. Frankly, his analysis is flawless, but I don't think I agree with the conclusion. For years, people have said of Pete Rose, "If only he'd have told the truth from the beginning! Americans are a forgiving people; his indiscretions would have been forgiven and he'd have been in the hall of fame by now!" Now, they're saying the same thing about Roger; just tell the truth! If you did steroids at the time that they say you did, they weren't even banned by baseball at that time! Just come clean and stress that there was no banned substance used, and all will be forgiven! Uhhh.....what?

One thing that troubled me in Whitlock's article was this line:

"Clemens is Mike Lupica's Mark McGwire mulligan, the pawn Lupica can use to detract attention from the fawning book he wrote about Big Mac's magical summer of '98 when no one — and I mean no one — had ever heard of steroids."

Uhhh....what? Never heard of steroids? Anyone remember Lyle Alzado? What about Brian Bosworth? Maybe the transition from football to baseball was outside the bounds of most people's thought processes, but steroids were a well-known commodity in the athletic community as far back as the early '70s. Alzado became the poster child for steroid abuse since he died at an early age from a brain tumor that he claimed had been caused by the drugs. Alzado admitted to using steroids since his college days. Since he was drafted in '71, that would indicate that steroids have been around for a very long time; much longer than the 8 years claimed by Whitlock!

In any case, what to do about Roger? How can we even feign shock when we've watched this guy for so long and watched as he changed from a skinny fireball throwing prodigy into a hulking split-finger throwing magician? I'm sorry, but people don't normally change their body style without help. One's head doesn't expand two sizes without aid of some kind! Oh, and people don't normally pitch into their forties without some form of assistance. Oh, there's guys like Hoyt Wilhelm, who pitched well into his forties, but he was a knuckleball pitcher. Those guys throw at the speed of dust, not the speed of sound! Should Roger just come out and admit that he did it and move on? Frankly, I have to disagree with Whitlock again, which is unusual. ABSOLUTELY Roger needs to come clean. He should admit that he did it, admit WHY he did it, apologize for misleading all of those Clemens-jersey-wearing kids out there who idolized him, promise to cooperate with MLB in every way possible, and lead the effort to permanently ban the substance from organized athletics forever. You know, everyone stands up and applauds when an alcoholic admits to his addiction and then proclaims his "clean" status for however many days its been. People love it when other people overcome the demons that haunt them and help others to do the same. How many "Livestrong" bracelets did Lance Armstrong sell? People will support someone who's turned things around and fights for good instead of evil.

Roger, here's your chance. Come clean. Admit that you did it, tell us why you did it, apologize to all of your fans for letting them down, and do what you can to clean baseball up. Baseball's done an awful lot for you. Maybe you should return the favor. - Dan

In three days...

...I'll turn 50. When I was much younger, I always thought of a 50 year-old guy as being mostly over-the-hill; physical ability almost gone, eyesight fading, mental lapses increasing, etc. My dad died at the tender age of 57, so I've always sort of lived my life with that thought in the back of my mind. What if I die at 57, too? What regrets would I have? What did I do that I'd like to take back, or what did I NOT do that I wish I had done?

In the regret category, I don't have any, really. I've lived a pretty full life thus far. I am married to the most wonderful woman that God ever put on the planet; I have a great job that is very fulfilling personally if not financially (but the money is a secondary consideration as far as I'm concerned anyway!); I have six great kids and one terrific little grandchild; I have my health, and I have the love of Jesus in my heart! How could anyone regret any of that?

In the "wish I'd done that" category, there's still a lot of things I'd like to accomplish. I'd like to be a published author one of these days. I've always wanted to learn how to fly an airplane. I've always wanted to learn how to scuba dive and then go as often as possible. I've always wanted to buy and restore a '51 or '52 (same body style) Ford F-1 pickup truck (flathead V-8, four on the floor). I've always wanted to buy a rifle and go deer hunting. I'd like to attend a concealed carry permit class and get licensed to do that. I'd like to buy a place in the country and then build a house on the place. I'd like to learn to play guitar. I'd like to have a large garden and grow all of the vegetables we consume. I'd like to coach a district champion one day (I've been assistant coach on a district championship team, but I haven't been the Head Coach in that situation). I'd like to get to a place where money isn't a concern and just buy anything and everything for all of the people in my life who are dear to me. One day....maybe.

I guess I'd better make 100. I've still got a lot of things to do! - Dan

B-U-S-Y ! ! ! ! !

Like a lot of folks, I'm very busy at this time of year. We're coming to the end of the first semester and it's time to get grades finalized for all of my students. We're smack-dab in the middle of basketball season and, even though we're not very good and hopes for the future look pretty bleak for this group, we've got to continue to try to get better and work on the mistakes that we're making (which are numerous!). Of course, Christmas is right around the corner and there's always the preparations for that; food, parties, church get-togethers, gifts, etc. On top of everything else, three of my four children were born on the 9th, which means we've got to have a remembrance of that special day AND, my own birthday is on the 24th, which means those who care about me typically feel that they have to do something to remember that day as well. In short, there's a lot of stuff going on and the pressure mounts continually right up through the end of the year!

Basketball report - Uhhh....how can I say this nicely? My team isn't very good! Last night, despite intense practice to correct mistakes made previously, we made all of the same mistakes again and lost ugly! I told them before the game that the team we were facing was going to be very athletic and extremely fast. I told them that, in order to win, we must get back quickly on defense, control our defensive glass, hit our free throws, and execute our half-court offense. Very shortly into the game, with the score 10-2 in their favor, I called time out. I informed them of the fact that, of the 10 points they had, 8 were from stick-backs on offensive rebounds which meant that we were NOT boxing out and controlling our defensive glass; one of the absolutes I gave them before the game ever got underway. I swear, sometimes I think they believe that I tell them things just to hear my voice bounce off the wall! The good news is that we've now faced most of the toughest teams we'll see and, if we actually fix the things that are broken, we may win a couple of games before we're done!

Meanwhile, I remain optimistic. I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the universe and nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can ruin the marvelous mood that she keeps me in! I feel as though I'm without air when we're not together and I feel like a king when we are! She's God's very special blessing to me and I praise Him with everything in me for giving me such a wonderful blessing at this time in my life!

Out! - Dan

I'm rather beside myself!

Hello again, boys and girls!

I'm in a giddy mood this morning. It's December 16 (Sunday), and I have much to be thankful for.

First off, I am a born-again believer in Jesus Christ and in His saving sacrifice for us all. My whole life and everything that I am revolves around this one simple fact. Frankly, if I had nothing else, my life would have meaning simply because of the great gift God has given me. Reason number one for being giddy!

Number two. On February 15 of this year, I met the love of my life. We spent three hours talking over coffee when we first met and have spent virtually every moment available together every since. We were married on June 7th ("gosh that was fast!") and are more in love now than we were yesterday! Our lives get better every day! We are a perfect match; we totally "get" each other! I know it's trite or whatever, but she absolutely completes me and she feels the same way about me! I used to watch movies or whatever where the actors portrayed people who were totally in love and had that empty feeling well up inside, wishing it was me and the way I felt. NOW, it IS me, and I DO feel that way about Kim! It's absolutely marvelous and a miracle of God and His timing for our lives! I cannot see anything but a very bright future for us and our love together and it makes me totally giddy!

Three. As if those weren't enough, my beloved Cleveland Browns are in the playoff hunt for the first time in a long time! They are actually playing pretty good football and, if things keep going as they have been, they'll make the playoffs this year as at least a wild card. Keep your fingers crossed - they still could win the AFC North if the black and gold of that evil empire to the east stumbles and we win out! What a marvelous occurrence THAT would be! One week at a time, though. Today's Buffalo, and they have a pretty good team that's coming together at just the right time from everything I'm reading. If we take care of business against Buffalo, we're pretty much a lock with only two games left! Woo-hoo! Giddy!!!

More giddiness later...got to get busy! - Dan

Well, we're three weeks into the season....

...and we have yet to win a game.

The way this is going, we may go 0 for season, and that's not a good thing!

The bright side - we never quit hustling and our fundamentals ARE getting better, just not where they need to be for us to win just yet. We did a much better job last night of getting back on defense, but we were not consistent in the effort and gave up way too many points in transition. We did a better job on the offensive end, but we couldn't sink free throws when we got to the line (cost us BADLY in both games!). We rebounded better, but the other team STILL got way too many second and third chances at their basket and we were not boxing out like we've practiced and were therefore not creating any space under the basket. These were the reasons we lost again and they're the same reasons we've lost every game so far and will continue to lose until we fix them.

Otherwise, it was a great night!

Oh, and then there was "the call." My youngest daughter is upset with me because, several months back, her car broke down and she called me and asked if I could hook up my trailer and come pick her car up. I told her that I really couldn't; it was late already and we were about 40 minutes away from the house at the time. To hook up the trailer and take it all the way across Houston would have taken another hour and a half and then the trip back would've added probably another two hours, putting me in bed at about 2 in the morning. Unfortunately, I had to go to work the next day and I just can't function if I get into bed so late, so I recommended that she call a wrecker. Towing is covered under her insurance policy, so I didn't think it was an unreasonable request. Not only that, but, one of these days, "CallDaddyForBail-Out.com" is going to be out of business and she's got to learn how to deal with life's little problems using her own wherewithal and resources, so I genuinely believed it would be a good experience for her to solve her problem on her own. My mistake. Now, I'm Satan and my intestines are seriously disliked if not loathed. Part two - on the cell bill last month (I pay for her cell phone - a fact that she conveniently forgets as much as possible) she went over on her minutes MONUMENTALLY! What is usually a bill of around $100 per month shyrocketed to over twice that, so I broke her off a call and told her that I expected her to pay for her overage just as we agreed when we set this deal up. Well, my "excuse bag" is overflowing! Apparently, she got into her mother for a lot of cash and had to pay HER back first - this despite the fact that our agreement preceeded that with her mother by over a year! So, after some considerable consternation, I told her that I would forgive her debt as a birthday/Christmas present but, if it ever happened again, her phone would be turned off. Somebody help me with these horns, will ya? Oh, and this pointed tail and pitchfork is getting a little cumbersome as well!

I don't think I'm being unreasonable, but then, I'm dealing with a 21 year-old who hasn't grown up and expects everything to be simply handed to her all the time. Uh...... I don't think it's coming from this direction, thank you very much!

Stay tuned for future travail! It can't get much better than this! - Dan

Science versus Christianity

We've had an interesting series going on the last couple of weeks at ACoC concerning Science and the Bible.

Our preacher and a member of our congregation who happens to be a PhD astrophysicist, teamed up to present the series.


As a teacher of Science AND a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, I followed the series with great interest. You see, I have been of the thought for years that Science and Christianity are NOT mutually exclusive entities. There are questions that science can answer, that is true; but there are many more that science can NEVER answer, and that is where faith comes in.

What questions can science not answer? The origin of life, for one. Scientists tell us that life simply sprang forth from the primordial soup once the right mixture of chemicals and proteins were synthesized. Really? If that's the case, we should be able to re-create it in the laboratory, right? I mean, we know what compounds must exist for even the simplest forms of life to spring forth; we should be able to pull them all together in whatever condition supposedly existed in that "primordial soup" and re-create the scenario, yes? Well, boys and girls, we can't do that because only God breathes life into the lifeless! We can put together all of the elements and compounds and expose it to heat, electricity, pressure, vacuum, or whatever conditions supposedly existed and still not make it live. Only God can breathe life into it and only God DID breathe life into it!

Another question - the origin of the universe - is supposedly answered by "The Big Bang." Well, where did the energy and matter that formed the Bang come from? It may in fact be true that billions of years ago, all of the known matter in the universe converged in a tiny single point in space and then exploded, but where did that energy and matter come from? The Bible says that God created everything that was created and that He upholds it by the power of His word. Scientists have recently discovered that the universe is not expanding at the same rate now as it did when first created. They say that "Dark matter," or "anti-matter" is the culprit. Could it be that God's word is the force that they cannot see? Could it be that God did in fact create all that is created and that "Bang" is what we call His creative might at work? I think it's as good an explanation as any and it is the one I believe.

So, if I place so much faith in the Biblical account of creation, how could it be that the universe was created biblically in 6 days when we know chronologically that it's 6 or so billion years old? Uhhhh....who's to say what a day is in God's timing? Maybe the whole universe is more "galaxy-sized" to Him and it revolves around Him much as our solar system revolves around the sun? We equate a "day" in terms of how long it takes for our earth to make one revolution on its axis. Perhaps God's "day" is the time it takes for the universe to revolve around Him one time, who knows? One thing's for sure; it's a question that cannot be answered scientifically because it cannot be recreated to test it. Science depends upon proof. You must be able to quantify and test in order to prove and we cannot quantify numbers so vast. We cannot find the absolute value of Pi for example, even though super computers have been working the equation for years. It's not quantifiable, and neither is God. It's truly a matter of faith!

Well, okay....some things are just a matter of faith, then. Suppose I choose to place my faith in Science and my suppositions are more or less based upon what we know to be true (allegedly). Isn't it just as viable to believe that life simply sprang forth from the primoridal soup as it is to say that God created it? Isn't it just as viable to say that the forces of gravity caused all of the known matter in the universe to converge 6 or so billion years ago and that the resultant explosion created the universe? Well, I suppose you could go that route, but if you choose to go that way, you still have some very basic questions that are left unanswered. Where did the matter and energy come from in the first place? It's a cop out to say that it was just there; that's the line that Christians use! If you're going to believe in Science, you have to take it to the end of the road and answer ALL of the questions that present themselves and until that happens, NONE of your suppositions hold water! It's rather like building a house. Unless your foundation is firm, it won't support the roof and walls and it will come down with a crash eventually. Building a scientific case is the same way. It must be built on a firm foundation or all of the conclusions that are based on that foundation will come crashing down when the foundation is found to be flawed. I say that all of the matter and energy in the universe was created by God and that, until He spoke it into existence, it wasn't there! "But Dan!" you say, "that flies in the face of all we know! The Laws of Conservation of Energy and of Matter state that neither can be created or destroyed but only changed! Are you saying that God doesn't obey the laws of His own creation?" Well.....YES!!! That's pretty much it and PRECISELY it! Every read the story of Jesus walking on water? That's not physically possible, yet there were eyewitness accounts of it happening! It's not possible to change water into wine, but we have numerous witnesses of that physical impossibility too, don't we? How many other times did Jesus produce scientifically impossible deeds? How often did God Himself do so? Matter obeys His Word because He is master if all that is seen and unseen. Our "laws" of physical behavior mean nothing to God because He does not exist in one dimension at one time only; He exists in all time and in all places simultaneously and He directs the "laws" that hold our universe together.

Is it ungodly to believe in science? I don't think so. God gave us minds and the knowledge of being so that we COULD discover Him. We are curious by nature. We want and NEED to answer these questions. God wants us to answer them with Him and to KNOW that no other answer satisfies the questions that we pose. I believe that science is a useful tool for answering some of the questions that present themselves to us, but I also believe that only God is the final answer and, when we come to that conclusion, we'll know all of the rest of it in His time! - Dan

Playing the race card

Race relations in America are in a quagmire and, until African-Americans leaders stop looking for racism in every and any situation that arises, it will stay that way.

Here in Houston, we have our racial advocates just like every other metropolitan area. Ours are a self-appointed "racism under every bush" Sharpton wanne-be named "Quannel X" and the United States Congresswoman from the 18th Congressional District, Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Quannel goes by X in the tradition of Malcolm X, who ostensibly started the trend by rejecting his "slave name" and adopting "X" as his surname as a tribute to his unknown ancestors. I actually understood Malcolm X and why he did what he did. He lived in turbulent times and the creation of a squeaky wheel was necessary and just in his day and time. His autobiography was a fascinating read and a book I'd highly recommend to anyone who seeks deeper understanding of race relations in America. I'd like to say that Quannel has similar reasons for his transformation, but I think his motives are more sinister and selfish than that. He never saw a camera that he doesn't like and he seldom fails to find that camera in any situtation where he can be seen as the savior of black causes here in Houston. Almost without exception, wherever you find Quannel, you'll find that other camera hound, Sheila Jackson Lee.

Lee is the Congresswoman from the 18th Congressional District here in Houston. Anybody got a Congressional district map out there? A look at the 18th will supress any question you may have about how it is Ms. Lee continually gets re-elected. Its more gerrymandered than the famous Tom Delay district - a ploy that was brought under constant scrutiny and harrasment by those opposed to Delay and one which is seldom mentioned when connected to Lee. Jackson Lee has done more, in my opinion, to keep her constituents shackled by the chains of "charity" than any slavemaster ever did. There is now no more independent effort going on in that district for the betterment of its citizens than there was during reconstruction; perhaps less. Yes, as long as Lee keeps them dependent on the largesse of government for their sustenance, they will keep her in office. In any case, Lee shows up just about any time Quannel does and the cry is always the same - "Racism!" Of course, it's the cry of the boy shouting "Wolf!" and its not to be listened to by any sane person within hearing.

What am I talking about? Here's a couple of examples. Not long ago, an HISD Elementary campus was having trouble with indoor air pollution, probably because of black mold. Many of the children and faculty were getting sick and had to leave the school. As fortune would have it, the population of the school is predominantly African-American, so Quannel and Sheila promptly jumped on the opportunity to grab a camera and declare that the school needed to be demolished and rebuilt so that the poor children of that school could attend in a healthy environment. Uhhh....what? Doesn't Clorox work as well in black schools as it does in hispanic or white schools? Don't certain environmental remediation companies make a good living cleaning up black mold? When did black mold become a race issue, anyway? Where was Sheila and Quannel when I had black mold in MY room last year? Yes, that's right, boys and girls, last year, every time it rained, I had a waterfall down the back wall of my very own classroom and the constant moisture led to a black mold problem which, by the way, was handled by removing the sheet rock and treating the underlying structure with bleach - problem solved! I guess the Sheila and Quannel show only perform when a black school is at risk. Hmmmm....who's the racist in THIS picture?

The other event occured recently as well. A homeowner, charged with watching his neighbor's house while away, called 911 and requested police assistance, stating emphatically that several African-american intruders were burglarizing the home and he was going to take his shotgun and solve the problem. The 911 dispatcher implored the man to NOT take matters into his own hands and wait for police, but he went next door, exercising his right to keep and bear arms and protect his charge from harm, and quickly dispatched the men who were invading his neighbor's home. In the aftermath, Sheila and Quannel incorporated announced that it was the most blatant form or racism they'd ever seen AND that these were basically good men who were gunned down in cold blood by a racist gun-toting mobster. Uhhh....what? Excuse me, but GOOD men don't go around breaking into other people's homes looking to steal their possessions! That's the sort of thing that BAD men do and, like a lot of guys before them, someone caught them in the act and they paid the ultimate price.

Now, was that something I would have done? I don't think so. I mean, who's to know until you fact that situation. But I DO know this; if they had awoken ME while breaking into MY house, they would surely have met the same end as the fellows in that sordid tale and no one, and I mean NO ONE, had better call me racist because of it.

Look - There are bad people of all races, just like there are good people of every race. Bad does not know color, nor does good. Was it a racist act to gun those guys down? Frankly, I think he'd have shot them if they had been white just the same. He was protecting the property he'd sworn to protect and THAT is the bottom line here - not the race of the perpetrators.

Here's the moral of this story. STOP looking for racism in every case! Racism, white against black AND black against white DOES EXIST, but it's no different than any other form of hate that rises from the human heart AND it's no less stupid! In the immortal words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

I have a headache!

I'd better get this gig as President; apparently, I'm not much good at coaching basketball....

...at least not to the current bunch of kids I've got!

We got worked again tonight. Both games were total blowouts and my guys looked, once again, like they'd never seen any of the stuff we've been working on - frankly, I'm embarrassed!

So, back to work tomorrow to see how many of the leaks we can plug in this dam before the whole valley is flooded!

I'm beginning to wonder if it's going to make any difference; our kids aren't very athletic, they don't follow instructions, they don't do what I ask them to do in timeouts, they are out of shape, they don't make their shots (even from point blank range!), they play lousy defense (especially in transition), and they all have halitosis (just kidding about that last one).

Well, we've got to play one of the weaker teams in the district sooner or later, don't we? Yes, I suppose so, but its not next week. Next week we play one of the perenial powers in our district and its probably going to be as ugly, if not moreso, than tonight.

Anybody got any aspirin? How about stock in Bayer? A Haldol drip? A sturdy length of rope? Perhaps some rusty razor blades?

See you next week (I hope!) - Dan

I'm running for President!

Hello again, blogfans!

Since me, my wife, and Casper are the only people who read here, I thought I'd take this opportunity to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.

It'll be a write-in campaign - I don't think I'll actually find my way onto any of the official ballots out there.

I EXPECT Casper to vote for me in every state - he finds a way to vote in Illinois every four years.

Here's my platform - stop whining and get to work! Stop looking to the government to solve all of your problems all the time. Constitutionally, the government is responsible for the national defense, promotion (NOT provision) of the general welfare, and assurance of our individual rights as citizens. I don't think it said anything in there about provision of services or rights for non-citizens, so I think we should issue a thumb-print identification card for every legal citizen and require it for any service of the government. No ID card; no services. THAT would stop all of this ridiculous drain on our resources by persons who have no business being here and enable us to redirect resources to those who really need them. Second, I'd send out a directive to every department head in the government and REQUIRE them to justify every nickel they spend. If they don't have a good reason for their current budget, it'd be cut. Oh, and I don't mean a "Washington-speak" cut, either. You know, a reduction in the amount of increase they get - a true reduction in total dollars. When government is run like a business (and I DO mean like a business - profit centers are taken care of; drains in revenue are reduced or elliminated), it will be more efficient and more able to provide services that are truly necessary. Oh, and people who work for the government will have to justify their existence just like people who work for private industry. Now, I KNOW that most of the people who work for the government are necessary and productive. However, I don't think it should require an act of Congress to fire someone in government as it does (practically) now and I don't think that a government job should be an automatic guarantee of lifetime employment like it is now.

So, when government is properly aligned with what people who are employed by the private-sector have to deal with, what comes next? Well, first off, there are some really stupid laws on the books that need to be revisited and I think I'm just the one to lead that agenda. Second, I think that some of the "untouchable" departments in government need a little outside scrutiny just like every other department (Defense; State; Justice; etc.). Finally, I think that Congressman and Senators ought to have mandatory term limits just like the President. When Congress was envisioned by the Founders, they never invisioned Congressman living there full time and turning their gig in Congress into a career; I think we should return to their version and can the modern rendition.

Vote Dan! He's the man with the plan!

Well...basketball season is upon us!

I've been working pretty hard for the last several weeks trying to get my basketball teams ready to play their first game, an event that occurred this past Wednesday. We played a team which is usually pretty similar to us; no size, but big numbers of kids who are generally pretty quick. We stayed pretty competitive in the B game, losing by only ten, but we got demolished in the A game. Sadly, it looked as if we'd never practiced at all; they kids basically just ran up and down, didn't set up their half-court offense, didn't run their press break, didn't run their defense the way we've taught it, etc. In short, it was ugly. Well, there's always next week.....

I LOVE this guy!

I would love every person in America, of every nationality or color, to read this column by Jason Whitlock. In it, Mr. Whitlock (an African American) mentions that the majority of African-American murder victims are killed by other African Americans, a phenomenon he refers to as "the Black KKK." He further mentions that, in the 50's and 60's, black Americans fought for the right to be educated on an equal footing with white Americans, naming the high school in Little Rock where the National Guard had to be brought in at that time so that 12 black teenagers could integrate that school. He said that now, at that same school (which is predominantly African American now), African-American teenagers gleefully throw away the opprotunity that their fathers fought so hard to gain. THEN he said that the hip-hop culture, which glorifies violence, thuggery, and ignorance, is advancing those causes at an alarming rate and perpetuating the very ills that hold his people down! I'm glad that all of this is coming from an African-American man; if I said it, I'd probably be villified and perhaps murdered myself. - Dan

Kids aren't being raised the way we were!

Hello again, blogfans!

As you know, I am a teacher of Science at the 7th grade level. Part of our curriculum includes Space, the Solar System, the Earth, and the moon. As we study these topics, the origin of the Universe inevitably arises. Part of our study includes a review of the chapter in our textbook that covers the subject, Chapter 2. I give them an assignment titled "Chapter 2 Warm-up," whihc asks a variety of questions that are covered in the chapter. The final question asks them to read a selection in the book about the theory of creation of our solar system and then state what they believe.

Up until recently, kids usually included their religious thoughts when this subject came up, stating adamantly that God created it. Mind you, I'm not allowed to bring up such things and, unless I'm asked directly by a student for my opinion, I don't offer one. In the past, I didn't HAVE to offer an opinion - the kids asked me what I believe and I'd tell them point blank that I think God created everything. That was then; this is now.

NOW, after having graded 175 or so of these assignments, I think all of about two kids stated some sort of religious idea about the topic. NO ONE has asked me what I think, and I mean absolutely nobody. It makes me think what I've suspected for the last several years is true; kids, for the most part, are not being raised in religious surroundings as they once were and, as such, a very secular and pessimistic attitude has become prevalent in our youth. We wonder why there seems to be so much violence today and there doesn't seem to be the alarm about it that there once was, but we fail to see the plain evidence under our noses. We aren't raising our children with Christian ideals or morals any more, and they, and society as a whole, is suffering.

I don't mean to paint a bleak picture for our immediate future as a society, but it seems to me that the canvas is being filled by the actions of society whether I'm holding the brush or not. When WE get outraged and insist on change at the very grass roots of our society (because THAT is where the problem is), we will see the solution. I hope its not too late. - Dan

microcultures

Hello again, blogfans!

For years, I've been amazed at how many little "microcultures" there are out there that "John Q" know little or nothing about. These little subdivisions of people often exist so far under the radar that they're practically unknown outside of their membership. Oh, I could talk about socially relevant things like white supremicist groups, paramilitary groups who're deathly afraid of the government in any or all of its manifestations, or even some of the little religious cults out there that practice all sorts of strange things, from snake-handling to polygamy. I COULD talk about any of those.....

But I think I'll talk about all of the little sub-cultures that show up on Friday night for a football game.

Think about it. There's no reason for anyone to show up at a football game unless two teams square off and play a game, but, for many, the game itself is the sidelight; they're there to see the band at halftime or in the stands during the game, or there to watch the cheerleaders, or the dance team, the color guard, or even the ROTC color guard during the national anthem. I know that everone wants to watch their son or daughter participate in whatever they're involved in, but its gone a bit beyond that.

When I played football, it was an activity that was confined mostly to coaches paid by the school district instructing young men in football and it was an activity that was done mostly during the season. Oh, we had an off-season football program and a Spring game just as they do now, but summers were voluntary and there was little or no activity outside of what was done by the coaching staff at the school. NOW they do 7 on 7 programs during the summer and summer "position" camps are almost mandatory for any athlete who truly wants to continue in football both in and beyond high school. The investment by private individuals MUST be incredible, both in terms of money, but also in time!

Band camp was pretty standard when I was in school, but no one took marching all that seriously. NOW they have camps for nothing but marching and all sorts of marching competitions for bands to participate in. Once again, a huge investment by individuals and their families!

No one, and I mean NO ONE, paid much attention to cheerleaders when I was in school. Oh, they drew the normal sexual attention that they draw now (except for the fact that being "Victoria's Secret" material doesn't seem to be a pre-requisite anymore; I've seen some very large cheerleaders on the sidelines around many of the football games I've witnessed lately and no one seems to mind too much one way or the other!), but there was no such thing as a cheerleading competition, and.... a CAMP for cheerleading? RIDICULOUS!!! Who would ever go to a camp to learn to shake a pom-pom and look gorgeous for the captain of the team? Yet, my how times have changed! Cheerleading is almost as big as band or anything else that's happening on the fringes on Fridays. Who'd have ever thunk it?

Dance team? Color guard? Drill squad? More huge investments in time and money that NEVER got spent when I was in school. What's going on here?

Here's my take. Most of the people who're seriously involved in pushing these activities are people who were involved in those same activities when they were in school. In short, they're living their own fantasies out through their children. Uh....let your kids do what THEY want to do and be what THEY want to be and STOP living out your dreams through your kids! Secondly, watch your kids all you like, but have some class! If you're there to watch the halftime show, stay for the rest of the game out of respect for the football kids and their coaches. Have some respect for their investment of time and effort! Don't parade from the stands like cattle at feeding time as soon as the halftime show is over!

After all, if it wasn't for the game, no one else would have any reason to be there and whatever else is going on would draw only the parents of those with a vested interest. - Dan

Much to be thankful for!

I know it sounds a little cheesey or whatever, but this is a time that has traditionally been reserved for giving thanks to God for the blessings he bestows upon us (like we needed an excuse! LOL!), so here are some of the things I'm most thankful for:

1. Eternal salvation through my acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Jesus died that I may live and He bore all of my sins on the cross at Calvary. Thank You, Jesus!

2. My darling bride, Kim! Kim is the sweetest, kindest, most patient, giving, and caring person I've ever met. She loves me despite all of my flaws (which are many) and treats me like a king (which I am not! LOL!). I love her with my whole heart, and I thank God for bringing us together!

3. My health. I'm nearly 50 - a time when a lot of guys start to break down physically (heart problems, joint problems, cancer here and/or there, etc.) I've enjoyed stellar health for most of my life (I used to review the annual physicals at my former job - I KNOW what sorts of problems most people deal with!), and I thank God for it!

4. A great job. Most of the guys I know are jealous of what I do for a living. I get to coach young men and teach in the classroom. Such being the case, I'm inside when it's raining or cold, and I'm outside when it's nice! I get to make a real difference to a lot of kids, and I relish the chance to do so! I thank God for putting me where I am and sustaining me through it even when times are a little tough!

5. Nice toys! I have a brand-new pick-up truck, a flatbed trailer, a 23.5' boat, and almost every tool known to man! It's taken me years to acquire them and I do what I can to take good care of them. I thank God for entrusting them to me and helping me obtain such nice things!

6. Did I mention my darling bride, Kim? I think I did. Anyway, I'll thank God for her again! She's awesome!

Happy Thanksgiving! - Dan

When did "Quarterback" become synonymous with "Fairy Queen?"

I'm watching the Browns/Ravens game (I watch the Browns every Sunday on "Sunday Ticket"), and the officials just called an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Browns for "Helmet to helmet contact." Uhhhh.....what? Have officials ever PLAYED football, or did they just pick it up playing Madden '03 or whatever? When I played, it was my GOAL to hit whoever I could in the mouth! Poor little tu-tu wearing quarterbacks! I thought, once upon a time, that they were football players, too. I guess that that's no longer the case. Now, they're ballerinas in football uniforms!

I remember Joe Kapp of the Vikings. He was basically a linebacker playing quaterback. Now THAT was how a quaterback should play! He'd deliver a hit, pop back up, and then take it to them again! Quaterbacks now are so unbelievably protected, I'm surprised they even come on the field wearing pads!

I'd like to see quarterbacks joining the rest of the team and playing football again. It was a lot more fun to watch when a quaterback got hit, jumped back up, and went at it again. Now, football's become soccer, at least as far as the quaterback position is concerned!

"Helmet to helmet" my eye!

Rose Vs Bonds

Okay....I admit it. I read Fox Sports on the internet almost daily. I confess; I am a sports fan in general, and a Reds, Browns, and Rockets fan in particular. Since I've been a Reds fan for as long as I can remember (I'm 50, so it's got to be at least 45 years or so), I was more than a little intrigued when I read an article that compared what Barry did to what Pete did. Maybe intrigued isn't the right word.

Actually, I was flabergasted! The author attempted to say that what Pete did was worse for the game because it went to the integrity of the game itself. He said that there was evidence that Pete bet on his own team, even though Pete claims that he never bet on the Reds to lose (As the manager, he'd have been "taking a fall" in games if that was the case and THAT would have been reprehensible!), but Pete's integrity wasn't such that his word was reliable on that claim. Well, I say, do you have Pete's betting slips or not? It seems to me that if someone wanted to refudiate Pete's claim, the evidence is available to do just that.

I don't see anyone stepping forward!

Then there's the argument that betting on the Reds to win was just as bad, because on the days that he did not bet, it was the same thing to other people betting as betting on the Reds to lose. I'm sorry, but that's pretty weak. Did he place a bet every single day? Was there evidence that he bet on the Reds only when they played the Expos, or was he all over the map on that one? I'd have to say, it was bad that he bet on baseball games at all. It was worse that he bet on his own team. It was WORSE that he lied about it for so long! But I have a hard time saying that what Pete did was worse for the game than what Barry has done.

Let's face it. The McGuire/Sosa home run race of several years ago reinvigorated baseball. Before that, fans were staying home in droves, still upset about the cancellation of the World Series because of the player's union strike. The chase toward the new single-season record by Barry, and then the chase of Hank Aaron's career record, kept the excitement going. Frankly, I'm not nearly as upset about Pete Rose betting on Reds games as I am about Barry lying to me and everyone else about the most hallowed records in the game. "Hang an asterisk on him?" you say. So what? He still has the record and who knows how many of his home runs were steroid-induced? I'd have to say it like this; did the Reds benefit from Rose's indiscretion such that baseball was forever tarnished, or was baseball forever tarnished more because of what Barry did? I'd have to say that I have a hard time believing in baseball more now after "Barrygate" than I did after the Rose scandal came to light. That, my friends, is the yardstick that should be measured, NOT how comparitively loathesome Barry's act was compared to Pete's. Let's face it; BOTH of them did things that are absolutely dispicable in a baseball sense. One of them ruined the integrity of the game in my eyes, and it was NOT Pete. - Dan

Okay....so what about "forgive and forget?"

If you read my last post re Ricky Williams, you may have said to yourself, "Dan, I thought you were a Christian? What about turning the other cheek? What about giving up your tunic if someone asks for your coat? What about two miles instead of one? What about love and forgiveness? Shouldn't we let Ricky have another chance?"

Uhhhhhhh.......I was the first on the "forgive Ricky" bandwagon the first time he did this. I even climbed back on that old damaged vehicle the SECOND time Ricky did this (silly me!). But I've run out of forgiveness for Ricky. Please note that those scripture lessons on forgiveness are NOT INFINITE!!! When the disciples asked Jesus about forgiveness, they wondered if they should forgive up to 7 times; Jesus replied "not 7, but seventy times 7." Well, on my calculator, that's 490 times, which is quite a lot I must admit, but it is not a blank check to just keep on taking abuse from someone who shows no alteration of character, no remorse, and no contrition. Ricky has a substance abuse problem. He's fallen off the wagon more than anyone since WC Fields, and he's been given chance after chance after chance. It's time for the NFL to practice a little "tough love" and cut Ricky loose.

I don't know who said it first, but I heard it first from "Scotty" on the original Star Trek series: "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!"

I hope the NFL doesn't have to learn the hard way that Ricky isn't worth the tarnished image that he's bringing to the sport. - Dan

What's wrong with sports is what's wrong with society

Hello again, blogfans!

I just read that the NFL has reinstated the enigmatic Ricky Williams (here's the link to the article); that after his starring role in the new blockbuster hit "Harry Pothead and the Stoned Sorcerer." Yes, it's the same Ricky who's failed not one, not two, not even three or four, but FIVE drug tests, sending himself into the relative oblivion of the CFL and losing an incredible amount of cash in the meantime.

What's wrong with Ricky is the same thing that's wrong with society - if you can run with a football, dunk a basketball, hit a baseball 500 feet, mumble rhyming words in rhythm, ride a bike really fast, memorize words from a screenplay and pretend like you mean them, or do just about anything else that will be visible to the general public, you're pretty much excused from the moral compass and/or legal statutes that govern the rest of us. Frankly, I'm sick of it.

I set a standard for making my basketball team. I told them that they MUST be passing their classes for the 2nd 6-week's grading period if they were to be considered. I checked and double checked every day for two weeks to ensure that no one who was failing was being considered. Yesterday, when the final grades came out, two of the guys who had been passing everything showed up on the report with failing grades. The grades were supposed to be final as of noon Tuesday, so when I checked on Wednesday morning, THAT should have been the final report, so I posted the roster with both of these guys on it. Naturally, they were excited! Yet, when I checked once more yesterday evening, both of these guys were on it with failing grades in one class each, so I had to pull them aside and tell them that they did not make the team after all because they were not passing. One of them was devastated, but SOMEONE has to hold their feet to the fire! If someone starts making excuses for them NOW, where will it end? Frankly, I think I'm doing them a favor. Unless we want society to be one big "rules don't apply to me" club where chaos reigns supreme, someone has got to stand up for law and order and stick to their guns when a rule has been established.

If someone had done that for Ricky, maybe "Harry Pothead and the Chamber of Whores" would never have been made.

The Evil Empire Wins AGAIN!!! :(

Hello, blogfans!

Well, the drooling, terrible towel-waving Neanderthals of Pittsburg have something to be excited about. Their team, the Steelers (do they still make steel there? I thought all of the steel business went to the Far East a long time ago?) beat my team, the Browns, once again.

At least it was a game this time. We were ahead 21-9 at halftime and went ahead 28-24 at the first of the fourth quarter, but Rothslisberger (means "my mother loves squash" in Lithuanian) drove them down for a late TD and forced us to drive 50 or so yards to tie in regulation (no one kicks field goals of longer than 40 yards or so in that place. I'm not sure why, but I think it was built on the site of an Indian graveyard or perhaps the remnants of US Steel). Of course, our field goal try to tie came up short, so the evil empire won again!

You have to hand it to Pittsburg. Over the years, they've been one of the class organizations in football. They draft well; they're well-coached. They keep players who make a difference and let players go who are past their prime. They've basically been a model for how to run a professional football franchise. My hat's off to them.

Their fans, however, are another story. What a smarmy bunch THEY are! No class whatsoever! They wave their little yellow towels and pretend like they've got a say. It's easy to be a Steelers fan. They've been iminently successful over the years. It's sort of like being a fan of the 49er's in the 80's. "Oh, you're a 49er's fan? Welcome to the bandwagon! Where were you when we played at Keisar Field and no one even knew when game time was? Thanks for showing up! If you're still here when the trophies start to tarnish, THEN I'll know you're a fan!"

Some of the Steelers fans are okay. They hung around from the days that there were two places that no NFL player wanted to go - Green Bay, and Pittsburg. Green Bay because, well....it's GREEN BAY! Pittsburg because....they hadn't won so much as a coin toss since God was in diapers, let alone a football game! Anyway, those guys are okay. I can comiserate with the long suffering fan who finally finds peace when their team rises above and learns how to win. Thus has been the fate of my beloved Browns. Imagine the idnignation of having your team whisked off to Baltimore in the middle of the night! Imagine the surreal scene of having your team rise from the dead, only to be totally inept for the first 5 or 6 years of reemergence. We're having a better year this year, and, if the schedule we face from here on out is any indication, we should make the playoffs this year. The sad part is....sooner or later, we have to beat that team from Pittsburg to be considered legitimate. I thought it was coming today, but I was wrong. Maybe, if we continue to improve, we'll get that job done in the playoffs.

I sure hope so! - Dan

Coaching basketball

I know a lot of people think that coaching basketball is just a matter of rolling out a ball and watching kids play during practices, and then showing up and standing on the sidelines for games. Allow me to dispel that notion.

Right now, I am checking grade reports to find out who is going to pass the 2nd 6 weeks and who's going to fail. An ineligible player will not make the team, so I have to double-check and make sure no one slips through. Earlier, I had to send out an e-mail to set up workers for the games. I have to find someone to run the clock, keep the official book, and take tickets for every home game. I have to evaluate the talent that we have, invite players for both the A and the B team, and then set up the teams according to district guidelines. I have to have a practice plan published for each practice and, once the teams are established, I have to double-check ages to ensure that they are not too old to play in the 7th-grade, publish a roster for each team, and send it out to every other school in the district with player birthdays and student ID numbers. Teaching basketball to guys who've never played real basketball before is fun, but tiring. Many of them THINK they know how to play, but they really have no conception. Those are the ones who are more difficult to teach because it's much tougher to unteach a previously ingrained concept and install a new one than it is to merely write on a blank slate.

Coaching in our district is a little strange. 7th-grade rules are mind-boggling! We used to have to run nothing but man to man defense, but we were given a reprieve last year when they decided that it would be okay for us to press whenever we wanted, run any defense we like, and teach real basketball to our 7th graders. However, we STILL have silly substitution rules! We have to have 1st and second quarter teams set up, with dedicated subs for each team. We split the 3rd quarter; the first quarter team starts and the second quarter team plays the second half of the quarter. FINALLY, in the fourth quarter, we can play whoever we like! We do have the stipulation, however, that any player suited up MUST play. I'd rather just play basketball and worry about an 8 or nine man rotation, but I know it's supposedly for the benefit of the kids. 8th-grade teams play just regular basketball; I don't see why it's different from one level to another, but I guess I never will!

In any case, coaching 7th graders is a whole lot more than just "rolling out a ball!" I hope anyone who reads here will try to catch a game or two this season. The kids love it when there's a big crowd and there's nothing, and I mean NOTHING, more entertaining than watching a 7th grade B team trying to make a layup! It's great fun! - Dan

Life update

Well, we're coming to the close of a very busy week. We had football games on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The Monday game started at 6:30 (well....it was SUPPOSED to start at 6:30; it didn't actually get underway until 6:45 or so), so I didn't get home until nearly 10:00 pm. The other two started at 4:30 on unlighted fields, so we played 8 minute quarters with a running clock and no halftime in order to beat sundown (whew! Just did make it!). The Monday game, 8th-grade A team, was a thing of beauty. The boys played like they really wanted it and wound up winning 14 - 0. We got torched on Tuesday (poor 7th-grade A; they're great kids, but there's just no talent there and very little desire to actually play football!). On Wednesday, our 8th-grade B team went out with a "W," winning 21-6. All year I've been telling my defense that if they scored a defensive touchdown, they wouldn't have to run any more "super-loops" (the really long warm-up lap they run before stretching). Well, they finally got a defensive touchdown on Wednesday (I blitzed my middle linebacker; he caused a fumble, then picked it up and ran it in for the score!). Typical deal! The last game of the season! Anyway, we started basketball tryouts after school yesterday with the 7th-graders after school. There's one really big guy who would help us a lot, but I'm afraid he's not going to pass his classes so that's he's eligible to play. A couple of other guys stood out as well, but I'm afraid there's not enough talent there to make us a good basketball team. Perhaps someone else will show up on Monday; I sure hope so. This evening, 8th graders have their open tryout. Thus the end of the athletic week!

We had to close out the gradebook this week for 6-week grades AND give them their end of 6 weeks test (Curriculum-Based Assessment, or "CBA"). They answer on a scantron AND on the hard copy. I grade that copy as they complete the test - pretty good this time! The lowest class average was a 69; the highest an 86! MUCH BETTER than last time! Woo-Hoo!

Well, it's duty time! GTG! - Dan

I'd like to bring your attention...

...to a recent post by MDB on her blog. In it, she criticizes certain CoC leadership of their Pharisee-like behavior and outright condemnation of Christian brothers and sisters because they have committed the heinous sin of divorce. I hope the elders are reading their scriptures carefully. Mine say:

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 5"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' 8"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 15"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. 16"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it. 23"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 25"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. 29"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! 33"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?" (Matthew 23:2-33)

21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:21,22) [I hope y'all perfect elders have never addressed another in anger! Pretty stiff penalty!]

27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27,28) [I hope y'all perfect elders have never looked at a woman lustfully. If so, you're guilty of the same thing you accuse the divorced of doing!]

43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:43-48) [A couple of interesting paradigms, there, don't you think?]

If you greet only your brothers, are you not doing as the pagans? What happened to 'love your enemies?' That last one is a KILLER!!! We're commanded to 'be perfect.' How, without the cleansing blood of Jesus, can we ever hope to achieve THAT? I'd say, you can't. That's why we should not judge others, but accept them, love them, help them, and pray for them. That's what followers of Christ are commanded to do and that is what ELDERS should lead their flock to do.
Some CoC leadership (not all, mind you) would benefit from a deeper study of the Word and STOP playing cafeteria with scripture! I'll pray that any who read this will accept it with the love with which it was intended. After all, (James 5:19) " if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." - Dan

A word about MDB

Dear Friends,

Although readers may be getting used to my writing about various topics, I seldom take things "home" and talk about my personal life. I'd like to spend a moment or two tonight, however, talking about my darling bride (MDB).

My darling bride and I met via the internet earlier this year. I had been divorced for two years and was in a relationship that was going nowhere fast, so I thought, "What can it hurt?" and I tried the personals service on Yahoo. Actually, I didn't know it was the Yahoo service. I signed up through a Christian web service that I've received e-mail from for several years, so I thought it was their service. No matter. I'd been on the service for about a week or two when I realized that I was never going to get anywhere without a photo on the site, so I took a gift card I'd received for Christmas and bought a scanner/printer at Best Buy and then scanned in a school picture from last year. Not too long after that, I started to get some "hits." One of the more interesting ones was from MDB, whose title line was "must love to laugh." She sent me an "icebreaker," so I thought I'd respond. Things were a little guarded at first, which I really appreciated because I wasn't real sure how far to go with this deal; I mean, is it really possible to meet someone NICE this way? I wasn't sure, but I knew that unless I stepped over the edge, I'd never find out, either. Anyway, we spent a week or two just feeling each other out via e-mail and then agreed to meet; on February 15. We met at the Starbucks in Barnes and Noble. I bought the coffee and we spent 3 hours talking. It seemed like three minutes! Frankly, I felt as though I'd known her all of my life! Anyway, when it was over, I walked her to her car, but there was no kiss goodbye, or even a handshake! I didn't want to appear too forward, so I didn't say anything, but we got things going on e-mail again real quick and decided to meet again for a movie and dinner. Even though we didn't even hold hands during the movie, we DID kiss goodnight when the date concluded and I thought my feet were going to blow right off of my legs! Woo-Hoo! Anyway, things went pretty quickly after that and we both knew that we were meant for one another by God himself! We were married on June 7th.

MDB's name is Kim. Kim is absolutely the sweetest, kindest, most tolerant, most compassionate person I've ever known. She's absolutely gorgeous, both physically and spiritually. Kim is a tireless worker and seldom just sits still, which I really appreciate since that's the way I am. She loves to get out and do things, but she's just as comfortable around the house taking care of what needs to be done. The best part about her is the fact that she's got really poor eyesight - she thinks I'm good-looking! LOL! Not only that, but she's a poor judge of character - she thinks I'm flawless! LOLx2!!! Seriously, we're a match that is perfect! I love her unconditionally and she loves me the same way! God Himself brought us together and we will praise Him every day for it and love and cherish one another forever!

Father God,

Thank You for bringing Kim into my life! She's the angel I've been dreaming of for as long as I can remember! I don't ask for much in the way of personal stuff, God, but I do ask this; watch over my darling Kim! Keep her in the palm of Your hand; guide her, protect her, lead her, walk beside her. Keep her safe and in good health. Lord God, You said that we could, in faith, ask a mountain to be removed to the sea and it would happen if we would just believe. You said that You would never give us a stone if we asked for bread, or a snake if we asked for fish. Father, I know that You love us and only want what's best for us. I ask You now, in the name of Jesus, to grant my request; keep my darling Kim in the palm of Your hand, keep her in safety, and bless her with every desire of her heart. Praise God for Kim! She's the angel from my dreams! In Jesus' name, amen!

I love you, Kim! - Dan

Life is strange

Well, it's time to go on to a more serious topic. Life. Life is strange; not because it's without its joys, but because it includes sorrows from the oddest of places.

My step-daughter has it made. She's 23 and hasn't been out of the house for a total of two months her entire life (as far as I know - I may be guessing a little low, but it's not terribly low; I know that!). She recently got a job. Even though it's an 8-hour-a-day gig, she comes in "exhausted" and unable to do anything around the house except talk on the phone or play on the computer. Funny....MY chores don't go away when I'M exhausted; I guess I'm special! She and my darling bride (MDB), whom I love dearly, do not get along very well. She's civil to me, but when she gets alone with MDB, she's rude, making ugly comments, correcting her at every opportunity, and just generally showing a lack of respect; this despite the fact that she's been taken care of in every way (food, shelter, clothing, medical, etc.) WAY after the time most parents give their kids the boot and INSIST that they take care of themselves! I heard a saying one time; it goes something like this - "Don't bite the hand that feeds you." At least, I think that's the way I remember it. Meanwhile, MDB is stressed to the max about it, even to the point of worrying that it may come between us (NOT going to happen!!!).

In fairness, step-daughter is mildly handicapped with cerebral palsy and is unable to operate a motor vehicle. Otherwise, she's of average or above intelligence and capable in every way. Her handicap makes it necessary for whoever she depends upon to provide her with transportation to wherever she needs to go, including work, the store, the doctor, or wherever.

Here's my take - One doesn't need to be a fully functional member of society to be nice, especially to someone who's taken care of you since the day you were born. Most 23 year-olds are out on their own, either starting a family or working hard toward the eventuality, NOT living at home making life miserable for mom. Step-daughter has an opportunity to move into an assisted living situation FOR FREE for several years, a half-way sort of thing, where she could be taught valuable skills for making the transition to independence. However, since she got the job, she's thinking she doesn't need the help anymore (I guess). Oh...you can drive now? Oh...you're able to pay for your own housing, food, clothing, utilities, medical expenses, transportation, etc., just because you got a $1200/month job all of a sudden? I think you'd better put pencil to paper and figure a few things out before you throw away a valuable opportunity - that's what I think! Oh...and has anyone figured out how the trip to PA (she wants to move to Pennsylvania to be close to her dad) is going to be financed? MDB bought the tickets last time; I don't think we can afford to do it again. And what about moving expenses? Priced a U-Haul for 1500 miles lately? Who's going to help you load/unload it?

I think that thought is way underrated. It's something we should engage in every time we make an important decision. Just as underrated, perhaps moreso, is prayer. Maybe we should seek God's guidance before we make a really dumb mistake. But then, that's just my opinion and, who am I? Just the guy who married the most wonderful woman on the planet, you know, the one who's ruining your life.

Dan

I'm sorry

Well, friends, my darling bride read my last post and told me it was "mean," so I thought I'd better apologize, and that right quick!



Actually, I didn't think it was "mean," per se, but perhaps a little too honest for the tender sensibilities of some folks. Since it concerned those who participate in fantasy football, and, since most fantasy guys have had enough sand kicked in their collective faces for a lifetime, I may have been a bit insensitive to their plight. I'm sorry!



Rock on, fantasy dudes! You know, everyone has a "thing." Star Wars officianadoes can't wait until the next Chewbacca action figure comes out; Some folks wait with breath abaited for the newest musical to hit Broadway. Other guys hang on every public moment of Scott Hamilton; others wax lyrical to their favorite Barry Manilow tunes. Everyone's got to have a favorite something; that's what makes the world go 'round! So, rock on, fantasy football dudes! You guys are the bomb!



Seriously, most of the guys I've known who did the fantasy football thing were NOT, to the best of my knowledge, overtly interested in arguing the "pro" position in the same-sex marriage debate. They're just regular guys who are interested in the "front office" perspective in pro football.



There. I hope that clears things up. If my comments offended anyone, please accept my apologies. - Dan



PS - If you happen to be one of the guys who actually participates in fantasy football, feel free to read elsewhere from now on. I doubt I'll have anything more positive to say on the topic anytime soon. - Dan

Who's fantasy?

Several years ago, when the "fantasy" football craze was just beginning, a friend at work asked me if I wanted to join their little fantasy group and play along. I'd never heard of fantasy football, so my first question was, "What's it all about?" My friend explained that a bunch of guys get together and draft teams from existing NFL rosters and then "play" games based on the weekly stats of "their" players. "A game on paper, if you will." My next question was, "Who's doing it?" He gave me a list of names. One guy was sort of a sickly kind of guy who couldn't lift his weight (and he was only 4 foot nothing, so he couldn't have weighed more than 120 after a shower); another one of the guys was a guy I remembered from school. He may have been a cheerleader, too, but I remember him from the band. Another one of the guys was one of those "always on the internet trading 401k stock picks" kind of guys. Another one was a guy who was friendly enough, but not real bright. As he went through the roster of "players," not a single one of them was a guy who I'd choose for my Saturday afternoon two-below game; they were all pasty, morbidly obese, or play hide-and-seek with dental floss kind of guys who I don't think had ever gotten close enough to a real football to play with one. I politely declined. "Are you sure?" my friend asked, "It's going to be a lot of fun!" "No, I don't think so," I replied, "It doesn't sound like something I'd enjoy."

Now that the "craze" has been under way for around 10 years or so, my original impressions are bolstered more every day. I don't know a single "fantasy" partipant who doesn't simply scream "LOSER!!!" Oh, they're nice enough guys and, as far as I can tell, they don't do anyone any harm, but they're all like the guy at the cocktail party who corners you talking about their allergies to cat dander; they just make your skin crawl and you can't wait to get away from them so you kind find someone with something interesting to say!

Maybe it's the title of the thing; fantasy football. Perhaps if they called it "Never could play for real so I thought I'd find SOME means of participating" football, it'd be easier to stomach. Meanwhile, watch those stats, losers! Curt Warner came in off the bench last weekend and threw a meaningless touchdown pass with 3 seconds left....your fantasy team may have won!

Maybe I'll invent "fantasy ice dancing" for the fantasy football guys who can't find a league. - Dan

Oh....my GOODNESS!!!

I've about heard it all now!

Yesterday evening, my youngest called me and said that her car was broken down. She'd been leavning work on the other side of Houston when it happened. She made it sound as though one of the CV joints had broken, or something else very serious with the driveline had broken, so I suggested that she call a wrecker and have it towed to wherever she wanted to have it checked. Naturally, she was concerned about the cost, but I reminded her that, yes, she'd have to pay the wrecker out of her pocket, but she'd get reimbursed by her insurance. To exacerbate things, the location of the break-down is a really bad part of town, so I asked if she were going to be able to lock herself in her car until the wrecker got there. She said that she had pulled up in front of a business and, even though the owner was in the process of closing up for the day, the lady was going to stay with her and let her stay inside with her until the wrecker arrived.

Today, I called several times to check on things. She said that the wrecker showed up at around 11 and towed the car to the Honda dealership, where she learned that her car broke down because she'd waited too long to tune it up. Apparently, the diagnostic test they ran said that the rotor, distributor cap, and spark plug wires were bad. Her boyfriend and his father had agreed to repair it for her. Of course, her situation is this; she's living with her mom and older sister. Between them, they have two cars. Most of the time, older sis uses mom's car to get back and forth and Katelyn uses her car to drive herself back and forth to the other side of Houston to her job. They all pitch in and help one another when available. Anyway, she'd asked if she could bring my granddaughter over to spend the night tonight before all of this happened. I told her that we'd love to see her, so we've been keeping in pretty close contact to coordinate.

I said all of that to say this; when I called this evening to check, she said that her car was back on the road and that she and her daughter were on the road, headed to her older sister's job to check on her. Apparently, older daughter had to work a double today because some other girl got fired. Well, usually older sis takes mom's car to work, so I asked about that situation. "She doesn't have her mom's car?" "No," she said, "Mom went to a poker tournament, so I'm checking to see if sis needs a ride."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Wait a minute," I said, "I thought that L usually uses mom's car when she goes to work. I'd have thought that, especially with your car out of comission, she'd have mom's car." "Well, me too," she said, "but she took it to play poker."

Oh....okay.

Nevermind what I said about them helping each other out. It's every man for himself!

Stop whining!

I'm going to buy stock in Kraft, Inc. so I'll have enough cheese to go with all of the Whine that's going around these days.

There's no shortage of people who want to blame all of their problems on someone else, people who are unwilling or unable to accept responsibility for their own actions, and people who want everything right NOW but are unwilling to sacrifice anything at all, or WORK at all, to achieve the things they want.

Of course, this latest "crisis" in home sales, mortgages gone haywire, and the fallout from all of the above, plays right into all of the things I mentioned. People want way more house than they can afford, so they find a "flexible rate" mortgage that allows them to buy one. Then, when the mortgage company exercises its right to accelerate the interest and house notes go where they should have been in the first place, these people cry "foul!" and ask the governement to bail them out! Please tell me; WHY ON EARTH IS THE GOVERNMENT INVOLVED???!!!! The mortgage companies, attempting to make a profit, baited the homeowners, KNOWING that the greedy buyers would want more house than they could ever afford!

Here's what I think. The people who bought way more house than they could afford and did so KNOWINGLY should lose their homes - period! The government, if it gets involved at all, should simply outlaw these kinds of mortgages in the future; there should be no penalty to the mortgage companies. Mortgage companies offered a product that they thought people would appreciate - apparently they did! Of course, the chickens came home to roost, and NOW the very companies that thought they'd make it rich by pandering to people's greed are wondering how they're going to stay out of bankruptcy court.

I think it's time to return to the values of our parents. Save before buying; BUDGET!!! Only buy what you can afford; learn to say "No!" Accept your station; if you make a middle-class salary, buy a home that fits your budget. READ what you sign BEFORE you sign it!!! Stop whining about your own greed causing you to lose your home! It was your actions that caused it; accept the consequences and move on!

Meanwhile, I think I'll buy that Kraft stock. I don't think the flood of Whine is going away any time soon!

2 weeks left

Well, there's two weeks left in football season. What started during the dog days of August is now drawing to a close. I'd like to say that this season's been fun, but I'm afraid that it really hasn't been. We just don't get the same kind of athletes at our school that other schools get, which makes us less than competitive. Not only that, but our kids don't even seem to come to us with much of a basic understanding of the game, which makes things kind of strange. Our kids don't know about onsides kicks; they don't understand that a punt doesn't HAVE to be fielded. They have NO aggression; for most of them, I don't even understand why they're playing football. Regardless of all of that, I love coaching. I feel as though I have an impact on their lives, even if it's not in success as an athlete.

The other day, after grades came out and we found out who was not going to be eligible, one of the kids hollered out a line from "The Waterboy;" "Oh no! We suck again!" Well, sorry, fellows. We never stopped sucking; we've been bad from the start; losing a few guys only made us worse!

Coach B and I decided to "draft" the guys left on our 8th-grade B squad. I've got 14 guys for defense; he's got 14 for offense. We won't be much good on either offense OR defense, but everyone will get to play, so that's a good thing. We play a team this week that hasn't won a game all season; we should be safe. This past week, we played a team that had only 2 wins, both of them against other winless teams. We lost 6-0. My defense played pretty well, obviously, but our offense is sad. We just can't move the football. Two more weeks, and then basketball begins. Look in for updates. As bad as our 7th-grade football team was, I don't expect big things from the basketball team.

We'll see. - Dan

Baseball season's over

Well, big-money, big-market wins again. Are the Rockies going to win the series? I doubt it, as much as I'd love to see it. You see, the Red Sox have the most dominant pitcher in baseball (thanks to extremely deep pockets) and he'll pitch in 3 of the 7 games if it goes that far. That means all of the other Sox pitchers only have to win once between them. I'm sorry, but, as poorly as they did in the ALCS, winning one game shouldn't be that big a deal. So, once again, big money wins out. When will baseball adopt a salary cap like the NBA? When will it truly evoke revenue sharing like the NFL? I guess those things will happen when fans get tired of Boston or New York winning every year.

Bring on the NFL!

I want to find the next big thing in education

During September, I had one Saturday off. Things have been a little more laid back during October, but we had a "mandatory" training scheduled for this past Saturday - a "guru" with all the answers for how to bring our test scores up to "exemplary" (we were "recommended" this past year, so "exemplary" is the next and highest rating we can achieve). The trainer, a lady with impecable credentials, said basically the same thing I've heard at least 1,000 times already, but her special emphasis was that we need to identify our "at risk" kids using previous year's test scores and spend more time with them individually, trying to get them over the hump.



Really? We should find out who struggles in whatever area and bring them in for tutoring? Well, that's just freakin' revolutionary! Why didn't WE think of that? We've been doing extended-day help sessions for just such kids for as long as I can remember! I'm sure glad we paid her $1500 plus travel expenses!



I need to find the next big thing in education and then travel all over the country, charging sick stipends for my brilliant idea! A couple of years, I can retire!



Here's an idea. Teach the curriculum. Stress the things that are consistently tested, but teach the whole curriculum. When kids struggle, call their parents and insist that they come in for tutoring. If mom, dad, or guardian don't care, spend individual time with them when you can. An old maxim still holds true, however: you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. If kids insist on failure, help them out; FAIL THEM!!! Sometimes, a good, old-fashioned kick in the pants is exactly what they need to set them straight.



I think that's the next big thing. Kick them in the pants! I think I'll start the "pants-kick" institute and charge $200 a head to teach educators the technique; "well, it goes like this - have them bend over, bend your leg ever so slightly at the knee, then swing your leg until your foot strikes them in the back of the pants." I think I'll clean up! And here's the best part; it's been so long since any of these kids actually got what they need (a swift kick in the pants!), they'll improve dramatically on their test just to avoid any more "motivation" from their newly-trained teachers!

Of course, I'm joking. Physically abusing children doesn't help them to improve academically. However, most of this other garbage they're training us on almost constantly anymore doesn't help anything either. All it does is create a lot of confusion and fatigue an already tired faculty, who would be better served by focusing on what works - establish good relationships with the kids, hold them to high standards, do everything you can to help them, cajole them, tutor them, and TEACH them.

I think I'd make more money with the other thing, but then, I don't know if I could live with myself if I was part of the problem and NOT the solution. - Dan

Race in America

I read an interesting article yesterday on FoxSports.com by Jason Whitlock, who happens to be African-American. At nearly the same time, Bill Cosby appeared on Oprah, hawking his new book "Come on, people!" Both the article and (purportedly) the book address an issue that is seemingly best tackled by other African-Americans; the seeming lack of civilized behavior by the "hip-hop" generation of black youth and its effect on the upcoming generation of children and future black Americans.

Mr. Whitlock says that the antics of black athletes such as Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals and Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys, among others, have made football owners less than enthusiastic about signing African-American athletes in general and particularly those with less than stellar reputations coming out of college. He points out that successful organizations in football (he mentions the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots by name) have already significantly "whitened" their rosters and don't seem to be negatively effected at all by the effort. He also points to the chaos that has ensued when clowns such as Johnson and others are allowed to engage in "buffoonery" unchecked and suggests that these athletes owe it to future potential generations of black athletes to toe the mark and stop all of the clowning around before its too late.

Mr. Cosby has engaged in numerous "call-out" meetings over the last several years, addressing what he hopes are predominantly African-American audiences. He points to the collapse of the nuclear family in the African-American community and the rise of an ill-educated black society that has a much greater chance for death by homicide, prison, or both, than their white counterparts. He suggests that civil rights activists of the 60's, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and others, are rolling in their graves because the very thing they struggled so mightily for in that day, the opportunity for an equal education, has been just as mightily shunned by the current generation. He suggests that contemporary blacks take control of their own destiny and take advantage of the opportunities they've been afforded so that they, as a people, can rise above the horrific consequences of drugs, violence and occupation of society's lower rungs.

My own experience in athletics has been similar. Reverse discrimination against white athletes as they vie for scholarships and professional contracts has become legendary. As my own daughter worked for a scholarship in basketball, she was told, over and over again, that the program, though interested, was only signing "athletes" this year. What that translates to, my friends, is that these programs were only interested in signing black athletes and were not looking for white girls, whether they could play or not. Of course, this stance is not new in basketball. Blacks, as a general rule, are known to be more dynamic athletes than their white counterparts. The old "white men can't jump" rule, if you will. I'm no different. I'm more apt to give a black guy a second or third look when he tries out for my team just because of this notion. However it makes me sound, I can also testify that African-American guys typically come from much different backgrounds than their white counterparts and are more likely to have difficulties accepting disciplinary or academic guidelines that simply don't bother most guys of other races. That's not a stereotype - it's what I've observed from years of coaching both blacks and whites.

So, what's to be done? First off, Mr. and Mrs. African American, stop blaming racism every time something happens that doesn't favor your son or daughter. A lot of folks, myself included, are more than willing to give a fair chance to anyone, regardless of race, on a even playing field. Second, stay involved in your kid's life! Question teachers and coaches. Ask them how junior's doing and what he can do to improve! Know who he's hanging out with and what he's into. Make sure he does his homework, and, if he's not doing well in one area or another, get him to tutoring or after-school "extended day" activities. Stress that education is his ticket out, not some contract playing this sport or that. That's a dream realized by very few regardless of race and it winds up badly when there's no back-up plan! Finally, model the behavior you expect from your child. If you want junior to speak English well, speak it well yourselves. If you want junior to value education, turn off the TV and pick up a book every now and then. For that matter, enroll in a class or two yourselves just to show that education is not something that is inflicted upon us but something to be valued and cherished! African-American athletes; stop acting like clowns! When you score, toss the ball to the official and jog off the field. Everyone else is glad you scored, too. You'll be heartily congratulated when you reach your own sideline, believe me. What good did it do to rub the other team's nose in the fact that you just scored, other than to steel their resolve toward stopping you next time?

I'm not black, but I think I can speak to what the problems are. I'm the proud grandfather of a grandaughter who is half African-American. If I have anything to say about it, she will value her opportunity for education and will better herself, not because it's a "white" thing to do, but the right thing to do. - Dan