In The Yard Today

MSU Didn't Belong

The Missouri State Bears did not get ripped off.

The truth is they aren't good enough to get into the tournament. That's not the same as saying they are not better than any team that did make it because I think they are better than a few of them.

But they didn't get in because they didn't beat any strong teams, didn't play any strong teams and lost to some teams that aren't very strong at all.

And when the Golden Ticket was on the line in the MVC tournament title game they lost. They failed to get past Indiana State, a team the Bears were three games better than over the course of the regular season. MSU didn't get it done. It's not the committee's fault. It's not the power conferences fault.

It's the Bears fault.

Birthday Bride

Today is my wife's birthday and, unfortunately, she is down with some fever-inducing bug. That is an un-Happy condition on your Birthday.

I have sung Kathy's praises on many occasions and she deserves it. She is most caring, most sensitive and most interested in others' well-being. I have often described how I am a better person for having known her, indeed, for having been married to her. But how does it happen?

She cares. Intensely. She is of the "Why settle?" school of thought whereas I'm more tempted to merely get by. When I am struggling over whether or not to eat the second hamburger, or whether or not to stay up late, she says, "Why struggle? Just do what's right." It's beautifully simple. Why struggle?

For this influence and for a thousand other sweet gifts she has given, I am most fortunate. I am so thankful for a marriage that is growing sweeter, deeper and more alive as time goes on. How is this possible?

It's not because of extra hamburger boy, I'll tell you that.

Grace For Grace

I spent the better part of an hour Saturday, scraping double-sided tape up off a concrete floor. It was tape that is designed to keep carpets in place and was therefore not intended to come right back up off the floor. The carpets it was holding down were in a booth at the exhibition center and the whole idea was to keep the carpets down and immovable so patrons would not trip or slip. The intentions were good, but the consequences of the decision remained a big secret until time to pack everything up at the end of the day, after a herd of humans had pressed the tape to the floor like a steamroller squishing asphalt.

My connection to the whole deal was that my wife's employer had the booth and I was there to pick Kathy up. I was waiting in the car, listening to oldies, when the distress signal came. I went in and was soon on the floor scraping tape.

It was a good day because I didn't resent it. And I'm thankful to God for that. On not good days, I would have resented the interruption to my "schedule," resented having to help somebody that should have known better and, after all, you made this mess, you clean it up.

But God is good, and has made His goodness known to me and gave me the grace to lay hold of the grace to be of service to somebody else.

And that is no small thing.

Happy Days. Not.

I'll tell you what - it's a bad time to be a fan of the Cardinals, Seahawks and Celtics. I don't even want to look at the sports and see if there is any news about the Blues.

Today, the Cardinals found out for sure that ace pitcher Adam Wainwright is done throwing baseballs off a big league mound for at least 12 months and probably more. He has ligament damage in the elbow which requires surgery whereby the damaged ligament is removed from the elbow and tendon from the non-throwing arm is grafted in. It's called Tommy John surgery, named for the pitcher who first had it done. A story on the Cardinals website today said Wainwright needed Tommy John and I wisecracked that the Cardinals team needed Tommy John. As in the pitcher. Even though he's 67 years old. His elbow is probably still in good shape.

As for the Celtics, they traded away Kendrick Perkins, a center, today. I listened to the analysis on ESPN.com and none of the experts can figure out what the Celtics were thinking. Their one big advantage over teams like Miami was lots of bigs. Now they got rid of one. I'm no expert but when the real experts don't know what you are doing, it's not good.

As for the Seahawks, well, no news today, though there will probably be an NFL lockout. But they remain a team with an unproven coach and a roster in flux and no high draft picks and an aging quarterback.

This could be a long, dark time for the Cardinal-Seahawk-Celtic fan. And you know who you are.

- 30 -

I have just a few minutes until my new favorite show, "Blue Bloods" comes on. I am not being sarcastic.

So I've got to write something worth reading in a short amount of time. It's like hitting a deadline or something. Like the newspaper men of old. "Stop the presses!" somebody would yell, the editor or the publisher, I presume. And then the heroic and idealistic young journalist, who nobody took seriously before, would get that scoop that would bust up the rackets or expose the corrupt official to the anxious public and he would win the affections of the Girl Friday who had previously been ambivalent about the young man's prospects.

The End.

What I Think I Think: Pujols Edition

That twisting and grinding metal noise you've been hearing for the last day or two is the sound of the Gateway Arch wringing its hands. There is consternation and wailing and moaning abroad in the Mound City and indeed, throughout the Midwest. And why, you ask, all these St. Louis blues?

The Spring has come and Albert is unsigned.

Albert Pujols, the best baseball player on the planet and the first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals is about to embark on the final year of his contract with what appears to be every intention of exploring free agency in the fall. I have read much of what's been written and seen much of what's been shown on this and I've formed my own ideas about this whole affair and I've put them down below.

I think everybody should calm down. We've a whole season to go and the Cardinals will field a competitive team once again. Don't miss the ride just because you don't like the bump at the end. And . . .

I think we should remember that free agency is part of our world and stop being romantic. Many have bemoaned the "lack of loyalty" and "greed" that appears to be on display. We've had free agency since the mid-70's and this is the landscape and has been for two generations or so. "Happily Ever After" is great, but it's not real, it's in storybooks. I don't like it any more than the next guy, I despise Marvin Miller for his role in bringing it to pass and a pox on anyone who advocates his election to the Hall of Fame. Nevertheless, it's here and "happily ever after" is not. To that end . . .

I think we need to stop comparing Albert Pujols to Stan Musial. I understand all the reasons a person is tempted to do so. I would never say that Musial was anything but loyal, but he also didn't have Pujols' opportunities. (And don't mention the Mexican League thing - it's apples to oranges.) Players didn't have the option of playing out the contract and signing elsewhere in Stan's day. The Reserve Clause bound a player to a team. I get that Stan and Albert were/are the greatest of their day and that both played for the Cardinals and that both are honorable men. But comparing them is like comparing a Philco radio to an iphone. Different eras.

I think the Cardinals have been planning for this all along. Up until Pujols hits the market, St. Louis is bidding against themselves. To sign him, the Cardinals have to give him his price. Come the fall, the market will determine what a 32 year-old hitter who is nicked up every year is worth. Granted, he is an historically great 32 year-old hitter.

I think Albert's position is primarily about respect and not about dollars per se.This may be a little hard to grasp for some. Year-in and year-out Pujols is reminded that he is the best player in the game. He's won 3 National League MVP awards and was second in that voting 4 other times. In 10 years! He is the best and, accordingly, he wants the best contract. He's not thinking about dollars like you and I think about dollars. He's thinking about respect and place and honor. The dollars are just the scoreboard.

I think Albert will sign with the Cardinals when all is said and done. I might be wrong but as I said above, I think the Cardinals have been prepping for this. They want Albert and Albert wants to be in St. Louis, though not at any price. I think free agency will set the price and the Cardinals will pay it and Albert will sign. That said . . . .

I think a wicked part of me wonders what Albert would look like in a Red Sox uniform and taking dead aim at the Green Monster 81 games a year for the next decade. Wow.

Moses' Name

Exodus 2:6-10 (ESV): When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Hosea 11:1 (ESV): When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.

From the notes in the ESV Study Bible regarding Exodus 2:10:

Moses. In Hebrew, the name sounds like the verb mashah, "to draw out". The name may also be related to the common Egyptian word for "son." Since Pharaoh's daughter clearly knows that Moses is a Hebrew child (Ex. 2:6-9), it is possible that she chose the name for both its Hebrew ("drawn out of water") and Egyptian ("son") senses. The irony of such a dual reference would be that her action not only prefigures but is also a part of the means that God uses to "draw" Israel as his "son" out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1).

Let's Put On A Show!

Julie Andrews, as Mary Poppins, once famously said that a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down. More precisely, she sang it. Along those same lines, I put on some music today while I was transforming dirty dishes into apparently clean dishes.

My music of choice today was Steve Tyrell's "A New Standard". It is a fine collection of old standards, songs that have stood the test of time and, while one may not know every word of every song, almost everybody recognizes something about them.

One of the songs on the album is "I'm In The Mood For Love" and it makes me smile when I hear it because the reason I know the song is not because I heard Frank or Bing or Dean do it. No, it was another well-known crooner who taught me this tune. Maybe he taught it to you, too.

Also on the disk is "I'm Through With Love" which I learned from the same source. I apologize in advance for poor video quality, but the fond memories will probably serve to compensate for it.

Give It A Rest

It is way too early to start talking about the Super Bowl. And it has been too early to start talking about it since it was determined last Sunday who would be playing the game a week from this Sunday. It takes two weeks to get there and for two weeks there are no games, but the talk is everywhere.

This bothers my internal clock. Since early September, the NFL has conditioned us for a steady stream of football delivered in regular, weekly doses. They come on Sunday. Oh, there's the odd Thursday game to accommodate a network and there's the Monday night game. But they only serve to prove the point. Those games feel different and odd and out of kilter because they are. They aren't on Sunday. Some playoff games are on Saturday, but that's OK because it's the playoffs and you expect the schedule to be different for the playoffs.

But now the flow is interrupted. There will be no NFL football on this coming Sunday prior to the Super Bowl. But you are thinking about the Pro Bowl Game and saying to yourself, "There is a game, the Pro Bowl." Yes, well, the Pro Bowl, the all-star game for football, is just not the same. I asked a friend today, who is perhaps the most enthusiastic football fan I know, if he watched the Pro Bowl. I assumed I would hear a resounding yes. Instead, he made a face. "Ray Lewis can't sack the quarterback!" he said as he shook his head. To keep players from getting hurt, they change the rules a bit and it turns the game into something other than a real contest of football. It's more an exhibition. He doesn't watch. So, like I said, there is no football this weekend.

Down Time

Tonight I was reminded why I gave up on Sudoku games. I fired one up on the computer because I've been burning the candle at both ends of late and felt the need for just a bit of "down time".

Just writing that makes my mind start to churn with other possibilities for "down time". Could I have done something refreshing and relaxing and restorative that ALSO edified? In other words, something that wasn't a total time-waster? Undoubtedly. But I didn't think of that question then. I thought of it now. And so it goes.

Back to my point, such as it is - Sudoku. I had a book of these puzzles a few years ago and worked through it and discovered something. They are not hard. Nor are they especially mysterious. They are simply fill-in-the-blank tests with clues. The only thing we don't know is how long it will take to solve it.

And it will get solved. This is why they are less than puzzles; less than mysteries. We know the answers, it's just a matter of time. And I finally decided I don't want to spend a half an hour finding 9 sets of numbers that run 1 through 9.

So, how do you spend "down time"?

Staggeringly Dangerous Deficit

From an IBD Editorial by Rep. Kevin Brady -

"Under President Obama, the U.S. has one of the worst budget deficits in the developed world. Our federal debt is exponentially increasing by $54,373 every second.

At this dangerous rate, our debt will be $18.6 trillion at the end of the president's term — an unimaginable explosion of 75% above and beyond the debt accumulated by all of his 43 predecessors combined."

It's A New Year. Let's Go To Wal-Mart

At 3:55 this afternoon I was headed out of Wal-Mart and saw a mob of people going into the store, lined up like Vegas conventioneers at an open bar. What's the attraction? Maybe the Electronics area was going to drop a lighted ball later on. Actually, it's a pretty good bet that something lit would drop in Wal-Mart.

Anyway, I had just been there and let me tell you it is no picnic. Not only are there many shoppers per aisle in there, but there are also at least 2 employees per aisle trying to get the store recovered for what I can only assume would be year-end inventory.

Happy New Year! Now go straighten a jam-packed Wal-Mart as it's being shopped.

Oy.

All Favre, All The Time

It is probably a myth that fierce Nordic explorers of yore would burn their ship once they were ashore in a new land in order to prevent retreat. Today's NFL namesakes, the Vikings, have commenced burning the team ship with a third of the season to play and everyone still on board. Talk about poor clock management!

Just a few plays away from last year's Super Bowl, Minnesota has fired the coach, Brad Childress, as of Monday. What has gone wrong? ESPN.com's Gregg Easterbrook has a thought:

"Surely, the Vikings' problem is that they have not bowed low enough before Brett Favre! Childress only drove to the airport to pick him up. Why didn't he offer to fold Favre's laundry too? If only the Minnesota Vikings would show Favre some respect!

Favre leads the league with 17 interceptions -- and maybe he wouldn't be throwing to the wrong place so often if he'd bothered to attend training camp for the past two seasons. Favre also has lost five fumbles; 22 turnovers in 10 games by the starting quarterback would doom any NFL team. The Vikings are last in the NFL in turnover differential -- and Adrian Peterson hasn't fumbled this season! Yet Childress is scapegoated while Favre floats above it all. The Metrodome crowd chanted, "FIRE CHILDRESS!" They should have chanted, "PROTECT THE FOOTBALL!"

In 2007, Green Bay wanted to be rid of Favre because the team was sick of his attitude, which boils down to: me, me, me and have I mentioned me? Sunday, Green Bay's judgment was vindicated in emphatic fashion.

In 2008, Favre single-handedly blew up the New York Jets, leading to a fired head coach and bitter recriminations all around. In 2010, Favre has blown up the Vikings, with a fired head coach and bitter recriminations all around. This must be some inexplicable coincidence -- it can't have anything to do with Brett Favre."