What American Sports Need

What makes European soccer (okay, it's "football," but I'm using soccer to avoid any confusion), and probably all European sports, so wonderful is a dreaded term called "relegation."

For ease of discussion, I'll use English soccer as an example. There's a "top-flight" division called the Premiership. It's the best. Major Leagues. #1. If you play in the Premiership, you're one of the best.

BUT- what happens if you end up at the bottom of the league? Out of 20 teams, if your team is one of the bottom 3 - you get "relegated." Dropped. Gone. You stink once again. No longer do you play in the Premiership, you play in the League Championship - or, in other words, second best. Almost the majors. And we have a term for that - minor league.

On the flip side, if you play in the League Championship, and you finish in the top three - yep, you guessed it - you get to move UP to the Premiership. Your team always has the chance to make it to the big time. You may only stay one year, but you get to play against the big boys: ManUtd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, ....

So why do I make such a big deal about this? Because the Kansas City Royals would have a reason to play to win. Right now (maybe a bad example, since the season's almost over, but anyway), right now, they and Tampa Bay are the two worst teams in Major League Baseball. They're horrible. In fact, I often forget that Tampa Bay has a baseball team (they once had Fred McGriff, and that's like the only Devil Ray I could name).

At this point, why should Tampa Bay care whether they win or lose? Why should the Royals play hard when the season is a lost cause? Do fans actually go to baseball games in these towns? However, if they face the possibility of being dropped from the Majors, I think they'd keep fighting. They'd try to be 4th-worst, not THE worst.

Moreover, you'd have a continual change in those teams that stink. You wouldn't have to put up with the Devil Rays every year. Once they're gone, the next year you get to play the champions of the second-division (if there were one). So while they may not be on par with the Yankees, for example, they might at least be better than those horrible Devil Rays and Royals.

You may say to yourself- but Mr. Davis, if your plan were implemented, we might not get to see the revival of such teams as the Tigers and Marlins (to a lesser degree, who seem to vascillate between World Champions and bottom rung at the turn of the tide). The Tigers, for example, had a measely winning percentage of .265 back in 2003- they only won 43 games that year- they've more than doubled that this year. They would be stuck in the "minors" if you're plan were in place. Well, maybe. But it also means that you must fight for the right to play.

No more mediocre sports. Make every game worthwhile. That's why I watch the Premiership. That's why soccer is the best sport in the world.

He can fly

Here's the video I mentioned before. Apparently, they're speaking Czech.

For the Swamster

I was going to comment on your page, but I'm not a team member...hmmmm....

What I was going to say is that I think FSU might lose every game the rest of this season. Say what you want about Drew Weatherford (yes, he's only a Sophomore), but I think it all comes down to the offensive scheme. Could they be any worse than they are now??

Bobby may think his son is doing a great job, but I think Jeffy needs to go sooner rather than later....

Emus on the Elevator

As if "Snakes on a Plane" weren't bad enough, check out the two sequels...

(Be sure to click the image to see it full size.)

 

  

Think past the immediate

Have you seen that great commercial where this guy in Europe (Italy?) has made wings and is standing on the bridge over a river, ready to see if he can fly? The whole town is coming out to watch (the priest on his bike), and he's ready to go. [Very dramatic violin in the background.]

He finally takes the plunge, and swoops down, and.... HE FLIES!!! It's great. The crowd goes nuts: "He can fly! He can fly!" And then some old curmudgeon has to state the obvious: "But he can't swim..."

At that point, you see the man and his wings obligingly glide into the water. Very ironic indeed.

If I find a link to it on YouTube or GoogleVideo, I'll send it over....

PTL, Take 2

Ang's pathology report came back- the mass was a "schwannoma" and was deemed benign. Good news.

Also, she had the drain taken out today, which is a great relief, and the incision seems to be healing well.

We're very blessed and grateful for the Lord's kindness towards us (not saying that His kindness is only shown in health and healing, but I think you understand).

Monkey-ish-ness

I'm sitting here watching the most boring game in the history of Monday Night Football (3-0 after 3 qtrs), so I thought I'd tell you about us cleaning out the dryer pipe (for lack of a better word).

We live in a townhouse (duh) and our dryer is on the top (3rd) floor. Because of its location, the house designer decided it was easiest for the dryer to exhaust through the roof- meaning that's where the lint goes out.

For a long time now, our dryer has had a hard time drying clothes. We thought there was some lint clogged up, so when my dad was in town, we bought a 10' 3/4" PVC pipe and a little cloth duster thing. The thought being, if there's lint stuck up in the pipe, we can stick that duster up and try to get the lint to fall down. That worked for a bit, but didn't solve the problem.

With my father-in-law in town, we decided to tackle it head-on. He and I went in the attic and detached the pipe from where it comes up through the attic floor. We were able to see a lot of lint stuck in the pipe leading to the roof, so we cleaned out lots and lots of lint.

However, having a gut feeling that there was more to be done, I decided to start climbing around and made it all the way up to the underside of the roof.


We pulled the pipe from off the connector that is attached to the roof, and I was able to stick my hand up and feel the screen that keeps birds from coming in from the outside. And what did I find, but the entire screen was plastered with old, stiff lint. I spent about 10 minutes pulling all the old lint off, clearing the path for new air to cleanly pass through.

What an ordeal. But, we should be drying in quick-drying bliss for the next few months, at least.

Recovery

Today I'm part husband, part dad, part legislative aide to the most courageous member of the Board of Supervisors in the fastest growing and richest County in the nation (whew!), and part handyman. Each one has its place:

Husband: Angela is recovering well. She's very tired, and she's now starting to feel some discomfort in her neck. All to be expected. She rests well, and said she misses being able to hug me for real (right now it's a "cautious hug"- kinda like when you barely know someone). She's the sweetest thing, even when she has a hole in her next with a tube hanging out, and has had a nerve clipped.

Dad: Amelia is taking it all in stride. We've been feeding her bottles of stored breastmilk for the last few days. Angela is just now starting to nurse her again, and that's going well. We have to protect the drain so Amelia doesn't accidentally grab it, but so far so good. This has made me appreciate Ang all the more, as I've been the one getting up at 3 and 6 am to feed the baby. Oh for when Angela is feeling better. (shame, shame!)

LA: I've been e-mailing and calling folks from home today, while not on Husband or Dad duty. It was actually pretty busy this morning, and tomorrow is a Business Meeting, with a late night worksession on Wednesday. Back in the swing of things.

Handyman: Our dryer has not been drying well. When my dad was in town, we cleaned out some lint and thought we had fix'd it. Not so, bro. While Dad and I laid the foundation for the solution, my father-in-law and I put the finishing touches on the job. We crawled up in the attic, took apart the lowest elbow of the dryer vent (which goes out through the roof), and have cleaned out bunches of lint stuck between the attic floor and the roof. This will revolutionize our drying experiences. We're not quite finished, but the post-surgical wife is sleeping, and the only attic access is in our walk-in closet.

So, a simple day in the life of me. =)

Quote of the Day

"Two times ain't no hill for a climber."

I'll leave the interpretation up to you.

Praise the Lord

Dear All-

Thanks for your prayers today. Angela's surgery went very well. The surgeon (Dr. Prasad) was great and was very pleased with the surgery. The mass was fully contained and came out relatively easily.

Angela is home resting and doing well (although the 45 minute ride along the Beltway/Toll Road home didn't sit well with her queasy stomach).

We are blessed beyond belief and thank you again for your prayers and kind notes. As Angela was wheeled into the OR, I was trying to think of a good verse to keep in my mind during the surgery and waiting period. The verse/song that came to mind is from a Sovereign Grace (formerly PDI) song:

O Lord You have searched me
And You know my ways
You perceive all my thoughts from afar
Your hand is upon me wherever I go
Before I form each word You already know

Chorus:
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, You are there
If I rest on the far side of the sea
Your love hems me in both behind and before
You have laid Your hand upon me
You have laid Your hand upon me

Where can I flee from Your presence O Lord
If I sleep in the depths You are there
Your day will consume all the shadows of night
The dark cannot hide from Your brilliant light

The chorus is a very comforting, peaceful reminder of God's love and faithfulness, and that He holds us in His hand wherever we are (including the OR, or the waiting room, for that matter).

Two notes: 1) We totally forgot the MRI films for the surgery today. I happened to see someone walking down the hall with films in their hand about 30 minutes before the scheduled surgery time. I gave a quick call to the surgeon's office, who then called the Radiology place and had them start printing the films. I quickly made my way down the street (not far, thankfully) and picked them up, so we were only a few minutes late (could have been real bad).

2) The staff at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda were super-nice and friendly. We couldn't have asked for a better experience. And as I said before, Dr. Prasad (and his staff) are very helpful, super-competent, and very assuring.

More updates to come (and no, Angela is not going to the shower tomorrow....)

Prayer Request

Please pray for us this week, and especially for Angela. She will be
having surgery on Friday morning at 11.

In a nutshell, she has a soft tissue mass in her neck, close to her
coroted artery (its official title is a Sympathetic Chain Schwanoma).
She is having it removed before it causes any problems.

While its location gives cause for concern, the surgery is relatively
minor. Nonetheless, we are a bit nervous as the day approaches.

Please pray: 1) for wisdom and steadiness of hand for the surgeon (Dr.
Prasad) who will perform the surgery; 2) for strength for Angela's
body during the surgery and for a healthy and speedy recovery; 3) that
they mass will not rupture during removal and will be completely
removed; and 4) anything else you'd like to pray for.

We will keep you updated....

Why I Love the South

We just returned from a nice week at the beach. One of the highlights
of my time in Savannah was seeing this sign on a small, sandy alley on
Tybee Island: "No Thru Fare".

I can only imagine they really meant one of three things- 1) "No Thru
Traffic"; 2) "Not a Thoroughfare"; or perhaps the most creative 3) "No
Thru Fare" actually means what it says- they won't charge you to drive
on their little strip of roadway.

Regardless of the intent, the sign was enough to make me chuckle.

You could say that again...

"An irony of Loudoun is that its residents, in choosing to move here, are helping eliminate the qualities that drew them."

Link

"A Freakish Accident"

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2572539

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I love Bluetooth

I had a conundrum. Old cell phone- all my contacts. New cell phone- nada contacts.

I found the USB cable for the old cell, and synced up my contacts to my Mac. Then, I turned on Bluetooth on my RAZR V3m, hit "pair" on the computer, and they synced up like a charm.

Wow.

Traffic

Do you ever purposefully listen to the traffic reports, just to remind yourself how thankful you are that you don't have to drive in that kind of traffic? Yeah, kinda sick, huh? But those poor, poor people driving down I-95; they have to deal with it every day....

Driving Cross-Country

Props to Uncle Lamar for his fear of flying, but more importantly for his love of America and its beauty, which resulted in a wonderful "Great Western Adventure" some 8 years ago. For a blast to the past, check out my website dedicated to it (click the link on the left that says "Our Trip"). You will note that some pictures are missing- that is to protect the innocent and internet-sensitive members of our family. And remember, this website was created 8 years ago- it's very basic. =)

But, the reason I posted this in the first place was an article from today's Wall Street Journal. See below.

See America First
Cross-country trips have a long and storied history. Why not continue the tradition?

Read More...

Uncommon Apology (of sorts)

"It turns out that the person who exposed CIA agent Valerie Plame was not out to punish her husband."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083101460_pf.html

Ooops

This is funny:

"But it [Lockheed Martin] was blamed for the 1999 disappearance of the Mars Climate Orbiter, which vanished into space or burned up in the Mars atmosphere after Lockheed engineers incorrectly programmed it using English rather than metric units."

You think for rocket scientists, they'd know better....

Addendum

Did anyone stay up until 12:45 (EDT) to watch Agassi's 5-set marathon against Marcos Bagdhatis (sp?). It was an amazing match. Just proves my point (and James' comment from below).

I wouldn't have usually been up that late, but my Fantasy Football draft didn't start until 10:30pm, so it worked out well.