Friends,
IN YOUR FACE, French swimmers! :-) Alain Bernard brashly stated to the media that their (his 4x100 team's) whole goal in coming to the Olympics was to smash Michael Phelps' American 4x100 relay team. The French were favored, of course, but "pride goes before a fall" and their smack talking came back to haunt them as Jason Lezak, the oldest male swimmer on the U.S. team, swam the race of his life in the final leg and overcame Alain "the mouth" Bernard and won it by outtouching him at the wall. Lezak was down by at least a body length on the final turn, but seemed to just float on the Frenchman's wake as he made up the distance to claim victory. The victorious picture showing the Americans "screaming" in celebration is classic. I can't wait to watch the whole event tonight at some point. And thanks to Lezak's effort, Phelps is still on board for his quest for 8 Olympic gold medals. Here's hoping that he pulls it off. Blessings,
Don
Monday, August 11, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Cool Blue Traveler
Friends,
Here is a pic of a cool (blue) comet spotted August 3rd...it's blue (and fuzzy) because of the ice and dust particles coming off of it as it travels through space -- enjoy!
Don
Here is a pic of a cool (blue) comet spotted August 3rd...it's blue (and fuzzy) because of the ice and dust particles coming off of it as it travels through space -- enjoy!
Don
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Do Us All A Favre
Friends,
Mr Commissioner...it has gone on long enough. Do us all a Favre and help the Brett Favre situation along if you would. What a mess! There is no soap opera on television that could possibly rival this. It was hilarious to listen to the ESPN Sports Center anchors joking about life being "all Favre...24/7," and to hear them bemuse the cameras being there in Milwaukee as his plane touched down with the paprazzi running around like a bunch of chickens and saying... "Air Force 1 rarely gets this much attention." It would be even funnier except that it is all so unfortunate. True, Favre did retire in the Spring, and true that most of the sports talking heads were saying..."he'll be back." A fellow does have a right to change his mind, but it appears that the Packers brass have had all of the Favre that they would like, with his threatening to retire the past couple of years only to change his mind. So, here he is...a first ballot Hall of Famer, three time league MVP, Super Bowl winner and MVP, holder of the longest consecutive games played streak, led the team to the NFC Championship last year after having one of his best statistical years...and on it goes -- and the Packers are saying, "no thanks...thanks for playing, but see ya." Now, I understand the Packers wanting and needing to move on and get on with their plans, but they could have been much nicer about the way they have been doing their business. They made a commitment to Aaron Rodgers to be their starting QB and drafted a QB (Brian Brohm) to be his backup in the second round, so Favre wasn't in their plans. (How many snaps has Rodgers taken? How many starts does he have? How many touchdowns has he thrown? Yeah.) Nevertheless, the Packers do not want to let Favre go as a free agent so that he doesn't end up with the Vikings (who are in the Packers NFC North division) and come back to haunt them at least twice next year. So, the Packers want their cake and to eat it to...as they will not let him go, but they will not allow him to be the starter. So, what happens next? Favre says he can't go back to Green Bay and be a backup, so he is now saying that he wants to be traded, with the Buccaneers and Jets being the most prominent suitors...so, who knows? It just stinks that Favre can't finish his career in a Packers uniform, but...it is a business, and even a shoe-in Hall of Famer is finding out just how much of a "business" the NFL is. Here's hoping that Favre finds a good team and that he has a couple more great years. Take care,
Don
Mr Commissioner...it has gone on long enough. Do us all a Favre and help the Brett Favre situation along if you would. What a mess! There is no soap opera on television that could possibly rival this. It was hilarious to listen to the ESPN Sports Center anchors joking about life being "all Favre...24/7," and to hear them bemuse the cameras being there in Milwaukee as his plane touched down with the paprazzi running around like a bunch of chickens and saying... "Air Force 1 rarely gets this much attention." It would be even funnier except that it is all so unfortunate. True, Favre did retire in the Spring, and true that most of the sports talking heads were saying..."he'll be back." A fellow does have a right to change his mind, but it appears that the Packers brass have had all of the Favre that they would like, with his threatening to retire the past couple of years only to change his mind. So, here he is...a first ballot Hall of Famer, three time league MVP, Super Bowl winner and MVP, holder of the longest consecutive games played streak, led the team to the NFC Championship last year after having one of his best statistical years...and on it goes -- and the Packers are saying, "no thanks...thanks for playing, but see ya." Now, I understand the Packers wanting and needing to move on and get on with their plans, but they could have been much nicer about the way they have been doing their business. They made a commitment to Aaron Rodgers to be their starting QB and drafted a QB (Brian Brohm) to be his backup in the second round, so Favre wasn't in their plans. (How many snaps has Rodgers taken? How many starts does he have? How many touchdowns has he thrown? Yeah.) Nevertheless, the Packers do not want to let Favre go as a free agent so that he doesn't end up with the Vikings (who are in the Packers NFC North division) and come back to haunt them at least twice next year. So, the Packers want their cake and to eat it to...as they will not let him go, but they will not allow him to be the starter. So, what happens next? Favre says he can't go back to Green Bay and be a backup, so he is now saying that he wants to be traded, with the Buccaneers and Jets being the most prominent suitors...so, who knows? It just stinks that Favre can't finish his career in a Packers uniform, but...it is a business, and even a shoe-in Hall of Famer is finding out just how much of a "business" the NFL is. Here's hoping that Favre finds a good team and that he has a couple more great years. Take care,
Don
Monday, July 28, 2008
I Have Seen It All Now
Friends,
I thought I caught a glimpse of it the other day when watching the sports channel, but I did not see enough of it to know whether it was real or a joke. Then, yesterday...in black and white (and read all over)...in the FW Star-Telegram...on the sports page -- there it was! What, you ask? A description of the new sport that's all the rage -- chess boxing. I'm kidding, right? I wish that I was. I cannot believe that some bozos have turned the wonderfully, artistic game of chess into something that only Rambo could appreciate. Chess boxing? How could anyone come up with this combination? Chess boxing? I believe that this may be the only way for the once semi-entertaining (Muhammed Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard) and now obsolete sport of boxing to keep an audience. I can hear the conversation now between two bruisers as they sit down and match pawn to queen 4 and 5. "I would like to think about my next move, but you hit me so hard in that first round, that my medulla oblongata is no longer functioning correctly." This is assuming that boxers would even know what a "medulla oblongata" is. If they did, they probably wouldn't be trying to beat each other's in. In fact, I am slightly stunned that boxers are even able to play chess. I know that I am stretching for laughs with the sarcasm, but it just strikes me (no pun intended) funny. Kids, don't try this at home. Blessings,
Don
(An "extra" because several has asked me -- how do they do this? They actually box "regular " boxing rounds and then "play chess" between rounds. Someone suggested that you have 32 boxers actually playing a form of "live chess," where you could have one "bishop" duke it out with an opposing "rook." Now, this would be cool to watch. Perhaps, someone needs to start this and call it "boxing chess" ;-).
I thought I caught a glimpse of it the other day when watching the sports channel, but I did not see enough of it to know whether it was real or a joke. Then, yesterday...in black and white (and read all over)...in the FW Star-Telegram...on the sports page -- there it was! What, you ask? A description of the new sport that's all the rage -- chess boxing. I'm kidding, right? I wish that I was. I cannot believe that some bozos have turned the wonderfully, artistic game of chess into something that only Rambo could appreciate. Chess boxing? How could anyone come up with this combination? Chess boxing? I believe that this may be the only way for the once semi-entertaining (Muhammed Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard) and now obsolete sport of boxing to keep an audience. I can hear the conversation now between two bruisers as they sit down and match pawn to queen 4 and 5. "I would like to think about my next move, but you hit me so hard in that first round, that my medulla oblongata is no longer functioning correctly." This is assuming that boxers would even know what a "medulla oblongata" is. If they did, they probably wouldn't be trying to beat each other's in. In fact, I am slightly stunned that boxers are even able to play chess. I know that I am stretching for laughs with the sarcasm, but it just strikes me (no pun intended) funny. Kids, don't try this at home. Blessings,
Don
(An "extra" because several has asked me -- how do they do this? They actually box "regular " boxing rounds and then "play chess" between rounds. Someone suggested that you have 32 boxers actually playing a form of "live chess," where you could have one "bishop" duke it out with an opposing "rook." Now, this would be cool to watch. Perhaps, someone needs to start this and call it "boxing chess" ;-).
Saturday, July 26, 2008
(Nearly) Over Tour
Friends,
For the third year in a row, it appears that Spain is going home with the yellow jersey -- which belongs to the leader of the Tour as it goes, and ultimately to the winner. (Where is Lance Armstrong? :-) Stage 21 of the Tour de France is primarily a ceremonial event, and barring the extremely unforseen, Carlos Sastre is going to be this year's champion. Granted bicycle racing has had its problems over the past decade (performance enhancing drugs, primarily) and detractors (because of the above), but it is still a marvelous, strategic sport to watch. This event has to be the most physically demanding, athletically, of anything in the world of sports...it would be the eqivalent of running 21 consecutive marathons over the course of a month -- impressive. The competition is truly amazing, as the strategizing that takes place amongst individuals and teams is tremendous. I had the opportunity to watch several stages (of the 21 total) while in WA, thanks to the fact that my folks have cable. Versus, "the Tour de France" channel, is only available on cable. (Somebody at Dish needs to get with the program. :-). So, tomorrow is the finale and the tour will be complete. These guys will go on to do other tours in other countries, but none hold the allure or importance of the one that goes through the French Alps...good stuff. Blessings,
Don
For the third year in a row, it appears that Spain is going home with the yellow jersey -- which belongs to the leader of the Tour as it goes, and ultimately to the winner. (Where is Lance Armstrong? :-) Stage 21 of the Tour de France is primarily a ceremonial event, and barring the extremely unforseen, Carlos Sastre is going to be this year's champion. Granted bicycle racing has had its problems over the past decade (performance enhancing drugs, primarily) and detractors (because of the above), but it is still a marvelous, strategic sport to watch. This event has to be the most physically demanding, athletically, of anything in the world of sports...it would be the eqivalent of running 21 consecutive marathons over the course of a month -- impressive. The competition is truly amazing, as the strategizing that takes place amongst individuals and teams is tremendous. I had the opportunity to watch several stages (of the 21 total) while in WA, thanks to the fact that my folks have cable. Versus, "the Tour de France" channel, is only available on cable. (Somebody at Dish needs to get with the program. :-). So, tomorrow is the finale and the tour will be complete. These guys will go on to do other tours in other countries, but none hold the allure or importance of the one that goes through the French Alps...good stuff. Blessings,
Don
Monday, July 21, 2008
Wright Thinking
Friends,
A story I shared recently bears repeating.
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright once told of an incident that may have seemed insignificant at the time, but had profound influence on the rest of his life. The winter he was 9, he went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved, no-nonsense uncle. As the two of them reached the far end of the field, his uncle stopped him. He pointed out his own tracks in the snow, straight and true as an arrow's flight, and then young Frank's tracks meandering all over the
field.
"Notice how your tracks wander aimlessly from the fence to the cattle to the woods and back again," his uncle said. "And see how my tracks aim directly to my goal. There is an important lesson in that."
Years later the world-famous architect liked to tell how this experience had greatly contributed to his philosophy in life. "I determined right then," he'd say with a twinkle in his eye, "not to miss most things in life, as my uncle had."
from Focus on the Family letter, September 1992, p.14.
(Gotcha ;-). Blessings,
Don
A story I shared recently bears repeating.
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright once told of an incident that may have seemed insignificant at the time, but had profound influence on the rest of his life. The winter he was 9, he went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved, no-nonsense uncle. As the two of them reached the far end of the field, his uncle stopped him. He pointed out his own tracks in the snow, straight and true as an arrow's flight, and then young Frank's tracks meandering all over the
field.
"Notice how your tracks wander aimlessly from the fence to the cattle to the woods and back again," his uncle said. "And see how my tracks aim directly to my goal. There is an important lesson in that."
Years later the world-famous architect liked to tell how this experience had greatly contributed to his philosophy in life. "I determined right then," he'd say with a twinkle in his eye, "not to miss most things in life, as my uncle had."
from Focus on the Family letter, September 1992, p.14.
(Gotcha ;-). Blessings,
Don
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Update
Friends,
I just wanted to let you know that we are having a great time visiting with friends and family in the NW part of our world. We miss our friends and family in Texas and look forward to seeing you all when we get back. It was great to listen to Toby speak this past Sunday. He is doing such a good job and he has grown as a preacher (in his ability...not his size :-). I was pleased to be asked to preach this Sunday in Cashmere (where we were in the early and middle 90's). We are looking forward to visiting with the brethren up there, as well. My family is doing reasonably well...and we are pleased about this. I would like to say we came to cooler weather up here, but it has actually been hotter. There have been a number of fires up this way and we have taken some pictures. Fortunately, none of them have been threatening. I have a bowling grudge match with my friend Kal today...a Coke is at stake. That's about it for now, so, signing off...God bless,
Don
I just wanted to let you know that we are having a great time visiting with friends and family in the NW part of our world. We miss our friends and family in Texas and look forward to seeing you all when we get back. It was great to listen to Toby speak this past Sunday. He is doing such a good job and he has grown as a preacher (in his ability...not his size :-). I was pleased to be asked to preach this Sunday in Cashmere (where we were in the early and middle 90's). We are looking forward to visiting with the brethren up there, as well. My family is doing reasonably well...and we are pleased about this. I would like to say we came to cooler weather up here, but it has actually been hotter. There have been a number of fires up this way and we have taken some pictures. Fortunately, none of them have been threatening. I have a bowling grudge match with my friend Kal today...a Coke is at stake. That's about it for now, so, signing off...God bless,
Don
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Wat 'er They Thinking?
Friends,
This is not something that you should try at home (unless you are a nut case). A fellow named Darren decided to set a world record last week. His feat? Doing a bellyflop from 35 1/2 feet up (3 stories) into a foot of water in a kiddie pool. His technique is to skip across the water when he lands. Okay... Also, a large catfish in Germany, (obviously distraught over Germany's losing the Euro Cup to Spain), swallowed a soccer ball which caused it to choke (to death, unfortunately). Two words to the wise...Darren quit while you are ahead, and to all catfish -- soccer...sucker -- think about it. True stories (crazy, but true)...have a great weekend,
Don
This is not something that you should try at home (unless you are a nut case). A fellow named Darren decided to set a world record last week. His feat? Doing a bellyflop from 35 1/2 feet up (3 stories) into a foot of water in a kiddie pool. His technique is to skip across the water when he lands. Okay... Also, a large catfish in Germany, (obviously distraught over Germany's losing the Euro Cup to Spain), swallowed a soccer ball which caused it to choke (to death, unfortunately). Two words to the wise...Darren quit while you are ahead, and to all catfish -- soccer...sucker -- think about it. True stories (crazy, but true)...have a great weekend,
Don
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