Resisting the Urge to Crash

I think we all need a little break at appropriate times in the middle of our often hectic, demanding, and stressful days.  Knowing that we'll have a time at the end of each day to rest and sleep some may not be enough: not only are midday short naps a good idea (if feasible) but it's good to just take a break from whatever you are doing by engaging in things like simply sitting still, taking a short walk, or reading a book.  And then jumping back into the "fray".  But all too often, as I look back on my life and old habits, I have had a tendency to reach a point when I felt like just crashing and withdrawing from everything instead of taking things in stride and taking reasonable breaks.  Now when I was at work on my job, I had enough self-discipline and a work ethic to plow on through the shift in spite of my feelings.  But once off from work, I tended to crash...plop down in front of the TV, get loaded up on food, and vegetate for hours on end.  That's not healthy.

I think that excessive alcohol use, as well as drug abuse, are symptoms of crashing, where the user is hiding from his or her often difficult life behind chemically mind-altering substances.  But you don't have to be on anything to "crash", or even to become an inveterate couch potato.  Crashing is a negative, unhealthy state of mind which presumes that one is "entitled" to give up on the world as a passive-aggressive form of response.  I know all of this, yet the temptation is always there for me to withdraw into a more comfortable environment, removed from demands for me to be responsible for my own life and address problems which are sometimes troublesome but which need to be resolved...

2013 World Series: "My" Team

I have come to a decision about which team to support in this year's World Series, which begins tonight.  Drum roll, please....

The Boston Red Sox!

Part of this decision is based on the fact that I generally have good feelings about the city of Boston and New England.  Part is that I remember the second World Series I ever followed, back when I had just turned eleven years old in 1967.  At that time, 46 years ago, the teams were the same: Boston versus the St. Louis Cardinals.  That series, in which I also pulled for the Red Sox, went the full seven games and was very exciting.  Sadly, the Cardinals won it.  I think there's a tiny, tiny part of me, buried for all these years in the deep recesses of my memory, that clamors for REVENGE!  That's pretty irrational, I suppose.  Especially when you consider that my two favorite teams in baseball are the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays, not only divisional rivals of each other but also of Boston.  But then again, I like all of the American League East and have gradually come to focus my baseball interest on it. 

I suppose I could instead just say to myself that I dislike both teams and therefore don't give a hoot who wins.  But what fun would that be???!!!

Sudoku Benefits Mind Three Ways

While sitting in a waiting room for about an hour today, I went through a flurry of Sudoku puzzles, all of medium difficulty.  I've discovered that I can derive enjoyment from even the easier puzzles by setting rules about solving them.  For example, with the moderately difficult ones I don't put those little intermediary numbers in the boxes that show the "possible" solutions, instead only writing in final numbers.  This helps me develop my short term memory.  Also, I am still employing logical problem-solving skills.  There is one other skill I've been developing with these Sudoku puzzles as well...

Toward the end of solving a Sudoku puzzle, when momentum builds up and the task of filling in the remaining few boxes becomes more mechanical and obvious, it can get to be a little tedious and boring.  I deal with this by quickly visually scanning rows, columns, and 3X3 squares, letting the appropriate solution for each box pop into my head without going through any calculation or logical inference.  It works, and almost feels like magic of a sort.  Of course, when I do this my mind is working overtime behind the scenes quickly processing the scanned material.  It makes fun out of a game while developing a part of my thinking process...

My Running Currently in Holding Pattern

My running right now seems to be in a holding pattern, with me maintaining an average of three to four miles a day.  I don't feel as if I am getting better with this, but then again I'm not backsliding either...at least I hope I'm not.  I was planning to run a half-marathon on November 16, anticipating some substantially cooler weather by then.  But even if the weather was that cool right now, I seriously doubt my ability to finish the race, much less run well in it.  So I might be waiting until January next year to run a half-marathon...presuming I get my motivation back.  I also think that I could probably do better with my eating, probably consuming too much food in the past few weeks...

Strange Day in College Football

Yesterday was pretty strange as far as college football goes.  Although it wasn't an upset by any means when Florida went up to Missouri and got manhandled 36-17, it was the clear disparity between the two teams on both offense and defense that was shocking.  The rest of the day was full of upsets.  Already, previously undefeated Louisville had succumbed to Central Florida.  But then, on Saturday, came a torrent of surprises.  Georgia loses to Vanderbilt, South Carolina loses to Tennessee, Texas A&M loses to Auburn, LSU loses to Mississippi...and that's just in one conference!  In the evening, 5th ranked FSU clobbered 3rd ranked Clemson on the road, 51-14.  And previously undefeated UCLA lost to Stanford. 

Some things kept to their pattern, though.  Alabama blew out Arkansas while Ohio State struggled early and then pulled it out late against Iowa, both teams sticking to their "methods" of winning.  And Oregon once again drubbed whoever their hapless opponent was unfortunate to be this weekend.

So now we're left with four strong undefeated teams in Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State.  All think they're good enough to play for the national championship, but only two will make it to that game (if indeed the final two come from this pool).  If this were 2014, when the four-team playoff system commences, that wouldn't be a problem.  But this year, I'm afraid we're going to have some very angry schools, along with their fans, after their unblemished seasons are ignored when it comes to being able to complete for a national title...

Accident In Bad Weather Sighted on I-75 NB Near #374

This afternoon, around 2:30 pm, I was driving my wife and daughter down I-75 back to Gainesville, in the northbound lane just north in the Micanopy exit (around mile marker 374).  We suddenly came up a dazzling, severe outbreak of rain that lasted only a few seconds and then was gone.  I don't remember ever having driven through anything like that before...it was as if we had driven beneath a waterfall.  For the brief time that we were under this rush of falling water, it was nearly impossible to see the road in front of us.  After we came out from under it, my wife told me that she just saw a car wrapped around a tree off the road and that there seemed to be an accident back there involving a semi truck.  Wow.

After getting back home, I checked the computer and got this story.  It mentioned nothing, though, about the bizarre weather that may well have contributed to this accident (although the "precipitating" event seems to have been a tire blowout).  I'll see what I can do to follow up on it.  I'm just glad that we were able to miss whatever had happened to the involved vehicles, and wish the passengers on them to be unharmed and safe. Also, I'm glad that I managed to just get through the area before it became hopelessly backed up, especially when two trucks collided further back...

My New Kindle Working Just Fine For Me

I am continuing, at a relatively and typically (for me) subdued pace, to get to know my new Kindle e-reader.  I have found, as I read on into Stephen King's latest novel Doctor Sleep, that reading an e-reader is much easier on my eyes...and somehow my mind.  I can position it anywhere without, as is the case of a book, the pages either flapping around off, making me lose my spot in it or needing to bookmark it.  Also, this model has a built-in light, so I have been liberated from ever depending on outside lighting.  Besides Doctor Sleep, I recently purchased a Schaum's Outline Series Pre-Calculus Mathematics workbook on Kindle, something that I've been wanting to have conveniently at hand as I'd like to get my ever-aging brain back into a more mathematically-literate mode.  As a matter of fact, it seems that just about every Schaum's Outline Series book has a Kindle counterpart.  I plan to put some more of their mathematics guides on it, as well as some of their foreign language books.

But for now, I'm enjoying this fine new Stephen King novel, which I'm about halfway through reading.  It will be fun to add more stuff to my little reader in the future...

Finished Reading The Bourne Identity

The other day I finally got around to finish reading Robert Ludlum's novel The Bourne Identity.  More Bourne will follow: I just have to find which one is next in this series of cloak and dagger exploits and identity screwups.  Also, I feel free now to watch the movie version, which I had been avoiding due to the inevitable and sometimes considerable divergence from the book whenever a cinematic adaptation is undertaken.  It was O.K. as novels went, although I can guess that the protagonist, who may or may not be a person named Jason Bourne...or Cain...or David, will survive, much as Ian Fleming's James Bond, to fill up the next book (or movie).  In fact, it's pretty obvious to me that Ludlum deliberately chose his hero's name to mimic Agent 007 of the British Secret Service. 

Hopefully, the next Bourne book I read won't fall into the category of disappointing follow-ups.  However, Robert Ludlum clearly wrote The Bourne Identity with the full intention of making a series, as the final confrontation in it between "Bourne" and the antagonist, along with the book's final scene, clearly demonstrate.  I'll give book #2, titled The Bourne Supremacy, a chance, anyway...

Boehner Ultimately to Blame for Funding and Debt Ceiling Impasse

It looks as if the extremists on the political right in Congress won't get their way after all, as ineffectual Republican House Speaker John Boehner finally decided to allow a vote to continue government funding and raise the debt ceiling...at least for a few months, that is.  But I can't really blame the ideologues, exemplified by tea party senator Ted Cruz, for causing the crisis.  He is entitled to express his views within the Senate rules, and actually was quite friendly and respectable during the whole process.  It is the mainstream establishment Republican leaders like Speaker Boehner with whom I have issues.  For his part, this individual, who is supposed to be Speaker of the ENTIRE House of Representatives, not just the extreme right faction within his own party, displayed rudeness and open arrogance to the press and other leaders.  He ignored the interests, not only of the Democratic minority in the House (which I suppose can be excused) but also those of a large section of his own GOP caucus in blocking a resolution.  I personally cannot see him continuing in such an important leadership position when he has so clearly demonstrated his complete lack of competency in it...

But I think that Ted Cruz instead is going to be served up as the "sacrificial lamb" in the press for somehow having instigated this funding and debt ceiling crisis.  In fact, though, his Senate wasn't really holding things up: it was Boehner's House of Representatives.  Cruz is just a very outspoken, very conservative freshman senator from the conservative state of Texas.  He is being held up as a presidential prospect in 2016...something that the Democratic Party is looking forward to with anticipation and enthusiasm.  He talks a lot on the Senate floor and on those media shows sympathetic to the tea party like Hannity, Mark Levin, and Rush Limbaugh.  There is room in Congress for Ted Cruz: talk all you want, Ted, and cast your ONE vote!  But Boehner, with his authority as Speaker to determine what gets to be voted on, should be replace by someone, albeit possibly more conservative in his or her politics, with a greater sense of responsibility and decorum.

Stop the Phony Imposed Civility in Sports

Many years ago, when there was such a team in baseball as the Montreal Expos, and the Houston Astros were considered a year-to-year contender, there was a reasonably successful manager who brought success to the teams he worked for.  His name was Bill Virdon.  Known for his perfunctory, no-nonsense style, Virdon seemed to bring a sense of discipline and a corresponding cohesion to the teams he managed.  Both the Expos and the Astros did well during his tenures with them, although neither was able to get to the World Series, much less win it.  Once Virdon had on his Montreal team the wildly exuberant and enthusiastic catcher Gary Carter.  Apparently, the two didn't exactly see eye to eye regarding what it took to make a team a winner, and when Virdon established himself there, Carter had to tone down his behavior.  I wonder, though, what the point of it all was, since often it seems that, in the heat of a pennant stretch run and in the playoffs, it is the most emotionally elevated team that prevails and sweeps through on momentum.  Virdon, to me, squelched that momentum instead of encouraging it.  And now we come to 2013 and Yasiel Puig...

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been blessed with an extraordinarily talented young hitter in rookie Yasiel Puig, only 22 years old and already a standout.  Yesterday, with his team down 2-0 in their National League Championship Series with St. Louis and himself mired in an 0-for-11 slump (with 7 strikeouts), Puig got an impressive hit for a triple, breaking out of his slump and substantially contributing to his team's 3-0 victory.  Some are criticizing him, though, for standing there for a moment and admiring and celebrating his hit.  The Dodgers fans in the ballpark, though, were beside themselves in glee and excitement. This celebration and showmanship, in my opinion, helped to turn the momentum around to the Dodgers for the game...and who knows, maybe eventually the series.

Emotion and celebration should be emphasized and encouraged in professional sports, not discouraged, criticized, or even penalized as it often is.  Pro sports is entertainment: it is a big SHOW, duh.  Let the fans have what they want.  Hitters admiring their hits, pitchers pumping their fists after strikeouts, end zone antics in football in all of their varieties,....whatever can serve to get everyone's interest and attention (and FUN) going a little stronger.  Stop boring me to death with all of this phony imposed civility...

Hollywood Beach Walk

Last Friday evening Melissa and I paid a brief visit to Hollywood (Florida) Beach, standing on the shore and then walking a bit up and down the "Broadwalk" as they call it (I've always called it the "Boardwalk").  Along the way, at the Hollywood Beach Theater, was a rock band performing called "Rockin' Jake".  They performed original music, which I liked.  Those two cute little kids dancing in front of the stage, though, stole the show!  It was an interesting walk as we passed by various shops and restaurants.  There were several live bands performing in different spots.  The people visiting the Broadwalk seemed to be a perfect mix of just about every ethic group, age, gender...you name it.  I even heard Russian spoken by people from three separate parties there.  There were a lot of joggers and bicycles/scooters/dog-walkers, etc...

As for the shoreline, this beach was the prettiest I've seen in a long time.  I took a picture of the gigantic and spooky Ramada Hotel (originally the Hollywood Beach Hotel; later, for a while, Florida Bible College).  We stayed there on a visit a few years ago, and it reminded me of a few Stephen King stories.  My sister says it has a reputation for being haunted: I'm not surprised.  Actually, come to think of it, the entire beach/"Broadwalk" experience, looking back on it, now seems a little on the "dark" side...

This Weekend in Sports As I Saw It

I missed out on the recent happenings in the sports world, partly due to travel and partly due to an acute allergic reaction.  Now that normality seems to be creeping back into my life, I can look back on what's been going on.  Let's see... in college football, the University of Florida Gators, as expected, went to Baton Rouge to play favored LSU and lost, this time by a score of 17-6.  That's all right, as far as I'm concerned.  I already knew that Florida wasn't a national champion-caliber team this year and just hoped for them to be able to win their own Eastern Division within their conference.  Losing to a Western Division school won't hurt them much as long as they do well in their own division.  Besides, Georgia, the Gators' arch rival, lost out to a surprisingly strong Missouri team on Saturday as well.  In the National Football League today, I was pleased to see previously unbeaten New Orleans lose, although I'd have preferred someone other than New England to have performed this task.  Miami was off this weekend, and the other two Florida franchises, both thinking themselves far too smart to hire someone like Tim Tebow to play for them, have each fallen to 0-6 records with predictable losses.  In the baseball playoffs, Detroit surprised Boston by beating them in the first game of their series while Los Angeles is disappointing me after having lost two close low-scoring games at St. Louis.

There's more that happened, of course, but I'm just rattling off the major reactions to the stuff that interests me the most...

Tough Health Day on Saturday

Yesterday was a particularly disturbing day for me, healthwise.  The previous day (Friday) I found myself in a situation in which I was in a recently fumigated house, in a room full of old books, magazines, letters, and papers, trying to help clean up an accumulated mess that at one time had taken up the entire room.  There was dust all around, and I should have known better than to be there for the several hours I spent sorting out piles and piles of old material.  But that night and the entire day yesterday, I felt a bad sense of inflammation throughout my body.  Any point on my skin that had been broken and was healing suddenly felt painful upon touching it.  I felt weaker, coughed, ...but worst of all, I had an irregular heartbeat the entire day yesterday.  I stayed away from that place, though, having learned my lesson...and after a lengthy period of sleep, woke up Sunday morning with the symptoms gone...no pain, weakness, coughing...and a typically regular, strong heartbeat.  I think that, if I know what's good for me, I had better be very, very careful in the future about the type of environment I expose myself to...

Hotel Room Ramblings

Here I am late at night, sitting in a Hollywood, Florida hotel room watching the Los Angeles Dodgers play the St. Louis Cardinals in the first of their series to decide who gets to go to this year's World Series.  I really don't care who wins...I rooted for each team to lose its previous series.  Still, this is a good, close game (2-2 in the 7th inning).  I think I'm finding myself slightly leaning toward the Dodgers, but I can't figure out why.  About an hour ago I finished up my four-mile treadmill run in this hotel's exercise room (one treadmill, one elliptical...that's it). Oh, and from time to time the lights would go out for a second, right in the middle of my run.  Fortunately, there was a TV on in the room, which would provide a little light during the blackouts.  I guess I'll repeat this tonight, since I'm planning to stay here until Sunday.  My hotel is way out west, smack dab in the middle of what should be Everglades swampland and dominated by water, sawgrass, and alligators.  Instead, there's an Interstate and heavy development running through this thoroughly drained out area.  I don't know how they are capable of swinging this: aren't we supposed to be conserving our wetlands?  I guess the answer is yes, as long as it doesn't conflict with the almighty dollar!  And when isn't that really the case?!?!

2013 Baseball Playoff Results Disappointing So Far

In the Major League Baseball playoffs so far this 2013 season, I've been pretty disappointed.  My teams Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh all lost their series against Boston, Los Angeles, and St. Louis respectively.  The only series left, to be decided tonight between Detroit and Oakland, is one that I really didn't care who won.  But the funny thing is, whoever wins that game tonight, and with it the series, will by default become my favorite team for the rest of the playoffs.  That being said, with the five teams presently left in the run for the World Series, I see some potentially interesting prospects if certain combinations get there:

Boston-St. Louis: This would be a rematch of the great 1967 series that spotlighted the Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski and Cardinals greats Bob Gibson and Lou Brock. 

Detroit-St. Louis: And this would be a rematch of the also great 1968 series, with essentially the same Cardinals lineup as the previous year and the Tigers with their aces Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich (and slugger Al Kaline).

Oakland-Los Angeles:  These two played against each other twice, with the Athletics winning 4-1 in 1974 and the Dodgers doing likewise in 1988.  Neither was a very exciting series, but this does have the added intrigue of being an intrastate rivalry.

Cooler Weather Auspicious for Running

Today, even late in the morning, the temperatures remained in the upper 60's, providing me an opportunity to run outside in the elements without exposure to excessive heat.  The humidity was still high, but with the lower temperatures all that did was to slow my running a bit.  In fact, it's been generally cooler for the last two days: yesterday I ran 3.5 miles outside and today it was for 4.05 miles.  I'll be out of town for a few days, going down to South Florida, so I'll probably be using the treadmill at whatever hotel I stay at until Saturday or Sunday.  Still, the cooler weather is an auspicious sign for me as I want to do more outdoor running as I train for the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon scheduled on November 16 here in Gainesville.

The more runner-friendly weather couldn't have come at a better time, as my local gym, Gainesville Health and Fitness Center, in spite of its recent media blitz touting its expansion by several thousand square feet, is in reality restricting access to its machines by moving them over into tight, cramped spaces with some of them not functioning.  The last few times I've been there have not been very enjoyable, to say the least...

My Father Dies

My father has passed away earlier today, at the age of 87.  He had been sick for a while and was suffering through life for the past few years and especially during the last few weeks.  I am sad about his death, but am relieved to know that his pain has ended and that he is finally at peace.  I got to see him and be with him a little while about a week ago.  I know I'll miss him terribly, just like with my mother when she died nearly eleven years ago.  He was a decent, hardworking man who took care of his family.  He also was very mentally sharp until the very end, and was deeply aware of his health woes and misery, wishing only to be able to pass away with some dignity.  God Bless Him!

I love you, Daddy!

I Find an Indie/Alternative Show on Broadcast Radio

A couple of days ago I wrote about how I had gotten out of touch with the current music that is coming out in the genre of indie/alternative/rock, with several musical acts I like having released new albums of which I had been unaware.  Last night at work I was about to listen to the radio and, at little after two in the morning, tuned in to my local Public Radio station WUFT-AM, expecting some news, analysis, or a talk/magazine show.  Instead, I was treated to something called Earth Cafe, which presented music that targeted the same genre I'm interested in.  On this particular show, they featured Vampire Weekend, whose first two albums I have but evidently now have a new one out.  They were interviewed on the air, played some songs live in the radio studio and discussed various older hits of theirs as they were played.  Then, after their segment on the show was finished, I got to hear other independent/alternative songs, some brand new and some pretty old.  It was a pleasant listening experience.

I know I can go online to hear this type of music, but on regular broadcast radio there hasn't consistently been any programming since 2008.  I welcome this one show, although it IS only one show...

Now a Kindle Owner

Earlier today, as a sweet birthday present, my wife bought for me a Kindle electronic reader.  It's probably going to take me a while to figure out all of its "bells and whistles", but for now I'm happy with being able to download onto it and read books.  So far, I've obtained just one book...Stephen King's newly released novel Doctor Sleep, and have read 52 pages.  This particular type of Kindle was relatively inexpensive, but it does offer touchscreen control and lighting that enables reading in darkness.  It should be a fun project to see just how many different ways I can use it.  One of my major personal goals is to drastically reduce clutter and simplify my material surroundings.  Hopefully, this Kindle will do for me in the area of books much of what my MP3 players have done with CDs, cassettes, and phonograph records...

Now Out of Touch With New Indie Music

I was having lunch with Melissa earlier this afternoon at a TGI Friday restaurant on Bruce Downs Road just east of Tampa.  As usual, we thoroughly enjoyed our meals there and the service was great.  Once thing I noticed was the music being piped in to us.  It sounded like a college/alternative/indie rock station and I recognized several of the featured acts.  But although I really liked all of the music I heard, I didn't recognize a single song that was being played...bringing me to an interesting (to me) revelation.  I have lost touch with the indie/alternative rock scene that I had been so closely following for several years.  I'm sure that I am missing out on many of my favorite musical artists' latest releases, while at the same time I listen regularly to their older works on my MP3 player.  And I'm not exactly sure why I stopped keeping up with new releases, except for possibly the fact that I have enough material already that I enjoy listening to.  Still, I DO keep up with certain acts I like the most: Regina Spektor, Radiohead, and Sufjan Stevens.  But for most of them I am completely oblivious as to what they've been up to lately, or even if they are still making recordings.

Maybe I'll just tune in to one of those Internet indie stations from time to time to try to keep up.  I had forgotten how good most of this stuff sounds!

Gutfeld (Briefly) Spot On About Government Shutdown

Yesterday I was channel surfing the coverage of how the D.C police gunned down an unarmed, emotionally disturbed young woman, carrying a young child in her car,who had been driving erratically near the "fixtures" of national government the White House and Capitol.    I briefly touched upon Fox News Channel's show The Five, where there was some reporter stationed in Washington, D.C., stately scenery pictured behind him, discussing the goings-on among Congress and between it and the President regarding the shutdown of the federal government.  The reporter was mentioning that different parties to this dispute were starting to meet behind closed doors to try to find a compromise that would resolve it.  To which panelist Greg Gutfeld, with what appeared to me to be a mischievous gleam in his eyes, posed what he termed a couple of statements disquised as questions: first, about this "behind closed doors" strategy, why weren't they always doing that from the beginning, if they now think that it's useful to reaching a deal?  Second, reports keep coming out that the shutdown is costing the government X amount of dollars...so NOT doing things that would have had to be funded ALSO has to be funded??!!

Oh, to be in the "Beltway"!

Baseball 2013: Rays Advance Past Indians

Last night the Tampa Bay Rays stopped the momentum-heavy run of the Cleveland Indians dead in its tracks with an impressive defensive effort, winning 4-0 in the one allotted wild card playoff game between them.  Now they can go back to playing in a real multiple-game series, the next opponent being division winner Boston.  It was a little harrowing, going through the strange final games in the regular season, as three teams were vying for the two available wild card spots.  Night after night, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and the Texas Rangers played and won.  The Rays were interesting in that they swept the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, both good teams that had been in the playoff picture.  Meanwhile, the Indians and Rangers would go off on their own winning streaks, but their opponents were weak, inferior teams.  I felt that it was an almost hopeless uphill battle for Tampa Bay, but finally for the last three games of the 162-game regular season, they got to play Toronto, which was in dead last place in their division.  The Rays, going into that series, were still one game ahead of Cleveland and two ahead of Texas.  I'll just go on to say that the latter two won the rest of their scheduled games.  But Toronto surprisingly beat Tampa Bay decisively in the first two games of their series, putting the Rays' playoff hopes in jeopardy.  Tampa Bay managed somehow to just barely squeak out a 7-6 win, though, in the final game, putting them in a tie with Texas for the final playoff spot.  The two played a tiebreaker game (in Texas) and "my" team prevailed.  Then they went on the road to Cleveland for another winner-advance-loser-go-home game and here we are, with the Rays being one of the "final eight" left in the running for World Series glory in 2013...

Jury Duty Blues

Last week I had the misfortune of having to serve on a jury.  Never mind who was on trial, what it was about, or how the trial ended.  It was, to me, utterly abysmal...comparable on my scale of personal suffering to having kidney stones, getting multiple fillings at the dentist, or undergoing a colonoscopy.  On Monday, when it was jury selection day, one of the interviewing attorneys asked the panel of prospective jurors one by one whether they enjoyed the previous times they served on a jury.  All who had served before assented...yes, they enjoyed it.  Until the hotshot prosecutor got to me, that is.  I told him no, I did not enjoy being on a jury.  I think the SOB held that answer of mine in the back of his mind as I was later selected, to my dismay, to be on a jury in a trial that lasted from Thursday morning to Friday evening. 

I dislike many things about jury duty, but I dislike the most how the jurists are bunched up together all of the time.  I couldn't even get away from the others for lunch. They seemed to be nice enough people to me, but they were not what I was there for, and I tired quickly of the few jurists who talked a lot, with me cooped in a small room with them, all of us seated facing one another around a circular table.  Yes, that got very old in a hurry...

When the trial began, the bailiff passed out blank yellow legal pads with pens to each of us serving on the jury.  The reason was to give us something to take notes on during the trial. The judge told us, though, that we didn't have to take notes if we didn't want to, and that suited me fine.  For I had discovered many years earlier that since I wasn't in the habit of ever reading my own notes, then writing them down would be pointless.  Besides, I listened to the attorneys present their evidence and was attentive to the different witnesses, remembering just about everything without needing to write anything down.  Unfortunately, it became clear to me that I was the only one who didn't take notes, while everyone else had written down copious amounts of stuff on their pads.  So I may have appeared to everyone else to not be engaged, while in fact the complete opposite was true. My ears and eyes were all wide open and I absorbed everything.

I felt bad about the eventual verdict, although I believe it was the correct and just one. I feel worse about the way the prosecutor and defense attorney went about manipulating the feelings of the jurists.  I disliked both of them and wondered how, under this system of justice, anyone could ever truly arrive at an accurate accounting of events with so much speculation and insinuation being thrown around.  On top of that, perhaps the most crucial witness in the entire case, one who was right there in the middle of the pertinent events and whose testimony could well have exonerated the accused, was mysteriously ignored by both sides. This reminded me of the previous time I had served on a jury in a trial.  That time it was the peculiar, unexplained behavior of the arresting police officer that left me scratching my head.  But what really left me wondering about last week's trial was the apparent rush to an arrest when matters could have been settled with neither party suffering any substantial harm.  Yes, that bothered me...although I ended up voting on the case based on the evidence, although incomplete, that WAS revealed to me.

After it was all over, the judge said that I would have at least one year before my name could once again be selected for jury duty.  Oh boy, I can hardly wait...

When in Boca Raton, Check Out This Restaurant

My wife and I were down in South Florida this past weekend, one of our destinations being Boca Raton.  I find that the Palm Beach County area is quite enough of a "South Florida" experience for someone like me who grew up further south, in southern Broward County.  Others can have Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miami, and the countless suburbs surrounding them: it's all just one big nasty urban sprawl to me.  No, around places like Lake Worth or Boca Raton I get all of the trademark South Floridian semi-tropical climate and, while it is admittedly crowded there, it's doesn't seem quite as insanely congested as it is in points south.

While in Boca Raton Saturday night, we stopped off at an Asian-style restaurant on Yamato Street near the Turnpike that is called "5-Spice Asian Street Market".  It has Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai cuisine.  I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed something they call "Singapore Fried Rice", which has curry as one of the spices.  Delicious.  The menu had lots of items on it, and I found myself regretting that I probably would never get around to eating there again...seeing that the one reason I had for going to Boca Raton in the first place would end this coming Tuesday.

My September 2013 Running Report

September was marked by a feeling of stagnation with my running, although I kept my total mileage up.  Whatever the reasons, I just didn't enjoy the activity as much as before.  I avoided running outside whenever the temperature or the humidity seemed too high, as was usually the case.  However, I intend to stay the course with my running, hoping that this period of relative lack of enthusiasm will pass.  I covered 110.73 miles for the month, missing just one day of running.  My longest single run was 6 miles.  I had earlier planned to run in a local half-marathon race scheduled on September 28, but changed my mind as the date approached.  That turned out to be just as well, because I had a rush of personal matters arising that took up my time anyway.  Maybe if I feel up to it, I'll run the next half-marathon in town, which will be in November.

One Game Is Too Short for Baseball Wild Card Playoffs

Monday night the Tampa Bay Rays will play against the Texas Rangers in "game 163" to decide who gets to turn around and play Cleveland for another one-game series in the playoffs.  I think that, given the way baseball teams are composed with their rotations of four to five regularly starting pitchers, not to mention that they play a 162-game regular season to sort out who's the best, it's ludicrous to think that ONE game should ever decide who gets to advance in the playoffs.  I get it regarding the Rays/Ranger game tonight: they finished with identical 91-71 records, tied for the final playoff spot.  But within the playoffs, part of what determines a team's greatness is the potency of its pitching rotation...and not just the best "star" pitcher.  I remember one year, back in 1972 in a strike-shortened season, when the Philadelphia Phillies had an awful team, finishing with around 59 wins and more than 90 losses...in dead last place.  But they also had an ace starting pitcher in their generally pathetic rotation by the name of Steve Carlton, who went on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  In spite of the rest of the team's poor performance, he went 27-10 that year and won the Cy Young Award for best pitcher (one of four he collected over his career).  Had the Phillies engaged with ANY team in a "one game playoff", even the best, they most likely would have prevailed with Carlton pitching.  But there was much more to them than just their star pitcher.  The same applies to the upcoming game between Cleveland and the Texas/Tampa Bay winner.  They could at least have a best-of-three series between them.  I don't think the current format will last anyway, and perhaps my idea might be adopted...

GOP House Instigating Debt Ceiling Crisis

It looks as if the federal government will be soon entering another politically-inspired crisis when the vote to raise the debt ceiling once again comes up in the House of Representatives...and the Republicans, as is whenever they are in control of that body under a Democratic president...will again hold the nation hostage while they risk economic disaster just to push their own agenda.  This time the partisan pet peeve is their opposition to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which was passed by both houses of Congress, signed into law by the President, and upheld by the United States Supreme Court.  Regardless how you feel about this bill, how they are going about trying to destroy it is reprehensible.  I don't mind Republicans in Congress...I just wish there would be a few with the backbone to stand up to the extremists pushing this counterproductive policy.  The GOP had a chance to end ACA, or "Obamacare" as it is more widely known: they could have taken both the Senate and House...AND the Presidency in the last national election in 2012.  But the people spoke...yet the "Grand" Old Party persists in their delusion, despite the consistently abhorrently low poll ratings for them in Congress, in thinking that playing this brinkmanship game with the country's economy will somehow bear positive fruit for them.

Florida-Kentucky Football Game Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be the first opportunity for replacement starting quarterback Tyler Murphy as the University of Florida football team travels to Lexington, Kentucky to face the Wildcats in a continuation of a series that the Gators have dominated for decades. Since Kentucky doesn't appear to have one of their better teams this year, I don't expect Florida will have too much trouble in this game.  I think the most interesting thing about this game for Gator fans is to see how well Murphy does in his first full starting college game...

Running Progress Not As I Like It

Although I have generally been keep my running mileage at projected target levels, I somehow feel as if I am going backwards instead of forwards with my running progress.  I used to run more or less daily outside on the streets around my neighborhood, but this year I have been spending more time in the gym running on the treadmill.  Treadmill running is a good stopgap measure to maintain continuity in case of bad weather or the need to run at night because of daytime scheduling conflicts.  But as the main focus of my running, it doesn't match up with the degree of intensity that hard contact with a surface provides, especially in the mental area of me determining my own running pace instead of some machine doing that important job.  My excuse has been a good one, though, with the weather being so terribly hot.  Two other factors have contributed to my current running stagnation: one is my change in March to a 11 PM to 7:30 AM work shift, which has turned my running opportunities on their head.  I used to, when earlier working the afternoon/evening shift, run around the 'hood in the late morning hours when temperatures were still reasonable and the humidity had dropped to a bearable level.  Nowadays, though, that time period is when I need to be asleep.  So I have as a choice early mornings when I am tired from work and the humidity is high, late afternoons when the temperature is highest, or....just pick a convenient time and run at the gym in air conditioning!  The temperatures are finally beginning to dip as autumn sinks in.  Hopefully, this will usher in more afternoon outdoors running.  The other factor limiting my running progress has been my gradual weight gain over the last couple of years.  Since early 2010 I have gained some 25 pounds, and that means that I am lugging that much more than I need on me with every step I take.  Not sustainable!  I need to focus on what I am eating more...

Just Finished Reading Martin's A Clash of Kings

I just finished reading A Clash of Kings, which is George R.R. Martin's second installment in his fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire.  There is no "main" protagonist to this work, at least not on the line of Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.  Instead, it's more like that author's presentation of the characters in Lord of the Rings...but with some of the "bad guys" also weighing in on the narrative from their own vantage points.  Imagine getting a perspective on Tolkien's epic story from the viewpoint of Saruman! I first thought this method of telling the story was annoying, but now I find it very interesting.  With this system of chapters headed by a diversity of characters experiencing the plot contained within, it also puts in doubt their ultimate survival within the series.  Martin pulled a Hitchcock-like "Psycho" on readers of the first book, A Game of Thrones, when he then brutally rubbed out what seemed to be a central character in the series.  More of the same ensued in the book I just finished, but by the time they occurred I had been expecting something of the sort and wasn't quite as traumatized.

Volume three of A Song of Ice and Fire is titled A Storm of Swords.  I'll be starting it soon...

Gators Still Hopeful Despite Driskell Injury

Last Saturday the Florida Gators were able to overcome a first quarter second-ending ankle injury to their starting quarterback Jeff Driskel as they once again defeated hapless Tennessee 31-17.  It was backup  junior quarterback Tyler Murphy who stepped in and regenerated the then-stalling offense, which had committed several early turnovers.  Murphy seemed to be very quick with reading defenses and reacting to opposing players, sidestepping potential sacks and breaking tackles for good rushing yardage.  His passing had flashes of brilliance as well.  If he can avoid  injury, I  have high hopes for him and the Gator offense as the schedule gets more difficult in a few weeks.  For now, though, Florida will travel for their next game against Kentucky, which is experiencing a rather difficult time with their performance this year.  The following week they'll play another relatively weaker SEC opponent in Arkansas before encountering LSU on the road and then more difficulty.  But now, barring injury (always a possibility, just ask Driskel), I now think they have a fighting chance.  I wasn't so sure after the offense's dismal performance the previous game against the University of Miami.  Notice that I've said nothing so far about Florida's defense.  That's because they are consistently good.  It will be interesting to see how well they do against tougher foes like LSU, Georgia, and South Carolina down the road...

Are Dolphins Returning to Old Winning Ways?

The Miami Dolphins are surprising me, week after week in this young 2013 National Football League season.  In their first game against Cleveland, I felt they had to win that game since the Browns were most likely a relatively weak team this year.  Still, knowing Miami's recent history with poor starts, I was doubtful...then pleasantly surprised when the Dolphins pulled out a win, 23-10.  The next game was a road game against the Indianapolis Colts, lead by their rookie sensation of last year, quarterback Andrew Luck, and which made the playoffs.  But I was amazed at how Miami won a close victory, accomplished by a complete team effort that included dampening Luck's effectiveness with a tough defense.  The score was 24-20.  Then, yesterday the Dolphins had a home game against on of last year's National Conference finalists, the Atlanta Falcons.  Once again the Dolphins prevailed in a close one, this time 27-23.

2013 is the first season since 2002 that Miami has started the regular season with a 3-0 record.  Their next game is going to be another challenge: Monday night at New Orleans against the (also) 3-0 Saints.  Should the Dolphins win this one, it will be the first time since 1995 that they went 4-0.  I'm feeling pretty good about them so far, but the most crucial games will be the six they play within their own division against rivals New England, New York (Jets), and Buffalo.  I don't explain Miami to win the rest of their games, but if they can do well inside their own division, then they should be able to do something they haven't accomplished since 2008: make the playoffs.

Doctor Sleep Finally Set for Release Tuesday

Well, the day after tomorrow the long-awaited date is arriving: the opening day for the sale of Stephen King's novel Doctor Sleep.  It's been long-awaited at least for me, to the same extent that I used to wait for those last few Harry Potter novels to come out.  Of course, with them bookstores would hold store-wide celebrations as they would keep their doors open past midnight, when the new books would be permitted to be sold.  I don't see any similar fanfare, though, with Doctor Sleep, which is a sequel to his The Shining, spaced apart by several decades.  I saw King on C-Span once a couple of years ago when he went over some of his projects that would soon be published.  Along with the upcoming release, he also then discussed his excellent 11/22/63 and a short Dark Tower novel titled The Wind Through the Keyhole.  When he read a short passage from Doctor Sleep, I was instantly intrigued and sold on it (and just a little suspicious thereafter on the Interstate of some of the slower vehicles on the right).  Unfortunately, the decision was made to release it last of all...but it may all be for the best in the end as the author had felt the need to revise some sections in it.

I have Doctor Sleep on hold/reserve at my county public library, but I'm far back on the waiting list at #47.  It will take a while for the book to come my way, although I'm sure they ordered several copies of it.  So I may just buy the book outright or maybe just stop in one of those bookstores and get a head start on my reading. I do have a little bit of curiosity as to whether any of them on Monday night will keep their doors open past midnight for the release...

Body Needs to Adjust to Weather Changes

At some time every autumn, it seems, I step outside when it is the upper fifties for the first time of the season.  I always seem to shudder at how extremely cold it feels and suddenly wish a return to the long, hot summer I just left.  But soon thereafter, every time in fact, I acclimate myself to the seasonal cooling and find myself enjoying the more temperate climate.  But first I have to pass through that initial boundary of "shock" at the long-missed cool temperatures.  I feel something similar may have happened to me today, but in reverse.

From time to time during this extraordinary, brutally hot and humid summer, I have ventured out on short runs outside through my neighborhood.  Often these runs would be limited to one or two laps around my block.  Mostly, though, I confined my running to indoors with temperature controlled and in the 70's with low humidity.  This morning I tried to see how long I could stand it outside under a slightly cooler-than-normal 81 degrees and moderate 66% humidity.  I had hoped, as I wound my way up and down familiar streets on my long-established neighborhood running course, to run 7 miles or more.  But I only managed to get to 4.83 miles and felt overheated and exhausted.  Still, my recovery from the run seems to be going well.  I'm inclined to think that my negative reaction to the run wasn't as much due to being out of shape, which I know I'm not, as it was against the abruptly unpleasant weather, as mild as it was in comparison to the summer's generally roasting heat. 

I'm going to test this out in a couple of days and run once again for a substantial distance outside.  Maybe my body, like it does when it finally acclimates itself to cooler conditions, will get used to the less pleasant warm temperatures.  At least that's what I'm hoping.  In any event, I think I'm going to skip that local half-marathon race next Saturday and wait for cooler weather.

Pathological Weather

In Florida we have two separated months in which the love bug population makes its appearance.  The major month of this is May, while in September a smaller recurrence of them takes place.  This bugs tend to swarm and mate over warm surfaces.  Hence, they are more prevalent during these periods on open highways like the Interstate, where passing vehicles heat up the road and attract them in hordes.  As a result there are a lot of very splattered windshields...which is also very annoying.  But I'm not on the Interstate and this isn't May...it's September, the supposably "mild" time for them.  Yet these pests are everywhere.  I'm sitting here at my usual Starbucks in the Magnolia Parke shopping center and am looking out of the window at masses of these critters, who are making a spectacle of themselves that actually dwarfs May conditions at their worst!

I know what is the cause of this preponderance of love bugs: the extraordinarily hot and long summer we've been experiencing.  There is no letup in the high temperatures, and although I had earlier expressed hope in a gradual cooling a few days ago, no such cooling is forecast for the next few days, at least.

In a way, I am glad for the overwhelming nuisance of these insects.  For they reaffirm my disturbance at this year's weather: first, an almost nonexistent winter, then a very early, hot, and humid summer, and now a delay for more usual seasonal cooling.  I don't think the meteorologists are fully on top of this phenomenon: they had predicted a very active hurricane season this year with many U.S. landfall threats.  The opposite has happened, though.  Another trend I've noticed is how the multiple-day temperature high forecasts are almost ways raised as the target day approaches.  And many times I turn on the weather station and notice, for example, that the current temperature will be something like 92 degrees when the stated predicted high is, say, 87!

Oh by the way, I am DEFINITELY going to my air-conditioned gym to do my running today...

Martial Atmosphere Increasing and Ominous

Quiet often when I'm watching TV a public service announcement will broadcast about a cause called "Wounded Warrior Project".  Its aim is compassionate and compelling, rallying support around the all-too-many veterans who have returned from combat duty physically and/or mentally traumatized from the experience.  Both volunteers and financial donations are solicited in these ads: I think this is a good cause.  Beyond this, though, is an ominous trend: the increasing martial mood in this nation.

People in uniform brandishing weapons are being increasing held up in our society as a superior class of citizen, to which all others are expected to at least perfunctorily show the signs of humble deference and appreciation.  But although the duties of soldiers, police, and the like have their undeniable value, each of the individuals who engage in these occupations go into them fully aware of the dangers and consequences of their choices, in the case of the military there not having been forced conscription since 1973.  After the Bush administration in 2003 launched an unprovoked invasion of Iraq, the push for exalting the military above anything else was pumped mercilessly through the press.  It soon came to be that anyone who was against this horrible, unnecessary war wasn't properly "supporting the troops".  In my view, it was the bungled continuing occupation of Iraq that the political leaders of the time (Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney) in Washington were mismanaging that was a betrayal of support for the troops. The soldiers followed their instructions professionally and bravely, for the most part, and deserve the compassion and support of the rest of society upon their return to civilian society.  But that's just it: it is CIVILIAN society they are returning to, not a continuation of the military.  I also don't understand why, after it had already been made patently clear that we were bogged down in a hopeless quagmire in Iraq, young men and women willingly signed up for military service, knowing perfectly well that they could be the next reported killed or injured in combat.  Why should I necessarily defer to someone who made that kind of deliberate decision to seek out the danger?

In Gainesville, any time a police officer is killed on duty, the street where the death occurred is renamed after the fallen officer.  This on the surface sounds like a nice gesture and shouldn't be a problem, except that, as I said before, it puts uniformed, armed individuals on a higher pedestal above others.  Where I work, at a civilian organization, it has been a long-standing policy to give military veterans and even their spouses, regardless of whether there was any combat duty involved, substantial hiring advantages over non-veterans and their spouses.  I was passed over for a year in my hiring process because of this, and I found myself, after scoring a perfect "100" on the pre-employment examination that was supposed to set the hiring list order, suddenly relegated behind several others who leapfrogged ahead of me because of military connections.  I don't think a civil society that has constitutionally placed the military in a subservient role should be run like that.  Yet in the midst of gridlock on Capital Hill, one kind of issue inevitably gets clear sailing: anything that gives preferential treatment to those in uniform.

We don't live in science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein's universe where the military and those who are members thereof are set apart to enjoy perks and rights that the rest don't.  Or do we?

Rush Hour Gym Running Overcrowded

The gym I go to is the biggest in Gainesville (well, the UF student recreation center might be bigger).  It has at least two stories to it (maybe more) and is loaded with weight training equipment, weight machines, and cardio machines.  There is an indoor pool and adequate locker rooms.  There's even a cafe there in the lobby, although the prices to me seem a bit steep.  Also, it has an indoor basketball court area and a large empty room for group workout activities.  Outside, there is, on the northern end of the parking lot, an outdoor obstacle course training area.  And there are lots of TVs downstairs, and upstairs as well...embedded within treadmills, at least.  I know because I almost always use these second-floor treadmills when I go there.  No weights, stationary bikes, elliptical machines, basketball, pool, obstacle course...just running on treadmills.  And knowing that the place is available 24 hours per day is reassuring.  Still, there are times when I really need to avoid the place. Like yesterday during late afternoon rush hour.

I have my own schedules and unfortunately often find myself out and about, driving through rush hour traffic.  Yesterday was one such time and I went into my local gym to run on one of the 15-20 upstairs treadmills.  No such luck befell me as I got up there and found them all taken.  So I sighed to myself, walked downstairs, and tried out one of the ground floor treadmills.  I don't like these machines as much as the ones upstairs: they seem clumsier and don't have the televisions on them that enable me to channel surf while running.  Still, my main goal was running and I gamely plodded onward.  But then the ground floor environment began to bother me.  All of the sounds seemed amplified and it felt warmer there than on the second floor.  I cranked out four miles, but felt as if I had run much further.  I wonder what the matter is with that  place!  This afternoon I got to the gym earlier, around 3:30, and the upstairs treadmills were available (but not many).  I got on one and easily ran five miles.  Only time constraints in my schedule kept me from running further, and the run was smooth sailing with little discomfort.

It could be that I am becoming very finicky about my running conditions.  I have less tolerance for outdoor weather and I don't like running inside either, if the conditions don't meet my preferences.  Still, there's no need in punishing myself in 90-degree-plus weather or running in less comfortable conditions indoors...

My Current Reading Focus

I am currently in the process of reading five books...and each is a part of a series.  I am continuing George R.R. Martin's celebrated fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire as I am nearing the end of the second book, titled A Clash of Kings.  I am also on the second book in Terry Goodkind's twelve-part series The Sword of Truth, having begun it a week ago.  Its title is Stone of Tears.  Also in the second book of a series, this one a bit shorter, I am delving into the "darker" side of the magical experience with Jonathan Stroud's The Golem's Eye in his Bartimaeus Trilogy.  I am on the first of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy as well.  Finally, I've picked up a book I had abandoned a couple of years ago and am once again tackling the Bourne series of Robert Ludlum, right now a little way into the first volume, The Bourne Identity.  But with none of these series am I going to watch any derived movies or television series.  After all, I want to develop my imagination, not have images spoon-fed to me.  Besides, screen adaptations of novels have a tendency to deviate, sometimes very substantially, from the written word.  If memory serves me correctly, the little snippets I saw of The Bourne Identity movie version with Matt Damon deviated substantially from what little I had read...

Each of the five series I'm reading presents a rather unattractive picture of humanity: a cutthroat and brutal society that exalts violence and aggressive behavior.  That goes even for the alternative history in the children's series of  Bartimaeus, with an elitist social class of magicians dominating civil society and oppressing the general population. Ludlum's protagonist Jason Bourne struggles in the unforgiving world of international espionage while Martin, Goodkind, and Sanderson rachet up the savagery with medieval fantasy societies bent on war and vendettas.  All of this violence can get to be a bit numbing after a while, but at least with all five series the authors have developed some interesting, believable characters to follow.  Also, there is more than action to these stories: some pretty intense philosophical themes are presented and woven around the characters.  So I'm sticking with them all this time, all the way to the (possibly bitter) ends...

Miami Dolphins Make Me Proud

I find myself in the rare condition of being optimistic about the Miami Dolphins and their prospects this 2013 season.  They have played only two games, to be sure...but their performance in both showed much improvement over the last few years.  Their quarterback Ryan Tannehill has poise under pressure and delivers accurate strikes, often for long yardage.  The offensive line seems to be protecting him pretty well so far, although their first opponents Cleveland and Indianapolis may not have the kind of defenses that would put it to a serious test yet.  I am VERY impressed by the Dolphin defense as well, especially their secondary.  They were able to contain the Colts' talented Andrew Luck in yesterday's 24-20 win enough to keep Miami in the game.  Also, I happened to look at the stats sheet for this game and was stunned to discover that Miami wasn't penalized at all the entire game!  This level of team discipline strongly reminds me of the great Don Shula era.

Just two games, I know, isn't enough to accurately predict how a team will end up at the end of the year.  But 2-0 is better than 0-2, something that I had been having to endure too much lately with Miami in recent years.  I don't know whether or not they'll end up making the playoffs, but I do know one thing: this team is fun to watch and follow!  And isn't that what any fan of any team should feel entitled to?

Delayed Seasonal Cooling Hampers Outdoor Running

As the weather very, very slightly begins to moderate its extreme summer temperatures, I am stepping out more and running outside around my neighborhood.  It is still very unpleasant in mid-afternoon: yesterday I put in three miles of outdoor running in 91 degrees of heat, although the humidity was relatively low at 46%.  As the month progresses, I plan to add more mileage to these outdoor runs.  But this naturally depends on the weather cooperating with me by seasonally cooling at least a little bit.  I had been hoping to participate in a local half-marathon race on September 28, but with less than two weeks left before it takes place I don't see, barring an unexpected dramatic climate change around here, how I would be able to handle the conditions.  We'll just have to wait and see.  In any event, there is another half-marathon scheduled for Gainesville on November 16: if the weather hasn't cooled appreciably by then, well...perhaps it might be time to move to Alaska...

About Putin's New York Times Editorial

At first, I did not read the September 11 editorial article that the New York Times printed that was written by Russian president Vladimir Putin, focusing on threatened U.S. military action against the Syrian regime.  All  I had been hearing, though, for the last few days, was how insulting he was to America and our president.  This was chiefly coming from the torrent of conservatives who, in the midst of an international crisis, have found little better to do themselves than to concentrate on ripping apart Obama for his ongoing handling of the situation.  Apparently, THAT'S not insulting to America and the President...but a foreign leader who obviously would have his own nation's interests to advance and would naturally entertain differing opinions IS.  I had been intrigued by the level of animosity leveled at Putin, especially considering how his proposal to alleviate the clamor for an American military strike that involved Syria turning over all of its chemical weapons has been taken up by our side and is apparently headed for agreement and implementation.  Shouldn't we instead thank the Russian president for his positive participation and see where peaceful diplomacy leads us before we blow everything up into smithereens, creating God knows what consequences down the road for us and the people we are proposing to help?

So I decided this morning to read Putin's op-ed piece and am left scratching my head as to why anyone would find it insulting or objectionable.  His tone was conciliatory and respectful, not at all arrogant as he has been accused.  His talking points were largely the same talking points, albeit more elegantly and cogently expressed, as those I have heard from both liberals and conservatives here in the United States who oppose American military intervention in Syria's civil war.  He was upbeat about reaching a peaceful settlement while working with the United States and was complimentary to President Obama.  The one passage at the end for which many in our own domestic media blasted Putin the most was his critical reference to the idea of American exceptionalism...a concept that ANYONE responsibly governing another country with its own legitimate policies to further would sanely take "exception" to.  He wasn't framing his objection to this by in any way putting down the United States, its people or government, but rather was trying to encourage us to reach out and relate to other countries before heading out on military adventures (my words, not his).

This has been an object lesson to me about how I cannot allow others, through secondhand criticism, to form my own opinions about something that someone else said or wrote.  This article by Putin had nothing of the supposedly inflammatory and demeaning rhetoric that had been attributed to him.  The experience has had a different outcome to me, though: it causes me to now look upon those who had publicly and very negatively spun it out of control in the media and politics with a more skeptical sense of scrutiny...

Tomorrow's Game Between Alabama and Texas A&M

Tomorrow afternoon we'll have the big early season game in college football between Alabama and Texas A&M.  Although these two teams are both in the Southeastern Conference, of which Florida is also a member, this game's outcome doesn't affect the Gator's prospects for the conference title since neither is in their division.  So on that score I'm neutral about who I would prefer to win this game.  Each team, however, resonates negatively with me on account of a particular member on each side: Texas A&M's quarterback Johnny Manziel and Alabama's head coach Nick Saban.  Were either team to be playing against a different one and not each other (except for SEC Eastern Division foes like Georgia or South Carolina), I would be vehemently rooting for their opponent with nearly the same fervor that I root for Florida when they play.  That being what it is, when game time comes around this Saturday afternoon, I will be figuratively holding my nose and picking one side: and there's really only one side, as I see it...

Nick Saban, after leaving the NFL's Miami Dolphins in a wreck after he abandoned them in mid-contract for fame and fortune at Alabama, has had a very successful run at for the last few years, even winning three of the last four national championships.  His Crimson Tide defeated Florida in the SEC championship game in 2009, while in 2011 his defense went after and INJURED then-starting quarterback John Brantley early in a regular season contest between the two.  What they did to our quarterback reminded me of what happened in the national championship game for the 2009 season when they knocked Colt McCoy, their opponent's (Texas) quarterback, out of the game with an injury through an excessive hit.  This seems to be Saban's strategy: if you think there's a chance you might not beat your opponent in a fair contest, then get dirty.  So although I dislike the impetuous, arrogant quarterback for Texas A&M, for tomorrow at least I'll be pulling quite vociferously for "Johnny Football" and his Aggies. Besides, Florida is off this Saturday, so I can devote my full attention to this Western Division contest.

I wrote in an article last year that I had forgiven Saban for betraying the Dolphins when he left them like that at the end of the 2006 season.  But feelings still sadly linger, and the man's ongoing gruff arrogance doesn't help things.  I think he is suffering from a "God" complex and yes, regards himself as one of the truly "good people of the world" (see article a couple of days ago), a mega-legend in his own mind.  A nice, humiliating loss tomorrow just might do him some good with his delusions. See, I'm really "pro-Saban" after all!

Jets-Pats Game Tonight

Tonight there's a NFL game pitting the New England Patriots against the New York Jets. These two teams, it is said, may be the most bitter rivals in football, at least on the professional level.  They're the two teams in the AFC East that have had the most success in recent years (although the Patriots have come to dominate this division).  The Jets-Pats feud is part of the New York-Boston collective sports rivalry that flows over into baseball, basketball, and hockey.  The Jets successfully accused New England, back in 2007, of illegally videotaping opposing teams' signal calling to help themselves with play strategies: the Patriots reacted to this by indignantly going (almost) all the way to an undefeated season, ironically falling to another New York team, the Giants, in one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history (and one of my favorite Super Bowls).  No there's no love lost between these two cities in the realm of sports.  But there's more...

New England is a tightly controlled, disciplined organization that keeps to itself and makes a great emphasis on letting its performance on the field speak for itself.  The New York Jets, on the other hand, starting with their head coach and filtering down through their player roster, are brash and outspoken, openly derisive of other teams and quick to criticize each other in the media.  One of their assistant coaches even once stuck his leg out and tripped up a Miami player who was running down the sidelines in a game a few years ago.  So these two franchises, apart from not liking each other, have two completely different ways of running things.  Seems like the Patriots have the upper hand here, as they win...and win...and win.

But there is one factor that, in my mind at least, unites these two: they are divisional rivals of "my" team, the Miami Dolphins.  I want BOTH to lose on any given game day, and it distresses me to know that, since they are playing each other, somebody's going to win.  But at least, excepting a highly improbable tie score, that also means there's going to be a loser as well.

It bothered me last Sunday that the Jets were able to capitalize on Tampa Bay mistakes and upset the Buc 18-17...although in retrospect the outcome may not be remembered as an upset: I'm not too optimistic about Tampa Bay's prospects this year.  New England edged out the other divisional rival, Buffalo, as well.  But the main thing is that the Dolphins won their game.  Ultimately, that's how it will play out for me this year: Miami has to keep winning...especially in those crucial head-to-head matchups against New England, New York, and Buffalo, each of whom the Dolphins play twice.  Once that starts to happen consistently, maybe the Pats and Jets will loosen their death grip on each other and start to throw a little hate in Miami's direction...

9/11 and the Good People of the World

I suppose a great percentage of the articles being put on the blogs, at least in this country, make some reference to the 9/11 attack in 2001.  There many different angles to analyzing this tragedy.   One is to examine how people can be so convinced of their own goodness and virtue that they can inflict untold suffering on others without any since of guilt or remorse for them. "The good people of the world", as I like to refer to them, are actually the most evil and dangerous because their own personal sense of self-righteous piety about themselves and the ideologies that prop them up rob them of the important virtues of self-examination and self-criticism.  To these people, the words "compromise" and "tolerance" are profanities, because employing them just might give them a more compassionate and empathetic perspective on others over whom they are so desperate to feel superior.

When I see TV shows replaying the 9/11 events that focus on the terrorists, they are typified by a smug arrogance that they are the "good people"...and as such any other (inferior) people don't matter, even to the extent that their very lives don't matter.  But the 9/11 terrorists are just one chilling example of "good people of the world" running rampant on everyone else. More on these "good people of the world" later...

Where Are the Hurricanes?

We were supposed to have all of these tropical cyclones forming out in the open Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean this hurricane season of 2013.  Instead, the opposite has happened: very few storms, and when they do form they are soon ripped apart by shearing winds in their paths.  Not that I'm complaining, though: I was here in 2004 when Florida was blasted by four powerful hurricanes and affected by the weather in three of them...with the last coming too close to home. 

It's kind of exciting when a hurricane is approaching and the so-called experts have its trajectory coming close to where you live.  Not only does the whole surrounding social fabric change to become hurricane-oriented, but the immediate weather changes as well, with strange greenness in the air, unpredictably shifting strong winds, and horizontal freakish sporadic rain bursts.  That's the interesting part.

The tedious part, though, is when the brunt of the storm passes over and causes often long-term power outages, local flooding, and downed trees.  Not fun.  When this happens, you go outside and there's a lot of debris lying around, businesses are often closed, and your freedom of movement is often restricted by the flooding and road closures.  And then there's the prospect of having to deal with your own property damage.  No, not fun.

So no, I'm not at all disappointed in this year's squelched hurricane season, for whatever the cause (although it bothers me that the meteorologists were so far off in their predictions). Sure, when I used to go to school as a kid, it would have been great to get some days off because of a hurricane.  But from 1962 to 1974, I remember only a brief time in 1964 when classes were cancelled due to Hurricane Cleo (I lived then near Miami).  I think that Betsy in 1965 happened in August just before the school year, and then year after year came without any hurricane striking (or even threatening to strike) south Florida.  After '74, who cares, I had already finished high school...

Let's see now, it's almost mid-September and we're only to the "G" storm...and it's floundering around Bermuda.  Ho-hum...

Good Game, Bad Game

Looking back on what has transpired in football this past weekend, I'm generally pleased, the overwhelming reason being that the Miami Dolphins won their season opener over Cleveland.  This was a team that Miami needed to defeat in their quest to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008.  There will be plenty of more difficult opponents later, and I don't expect the Dolphins to handle all of them.  So the strategy, as far as I am concerned, is to first do well inside their own division, garnering a 4-2 or 5-1 record there, and then beat the weaker teams elsewhere on the schedule.  So far, so good...they're undefeated...watch out '72 Dolphins (at least until NEXT weekend)!!

On the down side, the University of Florida Gators, in spite of controlling the total offensive yardage, line of scrimmage, and game clock for their game down in Miami against the Hurricanes, still managed to turn the ball over in crucial "red zone" situations enough times to lose 21-16.  The final score should have been Gators 37-14.  I don't think there's anything that frustrates me more in a game than when my team consistently turns the ball over...except perhaps for supposedly skillful receivers who suddenly are incapable of catching a football when it is lobbed over in their direction.  So Florida is 1-1...well, we all knew anyway that the "regular season" in a sense truly starts with their conference schedule.  But Tennessee, their opening opponent in the Southeastern Conference in a couple of weeks, is probably just as good as Miami.  Well, this comes, I suppose, with supporting a team: you're happy when they win and suffer when they lose. Still, should Florida figure out how not to turn the ball over willy-nilly, especially when they are about to score, they should do well in conference play...although at this stage of the year I can't imagine them ever winning the SEC championship, much less winning their division within it...

As for the rest of the football action, I only marginally care who wins or loses.  No, I dislike AFC East rivals to the Dolphins and usually root against them...and yes, I usually root for the other Florida teams Jacksonville and Tampa Bay.  And I still pull for the New York Giants consistently.  In none of these areas was there cause for much elation, though, as the Jags, Bucs, and Giants all lost and the AFC East did pretty well, the only loser (Buffalo) losing out to divisional rival New England.  But that's all right, as long as Miami does me well...

Follow-Up on Tebow Follow-Up

The other day I wrote how Tim Tebow needed to broaden his goals for the future regarding his participation in the National Football League as a player.  The simple, if sad, fact is that teams across the league do not want to use him as a quarterback.  Period.  But he is a good runner.  If you just take this year's preseason stats with the Patriots, he amassed 91 yards on 16 carries...that's not half bad: we're talking 5.7 yards/carry, and that's as a quarterback!  I've long thought of Tebow as a good straight-ahead, bulldog sort of runner on the order of Larry Csonka, and this isn't some flight of imaginative speculation on my part.  In college as a freshman, this was HIS ROLE as backup quarterback under coach Urban Meyer: come in on third or fourth downs with short yardage to go and pick up the first down, preferably by running.  He was wildly successful at this and contributed greatly to Florida's national championship that year (in 2006). Then, the following year as starting quarterback he garnered the Heisman Trophy and I suppose that went to his head.

If I had dreamed from childhood of being a star actor in films, I would naturally also have dreamed of playing the lead roles in them.  But as I grew up and MATURED, I could still dream of stardom but realize that the overwhelming drive was to act, to be actively employed in the industry I had become so enamored with in my younger years. Only a prima donna diva would say at the outset of their career that they would only work for anyone making a movie if they were given top billing from the getgo.  Yet this is essentially what Tebow is saying, as reports arise that, after he was cut from New England, another team approached him interested more in his running talents.  But he apparently declined them, still insisting on that "top billing".

This all gives me the impression that Tim Tebow doesn't really love football or want to make a positive contribution to a team, but rather is irrevocably smitten with the allure of personal stardom and media attention as the top dog quarterback...and nothing else will do.  Good luck with THAT, Tim...I'm outta here!

Vicarious Planetary Thrill Rides in Planetarium

It's been years since I've ridden a roller coaster, or any other theme park ride for that matter.  I miss those experiences, but not the lengthy travel times to and from the parks, not to mention the tedious, long lines for different rides once I manage to finally get inside a park.  But earlier this afternoon, I managed to get back at least of little of those old thrills without the long travel, long lines...or even the expense.  How? I paid a visit to my local Santa Fe College planetarium, where they were presenting a show titled SpacePark360: Geodesium Edition. It consisted of a set of nine imaginary thrill rides, one on each of the major planets (or one of their moons) starting with Mercury and going further out, with an extra one on "the way back" on Jupiter's volcanic moon Io.  Some of the rides were swinging rides, other were "twisters",  and the best were roller coasters.  Nine pretty cool rides set on exotic worlds.  Most of the planets and moons depicted as sites for the rides were interesting, although Venus and Jupiter were mostly a bunch of clouds...while Earth's rocket launch pad setting, coupled with the limited ride, wasn't very impressive.  But the scenes depicted for Mercury, Mars, Saturn (from Titan), Uranus (from its ring system), Neptune, (from Triton), and that finale on Io were vivid and memorable.  James Albury was there at the planetarium again, narrating the show...and he took my money at the entrance as well, automatically giving me the "senior" discount.  Oh well. 

I suppose that this vicarious thrill ride experience is probably going to be the way to go for me in the foreseeable future. The roller coaster on Neptune's moon Triton was a hanging coaster very similar to Montu at Busch Gardens, which incidentally is my favorite roller coaster ride of all time (I've ridden it 26 times, I believe). The others were more like that same park's Kumba coaster, also an old favorite.  I wasn't as happy with the non-coaster rides, although the opening one on Mercury reminded me of Pharaoh's Fury at Valdosta's Wild Adventures (I've ridden that one 27 times).  At the close of the show, Mr. Albury hinted that the company that produced this show is soon coming out with a sequel: I can hardly wait!!!

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart

I'd like to take this opportunity to tell my beautiful wife Melissa how much I love and appreciate her, and that I wish her a wonderful 27-year anniversary.  I love you!

Obama vs. Syria: Blocs in Congress

In President Obama's current campaign to get Congress to approve of his use of military force against the Syrian government on the pretext that they are engaged in chemical warfare, I discern various blocs within the Senate and House of Representatives that have their own peculiar motivations regarding how they would vote.  Here's how I see it...

OBAMA & MILITARY ACTION: PRO
Democrats: (1) More conservative, pro-military Democrats who traditionally vote for these types of resolutions and have vested political interests in funding the military-industrial complex, either because their states and districts contain military bases or ports or various companies are there that do contract work for the military.

Democrats: (2) More liberal democrats who are siding with the president because, well, they're Democrats and Obama's a Democrat...were Romney in there as president saying the same thing this group would probably oppose him.

Republicans: (1) War hawks like Senators McCain and Graham, who never saw an opportunity for war they didn't want us to jump into, support Obama on this...while criticizing him for delaying action and limiting it...as well as those GOP members of Congress who, like the Democrats, have military bases/ports and/or contract companies in their states/districts.

Republicans: (2) Establishment leaders who are consistent in supporting the national defense establishment and the military.

OBAMA & MILITARY ACTION: CON
Democrats & Pro-Democrat Independents:  Those who are traditionally skeptical about the value of military intervention and would oppose this proposed action regardless who was president.

Republicans: (1) Politicians who would support a Republican president like Bush but will flip-flop just because Obama's in there and they want to oppose him on EVERYTHING.

Republicans: (2) Chiefly within the tea party bloc, these only want military action if it specifically and narrowly is warranted for ONLY the national interests of the United States.  This includes those with a libertarian philosophy like Senator Rand.

Republicans: (3) Establishment pro-war politicians who are afraid of tea party opposition in their own party's primary elections.

From Both Parties: (1) Those who think that there isn't enough clear information to warrant military intervention.

From Both Parties: (2) Those who think that we're supporting the wrong side and that the rebels are infiltrated with Al-Qaeda, our true enemy.

*****
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Anger at Departed Football Coaches

In the football realm, sometimes fans can get more than a little hot under the collar when their team's head coach leaves them for "greener pastures", especially when the result seems to be the collapse of their own team.  Yet the reality doesn't always conform to this formula.  Nick Saban did ruin the Miami Dolphins following his two-year stint there after he insisted on and  received essentially complete managerial control over the team's personnel and operations and then suddenly abandoned his commitment to them to accept wealth and fame at the University of Alabama.  Dolphins fans, including me, felt betrayed and angry at him for his actions...although truth be told, I have greater axes to grind about injustices in my life than with this sort of vicarious grievance.  On the other hand, Saban had angered LSU fans just a couple of years earlier when he left them to coach for the Dolphins.  But there are a couple of important differences with LSU: he had brought them a national championship during his tenure there and he left the team essentially intact and strong...and they won two more championships under his successor Les Miles after he left.  But now I hear that LSU fans are angry because he left Miami to work for their divisional rival Alabama.  Well, Florida coach Steve Spurrier, who brought the school unprecedented gridiron success during his 12-year coaching era, has continued to enjoy enduring good feelings in the community not only after he left the Gators to try NFL coaching, but even after he got a job coaching OUR divisional rival South Carolina.  That's all good and fine, but what I don't get is the animosity around Gainesville directed at former coach Urban Meyer.

All Urban Meyer did during his six-year run at UF was to win TWO national championships and give the school a very strong edge in recruitment nationwide over others.  Toward the end of his time here, he had some undisclosed personal health issues that interfered with his final season.  After leaving Florida, Meyer evidently was able enough to handle those personal issues and, after a brief time as a competent television sports analyst, was ready to take on the Ohio State head coaching position when it became available (because of scandal that sacked the previous coach).  Last year was his first season and he was very successful, taking his team to a 12-0 record in the face of probation that eliminated them from national championship consideration or a bowl game appearance.  I never heard anyone talk about how we're hoping that Urban does well in his new job and how we appreciate what he accomplished at Florida.  But I'll go ahead and say it, anyway.  I am glad that Urban Meyer is prospering in his new role at Ohio State.  I wish him success there, but since his school has such a powderpuff schedule this year and they could be rivals in the BCS determination as to who gets to eventually play for the national championship, I'm rooting for his team to unexpectedly lose at least a couple of games for the sake of improving Florida's very real prospects this year.  Nothing personal, Urban, but football is football: I'm rooting against Spurrier's team, too...

Broncos-Ravens Mark 2013 NFL Regular Season Debut

As I retreat from having to deal with the looming "limited" war with Syria and the strange, unsettling political alliances being forged between left and right to oppose (or support) it, I find myself this afternoon with an easy topic about which to write: tonight begins the regular season in the National Football League!  We're getting a head start on the weekend action on Thursday, and with a great pairing: the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens against the Denver Broncos, a team and franchise that has rattled me a bit during the last couple of years.

Baltimore has lost several starters due to retirement, including their standout linebacker Ray Lewis.  But they seem to be on the right track with their lineup, and it makes me wonder why other franchises flounder around for years, seeming to be in a perpetual rebuilding process from one disappointing season to the next (I'm thinking chiefly about the Miami Dolphins, but there are plenty of other examples).  I tend to root for the Ravens, largely in gratitude for the fact that in 2007, when the lowly Dolphins were 0-14 with two weeks to go to a winless season, they had the presence of mind to play each other with Baltimore bowing in defeat...to my enduring gratitude.  Of course, the same team was a major thorn in Miami's side the following year when they beat them twice, including Miami's improbable first and only playoff game that year.  Still, I have a warm spot in my heart for Baltimore.  I can't say the same about Denver...

Being a Gator fan in the 1990's when Peyton Manning was the quarterback for conference divisional rival Tennessee, I got sick of Manning getting all of the accolades in spite of the fact that he never could beat us.  But he was good, real GOOD...and I might have gone over to his side had he not joined up with a team in the NFL that true Dolphins fans despise: the Colts.  Still, he moved on to Denver, and as a Dolphin fan I have no trouble with that franchise.  What I DO have a problem with is how they used Tim Tebow to reestablish a winning tradition during the 2011 season...and then unceremoniously dumped him immediately afterward in favor of King Peyton.  Then they swaggered around acting like they might as well just cancel the 2012 season and crown themselves champion!  What really happened was different, though: the Broncos under Manning were good enough to win their division again and make the playoffs (as Tebow did with them the previous season).  But a funny thing happened on their way to Super Bowl glory: "my" Baltimore Ravens tripped them up!

I won't be able to watch much of tonight's game as I have to go to work...but I know who I'm supporting: Baltimore!

And sure...I'll tune in from time to time on the "other" channels to see how we're sinking into war once again as the war drums intensify like some impending Jumanji game...

Obama Push for Syria Strike

The push to give President Obama the political backing he wants to attack Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons on its own people during its civil war is now going on full swing.  I haven't been ignoring this important issue, but have been hesitant to write about it for a couple of reasons.  One, I don't know all the facts; in a situation like this I'm left depending on the words of those in authority who have access to information, much of it classified, that I am not privy to.  This is similar to the time leading up to George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq more than ten years ago, when as it turned out that the needed information was indeed there...it just wasn't true!  Two, although arguments have been made that not striking Syria will discredit U.S. efforts to dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapon capability and will embolden terrorists who would then see us as weak, I could counter-argue that by attacking Syria we would be strengthening terrorists within that country's borders who would then become our de facto allies (and later attack us).  No, I don't see Syria as directly threatening us, and in this I am astonished (and more than a little disturbed) to find myself siding with far-right tea party politicians, the most notorious of them being Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. That in itself is enough to make me want to turn my head from this issue and think of something else (like football or the weather)...

College Football 2013 Season Begins

The first weekend in the college football season has passed, with the usual assortment of mainly lopsided matchups topped off with a few meaningful contests.  And a couple of those games pitting major schools against small ones turned meaningful, too, when they resulted in upsets.  Here's my take on the games that interested me.

Ohio State won their mismatch 40-20 while Oregon ran the score up on their itsy-bitsy opponent 66-3...so naturally the latter passed the former in the polls without either really being tested on a major level. The Florida Gators were a rare team in the Southeastern Conference in that they scheduled a relatively minor school, Toledo, for their opener.  They prevailed yawningly (but soundly) 24-6.  Because Florida's game plan doesn't exactly light up the stadium (or the TV) with passing fireworks, though, the poll voters tend to punish them.  So despite their win, they dropped in the polls from #10 to #12, even staying behind divisional rival Georgia, a loser in an exciting season opener against Clemson.  Alabama, although challenged for much of their game by Virginia Tech, ended it by pulling away and making the score look like a rout.  Florida State, Miami, and Louisville all were impressive in their openers, while LSU won a high-scoring game against TCU.

People can go on all they want to about how great a quarterback that prima donna diva Johnny Manziel (of Texas A&M) is, but I can't see how he is better than ANY of the following: Clemson's Tajh Boyd, Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, or Florida State's freshman sensation Jameis Winston...all putting on impressive performances in their respective season openers.  I can't see how any of these schools' fans would ever wish they had Johnny Headcase instead of the stars they are blessed with...

My Florida Gators will be playing down in south Florida against Miami next week.  I expect them to grind out a win in that game as well, but I wouldn't expect them to be heavily featured on ESPN for spectacular highlights, though...

My favorite games to watch were the opener between North Dakota State and Kansas State and Georgia vs. Clemson.  Kansas State found themselves upset as the Bison came from ten points behind in the second half and consumed most of the fourth quarter in a masterful drive that both put them finally ahead and gave the Wildcats little time to come back.  As for Georgia-Clemson, I was intrigued by Clemson's home opening tradition of busing their team around the stadium to its entrance at the top of a hill...and then rushing en masse onto the field.  The only problem with this traditional pregame ritual was that it was so hot and humid at that time that everyone, including the coaches, were sweating buckets before the game even began!