It is what it is

Life is a string of events needing decisions and resulting in consequences. Most decisions are easy, Coke or Pepsi, tea or coffee. Most consequences are non issues. We go through our mostly mundane day mindlessly making decisions and accepting the results without even thinking about them.

Some times the results aren't so mundane. Sometimes they result in accidents, lost or damaged articles that we value. Sometimes injury and even death.

When this happens we look back over the last few hours at all the decisions and think "if only"? If only I had left the house 10 minutes earlier like I had planned, I wouldn't have been at the intersection at the exact moment the other driver ran the stop sign. If only I had taken the few extra second to put my camera in my purse instead of trying to hold it and several other things in my hand I wouldn't have dropped it off the second floor balcony of the hotel. If only I had not put mu cell phone in my shirt pocket I wouldn't be trying to fish it out of this toilet. If only I had left my wallet in the truck while I was in the canoe checking trot lines it wouldn't be at the bottom of the Flint River. (That one was for my son, Drew. A great teaching moment.)

We can look back over the last few hours or maybe days, trace the events backwards and see at several points where a decision we made created a sequence that lead to the tragedy.and assign ourselves blame.

It kind of funny how, when something good happens we don't track the events of the last few hours to see the decisions that brought about the good events. Wow, If I hadn't taken those few extra minutes to go back and change shoes I would not have been in the right place at the right time to run into that old friend I hadn't seen in years and she wouldn't have told me the wonderful news of her daughter's pregnancy.

Its impossible when we make one of these day to day insignificant decision to foresee the path this sets us on and where it will lead. Life is what it is. Live your life, accept what the day brings and remember that you cannot control the outcome.

One last thought, and maybe this will help. If we could go back and change one simple thing in our day that would set the days events on a different path whose to say that path would not have created and even more tragic results.

Thomaston looses an Icon

Last week Thomaston lost a downtown icon. The Hotel Upson was taken down. To show how small of a town Thomaston is, this grew a crowd, some even took a few bricks as souvenirs. In its day it was a very elegant building. A lot of important people stayed there in its day. It was a big part of the downtown skyline. Downtown will look very different with it gone, a very big hole where it once stood. Once the center of activity, for the last several years it has been empty, almost forgotten about. The deconstruction made it the center of attention for one last time as people came to pay last respects for a building few of us really new. Most people my age and younger had probably never stepped foot inside.

Some remarked what a tragedy it was for it to be torn down. and I agree. But this tragedy didn't start Thursday night. this tragedy started probably over 50 years ago when use of the Hotel started to wane. Travelers started taking other routes, business fell off, the money dried up. Maintenance became less affordable. The longer it went unmaintained the more expensive it would have been to save it. It had finally reach the point of no return. So now we will have a parking lot where a once proud building stood and in a few years we will be hard pressed to remember exactly what it looked like with the building there. Much like when I try to recall the old Silvertown before Piggly Wiggly came to town, or Northside before Grant City was built . (Think K-Mart, Fred's, McDonald's).

Time marches on, and building like people either keep up, stay relevant or get cast to the side.

Good bye Hotel Upson, I never really knew you, but I will miss you just the same.

The Greedy NL

The NFL is a business, I get that. And they are profit motivated, I understand that also. Like any other company they need revenue to pay their employees, expenses and pocket a profit. Makes sense, the team owners did't start these teams just for wins and trophies and to unite the local populace. They are business men, and its a business. Every move they make is designed to create income. Good business practice. In the beginning they played the season and whoever had the best record was the champion. Then they got an idea, divide the teams into two groups, take the team in each group with the best record, play a championship game. An extra game means more money. Good business move. One day someone in the NFL had a light bulb moment and came up with the idea of involved the two best teams in each group, now called divisions. Then, more divisions. The "wild card team" was just another money making move. Then they realized people would watch games on this new fangled contraption call TV and things really took off. Some one figured out that fans would pay money for clothing and other items with their team's colors and logos and merchandising was born.

Last year the state of Delaware wanted to legalize state run betting parlors for betting on NFL games. The NFL screamed no, took the state to court. They did not want their product associated with gambling. This would create opportunities for, or at least the appearance of corruption.

Ok, first its already associated with gambling, that's what the point spread is all about, gambling. But I get that I guess. Big game, big money on the line, might make some one want to kidnap the star player for the favored team's family and make him throw the game. I know that could happen, I have seen it in the movies so many time. But there already is gambling on football, legal or not and it hasn't happened yet. I think most bookies are satisfied with the couple of million they are already making on an honest Super Bowl without going to that extreme. But hey, it COULD happen. (snicker here)

Then I saw a new scratch off game form the Georgia lottery. The Atlanta Falcon scratch off game. You could win money and tickets to Falcon games. Had the official Atlanta Falcon logo and everything. And you know every state with a team and a lottery had the same game going on. But isn't lottery gambling? I'm confused here. Oh, no I get it. These states were paying the NFL royalties. Hmmmm, get the hint, Deleware?

Who Dat?

Who dat say they gonna beat dem Saints? Who Dat?

Catchy ain't it? So who owns it? In 1983, Steve Monistere produced the song "Who Dat Say They Gonna Beat Dem Saints" with Aaron Neville and several Saints players. Who Dat has been their chant ever since. They put it on signs, they scream it at games, they paint it on their bodies.

The Saints have qualified for the Super Bowl for the first time in their History. There are not any fans anywhere that support their team with anymore pride and enthusiasm than Saints fans. Maybe some fans are as fervent in their support, but considering how bad the Saints have been for as long as they have and still have the fan support, well, these aren't band wagon fans, these are true "die hard fans".

A lot of merchants in New Orleans are having printed, and selling shirts with the phrase "Who Dat". A lot of merchants in New Orleans have gotten cease and desists orders from the NFL. They are claiming sole rights to that phrase made popular by a song written by someone with no ties to the league or team, and adopted and popularized by a fan base that through endless horrible years kept coming to the games, kept supporting their team. WOW.

Look out paper bag manufactures, you're next.

Prayer in school

I recently got another e-mail asking me that if I supported prayer in school I should forward it. I'm sure you have seen them time and again. I didn't forward it. I don't forward e-mails like this and I don't believe in school prayer.

Let me start by saying I am a Christian. I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. And I believe in the power of prayer.

Let's face facts. When kids stand up and recite "The Lord's Prayer they are not praying, they are reciting. You can't force anyone to pray. Prayer is a conversation between you and God, its not reciting words at the behest of a school teacher.

I recommend that before we go asking our children's teachers to take over our responsibility of the spiritual training of our children maybe we should get to know the teachers. Make sure they have the same values as we do. I mean no disrespect to teachers, think they are under paid and over worked but do they have the values you want passed on to your kids? I'm sure if you are Baptist you probably don't want the teacher passing on Catholic views, if you are Presbyterian do you want your child being taught Methodist ideology? If you are Jewish do you want a Muslim teacher teaching your children their prayers?

The spiritual training of our children is our job. Its time for us to stop trying to get congress to pass laws to force school teachers to do our jobs. I wonder of all the people that have forwarded those type e-mails have how many of them have ever gotten on their knees with their children and prayed. Really prayed, not the old standard "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" or the old meal blessing "God is Great, God it good". I mean actually prayed with their children?

If you want your children to start their day off with prayer, get up 10 or 15 minutes earlier, go into their room and pray with them. Don't forward an e-mail saying congress should pass a law to make a teacher so it for you.

We want to blame Madeline O'Hare for removing prayer from the public school. The truth is Ms. O'Hare wasn't the person that removed prayer from school. It was Christian parents, when we failed to help our children to develop a healthy prayer life. We we failed to put prayer in our children's lives we took prayer out of the schools.

We have problems in America and we want to a cause. A simple, easy to identify cause, and an easy solution. A solution that doesn't cost us anything or inconvenience us too much. Well some one gave us an easy target, lack of prayer in school. And they gave us an easy solution. Put prayer back in school.

Our problems aren't caused by lack of prayer in our schools. They are caused by a lack of prayer in our lives, and in our homes. And in a lot of sad cases, a lack of prayer in our churches. You want to put prayer back in our schools? You want to solve America's social problems, then put prayer back in your life. Put prayer back in your home. Put prayer back in your children's lives. Help them learn to pray.

You want a simple easy fool proof plan to put prayer back in the schools? The Pray with your kids. Teach them to pray. Help them develop a good prayer life, put prayer back into their lives and they will take that prayer with them everywhere they go, including school. And there won't be a law congress could pass, a law suit that anyone could file or a ruling that the Supreme Court could hand down that Could stop it.

Athelets are people too

Recently Boston Celtic's forward Glen Davis got in trouble for screaming obscenities at a fan that was heckling him. He is not the first athlete to get into trouble for this and I am sure he won't be the last. Micheal Vick got into hot water a few years ago for while playing for the Atlanta falcons he have a double one finger salute to some home town fans that were letting him know that they didn't appreciate his efforts on the field. It cost him some money and he had to make a public apology. My guess is Glen Davis will have to do the same as have other athletes have had to do for similar transgressions. The fans however got off scott free.

Now, I am a sports fan. More to the point I am a Brave's and a Falcon's fan. I have supported them both through the bad years as well as the good ones. And I feel that being a fan through thick and thin gives me the right, when my teams are not playing well to say, "my teams are not playing well". As a fan it is our right to voice our opinion on the play of our teams and players. as well as players of the opposing teams that I don't care for.

But there is a difference in "voicing an opinion" and booing the other team's players for beating my team and verbal abuse.

Why do some fans feel they have the right to stand up at a game and scream derogatory and inflammatory remarks at athletes? Why do the leagues back that belief by punishing the athlete that reacts to the taunting and the fans get to walk away free, in some instances even sue the athlete and even the team?

Athletes are just people. They have feeling. And they have rights also. If a guy walked up to someone who was just another guy on the street and started verbally abusing him they was some fans abuse some athlete's he would be arrested. Probably charged with disturbing the peace, or maybe even simple assault, or some other charge. If the person getting abused physically attacked the abuser and whipped him most people would say that he got what he deserved.

But not if you are an athlete. For some reason there is an unwritten rule that says that if you are an athlete you must take any and all abuse the public cares to throw your way. I think Glenn Davis should have just went and whipped the guy's butt.

Rambling view on death.

Death. Some view it as passing from life to the afterlife. Some think of it as moving from this life to the next incarnation, some think of it as the end of life, period. Death is the great unknown, or as George, Carlin said "the last great mystery".

If some one dies after suffering from an illness, and we know they are a Christian, we know they are much better off where they are now than while they were here, why do we grieve for them? I think we are grieving more for our loss than for their passing. We have suffered a loss of someone important to us so we grieve.

When I die (which I hope doesn't happen soon) I hope I am important enough to some people that they grieve their loss of me. But I also hope they celebrate my life. I hope I leave enough good memories that my family and friends can tell some "Stan Stories" and have a couple of laughs.

The Rooney Rule

The NFL Rooney Rule says that before an NFL team hires a head coach, general manager or any upper management position they had to interview a minority candidate. Sounds like a good way of helping minorities obtain upper management positions in the NFL. Sounds, good, but in reality if pretty much a sham. In reality, most of the time the teams already know who they want as a head coach or GM and the interviews are a formality. A token if you will.

Take for instance this year's to big firings and hirings. The Washington Redskins knew before they ever fired Jim Zorn that they wanted Mike Shanahan. Everyone knew Shanahan had the job. Still The Redskins went through the motions of interviewing minority candidates.

Now the Seattle Seahawks have fired Jim Mora and have targeted USC's Pete Carrol as his replacement. According to all the talking heads at ESPN the deal is done, Carrol will be the Seahawks head coach. The parties have already agreed to terms in principle. Now Seattle wants to "interview" minority candidates.

Now I am not a real big proponent of affirmative action or quotas, but;

If you are a minority coaching in the NFL why would you interview for this job? Why help a team that has no intention of considering you a candidate comply to the rules? I think all the minority candidates should just refuse the interview and let the Seahawks, and any other team that has already made a decision on their position just have to deal with what ever penalty there is for failing to comply to the Rooney Rule.