Today's Motivational Moment

Great Athlete? Not me.

I am not a great athlete. The highlight of my high school basketball career was coming off the bench for two minutes at the end of a blowout game during my JV season. I took a surfing lesson a few years ago. The total time I was able to stand up on the surfboard could be measured in milliseconds. I once crashed my bicycle and broke four ribs because the front tire slipped off the edge of the pavement. So no, I am not a great athlete.

However, I love to play sports. I have played basketball, volleyball, softball, and football. I have gone rock climbing, kayaking, back packing, and wind surfing. I have done things athletically that most people would never do. Riding 100 miles in a single day through Death Valley. Hiking along the Italian coast to five fishing villages. Playing basketball against the Detroit Lions. A quick aside: They make a better basketball team than football team.

The reason I bring this up is that I am working on a book. A travel narrative. I am considering using the different sports I've participated in as chapter headings. I have some fun ideas for how to make that work, but I'm in a quandary over whether I should. As I said earlier, I'm not a great athlete, so why would I have the gall to talk about travel for an athlete's perspective. I could also be seen as the everyman, creating great adventures without being naturally talented enough to do so.

Going all the way back to high school (where we wrote using stone tablets) the hardest part of writing for me has always been the initial idea. Once that has crystallized in my head the actual writing just flows. While I have a bunch of ideas for my book, the main theme has yet to emerge. That's why I'm toying with the sports motif. It gives me a structure that will drive the writing forward. Who knows, perhaps this post will morph into the introduction of the book.

Happy 10th Anniversary

Apparently I missed the 10th anniversary of this blog. I started it in March of 2005. You can click here to read that thought provoking first post. In 2011 I changed the name of the blog. I have no memory of what the original name was. In looking back over ten years of posts I noticed that I am very erratic in writing on this blog. It seems that I post frequently for a time and then go months, or even years, with nothing. I'm not sure what causes this odd behavior. I consider myself something of a writer. I know that writers need to write on a regular schedule in order to hone their craft. I feel like I do write quite a bit, just not here. I now feel like I'm babbling. Welcome to stream-of-consciousness writing.

National Chocolate Cake Day

Tomorrow promises to be a sweet day. I know of a little cake shop in Grand Rapids that will satisfy your chocolate cake craving. Stop by Connie's Cakes in the Eastown neighborhood.

Quote by Susanne Aldrich

The Tyson Brothers

My old buddy Roy Dodman and I were talking the other day and came up with a funny idea involving two celebrities with similar names. See the result below.

The N Word, the R Word, and the NFL

The National Football League has proposed a new rule that would make use of the N word on the field a 15 year penalty. A player that utters that word a second time would be ejected from the game. There has been much discussion on sports talk radio about whether this is a good idea or not. On one end of the continuum is the group that says the N word is vile and degrading and should be removed from our language entirely. On the other end are younger players who say that the word carries a different meaning today and the NFL's edict is unnecessary. I'm not going to discuss the NFL's motives or people reaction to this new proposed penalty. Instead, I'd like to discuss the NFL's hypocrisy.

The NFL feels that the N word is offensive to African Americans and should be banned. And yet the team in this nation's capitol goes by a name that is offensive to Native Americans. While it's true that in college football certain teams are named for Native American tribes; the Florida State Seminoles and Central Michigan Chippewas, for example. But those tribes are indigenous to the area and are supportive of the colleges using the nickname. "Redskin" is a derogatory term for all Native Americans. The is no "Redskin" tribe and no support for the name by anyone it purportedly describes.

A case could also be made that this situation shows an institutional racism in the NFL. As one former NFL player said on a morning talk show, white players don't use the N word on the field or there would be a fight. Players of African American descent use it among themselves. 70% of the players in the NFL are of African American descent. 100% of the owners are white. Team nicknames are decided on by the owner. Other owners could put pressure on the Washington franchise to change their name. They have not.

I understand that there is a long tradition in Washington of using the "Redskins" name. I am here to offer a solution. Keep the name, but change out the mascot. Instead of a caricature of a Native American the new mascot could be a redskin potato. The team could keep their colors and their name. Think of the promotional tie-ins. Redskin Potato Fries. Redskin Heads (think Green Bay cheese heads). And in the luxury suites, Redskin Potato Vodka. I've even taken the time to create a new helmet design.

No need to thank me, a couple of season tickets to the New Redskins will suffice.