The Car of a Thousand Days

Today, I said good-bye to my car. It was a 2006 Honda Accord, with all the bells and whistles. Unfortunately, last Friday, as I was driving my normal route that I've driven on a daily basis for the past 2.5 years, I was involved in a traffic incident. Wasn't really an accident in that no one or no vehicle besides mine was affected or damaged. A lady in a commercial van in front of me had suddenly stepped on her brakes, and, to avoid rear ending her, I swerved off the road to the right. The good thing is that I didn't hit her, because she had three little boys in the back seat. The bad thing is that I hit a concrete driveway culvert cap, head on, and the collision was hard enough to deploy my driver's side air bag. As I skidded to a stop 65 feet later, I knew it was bad but I also knew no one was hurt. I assessed the situation, confirmed that I was ok, then proceeded to get pissed off because this was the third incident I've had in the past 18 months. The first two involved hitting deer in the road. I've driven in Northern Maine for years and never saw a deer, let alone hit one. I've driven in Arizona for years after that -- no coyotes, no cows, no deer. Been in North Carolina for over 12 years and never hit anything...until this past year. What's interesting to me is that, shortly after I hit the first deer, my life changed in a bad way. Lots of changes in my personal life. Lots of family hurt psychologically. Lots of emotional pain and suffering. Lots of different emotions coming from heretofore unexpected sources -- some very good, some not so much. Then my life changed back to the way it was before. And guess what? I hit another deer. It's like it was meant to be metaphorical book-ends to mark this year in hell that I just went through. And now, as if to say it has served its purpose, I had one more accident -- this time to finish the deal and kill the car for good. At first, I wondered if this is a "sign" that I'm about to start another volatile chapter in my life. Hard to imagine what else is on the horizon for me. The good news is that I wasn't hurt in this accident -- if that happened, it would have spelled disaster for me and the family. Ok, I get it, I'm very lucky and I should be thankful, and I am. What you may not know is that I really loved my car. It was fun, fast (for me), sporty, had lots of gadgets, and it fit me perfectly. And I had plenty of fun memories with that car, so many times, so many ways. Certain passengers in that car made for very memorable moments that I will never forget. I'll have to incorporate them somehow in my next book, I guess. Let's just say it wasn't all "G" rated. No, nothing like High School Days, but pretty close. On the flip side, I have many great memories of driving down the road, radio blaring, sun roof open, loving life while taking sharp turns or singing along with my kids in the back. It introduced me to Satellite Radio, and I'll never go back if I can help it. Maybe that's why the Universe found a reason to end it -- as if to confirm to me that I need to move on from the past and evolve to the next stage of my life. And I'm good with it. In a way, it reminds me of my youth: I had a great time, and I always knew, when I was having a great time, that these times were not forever and all good things come to an end. And so the book closes on the Mighty Honda. I don't know what is in store for me for the next car, but I look forward to whatever it is, and I hope it's more good than bad -- as I drive just a few miles per hour slower...

Bring in Chuck Norris

Today's commentary centers on the mystery surrounding the President's handling of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Not that this is a new issue -- the talking heads have been yammering on this topic for weeks now. What's making news is the perception that, because we are now in Day 54 of the oil leak, there is still no viable solution to the problem, nor is there anything being done to do something...anything...to fix it. Americans, whether they admit it or now, love the "Chuck Norris" mentality: we want to see someone kick butt, take names, and solve the problem. Unfortunately for us, this paticular problem has many caveats, known and unknown, and the solutions are not so easy to fix. Not making excuses here, but what we do know is that the leak is over 5000 feet below sea level, creating many logistics issues with pressure and distance that requires precise engineering and movements. One can make a point that we should NOT be allowing deep sea drilling if we don't have the capability to fix problems like this that the surrounding environment creates, but remember that BP had several redundancies in place and they all failed. To that, I say the President should immediately demand that all existing deep sea wells submit to thorough independent inspections so that this does not happen again. The President should also be doing several face to face meetings with the CEO of BP, so that we all see he's being a part of the resolution to this issue plus be our "spokesperson" to BP so that they see just how serious we are and that we want action. By taking a quiet, unassuming position in the background, the President is losing our confidence in his ability to carry a big stick (we know he can speak softly, but that's only half the solution). And who knows? He may not be able to handle a crisis like this, but he still needs to make appearances and give us the perception that he's engaged, even if he has one or more people actually running the day-to-day operations. It's the same SOP that is used for Military Operations -- we know he's not calling the day-to-day shots, but he's still briefed every day on them. Why not institute this policy here? But the main key is that he needs to SHOW us that he's doing something. I don't know if he's concerned about accountability down the road, or if he's just flat out getting bad advice, but he's very late to the party and it has started to erode confidence on both sides of the political spectrum. The President needs to shake his impotent team of advisors and bring in Chuck Norris to fix this issue and show BP just how serious we are about getting this done -- oh, and we're not paying for it, either.

What Does It All Mean?

OK, fans, I'm going to try something new, hope it works: taking The Gang world-wide via blogspot and/or FB, which means we're opening it up to scrutiny, more discussion, and hopefully not a lot of derision...

1) USC Trojan-busters. The mighty NCAA has handed down a 2-yr bowl ban and yanked 20 scholarships because of conduct unbecoming by a couple of superstar college athletes on campus 3-5 yrs ago. As an ASU fan, and being very cognizant of the fact that the NCAA allows other schools to "poach" student-athletes of schools that are currently on bowl ban, I have mixed feelings on this, but I do agree with most of the "better" sports minds that believe the punishment should be directed at the money and not at the current/future student/athletes. You want to send a message to the university? Dock them of some of the MILLIONS they received from their bowl games and other successes. Don't penalize today's players and coaches for the indiscretions of former players and coaches. I've never understood the logic of that penalty. Don't be myopic, either: these schools are doing it for the money, nothing more. To quote the great Billy Ray Valentine: "You know, it occurs to me that the best way you hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people."
2) Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup! Oh, baby! It's only been 49 years, but who is counting? As a young Blackhawk fan that idolized Tony Esposito and died a slow painful emotional death at the end of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals (against the hated Montreal Canadiens), I can finally smile and be at peace. Granted, I was silently hoping for the Canadiens to beat the Flyers so that I could have full payback, but still, it's great to see the current ownership make the right moves to bring this proud franchise back to national prominence where they belong. The current owner of the team, Rocky Wirtz, is the son of the late Bill Wirtz, and it was the latter that had broken my heart many times because he would persistently refuse to make any moves to advance the team via free agent acquisition or signing young talent to long-term contracts. When Wirtz senior died last year, the son took over and made it a powerful team, and, for that, I say THANK YOU!
3) NBA Finals. Was it just me, or did the Lakers seem bored last night? Looked to me like the Lakers knew they could turn a switch any minute and blow out these pesky 'Tics, but I believe they prefer to win it all at home this year and threw the home crowd a bone. I still stand by my prediction of Lakers in 6 games. The 'Tics looked old and tired, and they needed all the effort of their inconsistent bench to pull out a meager win last night. If you don't know by now, I love L.A...This series is over.
4) Cavs' Coaching search. Tom Izzo was in Cleveland yesterday, but it was also reported that Byron Scott (FROM...Arizona State!) was interviewed via phone. I love Coach Izzo for his passion and hoops knowledge, but I was scratching my head about the idea of bringing in a new guy that has no NBA experience to replace the former guy that was fired after winning NBA Coach Of The Year two years ago. Maybe Izzo could be a great NBA coach, but why take a chance when you know your super-duper star is in dire need of better NBA coaching guidance, and Scott has proven he can get troubled teams turned around to play the NBA way successfully.
5) AND FINALLY...The World Cup starts today! Who ya got? Good Luck to Mexico today, they get the tough draw of playing the host country to start the games. Here's the real question: our brave lads will be playing those BP-slimed Brits tomorrow at 1:30 EST -- will you stop what you are doing to watch this match? Lots of different opinions on this. I think that, given the level of competition here, and given that Brits' fans remind me of those delusional die-hard NYJets fans at the NFL Draft -- you know the type: always vocal, always loyal, always heart-broken in the end -- I'm going to watch it. Memo to World Cuppers: We Americans like high-scoring games. If you're looking for more support for your sport, I gotta tell ya, these 1-Nil matches are not gonna do it. And God help you if we have another tournament come to the end via shoot-out. Are you serious? You're going to run, kick, grab, sweat, clutch, suffer pain, all for a shoot-out? Not a good idea.
OK, your turn to respond. Bring It, but be sure to Come Correct! OUT