I'm really disappointed in Jeter

I grabbed this pic from Sportsline, so you could say I was just doing my job. Does it matter? It's my job to have a pic with my article, right? It doesn't matter if I actually spent the time or money taking it myself. Right? Wrong. I cheated. I took a shortcut.

Derek Jeter said in this article that he was just doing his job. As a professional athlete, a celebrity, and because he has been around cameras a long time, he knew that the instant replay would be shown immediately after he was allegedly hit. Yet, he did it anyway. He let little kids with still impressionable minds see that it is okay to cheat because cheaters get rewarded.

So he did it for the benefit of getting on base and giving his team an advantage. This competitive advantage is why athletes use performance enhancing drugs, which is against policy because it is cheating. To me, there is absolutely no difference in what he did and what steroid-using athletes do. In fact, what he did is worse. At least the drug users keep it a secret and deny it even before Congress.

If athletes, who are already worth millions of dollars think it is okay to cheat, how can we convince our kids and the majority of the population who are not athletes and millionnaires, that cheating is wrong? How do we convince them to work hard for what they want if they think these athletes got wealthy and maintained it by cheating?

The headline to the link I attached asked this question, "Is Derek Jeter a cheat?" You damn right he is, and I lost a lot of respect for him last night. I have always thought that he was the one athlete who had most consistently been a role model for others. However, to continue to carry on the act the way he did while knowing that cameras had captured the ball hitting the bat and that kids were watching, only proves that he is the kind of person that would look another in eyes and lie to them. We already have enough millionaires like that in the world.

Baseball players are the most fragile people you will ever see. They will spend 15 days on the DL after stubbing a toe on a bag or getting a blister on their finger. If that ball had hit him as hard as he wanted people to believe, he would be out of the lineup the rest of season. More evidence.

Saturday Upsets....

South Carolina over Georgia
Florida State over Oklahoma
Miami over Ohio State

What do you think?

My time of year is approaching.....

I still cannot believe how quickly the year is passing by. I remember as child telling my dad that the time sure did fly by while we were out for summer vacation or on a beach trip or doing something else fun. Every time I would make that comment, my dad would always tell me that it goes even more quickly as you get older. As a young person, that never meant anything to me. Now, in my 40's, I realize more and more every year what my dad meant.

We are just a few months from Fall, football, and probably some news of a hurricane making landfall. This is my favorite time of the year and I wish I could just pause it when it gets here and make it last forever.

My friends and family think I am weird, but I get a little buzz when we have a hurricane or tropical storm in the Gulf. It is so amazing to me to see Mother Nature at work. I probably would not feel this way if I lived closer to the coast and had to experience major loss as the people in New Orleans and along the coastal line have, or if I had lost a loved one in a storm. But as it is, I love to track it, then sit in my screened porch with a glass of tea, and watch whatever it offers us. Here, we usually have wind damage, a lot of rain, and frequent tornadoes.

Some years, we have enjoyed the storm during the week and then enjoyed a good football game on Saturday. That is a good week for me, especially if I get to squeeze a hunting trip in, too.

Enjoy your July 4th Holiday...

But also remember those who have given their lives for our freedom. In addition to the men and women who have died in recent times, let us also remember the early times of our country. You may have seen an email containing this message, but it is worth mentioning again:

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence ?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.

FOOTBALL!

I dreamed last night that it was football season. Obviously, I was a little disappointed when I realized that it wasn't...at least on the calendar. So I had to use my imagination a little.

I turned the A/C down a little, poured myself a hot cup of coffee, checked out a few highlight clips from last season, and reminded my wife of how many days were left until FOOTBALL.

This got me to thinking about my blog that has been dead lately, so here I am. I kind of remodeled it a little while I was here, so if you find any broken links or something seems scrambled, please let me know. I added a few buttons, such as the one to click if you are following. If you have been following in the past, please let me know. It helps to motivate me in keeping this updated if I know people are reading.

Blizzard in Bama

Well, maybe not a blizzard by the standards of those areas that frequently see snow, but this is our first snow accummulation since 1993. This is the first time I have seen it snow all day since 1972. We have about 4" on the ground and it is still falling. Nothing compared to what some people see annually, but for us it is a "when hell freezes over" kind of scenario considering we are only about 2 1/2 hours from the sandy beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

I like to go park in a grocery store parking lot when snow is in the forecast and people-watch. All of the milk and bread in this small town was probably purchased last night. It's like they forget that it will be 40 the next day and the snow will melt.

Give us southerners an ice covered road and our Nascar minds take over as we go try it out. My wife and I just got back from taking a tour of the town, and every road we traveled had tire tracks and ruts down its side and several yards had tire tracks. Many people have "spun out" in our town today, and the racing season hasn't quite started yet.