Another Friday, the Beat{down} Goes On!

Went out and worked a Junior High football double last night at St. Henry, where visiting Coldwater won both games by razor thin margins....It was wet from two days of rain, so I took the Ref position to avoid as much wear and tear on my heel as possible.  I came away, still in pain and not very mobile, by the time 6am rolled around, a sharp pain in my upper left calf, took away my heel worries, as this major "Charlie Horse" woke me up, and got me hobbling out of bed in a hurry....it still is sore at I begin today's blog.  Tonight at Defiance will be a challenge, especially since I am moving over from Line Judge to Head Linesman{the guy on the sidelines who controls the Chain Crew}.  The reason for the switch?  The Defiance head coach and AD and I started the first Cable Sports show in Van Wert back in 1982...Jerry was then the young head coach at VW and I was working a part time gig as news and sports director for Cable Channel 7...damn 30 years ago, seem almost impossible.

Anyway, Jerry and I were pretty close back in those days, and the crew thought it best to switch sides, so I don't feel any need to give Jerry a break...I wouldn't, I treat everybody equally, at least I try to on the sidelines, although there are instances that push my buttons to the edge.  For tonight's game, we have two storied WBL programs, who are both down this year...St Marys, coming off a 47-7 trashing at the hands of arch rival Celina is 0-5, while the Blue Dogs are 1-4...the game should be "competitive".

Tomorrow I am scheduled to work a JV game at Paulding, which I have already given to Sam, who is also working in the Defiance area, at Tinora tonight, with Garry's Crew in a key GMC game....I am still schedule to umpire Fall Baseball tomorrow afternoon, that is less strain on my legs and heel...hopefully at least.  Sunday Sam and I work a youth double here in Celina, and by the time that is over, I should be able to tell if I will need to dump more games next week....I am guessing I will probably need to.

From the Time Flies Department......

Back in late July I passed five years of typing out this blog....popping out a new one some 5 days or so a week, usually taking the weekends off.  At that time I decided to cut back, and have since been producing about 3 blogs per week.  Things had gotten stale, and I was typing out mostly mundane daily diaries, and frankly didn't like it one bit. 

Looking back on the five plus years, things in the blogging world have changed since I started out with this crude but honest effort:

http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2007/07/july-27-2007.html

July 27, 2007....boy have things changed since I started....

There was Mushy, and the Fat Hairy Bastard, Bruno, Sarge Charlie, Buck Pennington, Lin, The Hermit, and Shrinky for over in the British Isle, along with a dozen or so others who I corresponded and followed their postings....things have changed, to say the least.

Sarge, my fellow Vietnam Veteran has passed on, early this year his battle with cancer was finally lost, Lin, who lost her husband has stopped blogging, but remains in contact via e-mail from New Mexico.  Mushy, another VSPA Air Force Sky Cop and FHB both still blog, but not in the numbers they once did, same goes for Shrinky, The Hermit dropped out of site, being the mountain man he was, he saw the Government behind every rock, and he may have been right.  Bruno still writes on occasion, but the only one who jots down daily bits and pieces is Buck, who still lives in New Mexico, and continues to blog just about every day.

http://exileinportales.blogspot.com/

Yes sir, it seems on one hand I have been "blogging" for a long time, but on the other, I realize just how quickly and how much can and does change in 5 short years.

Enjoy the Weekend...back later>>>>

Photos-Not many Summer Photos of Grand Lake to take this year....Fall is in the Air for sure.  (2) From the 1980s at Newse7en Cable, where I pulled News Anchor and Sports play-by-play, my only sojourn into TV work..(3).aging "gracefully"?  And (4) after working in wet conditions last night, then downing a few "Seasonal Brews", I feel this morning much like Ted Kennedy did most mornings....and I sure the Hell don't like it.

Kicking Back.....resting my feet

Plenty of rain the past few days, and fall has definitely moved into the Heartland....


Still resting my heel{see Monday's post} for another day, will try to give it a go tomorrow at St. Henry for a Junior High double header, and see how it goes for the Friday Night varsity game at Defiance.  I am not confident that the remainder of the season is going to go well...as far as pain.  Sam, still looking for that elusive Actuarial Job is spending his time traveling back and forth between Ohio State, where he is working duty for OSU Athletics and the Big Ten Network, and Celina, where he is doing football.  I have used him to fill in for me the past two nights, and will likely use him again Saturday morning.  Both of us are scheduled to work Friday night...me at Defiance High School, and him at Defiance Tinora, with Garry's crew, as a fill-in.  Today, he will be working a Women's Field Hockey game at Ohio State....now that is something foreign to me.

The bottom line is:  I will work as much as needed through the rest of the Football season, and then take a month off before Basketball....without a doubt, I will need to make some decisions of just how much wear and tear I want to put on my body before next fall.  Baseball is of course not a problem for me, except for the occasional foul ball off the body, or idiot Summer coach that thinks he knows the game better than me....they don't, none of them, but the wear down is just not that intense.  Football and Basketball for a 63 year old, even in pretty good condition, makes you feel your age....especially if have to listen to some asshole yelling obscenity laced BS in your ear.  30 years ago I would not have put up with it....I've mellowed somewhat since those days, when I would have knocked somebody on their ass, or went down trying, to today...but I can feel the tide slipping back the other way, and that probably is not a good thing.  To be honest, when things begin to feel like a "job" it's time to move on to something else.

Looking out the window, the rain, a cold one, is falling again...even the birds and Squirrels are hiding...I did however manage to get a few things done on my "do it" list yesterday.  Clipped the Ivy off the porch, that was getting overrun by the creeping vines, sorted my clothes in the basement, managed to clean the wood floors{still waiting to get the Kitchen done, it's gonna be a long process from the June water problem} got our working assignments down for Friday Night, from one of the coaches/ADs that I consider a friend of mine...making it one Hell of a lot more enjoyable, and tasted and tested a few more Octoberfest Brews....I particularly like Sam Adams Pumkin Ale...not bad at all, I may have to grab a few more of those before the week is out.

Speaking of Officiating......

Forget the idiot that some call "President Obama"{I prefer to call him the Marxist Kenyan Asshole}, tearing this Republic apart...the biggest news of the week, thus far, is about the NFL and the replacement officials they are using:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etBpvypwbHo

One of the worst calls in NFL History?  Perhaps!  Are these officials that bad?  Perhaps!  But I sure would not want to be scabbing in their shoes, no amount of money{and they are being paid well} would be worth the BS and beating they are taking from the press, especially the clowns at ESPN....

People seem to forget the blown calls that the regular officials make, and they make plenty, look how often "replays" are used to turn over calls. 

The regular officials want to pad their accounts, their retirement accounts!  And those guys are part time employees....why should the NFL owners want to make these guys rich, most of them already have great jobs and retirements...this is the age of Obama for Gawd's Sake, the country is being ripped apart by this Kenyan Interloping Bastard, and these clowns want to get rich working a part time job....excuse me if I don't give a Rat's Ass! 

I and our crew take as much of this bullshit from morons in the stands and coaching clowns for $60 or $70 on any given Friday night...sorry, it's sports, it's not that big of a deal, get over it!

back later>>>>

First Frost....and a few more rants

I noticed the roof{just above the kitchen} had a nice coating of frost on this morning, as I looked out our upstairs bedroom window to the south.  The first frost of the year, although I did not notice anything on the ground...the temperatures will warm somewhat over the week, mostly being in the lower 70s with lows in the upper 40s and 50s.  Rain and more thundershowers for tomorrow....we don't need that.

With the short growing season, the grass has made a comeback and we are mowing much like we did in May, before the Summer heat and drought dried things up...I also am amused, that as bad a growing season as I had for Summer, the few Sunflowers, and even the late arriving Moon Flowers are starting to pop out, the final couple of Sunflowers are in the process of blooming, and one single Moonie came out...not sure how long that will last, guess it depends on if we get a hard frost, before Indian Summer makes a call.  With the weird weather this year, who knows what is going to come for October and November.

More Friday Football Storms......

The rain was predicted for Friday night, the mass of Thunderstorms was not...so our crew got to halftime Friday in our battle of the undefeated....and then the lightning, for the second time in three Friday Nights,  put an end to the night.  We were forced to come back on Saturday afternoon to finish it off.

To top it off, I managed to slip on the turf field, and twisted my already inflamed heel...that was Friday, and Saturday I made a go of it...not a wise decision, and further inflamed my foot.  Thus, I am taking today through Wednesday off, with Sam home and without games this week, it will take my place at Celina tonight, and Wayne Trace tomorrow...I will try to give it a go on Thursday, to see if I am ready for the Varsity game Friday.  Frankly however, if I don't improve, I am just about ready to dump the rest of the season.  Considering my current attitude, that may not be a bad idea.

Here is what I appear to be saddled with at this time....it never seems to end, "Golden Years, My Ass":

http://www.methodistorthopedics.com/plantar-fasciitis-heel-pain

The past handful of seasons, I have been perfectly content to 'fill in' five or six Varsity games a year, I really had no desire to get back into working on a set crew for 10 Friday nights in a row.  The pay is hardly worth it{$60 to $70 a game)..what you make is gone is equipment, gas money, and eats after the Friday games.  The mindless BS you put up with from some of the coaches is even more irritating.

As I ranted last week, don't get me wrong, there are some good guys coaching, however frankly, there are more that enough assholes to make up for it.  And as luck would have it, being a "Line Judge", meaning you stand on one team or the others sideline, you are going to hear it from a number of them.  There is an unwritten rule in the state association, that you don't bad mouth schools and coaches, or fellow officials on "social media" or in public...or maybe it is a written suggestion....and I don't do that, at least not by name....however, let me say this.

At 63 1/2 years old, I don't have much to worry about, after all I am not getting rich doing this, it is an extra curricular activity.  The only one of the three sports I really enjoy doing is baseball...football and basketball, especially the latter, are something I do to try to keep in shape.  And given my current foot/heel issues, I'm not doing a very good job of that.  So my tolerance for "assholes" is limited.  Let's say 30 years ago, my attitude was such, that I probably would have .... well never mind, you get my drift.

I particularly enjoy it, when you flag some clown, "Ass-sistant" Coach on the sidelines for being a whiny little bitch, and he spends the rest of the game, giving you the 'Stare", like some 5' 8" 140 pound bad ass.  No BA, you are not one, you are a punk, and given the fact that you are probably 20 years younger than me...don't let it stop you if we ever meet on the street, and you are feeling "Froggy",  Just think Robin Ventura/Nolan Ryan...

In Other News....

The Reds finally clinched the NL Central, well I shouldn't say 'finally', they were after all the first team to sew up it's division.  Now they play out the string and wait to see where they are headed in the first round of the playoffs.  A great season by Cincinnati is only going to be that great if they can win a round or two in the playoffs...A World Series win is possible, but even I don't envision that....the team has pitched well, but the hitting has been sporadic at best, most of the season.

And Barack Obama is still a worthless, Marxist, Islamic Terrorist Coddling, Jack Ass....

back later>>>>

Photos-The last of my sparse season of back yard Sunflowers are blooming...at least one is pretty spectacular...rising about 14 foot(the 2nd photo) this one looks like the best of a rotten season...better luck to me next year.  Football is not all that is is cracked up to be....here out Back Judge, Terry, gets rolled by a receiver a couple of weeks ago/Photo By Pat Agler, Rockford, Ohio, thanks Pat!!!...despite the foot and heel problems I have had, at least I have steered clear of flying players, not so much for a few asshole coaches.  And this is what I have "Plantar Fasciitis" or  Damn Sore Heel in my vocabulary....we will see if a bit of rest will work for me.

Just Reflecting....again!

Today would have been a good day to wake up early and head out and take some sunrise photos around Grand Lake....I did wake up early, the sunrise, with the mix of clouds, did look pretty spectacular, but I was not going out....instead, I made the coffee, saw Patricia off, and headed for the shower...several things on my mind.  Some I will reflect on here, some I will keep in my own world and mind.

Past Kokomo Reunion>>>>>

A week ago at this time, I was up and about, and nursing a mild hangover at the Howard County Campgrounds,  of the 30th Anniversary Celebration.  Wednesday had been a pretty good day, and we celebrated well into Thursday morning, with a bit of "shine", a few beers, and a large amount of BS.

The gang at Kokomo, at least those I know, are most a great group....sure there are a couple of Obama supporters{why any Vet, especially a Vietnam Veteran, would support the Kenyan Bastard, is beyond me},  but that doesn't make them bad people, misguided sure, but not necessarily bad....there are others I have met, I suspect are bullshit artists to the Nth degree. 

Not a lot of war stories, I sure don't have many to tell...afterall, I was a Air Force Cop, working both Law Enforcement at Nha Trang first, then Security at my second base, Tan Son Nhut{Saigon}.  Air Force Security was likely the second most dangerous among Air Force jobs in Nam...the actual "fly boys" who were pilots or their crew members were on the top of the list.  No I have no real "war stories" to tell...there are others that do, and a few of them were out right liars, just a few that stop by the Boar's Next...they are easy to spot, those of us that knew, just kind of looked at each other, nodding....."Wannabees" is what they were, the rest of us, some combat vets, some support types, and others, MPs and Sky Cops, don't have to lie, at least we shouldn't,  we were there, that was enough.

Football Friday Nights>>>>

Tomorrow Night we will travel to Lima Stadium, where 3rd ranked Lima Central Catholic takes on also undefeated Delphos Jefferson.  On paper it should be a good game, but in reality, you never know.

There are games you enjoy and coaches you respect, there are also games that are a major pain in the ass, and coaches that you have no respect for, either as human beings, or coaches, or both.  Sometimes the aftermath leaves you scratching your head, and wondering why you didn't do something different or at least something sooner.

In all varsity high school sports in Ohio, there is a rating system for officials, that system in theory is supposed to decide who gets post system tournament games, in reality that is not always the case.  The coaches have a say in ratings, as they get to rate the officials, in theory that is supposed to matter, in reality, it doesn't.  So I take comments and ratings with a huge grain of salt.  There are times however I would like to turn the tables and rate the coaches...after all, I was a coach at various levels in several sports, Baseball, Football, and Soccer,  not that means I was a great or even good coach, but I do know good and bad coaches when I see them.

So rating officials is not much more than a game....however, sometimes, if you are a stone cold liar, those ratings might get out, and sometimes that might bit one in the ass....

I'd much more rather just officiate and umpire, and enjoy my time on the field or diamond...sometimes it's not that easy.

Fall In, This Saturday>>>>

Looks like rain gear will be needed at tomorrow night's game, then Saturday, the first official day of Autumn, it will be cold and wet....that is likely to cancel my baseball double header, which is scheduled for Spencerville, after I work a JV Football game at Wayne Trace on Saturday Morning.

Then, next week, if the forecast is correct{what are those odds?} it looks like lots of sun and near perfect fall temperatures, in the lower and mid 70s....seems like a good time to get to painting that garage....

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the doctor visit from yesterday....I figured my Cholesterol would still be high, and the White Coat Syndrome would have my Blood Pressure high, contrary to what it is on my home device....wrong in both cases.

The BP was a bit higher than my home monitor...I was at 115/60 with a pulse of 55 per minute just before I left for New Bremen, at the office, it was at 133/80, which compared to usual was fine with me and the doc, my Cholesterol was down sufficiently to be near normal, seems the Lipitor is working, and I won't be back there for 6 months.  Regular doc next month and my Carotid check-up about the same time as the March appointment....so I'm feeling pretty good about those results.

back later>>>>

Photos-The Sunrise this morning probably looked "grand" over Grand Lake, The Pennsylvania Boys...Tommy, Butch, and Buds, these guys were real heroes, no wannabee types in this crew last week at Kokomo.  Football Friday, the Good and Bad, and Fall arrives officially on Saturday.

6 Months Past Carotid ... and life in general

Rain rolled through western Ohio this morning before dawn...and has ushered cooler weather with it....I really haven't looked at the forecast, but it appears 60s for highs are in store for the next couple of days.  Usually meaning my joints will be aching more so than normal, whatever the Hell normal is for this 63 and 1/2 year old body?

For the first time in weeks I am listening to Glenn Beck this morning.  I had stopped because it is so damn depressing...not so much for me, or my future, but for the future of this country, and my family and others after I leave this world.  Needless to say, I despise that Kenyan Son of a Bitch, and his administration that is destroying this Republic, and his supporters are not on my "Christmas List" either.....those people are either too stupid, or too evil to understand or care what is going on.

This bastard needs impeached....but that won't happen, this country is doomed, and make no mistake, the seeds have been sowed, and regardless of what happens in November, the outlook is going to suck.  Libya, last week, was a result of this Kenyan interloper's actions....Barack Obama is a criminal, and needs to be treated as one....hopefully, somebody, will have the balls to do what needs done.....he needs arrested, tried, and convicted.  Much of his administration needs the same....

Make no mistake, Obama, with the help of the American Press is undergoing a massive cover-up of the actions, and watch for the infamous "Blind Sheik" to be released shortly after the election in November, weather the Kenyan Pole Smoker wins or not.....voters, you reap what you sow, for electing this bastard who is destroying this Republic.

Surgery, six months past____

Now that I have that out of the way....I hate politics, on to other things.

In the "time flies" department....

It has been six months since I underwent Carotid Artery Surgery on my 63rd birthday, at Lima Memorial Hospital.  Tomorrow I head to New Bremen for my six months check up.  I expect my BP to be high, only because it always is at the doc office, due to my "White Coat Syndrome"....yesterday on my home monitor it was 107/59 with a heart pulse of 60.  That has been the norm, unless I am sitting in the doctor's office, and it doesn't matter which doctor. 

I also expect my blood results to show that my Cholesterol to be high...even with the meds, I don't seem to be able to lower it much, and frankly, I really have stopped giving a rat's ass.  I am on a fairly low carb/low Cholesterol regiment...and I won't increase my dose....it is not going to happen.

I am still getting up and down the football field, 5 nights a week or so, and basketball is around the corner.  Hopefully I can do those sports for a few more years, but if not, I can live with that....baseball, I plan on doing until I can no longer see or walk, or if the Lord takes me before those happen.  I have stopped worrying about it...my feet hurt, my legs hurt, but compared to most men my age, I am doing damn well....and Obama, my health, and life in general, are not something I plan on fretting about at this age.

I will carry on, do what I can, and live my live as I see fit.....

back later>>>>

Photos-The things I brought back from Kokomo, Hat Pin, Vietnam Vet Wristband, and Boar's Nest Patch....add the photos and memories....The day of my surgery, my 63rd birthday, 3/16/12 and the way the neck looks today...a nice little scar or big scar is what I have to show.....and I feel pretty damn good!

Kokono and Beyond....

Lot's of action in the world going on, and I could wax and whine about that...

Our Illegal Kenyan Marxist fool of a President, lying through his teeth about the murders in the Middle East...but that son of a bitch will pay for his crimes, sooner or later, if not in this life, in the afterlife...I'd like to be there when God takes care of this bastard...

My Football game on Friday, where underdog St. Henry took on #5 ranked Minster and came from behind to pull off a 35-21 upset...

The Reds moving closer by the day to clinching the NL Central....or even the Bengals knocking off the Browns for the 13 time in the last 16 games in the battle of Ohio....

But I will instead talk about the 48 hours last week in Howard County, Indiana, at the 30th annual Vietnam Veterans Reunion, just outside of Kokomo.

Kokomo's 30th and my 3rd____

I headed out early Wednesday morning and rolled through the little used state and back roads of east central Indiana....Greentown, Indiana, or at least a large farm field near Greentown and Kokomo, was the point I had logged in on my Tom-Tom GPS.  I was familiar with the route, little has changed since I worked as morning News Anchor at WIOU Radio back in 1979 and 80.  Frankly, I didn't really like Kokomo as a place to reside, probably why I didn't stick around long at WIOU.  The  General Manager boss was an asshole, the Program Director was a drunken fool, and most that worked there were ass kissing leftist, the owners at Booth Broadcasting, out of Detroit where fools....the city itself?  Well let's just say, the majority of people where not on my short list of people I would hang around with....but that was then, here we are some 30 years later, and these people that I had met, from both the Kokomo area and elsewhere were my kind of people.

I arrived at the site and quickly found the Boar's Nest, where I would camp....Tom McCandless the "Mayor", along with Big Sam Lewis, Larry, and the rest were already set up, they had been there since the previous Sunday, and would stay for the week....I would, for the second straight year, stay 48 hours...maybe next year, if we all are still kicking, I will increase that to 4 days, maybe!

The two day stay came down to this for me.....

Day #1 Bullshitting with the gang, drinking some homemade Moonshine of various flavors, more bullshitting, more "shine", and then heading over to where Charlie and the Gang would be spinning disks for the remainder of the night....there I would drink a little shine, a few beers, smoke a cigar, and finally wander back to the Nest about 1:30 in the morning....sleeping in the back of the van, having, but not needing my zero degree sleeping bag.

Day #2 consisted, getting rid of my hangover, which wasn't bad, more bullshitting, greeting others that I had not seen so far, including fellow VSPA members, John, Tony, and Phil, several others would arrive after I left on Friday at Noon, maybe next year.  That was followed by more BSing, and just a sip of shine, and a beer or two, but really not much drinking at all.  We avoided the entertainment tent, instead opting heading over to Bill's tent where he had his 60 inch projection TV set up...we watched the old Lee Marvin/Ernie Borgnine movie, "Emperor of the North".  And by 10:30 I was in the tent this night, sleeping it off.

Day #3 would be short, and the rain greeted us about 4 in the morning...it stayed as Sam and I headed into Kokomo for more groceries and goods...I would say my final "Good-Byes" with a promise to stay 4 days next year...just not sure how that will work around football season, but Monday through Friday is a possibility, or perhaps Wednesday through Saturday, with taking Friday Night off and letting someone take my place on that night's game....I will work something out, if Obama hasn't jailed us by then.

In the meantime, I have already made plans to return to the ground for next year's "Mini Reunion", which takes place the first weekend of June.....meanwhile I have the photos to share....

Football tonight here in Celina with a Freshman contest.....and a follow up doctor's appointment on schedule for Wednesday....

back later>>>>

Photos-The Official Orange Patch of the Boar's Nest...(2) The Drink of Choice at the Reunion, "Moonshine" of varying flavors...I think I finished off most of this jar of Mandarin Orange in the first afternoon.  (3) "Sweetie Pie" our mascot after being rescued by Tom McCandless, seems Sweetie was doing the rounds with a few interlopers on Wednesday Night{note the Bud Light in her mouth, er snout} (4) Big Sam Lewis, at 6' 6" being dwarfed in the larger than life size camp chair....and Butch Meilinger and me with cigars and "shine".  Butch was a Sniper in Vietnam, and a World Record Holder in Big Game in Africa and North America, with both gun and Cross Bow, Butch is from Wind Gap, Pennsylvania, and what makes it a even smaller world, we found out last year that Butch's wife and I had been classmates in tiny Venice, Florida, back in the 1950s and early 60s at Venice Elementary....small world indeed.  You can see Butch's game and hunting site here:

www.huntwithbutch.com

Back From Kokomo...

The 30th Annual Howard County Vietnam Veterans Reunion ended today....I came back on Friday, but it was a great 48 hours....photos and comments coming up this week.  {I have to believe 7 days is the longest I have went without posting on this blog in the 5+ years I have been working on it}:

More photos and stories as this week moves forward.

back later>>>>



Photo: Guys that post on facebook{all conservative Sky Cops}, Me, Tom McCandless, and Al Wilson, standing, and Big Sam Lewis(seated)

Wild Weekend, Weather Wise....and looking towards Kokomo

"Crazy" is the best way to describe the Friday weather...and it ended up playing a large part in my weekend activities, or at least changes in same.

A storm had rolled through Celina about Noon Time, and then the humidity, heat, and sunshine had returned for the afternoon hours.  As I prepared for the varsity football game, 12 miles north in Rockford{one of two games of my 10 varsity games that are within Mercer County}, I checked the Radar, and what I saw wasn't good...several trails of Red, Yellows, and Dark Greens, were coming across the Heartland, from Illinois into Indiana, and heading towards western Ohio.  The Parkway High School Athletic Director had called me, and said that the school had all warning devices in place, in case the looming weather rolled into Rockford, hometown of Parkway....it would do exactly that.

As we walked the field for the pre-game conferences, one of the Marion Local video guys approached me with phone in hand, and showed me the Radar...RED was on the way...and when it arrived, it was going to be a problem.  The visiting Flyers, have won the small school state championships several times in the past decade, including last year...and despite being somewhat young, they were the favorites over the hometown Panthers.  You could not have thought so, as the first quarter came to an end....Parkway came out fired up, and lead 8-7 as we began the 2nd quarter.  Two plays in with Marion on it's own 19, I pulled out a flag, as the right offensive guard for the Flyers jumped....as the same instance, head referee Steve blew his whistle, and pointed behind me...what I did not notice, since it was to the east and directly behind me, a huge bolt of lightning had blasted through the skies.  We saw nothing coming out of the west...the initial strike had passed over and hit east of the stadium.  We cleared the field, and they cleared the stands....we would wait.

When it became apparent that this storm was going to be a long one....we stopped the mystery about an hour later at 9:05pm, and called the game.  We would resume at 2pm the next day.  We were not alone, all but a handful of contests in West Central and Northwest Ohio were "killed" somewhere into them....ours was one of the early games, since we were playing near the Ohio/Indiana Border, while teams like Celina were not so lucky.  The Bulldogs got within 4:13 of finishing their game at Defiance, leading 35-28 the Dogs waited until 11pm and headed home, only to return at 6pm Saturday night, finishing off their win.  Our game resumed and it was a different contest...Marion Local took control and pulled away with a 49-22 victory, to move to 3 wins and no defeats on the young season.

Meanwhile our JV game at Wayne Trace was cancelled, and I had to drop my baseball double header, which, despite 4 inches of rain in the area, was played at Spencerville....they found someone to take my place, as I was finishing up in Rockford....despite getting paid double, I still took a $100 or so loss, because of losing the triple header football and baseball....Sam and I did get a double header in on Sunday with youth football on Sunday.  So I came out OK....despite getting hit in the mouth with a football on Saturday, and run into by a Parkway player coming off the bench.  Pay-wise OK, body-wise, I feel every bit of my 63 years.

Kokomo______

This week begins the 30th straight year of the Howard County/Kokomo, Indiana, Vietnam Veterans Reunion....Wednesday I will make my 3rd straight year, hooking up at The Boar's Nest Campsite of my old VSPA Buddy, Tom McCandless....Tom and Big Sam Lewis are already there....spending a week.  Not sure my body will handle that, but I will arrive early Wednesday and stay until Noon of Friday, when I will head back and ready myself for this week's varsity game at St. Henry, where the Redskins take on MAC Rival Minster...two of the 4 schools, as chance would have it, that I had in the Baseball Districts, back in May, when Minster won on their way to their second straight D4 State Baseball Title.  Minster is 3-0 and St. Henry 2-1 on the young season, it should be a good game.  Hopefully I will be alive and kicking after 48 hours at Kokomo.

http://www.hcvvo.org/

Tom's Boar's Next site is located on the back row middle, next to the field shown to the south....usually some crops there, last year it was corn, the year before soybeans....

Next weekend I took NO games, thus giving my body and mind a chance to recover from football, here in Celina both tonight and tomorrow, and the beating  from the Kokomo Camp Out.  I may post one more time before heading out Wednesday AM, but then again, I may not...either way I will have plenty of photos from the "action" to share when I return....

back later>>>>

Photos-Tom McCandless and some of the gang at Kokomo in 2011....The storms Friday Night into Saturday morning, which caused all the postponements, where much like this photo I snapped back in July 1997, "Sweety Pie" is the centerpiece of The Boar's Next site at the Howard County Meeting site for our Sky Cop Group, and I will sip a bit of "Apple Pie" like last year, as Tom and Big Sam{right} look on, waiting for their turn....

Diabetes 3 years down the road....DNC Done?

Homo and Jethro                                                           

I didn't watch the Democrats anymore than I did the GOP Convention{except the GOP Empty Chair/Clint Eastwood interview}, but from what I caught on video and news all I have to say is..."Have you ever seen a bigger collection of phony "Americans" in your life, or perverts, or illegals, or freeloaders, or Murder in the Womb supporters"?  Where the Hell are the terrorists when you need them?  That was one collection of sick sons a bitches, led by Homo and Jethro...also known as Barack and Joe. 

No doubt now that the party has broken up, the citizens of North Carolina can breath the sweet Carolina Air a bit more freely, but it will take awhile to get the stench out of the state.  Now the real  campaign begins...I, for one, plan on taking a powder from it.  Romney was hardly my first or second choice, but he is for sure one Hell of a site better than the half breed, half wit fool that is tearing this country a part, and destroying the Constitution bit by bit.  Yes indeed, it's gonna be a long two months....and if Homo and Jethro get re-elected, it is going to be a hard four years...and I can smell Revolution brewing if that happens, not calling for it, but you can feel it in the air....the left and right have never liked each other, we now despise each other, to the very core of this nation.

3 Years and Counting_____

It was three years ago this week that I was told that I had "pre-diabetes 2"....Doc Bergman sent me to the dietitian at St. Marys to get put on a "Diabetes Diet"....I began that diet three years ago today.  Like any diet, it worked, at least for a while, and like most, by my own hand, I let my weight losses slip away, at least some of the losses.

I was at 214 pounds on my 5"11" frame, given the fact I have a long body and short limbs, 214 wasn't awful, especially considering I had been a long time weight lifter...but it was still too much, and I had cut back the weight lifting, opting instead for lifting 12 oz long neck bottles of cold beer.  It was time to drop some poundage....and I did.  By the time I had been on the "diet" for 8 months, I  had lost 32 pounds, and was sitting at 182 on May 7, 2010...that was as low as it got.

I started back lifting weights, drinking darker beers, and even though I still was watching my calorie intake, the weight slipped back up, and when I weighed in this Monday morning, I was at 198...still down 16 from 3 years ago, but up 16 from the low.  It is time to lose those 16 and maybe a couple more.  My original goal was 180, and that is what I will drop to before the end of this calender year.   The Holidays and Vietnam Reunion{next week} be damned.

I am not convincing myself that it will be easy...it never is, and especially at my age, on BP and Cholesterol medication, but I will make it down to 180 by years end...in fact I plan on dropping to 178 just to give myself a bit of leeway....wish me luck.

Football and Thunderstorms, a bad mix___

Storms are moving into Indiana at this hour, and are scheduled to arrive sometime this afternoon....hopefully the forecast is wrong, and any strong storms will be out of the area by game time at 7:30, football crowds and storms are a bad mix....it's a pain during baseball season, but unlike Friday night football, in spring baseball, you usually don't have the crowds to take care of ...let's hope it fizzles or gets through the area by kickoff time.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to work a JV game at Wayne Trace in the morning, a fall baseball double header in the afternoon, then Sunday, Sam and I are working a youth football double...gonna be one of those weekends, and we don't need the Thunder and Lightning to contend with.

back later>>>>

Photo-The First Lady and his(?) VP....(2) Too much of this and not enough of this(3) has led me to gaining back half of what I originally lost. (4)  Rain Gear might be necessary tonight at Parkway, but tomorrow and the weekend look dryer and much cooler.

Issac sticks around for Labor Day...

The one thing I hated about growing up in South Florida, on the Gulf, was the summertime humidity...I did back in the 1950s despise it, and still do.  This Labor Day weekend in Ohio was much like those days growing up...humid, humid, humid...if all began Friday.

The Football officiating crew met at Antwerp High School, the A/C was off in our locker room, which was probably a good thing, because the game conditions would be much like those in the locker area.  By the time the 28-6 Hilltop win over the host Archers was completed, we were a collection of five, stripping off clothes that weighed about 20 pounds more than when we walked out on the field a few hours earlier.  The rest of the weekend would not be much different.

The humidity and the rain in the Midwest that stayed through Labor Day and looks to be around through tomorrow, is the remains of "Issac" the former Hurricane that dumped large amounts of rain on New Orleans and the south....most of our area got no wind, and little of the rain from Issac, some got more liquid moister than others, but we all got our share of the humid conditions.

On Saturday I awoke and arrived at Celina Stadium for the JV game between the host Bulldogs and Ottawa-Glandorf.   O-G like their varsity counterparts on Friday, won a close game with Celina...the humidity was brutal.  2 hours later my officiating clothes, even wearing shorts this time,  again gained 15 or 20 pounds. 

Following the game Patricia, Anissa, and I had planned on heading north and west to Rick and Toni Pearson's for their Labor Day get together, along with several dozen others at the big pond near LaOtto, Indiana, I just couldn't make it...I was gassed.  Needing a day to recover, I watched Ohio beat Penn State and Ohio State destroy Miami of Ohio in Urban Meyer's first game as OSU head coach.  I needed the break, because even with football officiating done for the weekend{back in action this afternoon}, I had a date with youngest son Hal at the Reds/Phillies game on Labor Day Monday.

That game, with the Reds coming off a great road trip, a 9 1/2 game lead over St. Louis, and their ace on the mound, seemed a natural to end my losing streak at 2 games....it didn't work out that way.  I drove off, with rain arriving as I drove down I-75 near Troy, Ohio....it stuck around until Hal and I neared Cincinnati.  First stop "Johnny Rockets" grill, where we grabbed a couple super sandwiches a couple of beers...all on Hal as part of the "bet".

The bet was that I would stay off political posting on facebook for a month....I basically made it, and he bought the tickets, great seats, just 4 rows off the field, between 3rd base and left field, the beer, and lunch.  All went great, except the Reds, other than Jay Bruce, couldn't hit, and Philadelphia came away with a 4-2 win.

We arrived back in Centerville about 5:30pm....and I headed out, grabbed a large coffee at Tim Horton's and drove the back roads home to Celina, where I arrived safe, sound, and probably a couple of pounds heavier at 7 o'clock.

The humidity continues, hopefully the predicted cooler weather and dryer conditions will arrive by week's end.  Tomorrow back to Centerville, to sit with Grandson Kasyn......tonight back to football at Wayne Trace, a Junior High game.

back later>>>>

Photos-The Remains of "Issac" were present when I drove down the I-675 ramp towards Centerville yesterday morning.  The recent moisture has at least let the late blooming flowers, including my backyard Sunflowers come out.  Hal and I had great seats, just 4 rows off the field...you could reach out and touch the players if necessary...such as Jimmy Rollins, who blasted a 3 run homer to help the Phils defeat the Reds.

The Democratic Convention...Empty Chair, Empty Suit, Empty Heads

A wet and busy weekend, topped off by seeing my third losing Reds game in Cincinnati today, Labor Day....best record in baseball this year, lucky for Cincy, I have only been to 3....

I'll talk about the wet, humid, Labor Day weekend and my activity during it tomorrow, meanwhile I'll leave you with this prized photo of Barack Obama sitting at my computer station, I was so honored to have the Kenyan CSer to stop by:

What do you mean you can't see him?  He's right there 

back tomorrow>>>>