Roundball...Just About Done!

After Friday Night's game at Antwerp, I am left with a few nights of Basketball Officiating to finish off the long season....

Tuesday a Boys JV game vs rival Crestview, before the Varsity Contest between the #2 ranked Raiders and the Defending D4 Champion Crestview Knights....

Speaking of Quality Teams...

Celina Clinched a share of the WBL, they can win it outright next week with a win over Elida, as they defeated Kenton 76-48...the D2 8th ranked Bulldogs then slipped to 18-3 by losing 60-50 at the #3 and defending D3 state champion LCC T-Birds on Saturday 60-50...Celina looked like they were just not into the contest from the get go...despite playing another quality team...

The only thing keeping my from total "Cabin Fever" in this 2nd straight miserably long and cold winter, are Basketball and the upcoming Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventure at Moab.....

back later....

The Deep Freeze of 2014-2015 Continues...

After a pretty "normal" beginning of this winter, it has turned bitter since early in January....probably not as bad, at least the Grand Lake Region hasn't had the snow, as last year, but the second half of this winter, is as bad as last year, and is approaching getting worse....miserable it has become.

About -20 for a chill factor this morning, to go with slightly below zero "real" temperatures....this afternoon it may reach 7 or 8 above, but the winds will keep the chill factor well below zero, as I head to Elida to work a girls basketball game....back down to about 5 below tonight, and the only day of any "warm-up" in the near future, will be Saturday, but by that time we are looking at 5+ inches of snow...next week the temperatures take a tumble and will remain that way until at least the end of February.

Not to worry however, we are not alone.... the folks in the deep south are feeling it as well....North Carolina is in single digits today, Dayton Beach will not get out of the 40s and even Key West is slated to only reach 59...likely one of the coldest high temperatures on record...

Hey Al Gore and Obammy....Shove your Mad Made Climate Change/Global Warming straight up your asses.....

Heading for Moab Part #3

Much like last winter, it appears this one will last long and will contain brutal below normal temperatures, when all is said and done.  February has been pretty damn awful, temperature wise, and if the forecast for the next 2 weeks is any indication, there will be some record lows broken....nothing in the extended forecast to challenge the Groundhog's Prediction...and six weeks might be a bit of a low forecast.

Anyway, the Moab Region of Utah should be somewhat warmer when we arrive on March 21st...let's at least hope so....the 45 day forecast looks like they are expecting a wet first week of Spring, but I'm not buying anything as far out as 30 days...a week or two, perhaps, but not a month...the forecast is far too iffy to get myself concerned, at least not yet.

I did get on the TW on Saturday morning and rode out west of town on Fairground Road for a couple of miles...the temperature was 19 or so, and a light snow had began...it was still not bad, I was

dressed for the short run...Nick then picked me up,  and we took both bikes out to One Eye Concepts, to change out the stock tire....which frankly "Sucks" in off road areas...we both picked out Michelin T63s 130/80-18...a tire made for the rear of most dual sport and dirt bikes, but perfect for the larger tires and rims of the TW....not nearly as big and fat as the rear on the TWs, but large enough to put it's prints on the ground, and hopefully keep us upright.....Kurt suggested the tires and is putting the same on his ride...so I have someone to blame if this tire isn't what I need....{just kidding Borneo}.

So we are now 30 days out...and those 30 days are going to be cold and long back here in the Heartland....hopefully Mother Nature will be kind in the last week of March, at least in Moab.

In the meantime, I am left with a handful of basketball{regular season ends for me this week}
games...baseball meetings have began, and I am looking at just 2 scrimmages on March 16th and 18th, and looking at the forecast, I'm not betting the farm on getting those in....the regular season opener for me is slated for Monday March 30th.

back later>>>>

photos-My Blue 2014 and Nick's White and Silver 2015 with their new treads...

Basketball Officiating...and Moab Part #2

We have pretty well got our dates down for the Moab Trip and TW Adventure Ride in Utah set...

Some time in early March, Nick and I will haul our TWs, my 2014, purchased new last March, with 600 miles on it, and his new 2015 purchased last week with still less than 1 mile on it...up to Kurt's place near Auburn, Indiana...not far from my buddy Rick's place outside LaOtto.  We plan to spend some time, perhaps, if the weather ever clears, doing some riding around his ranch, and maybe shoot some guns...for target practice, unless there are some unsuspecting, Obama loving Liberals around....{insert eye roll, just for shits and giggles}...

Once done there, we will wait another week and a half, while Kurt and his Nephew pack the goods and get the trailers ready for the trip...Nick and I will return the afternoon of the **th , spend the evening, and the four of us will head out the next morning for Moab, Utah.  We hope to arrive safe and sound the next afternoon{1500+ miles} if the vehicles and weather cooperate...you never know going across the plains in March and you especially never know going across the Rockies in late winter and/or early spring....once there we hope to enjoy good riding weather for 7 or 8 days before returning home in time for my Baseball Umpiring season to begin.

I will keep this updated as the big event approaches.



Basketball Officiating...the "End is Near"

Worked a Junior High Boys double header last night at Convoy Crestview, and I realized just how much I am beginning to dislike, maybe even hate, working basketball....I'm contracted out for two more seasons, but I am beginning to re-think that.

I got into basketball officiating, mainly to stay busy in the winter, and to stay in reasonable shape for my age{66 coming up next month}...it was never my favorite sport to play{I sucked at it}, or now, officiate....sure I enjoy college, if it's teams I favor, like Duke or Ohio State, and I was the play-by-play guy for the Van Wert Cougars for 20 years on Cable Channel 7, and held season tickets for Celina's Bulldogs for a number of years...but like golf, I never took it seriously...it was and always has been entertainment and little more.

Seems the lower the level, the more idiotic the fans and some coaches become....sometimes you would just like to climb into the stands and choke the shit out of some fool, for not knowing a gawd damn thing about the game, or rules, or realizing that at some levels, you just can't or won't call everything...if you did, the games would only end, when every player fouled out!

Anyway, 2 more weeks, then a weekend in early March of 5/6th grade games to keep me in shape...once I return from Utah, and Baseball begins, I will re-evaluate if I want to continue with Basketball or just stay with Football and Baseball....and frankly Football is next on the list to go...but we will see how the body holds out and that season, beginning in August goes.

In the meantime, I am ready for this roundball season to be gone...heading 75 miles north this afternoon, and working a Girls HS Game..??  What the Hell was I thinking when I took this contract???

back later>>>>

March 2015...Heading for Moab{Utah}

As the long winter{not as cold nor as snowy as last year, at least not so far} continues, I and others from around the Midwest and Nation prepare to take our Yamaha TWs out west to the Moab Desert Region of eastern Utah.  As of last count, at least 22 of us, with the possibility of 30 or more, total have confirmed we will be riding the slow, steady, but mighty TW200s during late March out west.

Kurt, the Indiana Lawyer, his Nephew The Weasel, and my old buddy Nick, will be heading out as a foursome...while many will be tent camping in the hinterland, at least us four, plus others, will be staying at the Moab KOA Cabins just south of the city....tent camping in March, even in the Desert does not sound warm enough for me....

While Nick had originally planned on tagging along and riding a quad runner, we discovered space and cost were not in the best interest of that plan, so I finally talked him into looking at the TW, even though he had not ridden a Motorcycle in 40 years....finally after some searching, I called the Honda East folks at Toledo/Maumee, and Nick pulled the trigger on a brand new 2015, which he got a deal on that was as good or even better than the one I pulled off last March on a new 2014...

We picked it up a week ago last Wednesday, and that trip in itself was an "Adventure"...

Everything went smooth as silk on the way up, Nick made his deal, and we loaded up the silver and white 2015 and were on our way back down I-75 towards home when the adventures began....

First off a blown driver's side tire outside of Findlay....once AAA came to replace that with the spare, we headed back south, only to the weather rotted space give way less than a mile outside Bluffton...we limped into town and after a couple of stops, we found a tire shop who would put a new tire on and check the remaining tire...no damage done, and our 5 hour planned trip turned into more like 8 or 9, but we made it back to Montezuma, safe and sound, as did Nick's new TW...now we just need some riding weather before we deliver them to Kurt's before the trip west....

 Moab should be a blast...and I, and especially Nick, will see if we can handle the dirt, sand, rocks, ledges, and narrow paths of the Mounting Desert....

Less than six weeks away, and video and still photos await if we survive this latest "Adventure", now in our mid 60s.....

Winter Scenes

A rare zero with Fog occurred around Grand Lake the other day...I took the opportunity to snap a few photos and here are a couple:

As Winter, albeit, better than last, so far, drones on....

Ohio State Win All The Marbles...Damn the Haters

Put this one in your crack pipe and Smoke It, Mark May and the other "experts" on ESPN:

National Championship #8 as the Bucks Roll over the Ducks:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/sports/ohio-state-42-oregon-20/30673150

 
 
 
 

Merry Christmas and the Best for 2015

Merry Christmas to All{except atheists, Obamabots, and protesting Cop Killers}and hopeful for the best 2015{Impeachment of Barry would be a nice gift}:

After the first of the year, I will be reworking this Blog after 7 1/2 years, and begin anew with a different format: 

Thanks to all for stopping by, especially those that my Vietnam posts have brought us together with  common memories and events that we shared during our time in that war torn country.

It's Been Almost a Month.....

Between the transition from Football to Basketball Officiating, the nasty change in weather, planning for a Motorcycle Adventure in Utah in March, and other distractions....I see it's been 4 solid weeks since I last posted...without a doubt the longest stretch since I began this Blog back in July of 2007.

Other than the above mentioned factors...you can add that frankly "Blogging" per say is losing it's luster on the Internet...just not as many folks doing this, unless they have something to sell, or are involved in Politics....everybody and anybody that has read this over the past 7+ years knows my Politics....a steaming Hate of the Left, Islamic Radicals, BureauRats, and especially that useless Kenyan born son of a bitch in the White House...so no need to rehash that stuff...and even the recent election gains by the GOP{mostly RINOs} have done little to give me much confidence or hope that anything will improve, short of a total Revolution against Big Government and Big Bureaucracy...and a whole lot of people need to grow a bigger set of balls for that to happen...so I expect the sleeping dog to stay on the porch, at least for the time being.

The TW and Moab, Utah....

I purchased the Yamaha tw200 back in March from the Honda/Yamaha/Indian Dealer just outside Toledo...and have been happy with it so far....even though I put only 600 miles on it in the 8 months since purchase, and only a handful of those in non pavement areas...other than a lack of power on the street{which is not really what I bought if for anyway} I like the relaxed way it rides and handles...but I wanted more, and it looks like that will come, if all goes right, this March in the White Rim Canyon area near the town of Moab, Utah.

Several riders have agreed to meet up in March in Utah, and I have hooked up with one from Northeast Indiana, who will haul the bikes and a 4WD, along with me and my old buddy Nick, just after my 66 Birthday and the 1st anniversary of my T~Dub purchase....it should be a weeks worth of "adventure" to say the least...I started with my first "dual sport"{we called them on/off road back in 1974} motorcycle a little over 40 years ago, and I race MotorX, and plenty of time on and off the pavement...but nothing like this that we have planned.

http://www.discovermoab.com/motorcycle_moab.htm

I expect "Borneo" "Zdiver" and a few others at the TW Site to show me the ropes and keep me from going over the side of the mountain trails....

http://tw200forum.com/forum/forum.php

4 months away I will have plenty of time to prepare, or panic....

In the Meantime...

The Holidays approach...Thanksgiving next week, with Sam home from Illinois, and we will have dinner here for the family members, although I don't believe Hal, Lisa, and the boys will be here this time around, we will see them at Christmas Eve....

Basketball begin for me at Parkway on Saturday...tonight's scrimmage was snowed out, due to school closings from the freakish bad mid November weather....this is beginning to be worse than last year...time will tell if it is indeed.  Tomorrow at Delphos, and I will be back there both Thursday and Friday...a few more scrimmages, then the real season begins on November 28th for me...although I have dumped my Varsity Roundball Schedule....preferring to do lower level games...that said I have no intention to stop working Varsity in Baseball or Football...basketball is my least confident, least experienced, and frankly, least favorite to work...it is however a good winter workout...

Meanwhile I continue to workout and do a Diabetes 2 Diet Plan...down to 185 which is the lowest since the Spring of 2010...now if I can make it through the Christmas Season, my plan is to get down to 175 which is where I stood in May of 1972 when I left the Air Force....I will continue to do reps on my weight lifting routine, rather than heavy weights and walk and incline treadmill, rather than jogging .... at least that is the plan.

Now what to do with this Blog?

My plan is to post more often, but not resort to political bullcrap, frankly I have little interest these days...noting once again, I doubt if anything is going to change, anytime soon.  As for reliving the past?  Why?  Anybody interested can go back and see the more interesting things just by reading the old posts...whether it be from my days in the Air Force and Vietnam, my youth in Venice, Florida, or my crazy ass days post Air Force, back here in Ohio....

But hopefully I can come up with some interesting "Life Tidbits" to bring the readership back up....because it has crashed over the last 18 months from 6000 per month viewer wise to about 1000 these days....time will tell!

back later>>>>

{Bench} Pressing towards 70

When Football Season Arrive back in August, I put down the weight lifting workouts and let football take care of my workout routine ....in the 2 months since the season begin, I have dropped 7 or 8 pounds, and for the first time in a couple of years I have settled down below the 190 weight mark...and whenever you drop some pounds, you usually end up feeling better...even at 65.  With just 3 games left on my schedule, then a break of a couple weeks before basketball scrimmages begin, I figured it was time to get my legs ready for that season, and also get back on a weight training regiment....yesterday I began lifting again, along with the half dozen or so weight programs I work out on down in the dark regions of my basement.....I also took it upon myself to plug the treadmill back in and us the incline portion to full use...it is quite a workout, especially when you have been doing little but running up and down the football field for those 2+ months....they plan is, at this point, to do the treadmill or walk the streets of Celina 5 or 6 days a week, and continue the weight lifting/training 3 days a week for the time being....headed for 66 years old in March of 2015, just as Baseball Season begins, I figure I need all the help I can get to keep in shape, it is never easy, but especially so when you are my age, and stop the workouts....Always hard to get back into it....but here we go,

Pressing 70....

After so evaluation I figure I can umpire baseball into my 70s, if I stay in reasonable shape and the Good Lord let's me stick around and stay healthy enough to do that....there are never any "sure things" in life, especially when you start to age....If, IF, I can stay healthy and somewhat fit, I can do baseball, and perhaps football until 70.....or beyond, in the case of Hoops, Roundball, Basketball???  I'm not so sure...I will take that one game and on season at a time....the least favorite, but best workout of the three sports I officiate, keeping up with, especially the boys JV crowd is a challenge....I have already given up Varsity High School games at least on the boys side, and after this year, I will drop JV games and stick with Junior High and perhaps some girls Varsity and JV games....we will see how it goes.

Those are the long  term plans....as for the short term?  Staying Healthy is priority #1, staying Alive, if I accomplish #1 should be easier as my #2 personal goal.

2 1/2 years removed from Carotid Artery surgery, and well as 5 years down the road from a bout with High Blood Pressure and Pre~Diabetes 2....I consider it a 50/50 proposition to complete my goals...but I have never been shy on tackling things such as these.

back later....

Kam gets "dedicated", End of Riding Season

Down to the Dayton Area yesterday for the Church Dedication of the newest Grandson, Kamdyn Patrick Houseworth....a breakfast buffet afterwards, then watched a bit of the Bengals game before heading home...just in time to see the Cincy kicker Mike Nugent out of Ohio State push a chip shot field goal right and cost the Bengals a win...typing Carolina 37-37 to send Cincinnati's record to 3-1-1...they are calling for his head this morning....can't say I disagree, he has missed way to many easy field goals this season, and kickers are a dime a dozen in the NFL....

I have not posted in awhile, Blogger has been giving me problems with posting photos of late....but it appears that issue may have passed, at least for this blog.  Here is a shot of me and grandson #2 yesterday afternoon, while his brother sleep and I got to hold him after the rest of the family members headed home.....Patricia and I were the last to go.

Raining today also a MRSI Board of Directors meeting, football at Wayne Trace, and a pre~season Dartball meeting at Rockford tonight when I finish football.

With the cooler weather and rain of late, the motorcycle riding season is winding down....have not ridden as much or far, or off road as much as I had planned, but the TW still looks like new and both it and I are in one piece, so I cannot complain about my first year back in the saddle, after nearly 25 years of non MC riding...I put 600 miles o the new bike since March and hopefully we will have better weather and more opportunities to get out and explore some new highways and byways with it next season....although I still plan on riding a bit more this fall, when the weather is agreeable.

Back Later>>>>