Light Rain / 61° F
Post Memorial Day blog or how I learned to stop worrying and love the blog
Published 11:00am Wednesday, June 1, 2011I hope everyone took time out of their lives to remember fallen soldiers who fought bravely for our country over the weekend. I also hope that most of you spent time with your family and friends as these are just a few things that we can enjoy because of the freedoms that our American soldiers have secured for us.
The sports world was turned on its head over the long weekend as Ohio State Football Coach Jim Tressel resigned due to lingering allegations of his cover-up of player violations. Many can look at Tressel and see that teacher-esque man, who promotes morality and hard work. I personally know numerous people who used him as an example to describe the way a football program should be run. But behind the Mr. Rogers smile and neat sweater vest lived the same “do anything to win” attitude that coaches in high standing seem to have. Coaches can not make it to the level that Tressel has excelled at without bending, breaking and being totally oblivious of rules that are set aside by the sport’s governing body. Reports state that Buckeye fans are saddened by the departure of their leader, but knew the outcome seemed inevitable. Many place blame on the most publicized athlete in the football program, Quarterback Terrell Pryor.
My feelings towards the incident are as follows…1. Tressel may want his players to grow into men, but if the coach was a man he needs to take the punishment that he deserves for his knowledge of the incident. 2. Pryor is not to blame for his resignation. Listening to Lex and Terry in the morning on the way to work, I actually heard a good piece of advice from the radio jocks “All he had to do was walk down the hall and talk to the athletic director and he would still be the coach.” 3. I never liked Ohio State in NCAA bowl games, I don’t care if they represent the Big Ten Conference. If you know me as a person, you understand that I can’t root for a rival in a championship game. Makes no sense. (This goes out to many Viking fans who cheered for the Packers in the Super Bowl…pure blasphemy as a Viking fan. But back to what I was trying to say). This may bury the Buckeyes for years to come and to let the Ohio St. faithful remember that the conference added football powerhouse Nebraska.
Lastly on this topic, I hear that new allegations are coming out against Terrell Pryor and his use of rented cars. To me this seems to be what was the knife in the heart of Tressel’s tenure at the University.
Saturday afternoon, My dad, Josh Lehn and I headed down to the Twin Cities to catch the Twins in action against the Angels. I was looking forward to seeing Target Field again (Dear Twins, most fans are going to the games for that reason, not to see you blow leads and become the doormat of the Central Division). Great game. Anthony Swarzak pitched a eight inning, 1-hitter. Twins had to go 10 innings to eventually pull out a 1-0 victory on a Danny Valencia base hit, but hey it was worth it. My dad had a great time, even though he doesn’t like extra inning games (he is very pessimistic on the chances that the game will play in our favor). That will probably be the only time I make it to a game this season, but thanks to Ron Gardenhire for getting tossed arguing a play that I saw from the third level that was clearly an out. Sometimes I wonder if Gardenhire getting tossed puts fire in the Twins bellies or if they just get a giggle out of a guy that looks like Santa Claus arguing with umpires.
Wow, I actually watched some NASCAR racing this past weekend. The fam and I were hanging out and the T.V. just so happened to be on the race. My heart goes out to Dale Ernhardt Jr. Everyone has high expectations for you and you try to prove that you can live up to them and you fall just short. Not saying DEJ is a bad driver, just not his dad. He is in the top ten this season, but even someone like myself who doesn’t follow NASCAR realizes that there are many other drivers that eclipse Jr.’s driving ability.
In more racing news, Dan Wheldon won the Indy 500 because rookie J.R. Hildebrand crashed on the final turn of the race. This marks the second time Wheldon has won the 500 and the last time Hildebrand decides to celebrate before crossing the finish line.
Last night, LeBron James and the Miami Millionaires took game 1 from the Dirk Nowitski and the Luftwaffe…I mean the Dallas Mavericks (Note: I was watching the Sports Show with Norm McDonald last night and he made a joke about the Germans rally behind Nowitski. Something to the fact that nothing bad can come from the entire German country uniting around one man…roll film of the third Reich marching). I am pulling for the Mavs in the series because it would be the best for an NBA fan. Many people love super teams but when your league has a cartel on the idea and only 5 teams have all the stars, it is hard to sell your product. Nowitski torn a ligament in his middle, non-dominant hand, finger attempting to steal the ball away from Chris Bosh in the fourth quarter of game one. This puts Dallas in a tough position. Jason Kidd might have to rewind the clock to 10 years ago when he was the man in New Jersey for this group of cowboys to have a chance at hoisting the trophy.
In hockey news, the Atlanta Thrashers look like they will be moving to Winnipeg after the purchase of the team by True North Sports. This is the second time that Atlanta has lost a hockey team (the first being the Flames to Calgary in 1980). Winnipeg has been thirsting for a hockey team ever since the Jets left back in the 90s. Wayne Gretzky believes that Winnipeg is not ripe for hockey. I hope he is right. Just a few days ago I was talking with several people about how the NHL moves teams around more than all three other major sports combined.
Shout outs this week go to Jarvis Glas, Dylan and Heather Hagberg, Joel Mhyre and the Otter girls softball team.
Jarvis and I, although not sitting at the same table, experienced the joy of not having softball Friday evening by playing BINGO at the Eagles. My wife won $88 in one round, while I sat stewing about the three one number calls I didn’t receive in the evening.
My buddy, Dylan, and his wife, Heather, made their quarterly visit to the land of 10,000 lakes. Dylan and Heather are both serving in the Coast Guard. Dylan is stationed in Mississippi, while Heather is just across state lines in Louisiana. *Cue Peter Griffin* “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Conway Twitty…*Conway Twitty* “Hey, Louisana Woman” *Loretta Lynn* “Mississippi Man” *in unison* “We get together everytime we can.” Yeah I know that is corny but I find it cute (yeah, I said cute, big whop, wanna fight about it). Anyway, Dylan and Heather are dealing with the flooding of the Mississippi and other areas where they are station. Hope all goes well for my friends as they make their trip back to the Bayou Thursday. *Cue Creedence Clearwater Revival* “Born on a Bayou…..BORN ON A BAYOU”
Just a quick thanks to my boss, Joel Mhyre, for giving me his Twins tickets for this past Saturday. Really enjoyed them win a game.
Finally, good luck to the Otter girls softball team as they go for the Section 8AA title Thursday afternoon against Park Rapids. Renee Erickson is an excellent coach and she has a great bunch of girls playing for her.
Look forward to doing this again sometime.
I will leave you with this quote
“One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.” – George W. Bush
-Zach
