Sunday, March 27, 2005

Arizona and getting it done

I was home to watch two of the "elite eight" NCAA finals games and both of the teams that I wanted to win, lost. West Virginia wasn't a loss I took as hard. Louisville was a good team. Arizona's loss broke my heart. They were victimized by the same circumstance that pulled them by Oklahoma State. The Illini were good and defended the boards well.

I wish that I could be there to say to certain teams that if they do not nothing else, they should not let the game go into overtime. Overtime is a risky proposition. While both Arizona and West Virginia manage some spectacular wins in OT, more often than not they get crushed in OT, especially Arizona. Admittedly though, sometimes it is a feeling. I will watch a game and sometimes I think, "Get it to OT." Other times I think, "No, you cannot let this go into OT. Finish them off now." I got that feeling yesterday with the Arizona/Illinois game. I did feel that if Illinois got the 5 minute reprieve, they would catch their second wind, which they did. They took nothing for granted and put points up like there was no tomorrow. Arizona did a great job coming back but time just ran out and at least they could say that it wasn't a rout. They lost only by 1 point, which sometimes is the hardest loss of all. One bucket, one 3 pointer, one foul, one other screen and your destiny could have been different.

The lesson here that I take from the Arizona loss is that you have to get it done now.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Dreams

I had a dream today that I had not had in a long time.

It was a sensation really. It was a contented feeling that I get when in that state of light sleep and the weather is just warm enough to feel wonderful, but not hot or humid. If I had to out a "degree" to it, the degree would be 67 degrees Fahrenheit.

I associate it with the best feeling about being a kid. It is a sensation that rarely comes along. There are times where I don't want to wake up and have it end. I feel "unbearable lightness of being." I feel like I can do anything.

It's not a manic high. I don't think I can take on the world. I think it is a benign thing to remind me that life can be good.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Life and Death

Terri Schiavo and Jeff Weise are an interesting juxtaposition. One is the woman who can't chose at this point whether to live or die and the other is the boy who chose to die and chose others to die with him.

Many people, including myself, have posted their various opinions on these subjects. I have seen everything from outpourings of grief and sympathy to downright rage against various systems and individuals-even Terri Schiavo for not leaving a living will.

Somewhere buried in all of this, was noted the passing of Bobby Short, a cabaret singer of note whose career spanned the spectrum of entertainment and the passing of Barney Martin, who became famous for playing Jerry Seinfeld's annoying father Morty in addition to a 20 year career as a policeman.

Both men died of cancer, a killer if there ever was one. I do wonder what each would have said to Jeff Weise. After all, Jeff was a teenager, whose wisdom teeth had not come in yet. These men lived until their 80s and knew love and loss and good times and hard times. Could they have told him that there would have been a tomorrow? That no matter how painful it is, there is something to live for? That you can evolve over the course of your life?

I imagine that the Barney Martin that was close to Jeff's age and that went into the Navy as a pilot would not have imagined himself as an actor on Broadway or TV, much less a part of what is now considered classic television. Bobby Short was the ultimate child actor in vaudeville who had to also deal with racism. That Bobby Short could not have been able to see the day when he would not only play the Cafe Carlyle in New York City but be allowed to dine in the Cafe Carlyle and book a room at the Carlyle Hotel. Heck, he probably could not have foreseen a day when he would be able to walk through the front door of the Carlyle Hotel.

Would both men counsel Terri's family to remember her as she was and that sometimes you have to know when to let go? Would they tell them to find strength in what is left behind and live the remaining years they have to the full in Terri's memory?

I don't know.

I do know that though many of us believe in reincarnation, we really only do have one life to live and we should live it to the full and try not to leave any carnage along the way. We should look ahead because we will all face that time when we need to let go.

On Saturday, December 14th

 I spent a good portion of the day watching the Flintstones holiday marathon (with some breaks for “A Christmas Story,” “Knots Landing”-the...