A Loss Indeed

What a fitting setting for a remembrance of Luciano Pavarotti. A southeasterly view of the Mackinac Bridge from a parking lot in St. Ignace. A bridge that has stood the test of time for 50 years. Pavarotti stood the test of time also, a time when mass musical tastes had degraded from the quality of trained talent to the likes of Britney Spears.

A man of furious talent, he was the role model for thousands of voice students the world over. My voice teacher in college kept a TIME magazine cover of Pavarotti on his piano as a constant reminder of vocal perfection.

He passed away last night, succumbing finally to pancreatic cancer. It is a loss, indeed.

May he rest in peace.

et lux perpetua luceat eis

Things That Make You Go...."hmmm"

Legally Correct Swimming Rules

2007
SWIMMING RULES
OTSEGO COUNTY SPORTSPLEX
(legally audited by Dewey, Cheatam and Howe)

1. Everyone in the water should wear a buoyant helmet at all times.
2. No extreme movements shall be made by swimmers.
3. No throwing of any objects in the water including foam balls, Q-tips or cotton filled clothing.
4. No talking loudly at any time. Loud talking can distract a swimmer from proper breathing putting the swimmer at risk for drowning.
5. All swimmers must have a medical exam with a doctor’s signature submitted to the lifeguard prior to swimming.
6. No diving head first.
7. No diving feet first.
8. No belly flops.
9. No aberrant behavior or disrespect towards over zealous lifeguards will be tolerated.
10. Any swimmer caught having fun will be asked to leave the Sportsplex.

The Management

Disorganized GSL

Never have I seen such as dysfunctional organization as I have seen with the Gaylord Soccer League. Where do I begin? I have been a soccer parent for two years and now I am a coach.

Let me start by saying the good things. The grass and fields are exceptional. Ummm-that’s about it.

There is CLEARLY little to no leadership at the top of this organization. It started at the coaches meeting when I got my packet full of information and calendar. They had me down as coaching 14 U14 boys. They provided my 14 shirts, 14 shorts and 2 pairs of orange socks. This was my initial indication of something wrong at the top.

I promptly turned around- called and mailed (I paid for stamps) every U14 player introducing myself and providing a detailed calendar and snack schedule.

About a week later after a week of practice I got an email from the assistant director of coaches- that the schedule had completely changed. So I re-printed a whole new set of schedules and handed them out at practice.

Yesterday, Saturday, August 25, I was at the field at 8:30 AM with the rest of the team warming up for our 9AM game in the rain. There we were- ALL OF US, stretching and exercising and getting ready to play.

At 9AM there was NO referee and NO other team to play. It turns out that the other coach “never got” the email sent by the league board about the new schedule. Apparently, the ref “never got” the memo either.

So there we stood in the cold rain not even sure who to confirm the opposing team forfeiture to.

If that was all- it would be bad enough – but what set me off on this blog this morning was going to the GSL website and not being able to get any good information. They still have calendar postings from 3 weeks ago (read: site not updated daily during soccer season). When attempting to find our official schedule the website makes me type is a players name and birthday to see the schedule. (WHY CAN’T COACHES GO ONLINE TO CHECK THE SCHEDULE?) So I type in my son’s info and an error message came up. (?!?!?!?!)

Shouldn't coaches have a designated area on the wesite?

The GSL has such great facilities; it’s a shame that incompetent leadership could be its downfall.

Bush Fatigue

Peggy Noonan nails it. Check out her latest column American Grit.

You only need to read the first few paragraphs, but the bottom line is: if Peggy Noonan is turning on "W" - it's getting bad.

I have been feeling more and more an annoying indifference to "W". We really don't seem out to win the war in Iraq but rather to manage a conflict. The politics of war and diplomacy have shifted soft in the last 100 years so much now that we as a country are afraid to do the hard and dirty work that must be done to defeat this incessant enemy.

America's new rules of engagment appear to be more interested in asking the terrorists if it was childhood trauma that caused their meanness. We are afraid of inflicting a Blitzkrieg and our brave soldiers are paying the price.

Largest Walleye to Date

30 3/8" long and 10 1/2 pounds

Friday, July 13, 2007

Approx 4:03PM

Big Bradford Lake - Waters, MI

Caught with a handmade orange Colorado blade double hook crawler harness. Caught while trolling about 1.4 MPH and took about five minutes to get into boat. wooHOOOO!

Copper Harbor 2007

Illegal Pic #1

Fred Thompson for President!

My gut instincts tell me this is the man. I have heard all the other 10 Republican candidates and they all sound like pretenders.

The top three pretenders all have major issues that dissqualify them from my vote. Fred is the only guys that isn't going to take any liberal manure from the left.

Sic em- Fred!

Islam - Religion of Peace

One in four younger U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances...

Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,050 Muslim adults from January through April, including in Arabic, Urdu and Farsi. Subjects were chosen at random, from a separate list of households including some with Muslim-sounding names, and from Muslim households that had answered previous surveys.
The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Treason!

trea·son /ˈtri zən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[tree-zuh n] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. the offense of acting to overthrow one's government or to harm or kill its sovereign.

2. a violation of allegiance to one's sovereign or to one's state.

3. the betrayal of a trust or confidence; breach of faith; treachery.

—Synonyms 1. Treason, sedition mean disloyalty or treachery to one's country or its government. Treason is any attempt to overthrow the government or impair the well-being of a state to which one owes allegiance; the crime of giving aid or comfort to the enemies of one's government. Sedition is any act, writing, speech, etc., directed unlawfully against state authority, the government, or constitution, or calculated to bring it into contempt or to incite others to hostility, ill will or disaffection; it does not amount to treason and therefore is not a capital offense. 2. See disloyalty.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Pictorial Guide to Al Gores Energy Usage

Algore wants you to reduce your energy consumption. Here is how he leads by example.

Congrats Nick!

Maybe there is hope for the homeland!





Re'volution!