George Washington reports this event in his life Corroborated by this man and after having read the most recent article and comments at Wizbang I am completely disheartened, by the utter callousness of not only the article but the comments. I take it as a sampling of the one side in this great verbal battle between should we help the down trodden or throw them off a cliff as the barbaric ancient Spartans used to do.
Wizbang and the ultra right wing are advocating a metaphorical throwing them off a cliff. We can not unless we are willing to face the consequences of doing so.
The consequences are large scale civil unrest even civil war.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Alexis de Tocqueville
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there.
Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (July 29, 1805 – April 16, 1859)
Other than he believed in segregation and I don't, de Tocqueville came close to right in his description of America. His main problem was that though he made a mighty attempt to be objective he failed. His personal bias is plain. He was born of aristocracy and it tainted his personal opinion in all of his writings. His ideals of racial purity may be the ones that have caused so much trouble in the world. Our Constitution has expressly so stated that all men are created with equal and inalienable rights. Life Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Becoming some kind of socialistic ant Is Not what the founding fathers saw as possible. They knew and understood within the depths of their souls that the best thing that could be done was to as far as possible leave the people to God and God would take care of the rest.
And he did. He made of us the greatest nation the earth has seen to date so long as we fought to remain good.
Our days are waxing old as the volcano that is America becomes extinct because the righteousness.......the magma of our goodness that filled the chambers of our hearts cools and we cease to be great because we are loosing our goodness.
Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (July 29, 1805 – April 16, 1859)
Other than he believed in segregation and I don't, de Tocqueville came close to right in his description of America. His main problem was that though he made a mighty attempt to be objective he failed. His personal bias is plain. He was born of aristocracy and it tainted his personal opinion in all of his writings. His ideals of racial purity may be the ones that have caused so much trouble in the world. Our Constitution has expressly so stated that all men are created with equal and inalienable rights. Life Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Becoming some kind of socialistic ant Is Not what the founding fathers saw as possible. They knew and understood within the depths of their souls that the best thing that could be done was to as far as possible leave the people to God and God would take care of the rest.
And he did. He made of us the greatest nation the earth has seen to date so long as we fought to remain good.
Our days are waxing old as the volcano that is America becomes extinct because the righteousness.......the magma of our goodness that filled the chambers of our hearts cools and we cease to be great because we are loosing our goodness.
Proverbs
Pro 11:1 A falseH4820 balanceH3976 is abominationH8441 to the LORD:H3068 but a justH8003 weightH68 is his delight.H7522
H7522
רצן רצון
râtsôn râtsôn
raw-tsone', raw-tsone'
From H7521; delight: - (be) acceptable (-ance, -ed), delight, desire, favour, (good) pleasure, (own, self, voluntary) will, as . . . (what) would.
I am sure that there is much about my life that is not a delight to him so I wish and will it to my self that I shall improve upon myself that I may be found more a delight to him.
H7522
רצן רצון
râtsôn râtsôn
raw-tsone', raw-tsone'
From H7521; delight: - (be) acceptable (-ance, -ed), delight, desire, favour, (good) pleasure, (own, self, voluntary) will, as . . . (what) would.
I am sure that there is much about my life that is not a delight to him so I wish and will it to my self that I shall improve upon myself that I may be found more a delight to him.
Monday, October 5, 2009
God given roles
Hold your skirt I haven't edited this yet.
A woman on THE prominent radio talk show who has eleven kids has a response to some research into why women are so unhappy today.
She says and I do not quote, "it's because they have stepped out side of their God given roles." She says that women were created to raise kids and become entrepreneurs.
She said it more eloquently than that but to keep the perfect-toonist plagercops off by my back
tha's all I am going to put here.
I have both read and heard this that if woman ran the world it would be a better place.
Who ever originally said that failed to observe how subliminally vicious and duplicitous a woman can be. They failed to recognize that women don't do their own dirty work they get somebody else to do it using every dirty trick in the book. AC/DC's dirty deeds done dirt cheap comes to mind.
The old saying don't piss off a woman is pretty accurate. They will run around pretending to be a victim with their outstanding verbal and attitudinal wiles (tearfully) convince other people that you need to be sterilized, ostracized, killed or neutralized. Every man who has much dealings with a woman knows what I'ma talking about.
Aaay, you say? Follow the dominoes as they tip. My Wife; three years ago had me painted(verbal and attitudinal wiles) as some kind of horror because she did not want to hear what I had to say about her insane habits with money and then paranoia, that caused us to loose our house. God by her decisions took the one thing in her life that she loved the most. Her dog ( wudden me).
All of them self generated I assure you. She is struggling now under therapy and treatment and has been awarded SSI benefits for not only physical but mental disease. She is permanently disabled. She is still trying to return to the really stupid behavior patterns that she had before. Nuts! To the mmmmmm that thought a woman would have to be nuts to be married to me well here I am......married to a nut. You know they say that a man marries someone like their mom.
Back when I was twelve my mom started taking anti depressants. And by the time I was twenty five she was on 10-15 different pills or pills to treat the side effects of the pills. Did you know that all of my sisters have or are taking pills? No? There is your answer. I married someone like my mom.
Of course there is one common denominator besides my mom.......me. Maybe I drove them to it.
Truth is I don't even practice that kind of influence but I gotta say that I don't think so.
Now having recognized this you will understand why I shall never have any more relationships. This is the last one and it is a crying shame I could not recognize this much earlier in my life. I could have forgone any troubles by bypassing marriage and just going for the wealth.
Back to the original entry. I have seen men who their wives fawn all over. But that's because they have turned the tables on their women making them feel sorry for their crazy ranting and convince them that they themselves are being victimized by the apparent overdriven emotional mental state of women. They say very little. And have mastered the bs art of lying with comfortable words. But is that good? In almost every case I have noted, the piper eventually comes to call . Marriages break up or all hell breaks or the quiet explosion.......Infidelity pays a visit, because one or the other gets fed up with the deceit.
The other type of man I have seen who deals with the marriage are actually the ones who have a great marriage. That be my rule of thumb 2%. The woman is in her role and the man is in his. They are comfortable, at peace and invariably prosperous.
Women....... c'mon and admit it.........you really don't want your man to talk. They weren't really built for it anyway. Men like talking to each other because well........they like mechanics not nuances. Mechanics are plain to see and involve little emotional risk. To deal with nuances can lead to emotional trauma. Emotional trauma can lead to bad things happening. So women of world don't ask your man to get too much into the nuances and since your built to deal with them and men weren't, it's kind of like picking up a hammer to unscrew a bolt. You can beat that bolt with the hammer, you might break the hammer(your man) or you might break the bolt and damage whatever it is your trying to fix. Either way you are more likely to make a mess. No sense getting mad at your husband either because it's not his fault that he is no expert at your troubles. If he was he would be a woman and I would ere if I thought that you wanted to have a woman for a husband .
Well.......some do but I ain't talking about them now am I?
A woman on THE prominent radio talk show who has eleven kids has a response to some research into why women are so unhappy today.
She says and I do not quote, "it's because they have stepped out side of their God given roles." She says that women were created to raise kids and become entrepreneurs.
She said it more eloquently than that but to keep the perfect-toonist plagercops off by my back
tha's all I am going to put here.
I have both read and heard this that if woman ran the world it would be a better place.
Who ever originally said that failed to observe how subliminally vicious and duplicitous a woman can be. They failed to recognize that women don't do their own dirty work they get somebody else to do it using every dirty trick in the book. AC/DC's dirty deeds done dirt cheap comes to mind.
The old saying don't piss off a woman is pretty accurate. They will run around pretending to be a victim with their outstanding verbal and attitudinal wiles (tearfully) convince other people that you need to be sterilized, ostracized, killed or neutralized. Every man who has much dealings with a woman knows what I'ma talking about.
Aaay, you say? Follow the dominoes as they tip. My Wife; three years ago had me painted(verbal and attitudinal wiles) as some kind of horror because she did not want to hear what I had to say about her insane habits with money and then paranoia, that caused us to loose our house. God by her decisions took the one thing in her life that she loved the most. Her dog ( wudden me).
All of them self generated I assure you. She is struggling now under therapy and treatment and has been awarded SSI benefits for not only physical but mental disease. She is permanently disabled. She is still trying to return to the really stupid behavior patterns that she had before. Nuts! To the mmmmmm that thought a woman would have to be nuts to be married to me well here I am......married to a nut. You know they say that a man marries someone like their mom.
Back when I was twelve my mom started taking anti depressants. And by the time I was twenty five she was on 10-15 different pills or pills to treat the side effects of the pills. Did you know that all of my sisters have or are taking pills? No? There is your answer. I married someone like my mom.
Of course there is one common denominator besides my mom.......me. Maybe I drove them to it.
Truth is I don't even practice that kind of influence but I gotta say that I don't think so.
Now having recognized this you will understand why I shall never have any more relationships. This is the last one and it is a crying shame I could not recognize this much earlier in my life. I could have forgone any troubles by bypassing marriage and just going for the wealth.
Back to the original entry. I have seen men who their wives fawn all over. But that's because they have turned the tables on their women making them feel sorry for their crazy ranting and convince them that they themselves are being victimized by the apparent overdriven emotional mental state of women. They say very little. And have mastered the bs art of lying with comfortable words. But is that good? In almost every case I have noted, the piper eventually comes to call . Marriages break up or all hell breaks or the quiet explosion.......Infidelity pays a visit, because one or the other gets fed up with the deceit.
The other type of man I have seen who deals with the marriage are actually the ones who have a great marriage. That be my rule of thumb 2%. The woman is in her role and the man is in his. They are comfortable, at peace and invariably prosperous.
Women....... c'mon and admit it.........you really don't want your man to talk. They weren't really built for it anyway. Men like talking to each other because well........they like mechanics not nuances. Mechanics are plain to see and involve little emotional risk. To deal with nuances can lead to emotional trauma. Emotional trauma can lead to bad things happening. So women of world don't ask your man to get too much into the nuances and since your built to deal with them and men weren't, it's kind of like picking up a hammer to unscrew a bolt. You can beat that bolt with the hammer, you might break the hammer(your man) or you might break the bolt and damage whatever it is your trying to fix. Either way you are more likely to make a mess. No sense getting mad at your husband either because it's not his fault that he is no expert at your troubles. If he was he would be a woman and I would ere if I thought that you wanted to have a woman for a husband .
Well.......some do but I ain't talking about them now am I?
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Tell me are you ready to die for your faith
"The early Christians risked death and torture for their faith. Some were crucified, others beheaded. Still others were roasted, shot with arrows, or thrown to wild beasts. A Roman emperor, Caligula, burned them to light up his garden parties. In various countries, Christians still suffer torture for Christ. In fact, according to Richard John Neuhaus," "more Christians have been martyred in this century than in all previous centuries put together. Around the world, some 300,000 are put to death annually for their faith." "Thousands are also sold into slavery or sent to" "reeducation" camps. "Yet the cause of Christ continues to spread. "
The thought patrols are way out of hand in these countries. Makes non-believers look bad.
The thought patrols are way out of hand in these countries. Makes non-believers look bad.
No such thing as over achieving
I was called an over achiever when I was in high school and junior high on more than one occasion. Guy says to me one day why doesn't any of this affect you. It's simple really. I didn't believe them.
I went on to become an athlete of note in school. And was able to remain a nice guy except to those who were upset that they might have been wrong about my abilities. They were just jealous. I have recently once again been called an over achiever.
I remain positive. It is no fluke nor quirk of fate when someone suddenly goes beyond the confines of the fence that in other peoples judgement is their boundary. So the world has come to the U.S. exemplified in beating down the smart kids in school to the point now that we have coined a new phrase. Bullycide. Congratulation America you are more like the rest of the world than ever.
I guess it's going to take the tribulation to straighten people out. Not yet though. A little peace first. Calm before the storm.
I went on to become an athlete of note in school. And was able to remain a nice guy except to those who were upset that they might have been wrong about my abilities. They were just jealous. I have recently once again been called an over achiever.
I remain positive. It is no fluke nor quirk of fate when someone suddenly goes beyond the confines of the fence that in other peoples judgement is their boundary. So the world has come to the U.S. exemplified in beating down the smart kids in school to the point now that we have coined a new phrase. Bullycide. Congratulation America you are more like the rest of the world than ever.
I guess it's going to take the tribulation to straighten people out. Not yet though. A little peace first. Calm before the storm.
Friday, October 2, 2009
The Kings new clothes.
From Wizbang,
"Reading
all this terrible news makes Joe Biden look like he's living in some alternate
universe when he said this about the stimulus bill:" "In
my wildest dreams, I never thought it would work this well." "This is
working well?" "The 9.8% unemployment rate isn't the real number." Real
unemployment is a" whopping
17%".
What!? Did these people not realize that the other people were thinking, seeing, and knowing?
People innately get the feeling that something is not true. Politicians and their lackeys are like a bunch of naked old blind men running around a busy highway. Every bodies gawking at them but they just don't know it. There, get that image out of your heads.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Casey I have the feeling that I could mention any state in the Union and you could give the history of politics to today. I cannot say that I know much about the machinations of politics especially here in Ok. I get the fawning honor of saying that a friend of mine Gary Garner brought a man up to me in church one day and introduced us. He said this is Tom Coburn he is running for congress, he's a Republican. That was 1996. I have been blessed to watch the man. But then strangely enough in my apparently random wanderings I have had the privilege of shaking several other politicians hands such as Saxby Chambliss US Senator, former US Rep. from Minnisota and later chief of staff to Newt Gingrich Randy Wright, and Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia the first Republican Governor I think in 150 years in Ga. Or is it the first time in 150 years that the Republicans had ownership of the State legislative branches. During the run up to the 2000 elections I had the surprise question asked of me "do you want to run for office from then state rep. Pam Bohannon who was sitting next to me at the regional convention which I was a delegate at ????? You would have to know my life to understand my astonishment. I may have had a couple of ideas in my life but was I so eloquent to have been considered for such a veneration? At the time this blue collar boy didn't even know what Roberts Rules were. Sonny Perdue, shone during that convention and he is still shining today. There are a couple of others who were great and will go down in history that by some quirk of fate deigned it their will to speak to me, Colin Powell and Sam Nun, a mildly amusing story I may tell here some day. Something to do with a golf course and me when I was active duty after Gulf WI. I can only credit God and his eternal wisdom that I should have gained his favor to have met and became acquainted with such men as this but to exclaim expertise with you Rich and Casey would be a travesty. I cannot. I defer and find this debate fascinating, educational and it for some reason raises my curiosity. I will say this. The underpinnings of Machiavelli are alive and well in American Politics.
Since I have been back in Ok I have purposely kept my nose out of politics for the very reason I see here in this discussion. I am an infant and know virtually nothing about the give and take. I even dislike the word politic. "The art of intrigue" one dictionary says, another calls it the "art of compromise." It takes a graceful man to even be a crooked politician and graceful behavior is not one of my fortays. I love the straight talkers and doers much like Reagen was. Men of blue collar ethics; moral and work, are my taste in politicians. I like Tom Coburn because to his constituents he is not duplicitous. He tells them straight what he believes is the right thing to do and does not treat them like proverbial mushrooms or idiots if you know what I mean. He keeps them informed. He was a decent man before he went into office and one of those who remains true to his beliefs and reasoning's. He is serving the state and the people this country, I have no doubt and has true concerns for them and it foremost in his mind. He is not only a workhorse but a showhorse as well I think.
That to me is the right honorable thing. Politicians do not have to be perfect. The people don't really expect that. What constituents want, even thirst for is honesty from them after the elections. That is my private assessment. I still talk with people nearly daily on a host of subjects and that is what they want.
I had my wife recently pick an optometrist and low and behold when I asked him his name; don't blink, it was Tom Coburns Cousin.
Bleu Collar Freaking Amazing. I am trying to run away from politics and wham there it is again. Is God Saying something to me?
Since I have been back in Ok I have purposely kept my nose out of politics for the very reason I see here in this discussion. I am an infant and know virtually nothing about the give and take. I even dislike the word politic. "The art of intrigue" one dictionary says, another calls it the "art of compromise." It takes a graceful man to even be a crooked politician and graceful behavior is not one of my fortays. I love the straight talkers and doers much like Reagen was. Men of blue collar ethics; moral and work, are my taste in politicians. I like Tom Coburn because to his constituents he is not duplicitous. He tells them straight what he believes is the right thing to do and does not treat them like proverbial mushrooms or idiots if you know what I mean. He keeps them informed. He was a decent man before he went into office and one of those who remains true to his beliefs and reasoning's. He is serving the state and the people this country, I have no doubt and has true concerns for them and it foremost in his mind. He is not only a workhorse but a showhorse as well I think.
That to me is the right honorable thing. Politicians do not have to be perfect. The people don't really expect that. What constituents want, even thirst for is honesty from them after the elections. That is my private assessment. I still talk with people nearly daily on a host of subjects and that is what they want.
I had my wife recently pick an optometrist and low and behold when I asked him his name; don't blink, it was Tom Coburns Cousin.
Bleu Collar Freaking Amazing. I am trying to run away from politics and wham there it is again. Is God Saying something to me?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Bless you Lisa yes there is more to the poem, I tried to erase it because I did not think that it was clear enough to read and yes I am nearly half Fin. The other is nearly half Irish throw in a little Swede and enough Native American and you get me.:D...... I will try to re do the poem. I have been very busy trying to stay abreast of the main issues, taking stock, and dealing with some ancient personal wounds in my life recently; so much so that I really haven't taken too much time here.
Yet I really think that it is time that these issues be brought to lite and I am grateful that this thread has lasted so long.. I know something about where we have come from having worked in the medical field for eight years in the early eighties and my mom is a retired nurse, my wife worked medical billing which I of course got an earful from that. Some of the things I heard horrified me not to mention the news stories. I think what the for profit hospital corporations have done to a once excellent medical system is completely atrocious in the worst way. They have turned people away for lack of insurance who have died because they did not receive medical care. Appalling. Disastrous. Down right wicked. I see though an attempt to rectify the situation by our government which I have to agree with the rightest may be too expensive.
I also think Mike is right. The proverbial writing is on the wall for the medical insurance companies. The one area that is totally being ignored though is that today 80% of the hospitals are owned for profit. A complete reversal of what it was before medical costs became the issue it is today. 80 % were private or local municipally owned not for profit hospitals.
As a comparison My Mother has been ill over the last several years and had several hospital stays. The second to last stay was in a local Nat. Am. facility, and the personal care she received was head and shoulders over what her most recent stay in a regular hospital. I infer that at the Native American Hospital was not worrying about the cost and the local hospital was. My Mom came home depressed and upset from the last stay. Completely demoralized not to mention the apparently obvious difference in the number of personnel available for cares causing a lower level of attention that could be paid to her I also believe contributed to a longer stay. I heard a couple of disturbing stories which I will not repeat simply because the staff was not to blame and in this day and age of sloughing responsibility off on the nearest scape goat, I intend to spare the nursing staff and angle my ire at the policies of the administration.
I have several other reasons for my want to return to a more private or munciple not for profit system including a recent study that shows a lower death rate in non-profit institutions.
I am probably just thumping my head against a brick wall on this but I feel a sincere need to say these things.
Yet I really think that it is time that these issues be brought to lite and I am grateful that this thread has lasted so long.. I know something about where we have come from having worked in the medical field for eight years in the early eighties and my mom is a retired nurse, my wife worked medical billing which I of course got an earful from that. Some of the things I heard horrified me not to mention the news stories. I think what the for profit hospital corporations have done to a once excellent medical system is completely atrocious in the worst way. They have turned people away for lack of insurance who have died because they did not receive medical care. Appalling. Disastrous. Down right wicked. I see though an attempt to rectify the situation by our government which I have to agree with the rightest may be too expensive.
I also think Mike is right. The proverbial writing is on the wall for the medical insurance companies. The one area that is totally being ignored though is that today 80% of the hospitals are owned for profit. A complete reversal of what it was before medical costs became the issue it is today. 80 % were private or local municipally owned not for profit hospitals.
As a comparison My Mother has been ill over the last several years and had several hospital stays. The second to last stay was in a local Nat. Am. facility, and the personal care she received was head and shoulders over what her most recent stay in a regular hospital. I infer that at the Native American Hospital was not worrying about the cost and the local hospital was. My Mom came home depressed and upset from the last stay. Completely demoralized not to mention the apparently obvious difference in the number of personnel available for cares causing a lower level of attention that could be paid to her I also believe contributed to a longer stay. I heard a couple of disturbing stories which I will not repeat simply because the staff was not to blame and in this day and age of sloughing responsibility off on the nearest scape goat, I intend to spare the nursing staff and angle my ire at the policies of the administration.
I have several other reasons for my want to return to a more private or munciple not for profit system including a recent study that shows a lower death rate in non-profit institutions.
I am probably just thumping my head against a brick wall on this but I feel a sincere need to say these things.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Not a bad thought
But I want to add my own little amendment to this . I would say that conventionality is not necessarily morality.
"Conventionality is not morality."
Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)
"Conventionality is not morality."
Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)
Cooling cycles
Did ya ever watch a top spin. It is not perfect now is it? Planet Earth is like a top as it spins around the sun and it's spin is not perfect either, neither is Earth. This all combines to make for a wobbly orbit but not one that you can normally discern even year to year.
But it is repetitive.
Without scientific proof I am thinking that earth is in a cool down cycle longer lasting than many people want to admit especially those who stake their careers and income on that not happening.
However lest some of those who would say that means we do not have to resort to so called green energies should take a back seat to my bad finger(make me mad and I can use the other words). There are more than enough reasons for converting to other energy sources.
But it is repetitive.
Without scientific proof I am thinking that earth is in a cool down cycle longer lasting than many people want to admit especially those who stake their careers and income on that not happening.
However lest some of those who would say that means we do not have to resort to so called green energies should take a back seat to my bad finger(make me mad and I can use the other words). There are more than enough reasons for converting to other energy sources.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Fountains of the deep
Ja ever hear that during a tectonic event that the ground ceases to be a solid and acts much more like a liquid? D'ja ever hear that the earths crust is positively loaded with water?
My theory is that the earth was struck by a small comet and this cause a major shock wave to travel through the crust. The blow would have also deformed the earth mildly the combination of the deformation and shock wave would have had the effect of squeezing the water up and out of the crust. Ergo the fountains of the deep. The comet itself gave up billions of tons of water while transiting our atmosphere and upon impact. It also makes plausible the idea that the volcanoes would have sudden cause to erupt as their plugs could have been weakened from the crust rupturing earth quakes.
All of this combined with the billions of tons of water the comet itself lost while transiting our atmosphere and upon impact equals planet wide flood.
"There are many volcanic rocks interspersed between the fossil layers in the rock record—layers that were obviously deposited during Noah's flood. So it is quite plausible that these fountains of the great deep involved a series of volcanic eruptions with prodigious amounts of water bursting up through the ground. It is interesting that up to 70 percent or more of what comes out of volcanoes today is water, often in the form of steam. "
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c010.html
I don't agree as much with this article, but the 70 percent volume water from volcanoes is much more that I imagined.
My theory is that the earth was struck by a small comet and this cause a major shock wave to travel through the crust. The blow would have also deformed the earth mildly the combination of the deformation and shock wave would have had the effect of squeezing the water up and out of the crust. Ergo the fountains of the deep. The comet itself gave up billions of tons of water while transiting our atmosphere and upon impact. It also makes plausible the idea that the volcanoes would have sudden cause to erupt as their plugs could have been weakened from the crust rupturing earth quakes.
All of this combined with the billions of tons of water the comet itself lost while transiting our atmosphere and upon impact equals planet wide flood.
"There are many volcanic rocks interspersed between the fossil layers in the rock record—layers that were obviously deposited during Noah's flood. So it is quite plausible that these fountains of the great deep involved a series of volcanic eruptions with prodigious amounts of water bursting up through the ground. It is interesting that up to 70 percent or more of what comes out of volcanoes today is water, often in the form of steam. "
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c010.html
I don't agree as much with this article, but the 70 percent volume water from volcanoes is much more that I imagined.
It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Meet some of my family
Kelly my neices husband along with my neice and my 72 year old mom holding
Mitchel Raymond. The Woman combing my mothers hair is my moms helper. A sweetheart of a woman.
Mitchel Raymond. The Woman combing my mothers hair is my moms helper. A sweetheart of a woman.Rene got a scholarship for college girls basket ball and her husband recieved a scholarship to Texas A@M for football. My Niece Quit and relinquished hers while her husband blew out his knee which is premenantly damaged before the freshman season began. But it looks like their son is rearing well and will be in the next gen. of family military and/or sports greats.
Cuti Pie ain't he. when he gets older don't tell him I said that.
One day in my suffering and love of God
I prayed a prayer that God would talk to me by his Word and hence forth I have been able to open my bible and and my eyes would fall upon a verse that answered my question or worry immediately.
This was the verse that fell upon me this one day.
Deu 23:5 Nevertheless the LORDH3068 thy GodH430 wouldH14 notH3808 hearkenH8085 untoH413 Balaam;H1109 but the LORDH3068 thy GodH430 turnedH2015 (H853) the curseH7045 into a blessingH1293 unto thee, becauseH3588 the LORDH3068 thy GodH430 lovedH157 thee.
Not purposely but it is the way I grew up. I still can not hear the condescension in my voice as I speak and the tone irritates people to wonder who I may think I am. Never the less though my heart may have had pure motives people were moved against me. I learned to accept this and continued on as if they hated me not. And God honored me in this by my simple forgiveness day to day of the missives done to me and behind my back. I neither blamed God nor the cohorts.
And according to my heart turned my curse into a blessing. As I forgave and prayed blessing upon them so to did God at my behest bless. As for my hopes upon them did he give them hope as I wist honor upon them so to did he honor them. As I desired wealth for them so to did he give them monies. In all of this I found joy and took my payments in the emotions of pride and declared the right to boast of them and did so.
This was the verse that fell upon me this one day.
Deu 23:5 Nevertheless the LORDH3068 thy GodH430 wouldH14 notH3808 hearkenH8085 untoH413 Balaam;H1109 but the LORDH3068 thy GodH430 turnedH2015 (H853) the curseH7045 into a blessingH1293 unto thee, becauseH3588 the LORDH3068 thy GodH430 lovedH157 thee.
Not purposely but it is the way I grew up. I still can not hear the condescension in my voice as I speak and the tone irritates people to wonder who I may think I am. Never the less though my heart may have had pure motives people were moved against me. I learned to accept this and continued on as if they hated me not. And God honored me in this by my simple forgiveness day to day of the missives done to me and behind my back. I neither blamed God nor the cohorts.
And according to my heart turned my curse into a blessing. As I forgave and prayed blessing upon them so to did God at my behest bless. As for my hopes upon them did he give them hope as I wist honor upon them so to did he honor them. As I desired wealth for them so to did he give them monies. In all of this I found joy and took my payments in the emotions of pride and declared the right to boast of them and did so.
Forgive me with my sincerest apologies
A note I wrote to a man whom I never imagined would ever visit my site. And thanks to all of those of you who were so much a part of my life back then. The team was my identity and I have cherished the memory of those days and thought to plow a road (so to speak)for all of my old teammates and classmates because they were decent people who deserved it.
Starsplash said...
I don't live in the past and this pic was not really aimed at people who like you who have turned there lives around and turned back twards God. It was aimed at people who have a serious angst against me for my religious, spiritual, social, and political beliefs. Which is why I am so quick to challenge anyone who would come to my site with a bent on straight up insulting me.I could write a book but most of them are pussies hiding behind a computer. I also intend that they should think twice before they go around insulting someone they don't know. Also they are unwilling to identify themselves.Truth is I cheered you on and bragged on you and everyone else ever since 1976. I may have been too proud but then I was given the gift of playing with Titans and at the time it was all I had.
Now by God I have been tasked by the Father to plow a road for him and though I do not deserve to tie his shoes truthfully as pathetic a man as I am I shall do it so help me God.
Starsplash said...
I don't live in the past and this pic was not really aimed at people who like you who have turned there lives around and turned back twards God. It was aimed at people who have a serious angst against me for my religious, spiritual, social, and political beliefs. Which is why I am so quick to challenge anyone who would come to my site with a bent on straight up insulting me.I could write a book but most of them are pussies hiding behind a computer. I also intend that they should think twice before they go around insulting someone they don't know. Also they are unwilling to identify themselves.Truth is I cheered you on and bragged on you and everyone else ever since 1976. I may have been too proud but then I was given the gift of playing with Titans and at the time it was all I had.
Now by God I have been tasked by the Father to plow a road for him and though I do not deserve to tie his shoes truthfully as pathetic a man as I am I shall do it so help me God.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
EauClair North
Football
TO BE EDITED1st editing complete2nd editing completeThis should be a long story about my experience with High school football.I suppose I should start with a finished entry but I think I will just start with an outline and expand on it later.My experience.What I learned.How it helped me.How I paid for it.It was the 9th game of the season and we were 8 and 1 ranked 5th in the state and we needed to win the last game for a chance at the 4 team state playoff. We were in the top division for high schools in Wisconsin. Class A. 13th largest school by population, 2100 students in 10th, 11th, and 12 grades.I was the starting right defensive end and had 63 tackles to my name at the start of the game. We were playing a team that had a 4 and 4 record so the game from outward appearances looked like we would win. The coach warned us that 2 weeks ago 4 of Eau Claire Norths key players had returned to playing status from injuries and they had just won against 3rd ranked Jainesville . Coach told us that this may not be as easy as it looked on paper.As was my habit during the week before the game I studied my opponents carefully. Noting height and weights and statistics of each and every starter and any platooned player that both our offense and defense might face, consciously evaluating one on one match ups. From the details of the other team and watching film of their last weeks victory I decided that coach was right. These guys who had never had a winning season before; were now......at the end of this one, on top of the world, full of the hope that they could not be called total losers any more and hungry to eat another top ranked team in the state. I could sense it, almost feel it. They had something to prove to themselves and everyone else and they were determined to prove it.The Wednesday before the game I was again studying the intel on the Huskies;Johnnie (Randy Johnson) comes over and stands next to me; also looking at the board says after a couple of minutes, "we are going to beat them". I said yes but it is not going to be that easy. Not like the news was making it out to be.Thursday afternoon we left for Eau Claire for an overnight stay so we would be fresh for the next days game . Friday afternoon we headed over to their school and checked in to the locker room. We had a couple of hours to kill before we had to get dressed up so we wandered around their gym area a little. What I saw was a weight lifting area that wasn't as good as ours, but had what looked like a lot of new equipment. I was impressed, with a twinge of oops, these guys must be more serious than they used to be.We were a big team with lots of strength and a lot of speed for a bunch of white boys. The fastest. No other team in the state had the combination of speed and strength that we had. We were smart. We were well coached and drilled constantly in fundamentals and techniques of the game. In short we were good,the hardest hitting, with good morale and confidence in each other. Our coach was a master strategist and tactician and knew how to pay attention to details.At the end of the first half the score was 0-0 and it was turning out to be as tuff as I suspected. Although we were knocking the stars out of them they weren't caving in mentally. They were staying in it and had out gained us offensively. They were executing their plays well, blocking well, and sticking to their responsibilities. Each one doing to our defense what they should do, hindering our players from getting to the ball until their key backs could get into the open field and use their outstanding ability to make tacklers miss and we were great tacklers. The only thing that did save us from being scored on was our outstanding team speed, pursuit and team tackling. We never quit until the whistle blew. Because of this we always had two or three guys around the ball carrier. Never the less they were popping loose for five and ten yard gains consistently. Something 8 previous teams failed to do.We weren't frantic. We remained calm, determined, resolute. We weren't quitters. We did not give up. They were not going to beat us. But neither team was letting up. We couldn't . There was too much at stake for each of us.The second half started out like the first battling back and fourth with the game still deadlocked at 0-0. We finally broke the ice with 2 or 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Coach pulled a seldom used play out of the book and had Nielson throw a short out to our tight end Larry Banks who then rambled 63 yards through several tackles to the three yard line, where we gnarled it in one yard at a time. Three plays for 6 with Todd Florey smashing in from the 1/2 yd line. The PAT was blocked but we were up 6 to nuthin. The Huskies were demoralized temporarily and we were the champs at going for the kill. Now was the time to put this incredibly tenacious and honorable opponent down.The ensuing kick off went well in that direction when their receiver bobbled the ball into the end zone barely escaping back out to the 3 yard line. This is where it went terribly wrong. As they came to the line of scrimmage I felt relieved mildly because there was no tight end over me. The boy was a tough blocker even though I was defeating his blocks, he just wasn't making it easy. It didn't dawn on me that their coach was about to pull his rabbit out of his hat.........The ball was snapped, and I watched as an apparent TO QB boot headed away from me to my left. Suddenly vwoooo, the guy broke past the line of scrimmage with a ton of blockers in front of him, and like that......there were five of us from the back side rocketing after Billy Sand catching him at the 45 yard line. We took it like men, we were not shaken and lined up as if they hadn't just broke the longest run against us that year. Same thing. No TE and no split.but I had not ascribed any significance to the missing players. The ball was snapped and the play again broke to the left. I stayed home until the ball crossed the line of scrimmage like I always did guarding against possible reverses, but this time I saw the breakaway developing. A thought so strong I could have sworn I said it out loud "they got through" I felt a tearing.......like the rip of lightening.......the fabric of time.....everything went quiet.......still.......peacefull.......calm.......time slowed down....the world around in slow motion. It's as if I was no longer treading earth. Next to me John Francouer was being driven backwards by the o-guard. I lept effortlessly over John like a gazelle, grace in motion on an intercept course with Tim Larson at my right. Tim was a 4.5, 40 yd dash, strong side DB; fast, and recognized as the hardest hitter on the team, but I was out striding him and pulling ahead. Tim, because of his inside position got to him first and I let him have the tackle dragging Billy down inside our 30.......time returned to normal. Two plays and better than 70 yards. In 1976 No-other team had even come close to that against our D, NO-ONE. I remember asking Dave Minor the left DE what was going on over there? Both Dave and Warren Williams our left DT said that they had two and three guys each on them. We freaked. They were running that unbalanced O-line we had practiced against and yet we spaced it. We had added a defensive shift just for the situation. I felt bad, I should have seen it but it wasn't just my fault, there were 10 other guys out there, three coaches on the sidelines and the coaches in the press box. We had been lulled....shenanged, and got burned for 70 yards.We made the defensive adjustment but the best we got was making them pay for the next 20+ yards. Two first downs and 8 plays later they scored. We were able to return the favor and block their PAT but the game was now 6-6.I was bone tired. The Huskies ran the wishbone, an offensive set that tries to rag the defense from sideline to sideline. They were executing it perfectly. I had about 10 tackles by this time and some of them were coming from the backside and down field. I had done a tremendous amount of running. In between plays I was shaking from the exertion. From somewhere inside of my heart a still small voice kept saying "keep going". I can only imagine that the rest of the guys felt the same way.I was in pain. I had heard something pop in my head and I had a headache. I had taken a just right shot to the helmet and my neck was sore. I had a giant bruise on my left thigh and my left knee was now in pain from the same hit. My left shoulder was sore from a particularly brutal tackle.......one that I could not believe I had made. In fact when I hit the guy I thought he had slipped by me. This one I am going to describe because it would make any ones highlight reel any where at anytime. The play started with them 1st and ten on their 30 yard line heading north. Ball was on the my left hash mark so the wide side of the field was now my AO and they loved to run to the wide side, their goal was to do everything they could to stretch us out and they were doing it well. The next play they decided to run was a triple option designed Q-B boot with the half backs and a pulling guard out front. Their problem was they ran 10-12 yards deep behind the line of scrimmage and I had the speed to get to their point of attack before they did, and I did but took a blast from the running back that knocked my legs straight back and out from under me blowing me two yards off the line of scrimmage and flat on my face. I never took my eyes off of Billy Sand the Q-Back. He cut perfectly inside the block, but my world class reflexes snapped my legs up under me like a bull frog and I launched with both legs and all my might with perfect aim and timing hit him in the left thigh. My arms snapped around to tackle but they just swished through empty air. As I was going back down on my face I remember saying:"not again", out loud , and then a moment after I hit the ground I also said; out loud; '"man that hurt", then the whistle blew, to which I also said; "good somebody else got him, thinking that at least I had slowed him or turned him into some one else. I laid there for a moment in agony as did the guy who had blocked me. I dragged myself up and looked over at the QB who was still on the ground(also slow to get up) all by himself and I asked Jimmy Larson on the way back to the huddle who "tackled him"? He said "you did". Non-plussed I said"yeah but he got five more yards".The next Monday we watched the last film of the last game of the year and when we got to that play the coach reran it couple of times. When I hit him it propelled him up in the air about 8 or 10 feet with his legs spread but perpendicular to his body. His body parallel to the ground and his head towards his teams sideline or west. He spun two complete rotations before he almost landed on his feet 5 yards down field then collapsed. He was slow getting up. I think that play just about killed the half, me, and the QB. 'Man that hurt'. 'Man that hurt'.But by God I kept going. I prayed constantly that God would not let me get proud or profane. I was confident in God. I believed. I said so out loud to Kelleher and Carry as I headed back onto the field from a flying missed tackle. Though I didn't get the tackle it caused the runner to stop cold in order to dodge me and Dave Minor coming hard from the guys rear creamed him. Jim Kelleher says "way to go Erks". I said"we are going to beat these guys".We played on that , I know we weren't playing for overtime and neither were they. Both teams were out to win.We didn't make it, the two teams continued the vicious fight till the final gun sounded and it was into overtime.Overtime in Wisconsin in those days was 4 downs from the ten yard line each, until one scored more than the other. If it remained a tie then the series of downs were repeated 3 times until one came out ahead. If none came out ahead then the game was declared a tie.We got a 20 minute break before the start of OT. I forget who won the toss but I know that we started on offense first. Our first play from the line of scrimmage was like the trouble we had been having this game........no gain. Again coach pulls another play we seldom used. A ten yard pass over the middle to Todd Florey. Nielson threw it high but Todd had an outstanding vertical leap. He snatched the ball and scored. Pand-o-monium for us. Coach Hoff did not want to risk a field goal and also wanted to put the pressure on the Huskies. He went for two. Same identical play. Todd jumps for it and again nabs it for 2 more.The pressure was now on Eau Claire. I told the left DE Dave Minor that it was "up to him and me because you know they are coming at us".1st down: North runs play up the middle and gains 1 yard to the 9.2nd down: The ball snaps and just like I had seen 20 other times in this game the QB fakes to the full back. Key. I burst inside heading at him as hard as I could determined to knock the snot out of him and make him dump the ball off before he was ready. Focused so hard that I can still count the number of steps I took. When Billy Sand turned around to check off on me I was already in his face....He pitched the ball without even looking for his back. He threw the ball 3 yards behind Dave Runnings and the ball kept going all the way back to the 22 yard line. I scrambled after it and had my hands on it but lost the struggle for the wayward oblong. It was still good though, it cost them 12 yards. Got the bobble credited to me and the tackle for a huge loss.3rd down: Billy dropped back and connected over the middle and got the 12 back, tackled by our safety Larry Smith and ?????.4th down: They pulled the TO QB boot right. Dave Minor didn't fool around with it this time. He pulled that white boy speed out of his @$$ and hauled the runner down from behind for a 3 yd loss.Game over. We won. Often in the course of a sports year the two best teams face each each other before the final and big game. That the real championship game is invariably played earlier in the season may be occurring much more that we realize. I think this was so this day. For in my opinion I believe this was the best game of that year in the State of Wisconsin. Just another one of those things that I can not really know for sure.................When the game ended I looked for Billy Sand. I didn't find him. I am not sure exactly what I would have said to him but I definitely thought that I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to congratulate him personally and tell him what a great team North was. They were good....very good. Better-n-the one team that beat us.I ended up with about 14 tackles, I missed another 6, co- defensive player of the game with Dave Minor, whiplash, a minor stroke, massive bruises and memories to last a life time. And the greatest memory of what it feels like to play with champions because that is what we were and to this day, come what may I maintain still are.At the end of the game I gave thanks to God.At this end of this season I gave thanks unto God and I am still giving thanks unto my Lord.We didn't make the playoffs because the WIAA(Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association)judges down at state screwed up the math and by the time they got it straightened out playoffs were over but the University of Wisconsin's football scouting crews who rated the HS football teams every year independent of the WIAA gave us their number one rank. I guess that is consolation. We will never know. I am convinced that we would have probably won the championship but there is an aside.I was suffering from some very bad and painful injuries and I would not tell anyone I was hurt, It surely would have killed me.God is in control......................................................
TO BE EDITED1st editing complete2nd editing completeThis should be a long story about my experience with High school football.I suppose I should start with a finished entry but I think I will just start with an outline and expand on it later.My experience.What I learned.How it helped me.How I paid for it.It was the 9th game of the season and we were 8 and 1 ranked 5th in the state and we needed to win the last game for a chance at the 4 team state playoff. We were in the top division for high schools in Wisconsin. Class A. 13th largest school by population, 2100 students in 10th, 11th, and 12 grades.I was the starting right defensive end and had 63 tackles to my name at the start of the game. We were playing a team that had a 4 and 4 record so the game from outward appearances looked like we would win. The coach warned us that 2 weeks ago 4 of Eau Claire Norths key players had returned to playing status from injuries and they had just won against 3rd ranked Jainesville . Coach told us that this may not be as easy as it looked on paper.As was my habit during the week before the game I studied my opponents carefully. Noting height and weights and statistics of each and every starter and any platooned player that both our offense and defense might face, consciously evaluating one on one match ups. From the details of the other team and watching film of their last weeks victory I decided that coach was right. These guys who had never had a winning season before; were now......at the end of this one, on top of the world, full of the hope that they could not be called total losers any more and hungry to eat another top ranked team in the state. I could sense it, almost feel it. They had something to prove to themselves and everyone else and they were determined to prove it.The Wednesday before the game I was again studying the intel on the Huskies;Johnnie (Randy Johnson) comes over and stands next to me; also looking at the board says after a couple of minutes, "we are going to beat them". I said yes but it is not going to be that easy. Not like the news was making it out to be.Thursday afternoon we left for Eau Claire for an overnight stay so we would be fresh for the next days game . Friday afternoon we headed over to their school and checked in to the locker room. We had a couple of hours to kill before we had to get dressed up so we wandered around their gym area a little. What I saw was a weight lifting area that wasn't as good as ours, but had what looked like a lot of new equipment. I was impressed, with a twinge of oops, these guys must be more serious than they used to be.We were a big team with lots of strength and a lot of speed for a bunch of white boys. The fastest. No other team in the state had the combination of speed and strength that we had. We were smart. We were well coached and drilled constantly in fundamentals and techniques of the game. In short we were good,the hardest hitting, with good morale and confidence in each other. Our coach was a master strategist and tactician and knew how to pay attention to details.At the end of the first half the score was 0-0 and it was turning out to be as tuff as I suspected. Although we were knocking the stars out of them they weren't caving in mentally. They were staying in it and had out gained us offensively. They were executing their plays well, blocking well, and sticking to their responsibilities. Each one doing to our defense what they should do, hindering our players from getting to the ball until their key backs could get into the open field and use their outstanding ability to make tacklers miss and we were great tacklers. The only thing that did save us from being scored on was our outstanding team speed, pursuit and team tackling. We never quit until the whistle blew. Because of this we always had two or three guys around the ball carrier. Never the less they were popping loose for five and ten yard gains consistently. Something 8 previous teams failed to do.We weren't frantic. We remained calm, determined, resolute. We weren't quitters. We did not give up. They were not going to beat us. But neither team was letting up. We couldn't . There was too much at stake for each of us.The second half started out like the first battling back and fourth with the game still deadlocked at 0-0. We finally broke the ice with 2 or 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Coach pulled a seldom used play out of the book and had Nielson throw a short out to our tight end Larry Banks who then rambled 63 yards through several tackles to the three yard line, where we gnarled it in one yard at a time. Three plays for 6 with Todd Florey smashing in from the 1/2 yd line. The PAT was blocked but we were up 6 to nuthin. The Huskies were demoralized temporarily and we were the champs at going for the kill. Now was the time to put this incredibly tenacious and honorable opponent down.The ensuing kick off went well in that direction when their receiver bobbled the ball into the end zone barely escaping back out to the 3 yard line. This is where it went terribly wrong. As they came to the line of scrimmage I felt relieved mildly because there was no tight end over me. The boy was a tough blocker even though I was defeating his blocks, he just wasn't making it easy. It didn't dawn on me that their coach was about to pull his rabbit out of his hat.........The ball was snapped, and I watched as an apparent TO QB boot headed away from me to my left. Suddenly vwoooo, the guy broke past the line of scrimmage with a ton of blockers in front of him, and like that......there were five of us from the back side rocketing after Billy Sand catching him at the 45 yard line. We took it like men, we were not shaken and lined up as if they hadn't just broke the longest run against us that year. Same thing. No TE and no split.but I had not ascribed any significance to the missing players. The ball was snapped and the play again broke to the left. I stayed home until the ball crossed the line of scrimmage like I always did guarding against possible reverses, but this time I saw the breakaway developing. A thought so strong I could have sworn I said it out loud "they got through" I felt a tearing.......like the rip of lightening.......the fabric of time.....everything went quiet.......still.......peacefull.......calm.......time slowed down....the world around in slow motion. It's as if I was no longer treading earth. Next to me John Francouer was being driven backwards by the o-guard. I lept effortlessly over John like a gazelle, grace in motion on an intercept course with Tim Larson at my right. Tim was a 4.5, 40 yd dash, strong side DB; fast, and recognized as the hardest hitter on the team, but I was out striding him and pulling ahead. Tim, because of his inside position got to him first and I let him have the tackle dragging Billy down inside our 30.......time returned to normal. Two plays and better than 70 yards. In 1976 No-other team had even come close to that against our D, NO-ONE. I remember asking Dave Minor the left DE what was going on over there? Both Dave and Warren Williams our left DT said that they had two and three guys each on them. We freaked. They were running that unbalanced O-line we had practiced against and yet we spaced it. We had added a defensive shift just for the situation. I felt bad, I should have seen it but it wasn't just my fault, there were 10 other guys out there, three coaches on the sidelines and the coaches in the press box. We had been lulled....shenanged, and got burned for 70 yards.We made the defensive adjustment but the best we got was making them pay for the next 20+ yards. Two first downs and 8 plays later they scored. We were able to return the favor and block their PAT but the game was now 6-6.I was bone tired. The Huskies ran the wishbone, an offensive set that tries to rag the defense from sideline to sideline. They were executing it perfectly. I had about 10 tackles by this time and some of them were coming from the backside and down field. I had done a tremendous amount of running. In between plays I was shaking from the exertion. From somewhere inside of my heart a still small voice kept saying "keep going". I can only imagine that the rest of the guys felt the same way.I was in pain. I had heard something pop in my head and I had a headache. I had taken a just right shot to the helmet and my neck was sore. I had a giant bruise on my left thigh and my left knee was now in pain from the same hit. My left shoulder was sore from a particularly brutal tackle.......one that I could not believe I had made. In fact when I hit the guy I thought he had slipped by me. This one I am going to describe because it would make any ones highlight reel any where at anytime. The play started with them 1st and ten on their 30 yard line heading north. Ball was on the my left hash mark so the wide side of the field was now my AO and they loved to run to the wide side, their goal was to do everything they could to stretch us out and they were doing it well. The next play they decided to run was a triple option designed Q-B boot with the half backs and a pulling guard out front. Their problem was they ran 10-12 yards deep behind the line of scrimmage and I had the speed to get to their point of attack before they did, and I did but took a blast from the running back that knocked my legs straight back and out from under me blowing me two yards off the line of scrimmage and flat on my face. I never took my eyes off of Billy Sand the Q-Back. He cut perfectly inside the block, but my world class reflexes snapped my legs up under me like a bull frog and I launched with both legs and all my might with perfect aim and timing hit him in the left thigh. My arms snapped around to tackle but they just swished through empty air. As I was going back down on my face I remember saying:"not again", out loud , and then a moment after I hit the ground I also said; out loud; '"man that hurt", then the whistle blew, to which I also said; "good somebody else got him, thinking that at least I had slowed him or turned him into some one else. I laid there for a moment in agony as did the guy who had blocked me. I dragged myself up and looked over at the QB who was still on the ground(also slow to get up) all by himself and I asked Jimmy Larson on the way back to the huddle who "tackled him"? He said "you did". Non-plussed I said"yeah but he got five more yards".The next Monday we watched the last film of the last game of the year and when we got to that play the coach reran it couple of times. When I hit him it propelled him up in the air about 8 or 10 feet with his legs spread but perpendicular to his body. His body parallel to the ground and his head towards his teams sideline or west. He spun two complete rotations before he almost landed on his feet 5 yards down field then collapsed. He was slow getting up. I think that play just about killed the half, me, and the QB. 'Man that hurt'. 'Man that hurt'.But by God I kept going. I prayed constantly that God would not let me get proud or profane. I was confident in God. I believed. I said so out loud to Kelleher and Carry as I headed back onto the field from a flying missed tackle. Though I didn't get the tackle it caused the runner to stop cold in order to dodge me and Dave Minor coming hard from the guys rear creamed him. Jim Kelleher says "way to go Erks". I said"we are going to beat these guys".We played on that , I know we weren't playing for overtime and neither were they. Both teams were out to win.We didn't make it, the two teams continued the vicious fight till the final gun sounded and it was into overtime.Overtime in Wisconsin in those days was 4 downs from the ten yard line each, until one scored more than the other. If it remained a tie then the series of downs were repeated 3 times until one came out ahead. If none came out ahead then the game was declared a tie.We got a 20 minute break before the start of OT. I forget who won the toss but I know that we started on offense first. Our first play from the line of scrimmage was like the trouble we had been having this game........no gain. Again coach pulls another play we seldom used. A ten yard pass over the middle to Todd Florey. Nielson threw it high but Todd had an outstanding vertical leap. He snatched the ball and scored. Pand-o-monium for us. Coach Hoff did not want to risk a field goal and also wanted to put the pressure on the Huskies. He went for two. Same identical play. Todd jumps for it and again nabs it for 2 more.The pressure was now on Eau Claire. I told the left DE Dave Minor that it was "up to him and me because you know they are coming at us".1st down: North runs play up the middle and gains 1 yard to the 9.2nd down: The ball snaps and just like I had seen 20 other times in this game the QB fakes to the full back. Key. I burst inside heading at him as hard as I could determined to knock the snot out of him and make him dump the ball off before he was ready. Focused so hard that I can still count the number of steps I took. When Billy Sand turned around to check off on me I was already in his face....He pitched the ball without even looking for his back. He threw the ball 3 yards behind Dave Runnings and the ball kept going all the way back to the 22 yard line. I scrambled after it and had my hands on it but lost the struggle for the wayward oblong. It was still good though, it cost them 12 yards. Got the bobble credited to me and the tackle for a huge loss.3rd down: Billy dropped back and connected over the middle and got the 12 back, tackled by our safety Larry Smith and ?????.4th down: They pulled the TO QB boot right. Dave Minor didn't fool around with it this time. He pulled that white boy speed out of his @$$ and hauled the runner down from behind for a 3 yd loss.Game over. We won. Often in the course of a sports year the two best teams face each each other before the final and big game. That the real championship game is invariably played earlier in the season may be occurring much more that we realize. I think this was so this day. For in my opinion I believe this was the best game of that year in the State of Wisconsin. Just another one of those things that I can not really know for sure.................When the game ended I looked for Billy Sand. I didn't find him. I am not sure exactly what I would have said to him but I definitely thought that I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to congratulate him personally and tell him what a great team North was. They were good....very good. Better-n-the one team that beat us.I ended up with about 14 tackles, I missed another 6, co- defensive player of the game with Dave Minor, whiplash, a minor stroke, massive bruises and memories to last a life time. And the greatest memory of what it feels like to play with champions because that is what we were and to this day, come what may I maintain still are.At the end of the game I gave thanks to God.At this end of this season I gave thanks unto God and I am still giving thanks unto my Lord.We didn't make the playoffs because the WIAA(Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association)judges down at state screwed up the math and by the time they got it straightened out playoffs were over but the University of Wisconsin's football scouting crews who rated the HS football teams every year independent of the WIAA gave us their number one rank. I guess that is consolation. We will never know. I am convinced that we would have probably won the championship but there is an aside.I was suffering from some very bad and painful injuries and I would not tell anyone I was hurt, It surely would have killed me.God is in control......................................................
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
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