Why I Don't Watch Soccer

(besides the fact that we don't have cable)

There have been twelve games so far in the World Cup. In those games:

• Nine teams have gone the entire game without scoring a goal.
• Twelve teams only scored one goal the entire game.
• Only three teams scored more than one goal.
• Almost half the games (five) have finished in a tie. (Really? A tie? Who finishes games with a tie? That's why overtime was invented!)

I guess I basically like winners and losers and lots of points scored. Therefore, I've never really gotten into soccer.

Soccer fans and purists, feel free to make your case.

Halloween in June

I had to do a training last week at a doctor's office about thirty minutes away from my office. The office had borrowed some equipment from us (for an x-ray training) that I was supposed to bring back to the office with me.

That equipment included a full-size plastic skeleton.

I decided it was no fun to just put the skeleton in the trunk or laying down in the back seat, so I instead let him ride in style:

It was fun to watch the reactions that people gave to me throughout my drive home.

And once I got back to my office and realized that my boss was not in that day, I decided that it was imperative to give him a little surprise for when he came into his office the next morning:

Needless to say, it freaked him out a bit when he opened his office door.

Fighting Gravity

I would pay money to go see this . . .

Though, admittedly, I'm not an avid America's Got Talent watcher, Fighting Gravity would be my pick to take it all this season.

Look Alikes

I was just watching a little bit of PiNT this evening, when Frank Nicotero showed a couple of clips from the TLC show Toddlers & Tiaras.

Is it just me, or does this bratty little beauty queen . . .

look an awful lot like Spanky from the Little Rascals movie (on the left) when he dressed in a ballet costume?

Farewell, Kid

I grew up an Atlanta Braves fan, but Ken Griffey Jr. became my favorite baseball player 22 years ago when he stepped on the field as a rookie. I started collecting his baseball cards and I have, by far, more Ken Griffey Jr. cards than any other player.

He started and ended his career in Seattle, while also playing in his home town (Cincinnati) and Chicago in between.  He was always known as "the Kid," possibly because his father (Ken Griffey Sr.) was also a big name baseball player. There has never been the slightest accusation of him being involved in steroids, even though the bulk of his career was during the "Steriod Era." Yet he is still fifth on the all-time home run list.

I saw him play in Seattle; I saw him play against the Orioles in Baltimore; As a missionary, I even stood outside his house outside Cincinnati (which I thought was even cooler than seeing Larry Bird's house in French Lick, IN).

His image is such a big part of my childhood - collecting baseball cards, watching baseball, his posters on the wall, etc. - and I am glad I have been able to continue to cheer him on and support him, instead of losing faith in him like some other player (McGuire, Sosa, Clemens, Canseco, etc.).

Ken Griffey Jr. has recently called it quits with baseball. He will be sorely missed, but a 22-year career is pretty impressive.