Winning for the Gipper

This is a sequel to “Accidental Coach” reblogged yesterday.

Shootin' the Breeze

There are times when athletes draw inspiration from friends and family to motivate them to try even harder.  To try their best.  To better their best.  To win as a tribute to a loved one.

There are many examples.  Knute Rockne’s half-time speech urging Notre Dame’s football team to win one for the Gipper (George Gipp, a teammate who had died) is famous.  There was another movie about John Cappelletti, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1973, being inspired by his younger brother, Joey, who was dying of leukemia.  If I recall correctly, it was called “Something for Joey.”  People are more familiar with “Brian’s Song” about Brian Piccolo’s friendship with Gale Sayers and his fight with cancer.

I myself have written in this blog about swimming in the Senior Olympics and thinking about my father and his “do your best” attitude when I felt like slowing down.  See https://cowboylawyer.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/something-for-dad/…

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Accidental Coach

Shootin' the Breeze

When I first started training to swim in the Senior Olympics, and was going to the pool a lot, a man in the lane next to me one day was waiting for me to complete a lap.  When I stopped to rest, he gave me a tip about how to improve my butterfly stroke, which was his specialty.

His advice to me, though unsolicited, was not unwanted.  I truly wanted to get better.  I wanted to qualify for the national championship.  So I thanked the man, who introduced himself as Slava.  He is from Russia.  He used to be a swimming coach there.

As we saw each other at the pool on other days, Slava continued to critique my swimming.  He complimented my breaststroke, which had been strongest event as a competitive swimmer in my younger years.  He helped me tweek my freestyle.  He gave me training tips on conditioning. …

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Budweiser Puppy’s Friends

Shootin' the Breeze

A favorite SuperBowl advertisement for Budweiser has a “plot” about the Yellow Labrador Retriever puppy who lives in the barn with the Budweiser Clydesdales. In this year’s ad, the puppy gets lost and on his way home encounters a wolf. The horses save him from the wolf. It is heartwarming.

We have two Yellow Labs, Beau and Sadie. They are no longer puppies. Beau in particular hangs out with the horses and a donkey. Maybe he was at the Budweiser farm when he was a pup. We got him at a shelter when he was two, so we do not know about his past life.

He also gets along with cats. Below are some photos of Beau and various friends which you might find amusing.







And he even has a friend who is a dog, Sadie.
And he is my buddy too.

Oh, he even hangs out with fishes.

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Internship

Sugar and I went on a little weekend trip to Vail. Ski season just ended. Many places in the village were closed but enough were open. Few people wandered the area. By the melted skating rink, a young couple was playing with their Golden Retriever puppy. They said it is 8 weeks old. It is as cute as any puppy you have ever seen.

There was an older dog, a Black Lab with a gray muzzle , who was also by the rink. He had a squeek toy that his owner was throwing. The Lab would fetch it gladly, then squeek it again so he’d get another turn. The puppy watched and tried to join in, but he was not fast enough. The older dog could even catch it in the air. The puppy did not have a chance.

Yet.

Now he has seen how it is done by an expert.  Wait until next year, after he has completed his internship.

Dream Date

He was clutching a handful of cash.  He looked happy as he walked away from the bank teller.  He came over to where I was sitting in the bank lobby and I commented that it looked like he had lots of money.

“I do have a lot of money,” he agreed.

“Do you have plans for how you want to spend all that money?” I asked.

He grinned.  “I am going on a date.”

“That sounds like fun.”  He agreed and volunteered to tell me about the planned date.

The young man appeared to be about high school age.  He has Down’s Syndrome.  I wondered if he was going to prom.

“We are going to Olive Garden restaurant to eat and then we are going to a movie at the brand new movie theater and then we are going to watch the sunset.”

“Wow.  That will be a wonderful date.”

“Yes.  I always wanted a girlfriend who has cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.”

“Do you have boots and a hat?”  I asked because he was not wearing any.

“Yes.  I like horses too.”

“I do too.  I have some horses.”

“Oh.  What are their names?”

I told him our horses names and then asked him the name of his girlfriend.

“I don’t know her name yet because I have not met her but when I do we will go on a date.”

His mother had overheard our conversation and smiled about it.

I got kinda choked up.  That is a nice young man who knows what he wants.  He has goals about getting a girlfriend who meets his criteria and has planned out a wonderful date night.  Lucky girl!

 

Girls’ Afternoon Out

My lovely wife, Sugar, aka Miss Texas, on occasion goes to a nail place for manicures and pedicures.  Some women do that.  Girly ones that is.

As you, dear readers, know, it is a universal truth that manly men do not get pedicures, nor do they get manicures.  It is also an undisputed and widely known fact that I myself am a manly man.  Well, until today that is.  This very afternoon I committed an act which likely will lead to me being required to turn in my manly man club membership card.

But I can explain….

Several years ago a horse stepped on my left foot, resulting in an injury to my big toe.  I don’t rightly know whether it broke my toe because I am too tough to get it checked out by medical personnel.  I just know that the subject toe turned black and blue and the toenail fell off.  The injury affected my gait for awhile causing me to go on “injured reserve”  which as you can imagine prevented me from playing in any NFL games for that entire season, whichever season that was several years ago.

Unfortunately, that severe toenail injury resulted in the replacement toenail growing back in thicker and misshapen.  Up until then, my appearance was without flaw.  Since then, I have been unable to model sandals.  Losing gigs as a sandal model has been costly by limiting my opportunities to earn a decent living.

So, out of economic concern, when Sugar, who was sharing a car with me, thus stranding me at the nail salon, suggested that I get a pedicure while I was stuck there waiting for her anyway, I conceded.

So I did, very self-consciously, take a seat in one of those pedicure chairs, carefully watching the front door in case someone I knew came in.  I was ready to duck.

That toenail on my left big toe now looks and feels mahvelous!!!!!!!!!

Hey, before you judge me, walk a mile in my boots.  It was pretty difficult with that thick, ugly, jagged toenail tearing holes in all my socks.  Now my boots are more comfortable and, darn it, I am more secure about my masculinity than ever.  (Just promise to not tattle to the National Football League Players Association.  I don’t want to be laughed out of the locker room).

 

 

 

Unmeasured Decisions

Instead of taking measure of all options

In order to carefully decide

One might let things happen

Without deciding

Without even choosing to not decide

And live with the unintended, unforeseen consequences

With regret.

Or get lucky.

Which also is not within one’s control.

Unless you are God.

Which you are not.

Nor am I.