Brain Chatter and Calm

There is no TV, no music, no extraneous noise in the house right now.  I can hear the whirr of the ceiling fan, and the windows are open, so an occasional street noise floats in.  Sometimes, the quiet is so blessed, so heaven sent. I was sitting outside, but it was cool, and I decided to move in.  It would be pleasant outside, if I had to be there. I am just a cold woosey.

I am grateful for so many things:  I have good family and friends. I have a job I enjoy. I have a house in which to live, and transportation. I can pick my food choices, for the most part, without worry. I can pay my taxes.

I have plenty of activities which I enjoy: knitting, reading, being involved in NASW http://www.naswtx.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=25, and being on the board of Catholic Family Service, Inc http://www.cfslubbock.org/ .  I am a dues paying member of the Heritage Fiber Guild http://www.heritagefiberguild.org/ and the Llano Estacado Audubon Society http://www.leas.bizland.com/, although my involvement in both are minimal.   I take classes through the Osher Life Long Learning Institute at Texas Tech University http://www.depts.ttu.edu/outreach/   I try to attend the monthly meeting of the Barnes and Noble Mystery Book Club http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/2364?subtype=detailList&month=&day=ANY&sat=10.

I enjoy following the sporting events at Texas Tech University http://www.texastech.com/, specifically the Lady Raiders Basketball team, and I follow the football team. I had tried to follow softball, but that did not work for me.  Maybe, with the new coach, I should try again.

I am still and always will be a Red Sox fan http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bos&tcid=mm_nyy_sitelist and a Yankee fan http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=nyy&tcid=mm_mlb_sitelist.  I rarely watch the NBA games, simply because I am only a Celtics fan http://www.nba.com/celtics/ f and their games are rarely shown in this TV market. I have been a long time NASCAR fan http://www.nascar.com/.  This is an endearing and enduring gift from Lisenby, for which I am so thankful.

I am sure there is more that life could offer. Yet, I am so blessed with everything I have.  Thank you to my family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances for your contribution to my life.

The American Myth: The Cinderella Story

It is March Madness, when the NCAA Basketball Tournament occurs.  And, often, especially in the men's contest, we hear the term "The Cinderella Story" being applied to teams that are not well seeded in the tournament, but do well, anyway.

What is "the Cinderella Story" in sports? In this instance, it applies to a lesser ranked team making their way through the ranks of the tournament, win by win, to make it to the Final Four and more improbably, winning the national championship.

How often has this happened? Well, who knows, but there is surely a sports statistician out there with that information. This link just tells you about March Madness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Men%27s_Division_I_Basketball_Championship  This link gives you some history about Cinderella Stories:  http://www.kidzworld.com/article/25373-march-madness-the-cinderella-story.

Remember the University of Texas at El Paso team of 1966, which was the basis for the book and film "The Glory Road" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glory_Road_(film)  This was a Cinderella Story deluxe, involving underdog and racial themes. Coach Haskins recruited many black players and brought his team to a national championship.

This year has been another year of Cinderella Story teams in the men's tournament. All of the number one seeded teams did not make it to the final four.

You can argue what that means, but ultimately, it means that when the chips are down, when push comes to shove, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and teams not ranked number one show their dominance, if just for one game.

So, this brings me to think about "the Cinderella Story."  Does it not bother you, sports fans, that the real Cinderella Story is about a woman? Sports announcers do not even have the decency to change it to "the Cinderfella Story" when they apply this term to the men's tournament.

What that says to me is that it is a wonderful, universally known term and men have usurped it for their own use, instead of allowing it to be used for the women who deserve their due.

So, come one guys, get politically correct, there are no "Cinderella Stories" in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The American Myth: Three Cheers for the Underdog

On March 29, 2011, I was watching NCAA Elite Eight woman's basketball games, and found myself cheering, in the final game of the round, for Texas A&M against Baylor.  Both teams are currently in the Big 12, and rivals of my "home team" Texas Tech. The season this year saw Texas Tech lose twice to Texas A&M and surprisingly, only once to Baylor. Texas Tech had an 11 point upset win over Baylor in Lubbock.

Well, there is something to be said for the American Myth about cheering for the underdog. And I tend to do that sometimes. Often.  In the USA, we love "the Cinderella Story."

But for me, there was more that went into cheering for A&M than cheering for the underdog.  Some of it had to do with the BAD HISTORY between Texas Tech and Baylor.  Specifically, and most recently, the events of the the Texas Tech vs. Baylor game in Lubbock on March 3, 2010. Baylor "superstar" Brittany Griner punched Texas Tech player Jordan Barncastle and broke her nose.  From the Texas Tech perspective, Ms. Griner was given a very mild punishment: she issued a written apology, but she also was given a 2 game suspension.  A mere slap on the wrist.

But, even before that, there was the Kim Mulkey presence.  Her style, her dress, her behavior.  Her style is rough. Her dress is flamboyant, advertising all she has to offer as a coach. Her behavior reflects her style and dress: angry, aggressive, adversarial to the MAX.

On the other hand, Gary Blair, coach of the A&M team has a more collegial, generous style. Less aggressive. More complimentary of the opposition. He even approached Tech player, Kierra Mallard, after one of the Tech vs. A&M games and encouraged her to step up to the leadership role she really should be demonstrating as a junior player. How much more generous and gracious as a coach can you get.

So, when I am deciding on a team to cheer for, there are factors other than being the underdog, that influence my decision.

Women's College Basketball

Last year, I was a women's college basketball fan.  I watched the games and the championship, not faithfully, but with good interest.  I watched games from other conferences, games from championships, and tournaments.

This year, I was a Lady Raider Basketball fan, and lost interest in the team as they faltered, and lost some games they should have won. True, they made it to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but even then, they did not reprensent themselves well. There were too many games in which the team did not play as a team, nor show heart and determination to win.  The NCAA tournament game was one such game.  They have not learned how to be a team.

I missed a lot of the NCAA tournament, but am watching the Elite Eight, and will watch the final four and the championship game.  There is a lot of reason to support women's college basketball.  First of all, it is a statement of gaining equality. Let's face it, men's sports still outshine the women in publicity, importance, and available resources, although things are supposed to be equal.

Second, it says something about women being team members. Young women are only now being more and more socialized as team players. So, promoting a team sport like basketball says something about building women's team skills.

Third, the women coaches are so collegial. They have such a sense of comraderie and supportiveness notwithstanding their rivalries.

Fouth, women support women. Most notably, women's basketball places a heavy emphasis on supporting women's breast health. During the basketball season, there are any number of promotional activities to raise funds to help support breast cancer awareness and research. How much more supportive can women be of women?

My Lucky Day

I went to a Lady Raider basketball game today; they played at home against Kansas State http://www.texastech.com/sports/w-baskbl/text-w-baskbl-body.html.  They won, in double overtime, by two points. 

I usually sit in the general reserve open seating area, but this  year, the tickets have seating noted for other areas, and today, I decided to sit in the section, row, seat on my ticket.  It was on the other side of the court, and much lower than I am used to... I am still not sure I like being that close, but I think I do.

During the game, I was lucky to get two promotional T-shirts.  The first I caught purposefully.  It was smaller than I could fit, so I gave it to a young girl sitting near me. The second tumbled into my lap from the people in front of me. I was not even paying attention. I gave it to a little boy sitting behind me.

During the Chick-Fil-A http://chick-fil-a.com/#home promotion, small, stuffed cows are parachuted to the fans, with a coupon for a free sandwich...Today, I got a cow. I do not believe I have ever eaten at Chick-Fil-A, and if I did, it did not impress me. But I am very glad I have a cow.

Go Coach

Geno Auriemma is the coach of the University of Connecticut's women's basketball team http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-baskbl/conn-w-baskbl-body.html, that, tonight, broke a UCLA men's basketball record by winning 89 games in a row.  At some time before the game, he gave an interview about that, and his comments reflected his obvious respect and belief in women.  He made comments to the effect that a certain amount of the media hype had to do with the fact that women were going to break a men's record.

Some time ago, I read a book, Brief Garland,  by Harold Keith http://www.oufoundation.org/sm/summer07/thams.asp?ID=249 about a man who was hired to coach boys basketball, but ended up coaching girls basketball, in a high school in Oklahoma. What he learned, among other things, was that coaching girls' sports had value, because the girls have value.

I think, from the comments I heard from Coach Auriemma, he believes the same thing.  Women are advancing in society to have more and more recognition in terms of capability and equality. 

But I live in a part of the world where women are still sometimes "the little women." There are even women in this part of the world (and maybe elsewhere)  who think we should be subservient to men, who like being tended to and kept by men, and are willing to subjugate themselves to men.  For what?  I guess maybe financial security, social standing, protection? I do not understand this, so I can not guess why women behave this way.

I am so grateful for people like Coach Auriemma or Jim Keith, the coach of the team in Brief Garland who understand that women are women and have intrinsic value as human beings, their gender notwithstanding.

Player Loyalty vs. Team Loyalty

I am watching the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby and thinking about players who spend many years, or their entire careers with a team, versus going to more than one team.  The New York Yankees say that Derek Jeter is a life time Yankee http://www.new-york-yankees-baseball.com/new-york-yankees-derek-jeter.htm. I hope so.

On the other side, there is Ted Williams, who spent his entire career with the Boston Red Sox http://www.tedwilliams.com/ .  

There are so many examples of this such as Carl Yaztremski http://www.yaz8.com/ or Mickey Mantle http://www.mickeymantle.com/. 

Yet, there are many players who are moved around, The obvious example is Babe Ruth http://www.baberuth.com/ , who moved from the Boston Red Sox http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bos&tcid=mm_mlb_sitelist to the New York Yankee http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=nyy&tcid=mm_mlb_sitelist .

Just recently, a basketball player, LeBron James http://lebronjames.com/ who was a Cleveland Cavelier http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/ basketball star, decided to move to a different team , the Miami Heat http://www.nba.com/heat/   His plan was that he and two other basketball stars, Dwayne Wade http://www.dwyanewade.com/ and Chris Bosh http://www.nba.com/playerfile/chris_bosh/  could combine to create a Championship team. 

There is merit in wanting to create a Championship team.  Who would not want to be on such a team.... So, where does team loyalty play into this, vs. playing on a winning team.

The flip side is that due to free agency and contract terms, sometimes, if is inevitable that players seek new teams, and new markets. 

I am a sentimentalist, and am very glad to see players stay with one team... But the reality is, this is a rarity, and I understand that.  But, I am a romantic, and that is a romantic notion....

However, I will congratulate LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh who are willing to take pay cuts (as if they would notice at that rarified pay scale) to join a team and make a concerted effort to win a championship... In their minds, it seems that a championship is worth losing income.  Or is it?  With a championship, there is the possibility of increased endorsements and sponsorships that can be so lucrative that they would make up for salary loss and then some... Skeptical? Maybe? True? Yes! 

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

I was recently able to visit the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame http://www.hoophall.com/ . My first impression was the same as when I went to the National Baseball Hall of Fame:  there is too much information thrown at the viewer all at once. 

But, really, it was not so bad. And, the Naismith Hall of Fame was located in an area that had some shops with athletic clothing for sale, as well as the museum shop, and some restaurants. So, visitors were allowed (even maybe encouraged) to leave, to take a break like a sit down lunch, and return to view the museum.

The basketball hall of fame includes sosme interactive activities for children, and the opportunity to be on the basketball court. Since I was not interested, I did not explore the criteria to be on the floor. The kids on the floor were apparently having a great time...

As with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the role of basketball in the integration movement is reported... Which, interestingly enough, provides SPORTS as a socially important role in our society... Frankly, I agree strongly with that...

Who Knows Where the Time Goes

I actually left work about on time. After I got home, and tended to the cats, inside and out, I had some time.  I ate dinner outside, worked in the yard, and sat outside because Sake wanted to be out.. She stayed out in her pen for about 20 minutes...Then we went in.

I worked on the computer for a while, then loaded the Cornell vs. Kentucky game on my computer.  I also had the TV on the station that was covering the NCAA games, and from time to time, they aired the Cornell vs. Kentucky game.

I worked on some NASW emails, read personal emails, made some cards... I was amazed when I realized that it was after 11PM.  Who knows where the time goes?