page contents Google

EXPERIENCE AUTHORITY FIRST HAND

The truth is powerful after you experience authority. From your private life to public life, things change. You can’t always express that unique feeling you need to share. If you talk your talk and nobody listens? If you talk your talk and the wrong people listen? If you’re afraid to talk your talk? That one […]

OREGON COACH RON FINLEY

Youth passes with the people important in our youth: Oregon Coach Ron Finley. How does anyone leave a small town? Some never do, and the towns are all better for it. Oregon Coach Ron Finley left Newberg on a wrestling mat and he never got off. The sports world is better for him. For some […]

KING OF THE HILL IN NORTH BEND, OREGON

People know the place when you say you’re from North Bend. Ask someone where there from and you expect one answer, one place. Then you get this: “I grew up all over the place.” Hear that and know you’ve got someone ashamed of where they’re from. They know the name of their town, they just […]

PODUNK TOWN, OR YOUR HOMETOWN

Nothing Explains Feelings For A Hometown, Your Hometown, Than Traveling Though Others. Drive down I-5, Highway 99, 101 down the coast, or 97 east of the Cascades, and you roll through one podunk town after another. You don’t even have to go far off the road to see them. Just drive by, take a look, […]

STEVE PREFONTAINE UNLOCKED

Prison Running Winner: Steve Prefontaine. Great sports events trap time in a bubble. You remember your favorite player scoring the winning points like it was yesterday, locking the image into your mind and throwing away the key. Yours for life. If the event was big enough, you learn more about the player and the game. […]

SIXTY @ SIXTY IN THREE PARTS

1. Know your roots. Remember where you came from. Turning 60 means you’ve met lots of people. You’ve had time to meet people; if you haven’t, get started. More than once you’ve had someone give this answer when asked, “Where are you from?” “Lot’s of places.” If you’ve given that answer it’s time to stop. […]

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FROM THE BOOMER SIDE OF THE FIELD

The North Bend Bulldogs and Tigard Tigers. The 4A Bulldogs climbed into the Oregon state finals for 2014 after their 41-40 squeaker in the semi-finals. A win is a win, we can all agree, but a one point win isn’t defining any football program as much as it tells who’s in favor with the football […]

BABY BOOMER’S LIFE FLASHES BEFORE HIS EYES

Clearing Out The File Cabinet. The kid on the right is learning the ropes. He’s your gentle BoomerPdx blogger looking like he’s crying in wrestling practice. It just looks that way. Really. If I was crying it was tears of happiness for having such a great teacher like Robin Richards. Later the same year Robin […]

REAL LIFE AND SPORTS: MORE THAN A GAME

The hardest moments in real life come with saying goodbye. There’s never a last goodbye, and never enough time. We say goodbye to people and places, moms and dads, and it’s all too real. Celebrated coaches from high school years move on, or you move on, and you hear about their passing. You remember them […]

SUMMERTIME AND THE TEACHERS RECHARGE

On the surface a teaching gig looks like a cakewalk. From the classroom, to the teachers’ lounge, the time off, it makes people jealous, as if they could do the job. Here’s a message to the good people who went to school in classrooms with teachers, but aren’t teachers themselves. (Before continuing, this blogger is […]