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RESPECTING DECISIONS IS HARD, BUT WHY BE A PUNK ABOUT IT

Respecting decisions is part of the hard learning process. It starts early. Parents decide to put little Jimmy in an accelerated learning school and he learns to doubt their decisions sooner than later. But he still shows up for school everyday. Why? Because even little Jimmy knows that respecting decisions made for him by people […]

COACH LANNING HEARS FROM OREGON FAMILY

Coach Lanning didn’t actually get a letter, the Oregon AD did. And that’s not the Oregon family he heard from, though the kid with arrow could be an in-state recruit. The letter to Athletic Director Mullens was signed by Oregon football legends from Joey Harrington to Justin Herbert, along with Marcus Mariota, Akili Smith, Royce […]

SPORTS LITERACY FOR BOOMERS: KNOW WHEN ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Sports literacy runs through all sports, not just your favorite team, or my favorite team, though that would make things so much easier. It’s more than the Yankees, the Cowboys, or the Celtics; more than the Mariners, Seahawks, and your Portland Trail Blazers. On Friday nights it’s more than the high school football playoffs, more […]

LIFE SWITCH: IT’S EITHER ON OR OFF, NO ‘OTHER’

A life switch is not a light switch. We know what a light switch is, the thing on a wall connected to a light bulb. One moment it’s dark in the room, then it’s not. That’s the light switch. Light to dark, or dark to light. A Life Switch doesn’t work the same way.

PROFESSIONAL SIGNALING AND COMMUNICATIONS LIKE SPORTS WORLD

Professional signaling prevents miscommunication and so much more. That’s what it’s supposed to do, more, along with ‘doing your own research.’ Besides, who really knows what research means, let alone doing it. Instead of confusing explanations of how good or bad something is, was, or might be, why not use the most effective communications known […]

BAY MAN ON COOS BAY, THE WATER AROUND NORTH BEND

Who’s a bay man? I’m a bay man, and here’s why: Born on San Francisco Bay. Raised on Coos Bay. Married a woman named Bayes. Three for three settles it for bay man. I can smell bay from here by just looking at the top pic, and it’s comforting.

WORKOUT SWEAT IN THREE DRIPS AND DROPS

You know you’ve got it going when workout sweat starts bubbling up. Not flop sweat, nervous sweat, or anxiety sweat, but the sort of sweat you want and need to prove something to yourself. Workout sweat connects you to every athlete, every champion, every strong person you’ve ever heard of. They got there with sweat. […]

YOUR TRIBE: HAVE YOU FOUND IT, OR STILL LOOKING

Your tribe is waiting and it’s accepting memberships, if that’s the sort of tribe that appeals to you. Or maybe you’re more of a “Membership? We don’t need no stinking membership” sort of person. Either way, the yearning for connection, human connections, isn’t going away. But which tribe is your tribe? A few clues:

MISSING PARTS AND WHERE TO FIND REPLACEMENTS

When I was a kid I had a high school aged uncle who liked to build model cars with missing parts. He didn’t play any sports. I glued model cars together, too. The box of plastic pieces all linked together became a Buick Wildcat. No paint, nothing special, just following directions and putting it together. […]

GREAT MEMORIES ADVICE: FROM ONE LIFE STAGE TO THE NEXT

Great memories ought to inform current decisions. After all, if you have great memories you cherish, why not add to them? Moving along life’s stages, from one to the next, from being a kid, to teenager, to young adult, to middle age, to senior, fills up a big wagon of memories to pull along. Did […]