The Ups and Downs of a Division 1 Sports Fan

If you've read this blog enough, you know that while I live in Iowa, I am a South Dakotan by birth, and I attended South Dakota State University. I still love my Alma mater and I follow their sports teams, though primarily I follow football and basketball (both men's and women's).

In 2004, South Dakota State transitioned to Division I Athletics, meaning they would now compete against the big schools. They completed their 5 year transition in 2009 and have done very well. The football team is a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and made the playoffs this past year. As members of the Summit League for all sports, except football and wrestling, they have been competitive. In Women's Basketball, they have been downright dominant, winning 2 regular season championships and 2 conference tournament championships. In fact, the women's team has made the NCAA tournament the last 2 years.

Lots of ups there, but there have been some downs too, primarily with basketball. When I attended SDSU, both the men's and women's basketball teams were top notch Division II programs. The men's team made the playoffs every year, making it as far as the Final Four one year. The women's team won the National Championship in 2003, though that was after my time. When they jumped to Division I, a dose of reality hit. The men's team was terrible, and is still struggling. They finished 14-16 this season, their best record in Division I. While the women's team has done well, they have fallen in the NCAA Tournament each of the last 2 years to bigger and quicker teams from the Big 12 Conference (considered 1 of the 6 power conferences).

That's the reality for schools like SDSU, which are considered mid-major programs. A good year in basketball is winning the conference and getting to the NCAA Tournament. As a fan, I no longer have expectations, or really hope of winning a National Championship. It's a different feeling for me. I love the excitement that comes with the increased coverage and higher caliber athletes, but I miss the thoughts of winning it all.

Overall though, I think there are more ups than downs. For example, the Jackrabbits football team plays the University of Northern Iowa every other year. That schools is within 1 hour of my house, so I'll have the opportunity to go to games. The women's basketball team got a top 100 recruit for next year's freshman class, and the men's basketball team signed 2 top Iowa high school players from the same school, so built-in teamwork there. All good things I think. So, with recalibrated expectations, I'm ready to go as a fan of a Division I school.

A Great Example

Last weekend, the family and I were in the great state of South Dakota. We went there to celebrate my wife's parents 35th anniversary. To mark this special occasion, they chose to renew their wedding vows with family and friends in attendance. It was a great day.

At the reception afterward, the smartest member of my family got up and gave a toast to her parents. In it, she thanked them for the great example they have set for us in our marriage. We've made it 10 years so far. This got me thinking about how lucky we are as a married couple. My parents will celebrate their 36th anniversary later this year, and my wife's parent just celebrated their 35th. In a society where divorce rates approach 50%, that's pretty remarkable.

This also got me thinking about what that example has been. I think what I've seen from both our parents is an enduring love...not a "mushy, oh I'm so happy" type of love, but the kind that gets you through the ups and downs of life together. It's the kind of servant love that Jesus taught us about. I've also learned that marriage isn't a 50-50 deal. There are times when one spouse gives 100% and the other can't give much at all. That's where being willing to serve out of love is most important.

In my own parents marriage, I know it hasn't always been rosy. But through it all, my mom and dad stick together and work through the bad times together and enjoy the good times together. I've seen many of the same qualities in my wife's parents over the past 10 years. I hope that my wife and I are following these examples in our own marriage. I know I'm not the easiest person to put up with, so I'm sure she's following these examples every day.

This past weekend was great, but the best part is that now that I realize this, I will be forever grateful to the loving parents who have set these great examples for my wife and I.

What Can't They Do?

I've been trying to decide how to respond to the Health Care Reform vote (a.k.a. the screw you America vote) since Sunday. I've thought about comparing Barack Obama to a 3 year old who whined until he got his way. I've pondered going with anger and resentment. I've even thought about calling for term limits. None of those seemed quite right.

Then today a fellow conservative and all around good guy asked me a simple question..."If the Federal Government can mandate that you have to buy insurance, what can't they do?" I had no answer to that question at the time. He's right, now that Barack, Nancy and the gang have shredded the constitution and essentially told the American people to sit down and shut up, what can't they do? Sure, there will be court challenges to this, but those probably won't go anywhere. If the Republicans get power back, they can defund this monstrosity, but this precedent has been set, and frankly that scares me.

If they can mandate we buy health insurance, what else can they mandate? Well, since Michelle Obama is on this obesity kick, I'm sure she could convince her husband to mandate everyone join a gym. Why stop there, why not mandate that we have to go to the gym 3 times a week? Let the IRS track that too, because the IRS isn't big enough.

Hmmm, what else? They could go ahead and mandate that everyone must go to college. After all, the liberals run most colleges and universities, so they could indoctrinate more people on why giving up control to the Federal Government is good, and why nothing the Federal Government does is bad.

I'm sure some liberal is reading this right now and thinking...those are really good ideas. Yes, I'm illustrating absurdity by being absurd, to borrow a saying from Rush, but if you are like me, this is a scary precedent. We live in a Representative Republic, specifically so the government can go against the whims of the people when absolutely necessary, but I doubt the Founding Fathers ever intended this. This bill is horribly unpopular, accomplishes nothing substantial in terms of reducing health care costs, doesn't extend benefits to every American until 2019, and will lead to an even larger Federal Deficit, regardless of what the CBO says...funny how when Bush got numbers from the CBO for his tax cuts they weren't believable, but they are when Obama gets them. The people who wrote this bill exempted themselves and their staff from it, and they even admit it's "not perfect, but just a first step." There is no reason this ever should have happened.

Well, one reason....our President wanted this to happen. That shouldn't have been enough, last I checked we weren't a dictatorship, though the lines are blurring every day, but this time it was enough. Barack Obama's ego wanted this. He wants to be able to say he did something no other President could do. As he said on the campaign trail, he wants to fundamentally change this country. Sadly, he is going to change it into something that none of us recognize and few of us want. Barack Obama is attempting the same things that have failed everywhere they've been tried, and yet somehow he is delusional enough to think he will do them better. And, with this precedent, who can stop him...especially if Congress remains Democrat. This is a sad week in American history my friends, very sad indeed.