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.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Unbiased History
Yesterday on a local conservative radio program, I heard discussion about the Texas American history text book controversy. In Texas, conservatives have taken control of the Texas State School Board, and are trying to order text books that put a different slant on U.S. history...specifically a conservative one. This is important because Texas orders more school text books than any other state, so as Texas goes, so goes the nation.
To his credit, the conservative host was against this mostly. While he agreed that some balance is needed in the history curriculum in this country and even applauded some of the suggested changes, he said the conservatives should run this organization with more class than the liberals who have run education in this country for years. And, to the Texas State school board's credit, some of their suggested changes do make a lot of sense...I was unaware that many American history curriculms are now glossing over the fact that this country was founded on religious principles.
Here's my thought...teach what happened!!! It's history, it's already happened, and we know what happened. Teach that! Don't slant it to emphasize anything...tell these kids what happened, good and bad, and let the kids figure it out for themselves.
For example, we should be teaching that this country was founded by people seeking religious freedom, and it was founded on a religious code...specifically the 10 commandments. That is fact! For some reason, liberals have seen fit to de-emphasize this, and the conservatives want to put that back in. We should also teach about slavery and the civil rights movement. The conservatives want to lessen the emphasis on that. We need to teach both!
These conservatives in Texas should be ashamed of themselves. Some have suggested they are doing this to prove a point to the liberals, and will come back to a more reasoned stance, and I hope that is right. As conservatives, we need to be better than the liberals, and we need to trust that our children will make the correct choices when given all the facts.
Our education system is failing our children for many reasons, but this is one of them. The education system should not be a tool used to breed a certain type of political thinking. Instead, it should be used to teach our children the skills they need to survive in this world, and a strong knowledge of history, all history, is important. If we don't understand our history, we are doomed to repeat it.
To his credit, the conservative host was against this mostly. While he agreed that some balance is needed in the history curriculum in this country and even applauded some of the suggested changes, he said the conservatives should run this organization with more class than the liberals who have run education in this country for years. And, to the Texas State school board's credit, some of their suggested changes do make a lot of sense...I was unaware that many American history curriculms are now glossing over the fact that this country was founded on religious principles.
Here's my thought...teach what happened!!! It's history, it's already happened, and we know what happened. Teach that! Don't slant it to emphasize anything...tell these kids what happened, good and bad, and let the kids figure it out for themselves.
For example, we should be teaching that this country was founded by people seeking religious freedom, and it was founded on a religious code...specifically the 10 commandments. That is fact! For some reason, liberals have seen fit to de-emphasize this, and the conservatives want to put that back in. We should also teach about slavery and the civil rights movement. The conservatives want to lessen the emphasis on that. We need to teach both!
These conservatives in Texas should be ashamed of themselves. Some have suggested they are doing this to prove a point to the liberals, and will come back to a more reasoned stance, and I hope that is right. As conservatives, we need to be better than the liberals, and we need to trust that our children will make the correct choices when given all the facts.
Our education system is failing our children for many reasons, but this is one of them. The education system should not be a tool used to breed a certain type of political thinking. Instead, it should be used to teach our children the skills they need to survive in this world, and a strong knowledge of history, all history, is important. If we don't understand our history, we are doomed to repeat it.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Daylight Savings Time - Pros and Cons
On Sunday morning at 2 a.m., we officially "sprung forward" and began daylight savings time. As someone who had to play piano at the 7 a.m. mass this past Sunday, I was not a fan of daylight savings time this time around. Though, as a golfer, I love it when it lets me golf later in the evenings. And, that's really the idea...give us more time in the summer evenings to enjoy the outdoors.
However, daylight savings time is fraught with problems, and I'm not just talking about 7 a.m. mass. For example, this past weekend, everybody's weekend got shortened by 1 hour. Sure, you get it back in the fall, but it never feels quite the same. Also, since it's darker in the morning once daylight savings time hits, it's much harder to get up and go to work. There's a bit of a safety concern with this as well, because kids are waiting for school buses when it's darker, and groggy people are driving to work in the dark.
On the bright side, it's not dark when I drive home anymore, which is nice. Nothing is more tedious than going to work when it's dark and coming home when it's dark. Also, as stated, when it's golf season, it's really nice to have that extra hour of daylight. I guess it's nice when mowing too, but who wants to talk about yard work at a time like this?
I guess I'm on the fence about Daylight Savings time. It annoys me, but it also has benefits. I've always lived with it, so I don't know any difference. I got it...how about we spring forward and stay there? Permanent daylight savings time. That might just be crazy enough to work!
However, daylight savings time is fraught with problems, and I'm not just talking about 7 a.m. mass. For example, this past weekend, everybody's weekend got shortened by 1 hour. Sure, you get it back in the fall, but it never feels quite the same. Also, since it's darker in the morning once daylight savings time hits, it's much harder to get up and go to work. There's a bit of a safety concern with this as well, because kids are waiting for school buses when it's darker, and groggy people are driving to work in the dark.
On the bright side, it's not dark when I drive home anymore, which is nice. Nothing is more tedious than going to work when it's dark and coming home when it's dark. Also, as stated, when it's golf season, it's really nice to have that extra hour of daylight. I guess it's nice when mowing too, but who wants to talk about yard work at a time like this?
I guess I'm on the fence about Daylight Savings time. It annoys me, but it also has benefits. I've always lived with it, so I don't know any difference. I got it...how about we spring forward and stay there? Permanent daylight savings time. That might just be crazy enough to work!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Book Review: "The Last Olympian"
I finished the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series this week. The final book, "The Last Olympian" caps off the series very well. Rick Riordan is now one of my favorite authors. Anyone who can put together a series that rivals Harry Potter is top notch in my book.
In "The Last Olympian", the final battle against the Titans is looming. Percy is nearing his destiny, and he's not sure if he's prepared. Fortunately for Percy he has Annabeth, Grover, Tyson, Nico and Thalia to help him along the way. Does Percy find it within himself to be the leader his friends need, and fulfill the prophecy, or will the Titans destroy Western Civilization?
In a lot of ways, I liked this book more than the final Harry Potter book. What I really liked is the wrap-up. There were 3 chapters of wrap-up, rather than a cryptic final chapter that leaves lots of open questions. One struggle I had with "The Last Olympian" was putting it down. It's about 335 pages of battles, followed by 50 pages of wrap-up. Very difficult to put down when it's just one battle after another.
The biggest issue for me is the same issue I always have when I finish a series like this...the sadness of being done. I love to read series like this, and I hate to finish them. These books brought me so much joy, and it's sad to see it go. I can't wait to read these books again with my kids when they are older.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Now That's a Movie Trailer!
In just a little under 3 weeks, the first highly anticipated film of 2010 will be released. "Clash of the Titans" is a remake of the original 1981 film that employed stop-motion animation for the monsters and starred Harry Hamlin as Perseus and Laurence Olivier as Zeus. This one looks like it will be a little better, at least in the animation department. Plus, Liam Neeson saying "Release the Kraken!" is going to be most excellent.
Here's a link to the trailer: Clash of the Titan's Trailer
I would have embedded a video, but the embedding doesn't work so well in my opinion. After you watch this trailer, ask yourself, "is that the best trailer I've ever seen?" I'm guessing your answer will be yes. Never has a trailer gotten me so psyched up for a movie. Now, the movie may be terrible, but from that trailer, I anticipate nothing but action packed goodness and joy. If I were making a movie, I'd hire who ever cut that trailer to do mine...that's how good it is.
I'm thinking this may be an opening weekend movie, so look for a review in 3 weeks or so.
Here's a link to the trailer: Clash of the Titan's Trailer
I would have embedded a video, but the embedding doesn't work so well in my opinion. After you watch this trailer, ask yourself, "is that the best trailer I've ever seen?" I'm guessing your answer will be yes. Never has a trailer gotten me so psyched up for a movie. Now, the movie may be terrible, but from that trailer, I anticipate nothing but action packed goodness and joy. If I were making a movie, I'd hire who ever cut that trailer to do mine...that's how good it is.
I'm thinking this may be an opening weekend movie, so look for a review in 3 weeks or so.
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