Tag Archives: Ryan

Flowers for the Girls

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My little bride and Elder Daughter received bouquets like this one yesterday. Somehow, it’s become a tradition that I send them flowers on the anniversary of Buddy’s death.

I’m delighted to be able to send them. I enjoy their sincere thanks for their beautiful flowers.

And, as long as I draw breath, and can afford it, the tradition will continue. I just wish that the circumstances that gave rise to this annual ritual were totally different.

Remembering Buddy again. Too much potential, gone too soon.

We soldier on.

-k-

10 Years

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Man, 10 years.
That’s calendar time, though a year or two is missing from my recollection.
Missing, but filled by a dull ache.
A couple of things:
You were not as bad a dumbass as I thought;
I’ m not as evil a stepfather as you may have thought.
—
I wish we could talk over a beer,
and head to the pool hall to play pinball.
—
In Memory of Ryan, 5/29/1968 – 11/8/1997.

NASCAR HotPass Lineup

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The drivers, and important numbers for todays running of the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway are as follows:

#31-Jeff Burton, 795
#11-Denny Hamlin, 796
#24-Jeff Gordon, 797
#12-Ryan Newman, 798
#99-Carl Edwards, 799

Dale Jr is not in his familiar channel 799 slot today; presumably, winning the pole will make up for that.

-k-
H/T: Jayski.
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The Buddy Lily

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I write from time to time about our son Ryan, who died long before his time as far as SWMBO and I are concerned. We always called him Buddy. Our church had a long-standing custom where congregants could purchase an Easter lily, fill out an “In Memory of ..” form, and have it displayed on the altar for Easter services. The lily was then yours to take home after the late service.

So, after Buddy’s death, we’d buy a lily, dutifully bring it home after the service, and put it beside George the ficus tree 1 whereupon the lily would die in the first week we had it. And not just a turning brown; no, these poor plants would turn black, shrivel to nothing, leaving only a pot full of dirt. As years went by, we repeated this ritual, until I suggested to SWMBO that we couldn’t keep torturing these lilies forever, and proposed that she dig a hole beside the fence out back, plant the lily, and at least give it a fighting chance to survive.

To the results are pictured above, and in spite of the fact that Easter is long gone, this is the time of year these things bloom in Northern Virginia.

Easter or not, when this plant blooms, we think of Buddy.

-k-

This picture posted with the click to embiggen feature, if you’re here at the tbbs site.

1 I name computers; SWMBO names plants.

Memorializing

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Happy Memorial Day! A day off. Always a good thing. We’ve seen yesterday’s race cars, many in military service livery, roar around the track. President Bush has made the visit to Arlington, to adorn the Tomb of the Unknowns. All this is right and proper.

I don’t know anyone who has given up their life in service to the country. I don’t know a family who has suffered the loss of a loved one who died in service to their country.

So, I always take time out to remember my own friends and buddies who have passed on; my life is not as rich without them, and I note them here:

  • Terry Collins.
  • Van Plankey.
  • Dale Sunnquist.
  • Ryan Carver. 1
  • Dale Slusher.
  • Rob Smiley.

These guys, one and all, have enriched my stay here on earth, and I’ll never forget any of them.

-k-

1 He’d be 39 tomorrow.

A Tale of Two Networks

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I’d previously bemoaned the fact that my brother-in-law’s CableCo doesn’t carry the NFL Network, resulting in our not watching the Kansas City Chieves on Thanksgiving night. Scott, aka The Fat Guy, suffered through listening to his Cowpokes on the radio, since he couldn’t get NFLnet.

Only yesterday, I wrote about NASCAR’s HotPass package for 2007.

Let’s compare and contrast the two plans:

Neither the NFL nor NASCAR is ashamed to squeeze the last nickel out of fans, but the NFL’s network is in the position of browbeating CableCos, SatelliteCos, et.al., into carrying it. And the NFL wants the carriers to pay them up front, and oh by the way, please put NFLnet in your base package lineup. The result is spotty coverage for the network at best, and the ones who lose are the fans, who are deprived of the chance to see their team play. To say nothing of market penetration and such.

Now, look at NASCAR. Fox Sports has paid dearly to carry NASCAR events next year; on their own, Fox developed the HotPass idea, ran it by NASCAR, who loved it. Presumably, NASCAR got paid again for HotPass. Fox is providing the additional cameras, equipment, and announcers to make it a reality. Now, Fox has subscriptions to sell, with making a profit in mind. In the meantime, conventional race coverage is not affected; fans won’t miss out on what they’ve had for years. Those who opt-in can have a real value add in HotPass.

So let’s sum up: NFLNet tries to squeeze out more money, by providing just another means to distribute an existing product. It can hardly be argued that Bryant Gumbel and Chris Collinsworth bring much to the microphone to make the telecasts sizzle.

NASCAR, having already been paid, probably twice, provides another way for the fans to enjoy the sport, without taking away what anyone already has.

-k-

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It’s Only a Game

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The NCAA’s campaign against “politically incorrect” team mascots and logos has hit a little snag in North Dakota, where a judge has blocked the banning of the name North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

From the article, this gem of illumination from the NCAA:

The NCAA, which designed its policy to avoid a confrontation in court, issued a written statement saying it still expected to prevail.

“We are disappointed in the preliminary ruling but will continue to defend the NCAA’s right and responsibility to enact guidelines in the best interest of our member schools, our student-athletes and our fans,” the statement said.

This probably means that at best, the NCAA is scared shitless of lawsuits against them; at worst, that their desire is to achieve a homogenous clump of schools, each with about zero distinguishing characteristics. As far as the student-athlete label goes, everybody knows that’s utter nonsense. The late, great, Paul “Bear” Bryant summed it up best years ago with these words:

It’s pretty hard to rally around a math class.

Indeed.

-k-

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Buddy

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It seems like only yesterday, and also like a hundred years.
Still loved, Still remembered, Still missed.
In Memory of Ryan, 5/29/1968 – 11/8/1997

The Fall Challenge Begins

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The Nextel Cup Fall Challenge has started at Fantasy Sports. Point totals are reset to zero, and new teams are picked. As it turns out, the $10 million funny money salary cap was not sufficient to reconstitute my team from the Spring Challenge. So I pieced together a new crew, and after race one, I rank 1174th out of 8707 teams. Not a terrible first race. But, to indulge in some richly deserved whining, I’ll point out I’d have been a lot better if Ryan Newman had shown some patience, and not wrecked Tony Stewart on lap 100 of 300. Newman was a lap down, and Tony was leading at the time. I trust that mentioning that Tony is on my team is redundant at this point. And, I’d always thought more of Newman than that. However, 4 laps later, Newman got taken out by the hapless Michael Waltrip. I wish no one ill, but this latter incident brought a smile to my old face. Prompt justice is nice sometimes.

-k-

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Kansas Weather

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I really do miss Kansas. Even scenes like this. Storms have incredible power, along with an island of peace and tranquility that you can see, even though it might be afar off.

I came across this site today, which chronicles one episode in the life of a Nebraska storm chaser. On this day, his chasing took him from Kearney NE to Holdredge, then south to Kansas, through Norton, and east on Highway 36. The article is liberally illustrated with photos such as these, and deserves a look. Check it out.

On another note, this photo is © 2006 by Ryan McGinnis. I also informed SWMBO tonight that I want one of these pictures framed and matted for my birthday a few months hence. We’ve got a good framing/matting place just down the road, and Ryan has these for sale on the site already referenced. I’ll email him tonight to get the details on the picture, so hopefully he’ll overlook my posting a drastically resized version of it here.

-k-