Friday, July 27, 2012

Going for the Goal, Not the Glory

The other day I was watching the Braves game and backup catcher David Ross was being interviewed. All he wanted to talk about was the way the team was playing and praising starting catcher Brian McCann. Ross was hitting close to .300 at the time with a handful of home runs in limited playing time. He was hitting .375 with 3 home runs in his previous 5 games. Some people might have wanted to discuss their own accomplishments, but Ross just wanted to talk about other people's.

There's a minister at our church who preaches on Sunday's occasionally as a substitute for the senior pastor. I think he's actually a little better than the senior pastor to be honest, although that is a matter of preference. Bottom line, he is good enough to have his own church. But he cares so deeply for others and has such a passion for helping in the community that I know he feels like he can do more good focusing on that rather than preparing for a sermon each week.

Both of the above men are good enough at what they do to take a position elsewhere in the center of the stage. But they prefer to play a supporting role and do just that - support. They are humble. They believe they can make an equal or greater impact by excelling at what their job is and supporting the team/church/group as a whole.

I think that's really important. If you are working as a unit - as a group of people to achieve a goal - there may be only one person that will get the glory. But most of us are in the background and won't receive any glory when the goal is accomplished. It's hard to accept that at times when we know we were just as capable as the person who received the glory.

Supporting others is a great thing. If you can get to the point where other people's successes make you happier than your own successes, then you're a very very admirable person. Everyone should strive to go for the goal, not the glory.

Monday, July 23, 2012

How Long it Will be Until we see Penn State in a Bowl Game

Penn State 15th all-time in bowl appearances and 12th in bowl wins. They've been to a bowl game in 38 of the last 45 years. But when will they be back?

The NCAA threw the hammer on Penn State. This is worse than the death penalty in my opinion. The have to pay $60 million, lose 10 scholarships a year and can't have more than 65 scholarships for the next five years...plus no postseason for the next four years. I'm fine with the punishment, but this will hurt really bad.

Penn State is now basically a FCS team with a really big stadium. We'll see how many of their current players jump ship, I'm guessing it will be at least a handful. Recruiting is where this in going to kill them. How can they possibly convince anyone to commit to the 2013 class knowing they will not be able to compete for any kind of championship until their senior year....and by then Penn State will suck.

With the players that will leave, coaches that won't want to stay after a year or two, lack of recruiting and reduction in scholarships and, in turn, depth, I see 2013 - 2016 being 2-10 years...4-8 at best. They won't be able to at least sell the chance at postseason play for half their college careers to recruits until the 2014 class. The 2012 class is likely to break up, and 2013 will be beyond horrible.

Once they get past all the probation they'll be able to start over. But it will be like they are moving from FCS to FBS since they go from 65 scholarships to 85. Of course, they do have a 100,000+ seat stadium and a ton of money so it isn't exactly like the transition of South Alabama.

Penn State will be eligible for a bowl game again in 2016. They might be able to muster 6 wins by 2018 but it wouldn't be any more. They will need at least 4-5 years after all the probation is over before they can get back to sustained success. And by sustained success I mean back-to-back bowl games. I think we are looking at 10+ years from now until they can get to the point of trying to win 8-9 games. It will probably be 12-15 years before they can be a legit threat for a Big Ten championship again.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

100% Redneck

Uncle Si on Duck Dynasty. That is a true redneck right there. I wish I had the sack to wear that to a wedding/party. Wow.


Saturday, July 7, 2012

Grilled Flounder Sandwich

I went to the beach this past week and picked up some fresh fish. I also had a little bit of french bread left from a meal a couple of days ago. So I decided to combine these and it turned out great!

I took a filet of flounder and put some butter on it, then seasoned it with Tony's a and seasoned salt. Then I grilled it.

While it was grilling I cut two slices from my loaf of french bread and buttered one side, then stuck it in the oven for a couple of minutes. I also made my homemade tarter sauce which is: mayonnaise, diced jalapenos, just a little bit of horseradish, garlic salt and onion powder.

Spread some tarter sauce on both pieces of bread, then put the fish on the buttered side of the bread. Throw a piece of lettuce or a tomato on there to your desire. Great sandwich.