Torrent River of Swirling Thoughts

Number 1:

So like I was saying, everyone around here was watching it.  Everyone within 100 miles of KC was watching it.  27 other people were watching it.  If you are one of the aforementioned individuals, this post is not for you.  If you are one of the chosen from the last post, then this post is not for you (but you will appreciate it). 

Music is the only field, other than sports, where 50,000 people will go out of their minds crazy just to watch you do your job.  But here is why sports is better.  In music there is no chance of losing.  NKOTB never goes out on stage and has to worry about 98◦ out playing them.  There is no agony in watching Green Day work all year long, playing concert after concert only to lose out to JayZ.  That is not to say that music is in any way bad.  In fact anytime 50K peeps will act like maniacs because you walk around, it is cool, but still, sports wins.  Go find your sport and start playing.

Number 2:

I just started the Slow Regard of Silent Things.  I highly recommend that you read this, but you must follow Pat’s advice and neither buy it nor read it unless you are supposed to, and unless it is right.  His first two books are awesome and fantastic and super cool.  This one is simply beautiful

Number 3:

Do you like this new format?

Number 4:

I just had a great idea.  Chemo Christmas.  This is a new holiday that will be celebrated in February.  Here is how it works.  On Chemo Christmas, you celebrate the magic of western medicine’s ability to figure out that they can make stuff that will kill the bad parts faster than the good parts.  You celebrate this by giving a gift to someone who’s life has been affected by chemotherapy.  The gift does not need to be, and should not be, big or expensive.  It should just be something to say, “I am glad that because of chemotherapy you are here to receive this gift.”  The gift is not really for the patient, but for the collective intelligence and spirit of every doctor, scientist, nurse, and patient who has ever been involved in cancer research.  This new holiday will be celebrated on the first day after the tenth day of the second month of the year.

Number 5:

I have been working on a train of thought regarding the difference between excellence and greatness.  That will be in a future post.

Number 6: 

Tonight pour a drink and raise your glasses for Cole, the first of the three most awesome dudes ever.

Sports

I have been instructed by my therapist to start blogging again.  Apparently I have been kind of an ass lately....wait....hold on....it's coming............I am always kind of an ass (or a kind of ass, or a kind ass, or one of the asskind (a race of grammarain warrariors from the south of france).  Oh well, I am here might as well make the best of it.

Details on Cole to follow, but I would be remiss in my duties as el entrenador grande if I did not first speak to you about some sports stuff.  For those of you who are sports peeps, you already know this so feel free to jump down to the update section.  For those of you who either think sports are dumb, or refuse to let your kids play sports, keep reading.

This morning 7 4th and 5th graders stepped onto the pitch to do battle.  With no subs, this well coached group of mini-warriors fought epically for a half.  la They were like little possessed beasts.  They were flying to the ball.  At one point Cole literally.....literally...flew into an opposing player, who had at least 40 lbs on him, in an attempt to win the ball.  Their efforts paid off, and they jumped out to a 2-0 lead.  As the half wound down, the other team's best player (who will not have to pay for college) dropped a dime from 25 in the upper right corner, and then tapped in a rebound after we made an all star save.

2-2 at halftime.  As the soldiers prepared to finish the game, one comes to me and tells me that hA e has to leave.

The second half starts and we are down a man.  I gather the troops and give them the combination of St. Crispin's Day Speech, Any Given Sunday Speech, and Hooser's (for those sad sad few who don't know this one..."My team is on the field").  A great war cry erupted from the pre-pubescents, and I think that I actually saw fear in the other team's eyes.

The boys played with a fervor that I have not seen since lo these many years.  However, as the game wore on, and the attrition started to set in, the enemy was able to chip away at us.  Exhaustion.

Two goals were scored  late in the second half.  We rallied and got one back, but they were too strong, and we were missing a player, and they tacked on two more at the end.  6-3.

Now here is why this is important.  In the San Mateo AYSO U-10 league, the first five games do not count towards the tournament.  We did not win any of those games.  The last 5 do count.  Last week (a loss) was gave 6.  This week was game 7.  In case you were not paying attention, we have not won a game yet.  Also, in case you were not paying attention, we were down a man for half of the game today.

As the boys walked off the field in defeat today, almost every single one of them had tears in their eyes.  These tears were not just due to losing.  No.  They were the tears that come when you give everything you have to something, and then you give a little more, but you come up short.  Every boy today played his heart out, and I want them to hold their heads up high, but I know that they will not.  Sometimes the dagger thrust of defeat is too deep to heal in one night. So tonight as you go to bed you should know that there are 7 little men that have been wounded deeply today.  Tomorrow they will wake up, and maybe, they will take that pain and use it as a reminder to keep trying, keep fighting, keep going.  They will also know that there are 6 other people to whom they are connected, and with whom they share a bond that goes down to the very soul of their person.  That is why you play sports.

Now on to Cole (I know what you are thinking, why talk about cancer (which sucks) after talking about sport, but it must be done for a few reasons.  1) you want to know 2)Roberta would kill me if I don't and I have about 500 reasons to listen to her and c) it is a better update than the last one).  Cole has been on a new treatment that started right after the last time that we all got together and entered my brain.  It consists of some liquid medicine (which sounds chill but can literally....literally eat through a brand new quartz countertop), "normal" chemo meds ("normal" chem meds?  really, "normal"?  what does that even mean.  Well, I am glad you asked.  "normal" is the grown up word for a drug that is not experimental.), and various other otcs.

So far the treatment has been going well.  Not a victory, but not a loss.  New spots in the leg appear to have been eradicated.  All the old spots are still there, but they are not getting bigger.  In this game, ties are good.