I've Moved!

The next latest and greatest incarnation of Canterbury's Tales is over at wordpress. I'll not likely be adding to this blog anymore but will leave it up for a while as a redirection for those who don't know of the move.

The new address is http://www.stormspotters.wordpress.com/ and the title of the blog is "A Post A Day".

Liberty's Library is still up and running by the way and can be found at http://www.jecanterbury.blogspot.com .

Looking forward to seeing you over at my new wordpress digs!

Grading the 2009 Columbus Blue Jackets Job Fair

Two months ago I received an e-mail from the Columbus Blue Jackets organization letting me know about their annual job fair. The message said that many different companies would be in attendance and they'd be looking for folks to fill positions such as IT support, sales, marketing, teaching, and internships. Since my job search has not gleaned much lately, I decided to buy my tickets then and there. They even threw in a ticket to the Blue Jackets game that night when you purchased your ticket for the fair so that was another reason to go.

Ever since then I've been patiently waiting for the fair. Today, my wait ended. But was it worth it?

I'm going to grade the job fair in five categories on a scale from 0-5 with 5 being the best.

ORGANIZATION:

3.5 out of 5

The set up for the fair itself was nicely spaced and took up the entire oval surrounding the hockey rink in Nationwide Arena. This allowed for good traffic flow.

Yet the mark down comes from the lack of helpful arena staff. Some folks received a map of the layout and where the companied were stationed. Others did not. Some folks got a list of what positions the companies were looking to fill. Others did not. I'll give you one guess as to who didn't get either of those!

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING:

2 out of 5

Of the 30 companies in attendance, 15 of them were either looking to fill unpaid internships OR were only handing out informational pamphlets about the company itself.

WHAT? Who is looking to support their family by getting an unpaid internship?

My favorite moment of lunacy came when I began talking with a representative at the Cardinal Health booth. We shook hands, exchanged names, and I asked her what positions her company was looking to fill. She proceeded to hand me information on how to fill out an online job search profile on their website. When my profile is completed, available positions matching my qualifications would be e-mailed to me.

WHAT? If I needed to go online to find a job with your company, why did I pay 30 bucks to come here? Better still, if that is all the help you are, what are you doing here?

PRICE:

4 out of 5

The only reason this number is not a 2 is the excellent play of the Columbus Blue Jackets in their game that took place three hours after the fair. They won their game 1-0 over the Ottawa Senators in a very physical, fast paced contest. Great goal tending by Steve Mason tonight. Very entertaining. It was my first NHL live game and I highly recommend going to see one.

QUALITY OF COMPANIES:

3 out of 5

This number would have been alot higher if the companies who were only looking to fill internships hadn't bothered to show up. If college students want to find internships in their chosen field of study, let their college/university help them find it. Or, they can do what I did, go out and make your own opportunities by giving companies a call or going online.

WORTH THE EFFORT:

2.5 out of 5

I stayed up until 3am making sure I had 15 updated business cards and 35 pristinely printed resumes on 20 and 24-pound paper stock. I only handed out 5 resumes and not a single business card. I spent 30 bucks in tickets, 15 bucks in parking, and 20 bucks for dinner (including 3 beers) and basically got a little buzz before watching a good hockey game.

The only saving grace besides the hockey game was getting to talk with the folks from Dale Carnegie. I had seen their company listed in the line-up and briefly looked them up online before the fair but I was pleasantly surprised at what they had to offer. I had a nice conversation with a very helpful and cheerful lady named Candice who seemed like she was genuinely interested in what I could do for her company. I'm very much looking forward to hearing back from the lady in charge of their corporate trainers (which is the positions I'm interested in learning more about).

OVERALL:

15 out of 25

If this was grade school, the 2009 Columbus Blue Jackets Job Fair would have received a 60% on its report card.

The only bright spots were the Blue Jackets themselves and three to five conversations I had with local business representatives.

Where the Fighting is

This is in response to yesterday's post concerning Covenant School beating Dallas Academy 100-0 in girls' basketball. While he disagrees with me in one respect, I enjoyed reading Mark Davis' opinion on the matter. I hope you do as well.

Here it is.

Mark Davis appears as a special contributor in the Dallas Morning News and can be heard on his local morning radio show weekdays 8:30 to 11 a.m. on WBAP-AM, News/Talk 820 in Dallas.

Coach Fired...for Winning?

The reason remains unclear but the girls' basketball team at Covenant School, a Christian high school near Dallas, Texas, is without a head coach.

On January 13th, Covenant beat the girls of Dallas Academy in a 100-point shutout. Yes, you read that right, the final score of the game was 100-0. Covenant led 59-0 at the half.

This story ,written by the Associated Press, says that Covenant school administrators apologized to Dallas Academy requesting that the game be forfeited. They expressed shame and embarrassment that their head coach, Micah Grimes, who run-up the score in a game that was far out of reach before the first half had ended.

The apology, in part, said,

"It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition".

Grimes, after having read the school's apology which was published in the Dallas Morning News as well as Covenant School's website, responded on the newspaper's online edition just yesterday:

"In response to the statement posted on The Covenant School Web site, I do not agree with the apology or the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel embarrassed or ashamed. We played the game as it was meant to be played. My values and my beliefs would not allow me to run up the score on any opponent, and it will not allow me to apologize for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity".

Today, Covenant School released Grimes from his duties as coach of the girls' team.

Very few details about the game itself have been made public thus far save for a 2-minute news story about how the Dallas Academy girls' team is taking their new found infamy.

That being said, if Coach Grimes was fired because of the way his team performed, then that truly is a shame! If Coach Grimes was fired because he publicly disagreed with his administrators, that too is tragic!

Since when has learning how to lose been a bad thing? Why must we shield our kids from defeat? Is it not through defeat that we learn our greatest lessons? After all it was Amos Bronson Alcott who said,

"Success is sweet and sweeter if long delayed and gotten through many struggles and defeats."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow also said,

"Noble souls, through dust and heat, rise from disaster and defeat the stronger."

Now don't get me wrong, there are steps a coach can and should take to lessen the blow on an over-matched squad. Replace your starters with your third string players for example. How about making ten passes before taking a shot. But, because we don't know what exactly happened in this game, how do we know Grimes didn't try to take it easy on Dallas Academy? Covenant was attempting three-pointers during the fourth quarter of the game but that is up for interpretation.

Even if he didn't go easy them, Grimes was hired to win basketball games not schedule basketball games. I don't think a 100-0 game is reason enough to fire anyone, especially considering the lessons the girls' team at Dallas Academy has taken from this experience, but if someone must get canned then let it be the athletic directors of both schools. They are the ones responsible for scheduling games and this one shouldn't have been scheduled in the first place.

And what of 'Christlike competition'? Is it Christlike to take obviously bad shots, miss shots on purpose, or post no defensive effort at all just to make it easier for David to get a morale boast over Goliath? Give me a break! What next, change the English vernacular of 'winners and losers' to 'winners and non-winners'?

What I find more disgusting than the unemployment of a winning coach, is the treatment of the story from the Associated Press. The AP goes to great lengths to paint Micah Grimes as cruel Bobby Knight wannabe running it up on a poor, defenseless, small, upstart Christian school where only 20 of its students are female. And don't you just feel sorry for the girls' team when you hear that the team only has 8 girls on it, some of whom have never played the game of basketball before.

Well, that Micah Grimes gets what he deserves then doesn't he? That savage! He's picking on GIRLS! Why, they don't even know how to play! Burn him! Burn him at the stake!

What the AP doesn't tell you is that the athletic director from Dallas Academy is rescheduling the rest of his team's season as to avoid any more underwhelming outcomes (The reason the AP USSR omits the information is so the reader continues to feel sorry for the young, helpless girls upon which this Grimes fiend is preying).

Really? Maybe it would have been nice if he had considered that before putting Covenant School on the schedule in the first place?

If someone is to lose his/her job it should be because he/she did not deliver on the job description. At last I knew, the job of a coach is to win games and put butts in the seats. Can't say I agree with the letting go of a coach who prepares his team well enough that the third string smokes a team 100-0.

What do you think?

America's Cancer

The other day, while filling out an online job application, I came across a check box that I'd never seen before. This box appeared at the very end of the application after all the obligatory identification and, more importantly, skills, work history, and educational information had been given. The line next to the box said something on the order of,

"If you feel you qualify as a diversity status candidate, check this box".

With my culturally dissenting opinion concerning the state of racism in America in mind, I clicked the box filling it in. I know what the human resource specialists meant when they included the word, "diversity", but I felt justified in my decision. Those HR folks will probably be a little miffed if or when they discover I'm a white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant male.

The same application also set aside a special place for me to declare my ethnicity. While the box took great pains to spell out that the applicant's information would in no way be factored into a hiring decision I knew it to be a rouse.

Due to the fear of political correct noncompliance, corporations must now prove the makeup of their workforce shows no favor one race over another. Yet this fear has blossomed into lunacy with the advent of the quota. It is the consequence of this fear that white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant males such as myself are an unwanted...make that less sought-after...hire.

For the purpose of self-preservation, I chose: "declined to identify". It is hard enough in this economy to find a good job that will translate into a great career, I don't need to be disqualified from consideration simply because I'm in the racial and/or gender majority.

Unfortunately, that is how the race card is played in America today. Federally funded colleges and universities, for example, aren't allowed to accept new students on the basis of academics alone but must make certain waivers for students of a particular race or ethnic group.

The University of Michigan gave 20 points out of a possible 150 to applicants if they were African-American. The U.S. Supreme Court struck this down, but still upheld that race should play a factor in the admissions process. ~ Whitney Blake, theFire.org

While I understand what the U of M and the Supreme Court are trying to accomplish, making concessions for something that is not within the bounds of human control does nothing but feed the cancer that has gripped America for decades: entitlement.

How is the race of an applicant going to make him/her a better or worse employee? How is race going to make one a better or worse student?

We as a nation need to make a collective statement that we no longer put up with racism. That our efforts to bring about equality in America are resolute. Our determination unwavering. We will not judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character as one celebrated civil rights leader once said. Let us throw off the spirit of hatred. Make it known that bigotry has no place among the hearts and minds of the children of liberty.

Yet how do we do this? We can start by learning three things.

1. There is no such thing as reverse racism. Racism is racism no matter in what direction it is hurled.
2. If born here or a naturalized citizen, you are an American first. I'm an American of European descent, not a European-American.
3. When we lift one race over another, we affirm their perceived affliction. This practice negates all of the hard work done to bring about true equality.
   

In 12 days, I'll be attending a career fair in Columbus. When I walk up to a corporate display and begin talking to the human resources specialist, I hope he/she will see me as a highly skilled, multi-talented, and university-educated prospective employee; not as someone who can't help them fill their "diversity quota".

The World's Most Delicious Hot Chocolate

My friends, my countrymen,

In the American season of Yule Tide, a good cup of hot chocolate plays a vital role. It matters not if you live in an area that sees feet of snow or inches of rain during the winter months, hot chocolate is a must-have. And while this has yet been proven, the quality of said hot chocolate directly affects the quality of your holiday experience.

This truth firmly implanted in my noodle, I have actively sought out the world's best hot chocolate recipe.

First, I tried the powdered varieties. Sure, the Swiss Miss packs taste chocolaty and yes, the premium and super premium powders at Kroger and Wal-Mart exceed the expectations for richness and flavor. But I always come away from this granulated beverages feeling let-down. They lack depth of flavor. Even if I substitute milk for water, it still leaves me wanting more yet getting less.

Then, I experimented with an old standby, Hershey's chocolate syrup and milk.

This combination has a more well-rounded flavor and is leaps and bounds above the powdered varieties. I am pleased when the host of the house offers me a cup of hot chocolate and it is made with milk and Hershey's syrup. It's the Honda Accord of hot chocolate; you pay a little more than the average but it's a quality ride from point A to point B. Hondas are nice but when it comes to hot chocolate I was a Rolls-Royce.

Tonight, I discovered a Rolls-Royce...fully loaded! I know! How could it possibly get any better, you ask? IT CAN'T!

1. Start by melting some semi-sweet chocolate pieces. Fill bowl #1 with hot water, then fill bowl #2 with chocolate pieces. Gently place bowl #2 into bowl #1, thus passively and thoroughly melting the chocolate to a smooth-syrup consistency.


2. Add the kick. Add one spoonful of peanut butter to the melted chocolate and stir until completely incorporated. Of course, if you are allergic to peanuts (or are too scared to experience hot chocolate as you've never before) leave out this step (wuss).


3. Heat up your milk. Pour the desired amount of milk into your favorite mug and microwave for 2.5 to 3 minutes depending on your "hot" preference.


4. Pour the chocolate/peanut butter mixture into heated milk. Duh. Then stir.


5. Add a dollop of Cool Whip (or homemade whipped cream if you have it).


6. And the Cherry on Top. Drizzle a small amount of Hershey's chocolate syrup on top.


7. Sip slowly with eyes closed and Christmas music softly playing in the background.

I made this recipe for the first time tonight and it has lifted my holiday cheer to new heights! Speaking of holiday cheer, if you wanted to add some to your HC, I'd suggest a peppermint, almond, or caramel flavor keeping in mind that you may want to subtract the peanut butter. Try it one way and then suit to taste.

I call it Hot Reese's because simply "hot chocolate" doesn't do it justice. Give it a try and then tell me how you like it!

A New Virtual Library

For those of you who may be interested, I have been archiving some of my past writings online. These writings are old college papers, e-mail to the youth of the church where I served as youth minister, short stories, blog/forum posts, and much more.

If you'd like to visit Liberty's Library and read a spell, go to www.jecanterbury.blogspot.com

Thank you and have a great evening!

Careful...Upsets Happen!

I was looking for some raw data concerning the history of upsets in The Game that I could turn into a blog post when I found someone already had. This article is taken verbatim from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. Complete credit goes to Doug Lesmerises.


As you read, keep in mind each team's record going into The Game this Saturday:


10 OHIO STATE: 9-2 (6-1)
M*CH*G*N: 3-8 (2-5)


**********

Since 1951, Woody Hayes' first year at Ohio State, OSU and Michigan have played 57 times. Eight times, the teams had the same record going into their rivalry game. One of those games ended in a tie, as did one other game.

Here's the breakdown on the other 48 games, in which the team with the better record has won 63 percent of the time. But since 1980, the team with the better record has won barely half the time.



COMPARING RECORDS

Since 1951


Team with the better record: 30-18
Michigan with the better record: 11-8
Ohio State with the better record: 19-10

Since 1980

Team with the better record: 13-12
Michigan with the better record: 7-5
Ohio State with the better record: 6-7


RANKED VS. UNRANKED

Since 1951

Ranked team against an unranked team: 7-6
Ranked Ohio State against unranked Michigan: 4-1
Ranked Michigan against unranked Ohio State: 3-5

Since 1980

Ranked team against an unranked team: 3-5
Ranked Ohio State against unranked Michigan: 1-1
Ranked Michigan against unranked Ohio State: 2-4


BIGGEST UPSETS

Here are the biggest upsets since 1951, when a ranked team lost to an unranked team or a team in the top two ranked to a team ranked much lower.

1952: No. 12 Michigan (5-3) vs. OSU (5-3): Ohio State wins, 27-7
**1969: No. 1 OSU (8-0) vs. No. 12 Michigan (7-2): Michigan wins, 24-12**
1981: No. 7 Michigan (8-2) vs. OSU (7-3): Ohio State wins, 14-9
1982: No. 13 Michigan (8-2) vs. OSU (7-3): Ohio State wins, 24-14
1993: No. 5 OSU (9-0-1) vs. Michigan (6-4): Michigan wins, 28-0
1995: No. 2 OSU (11-0) vs. No. 18 Michigan (8-3): Michigan wins, 31-23
1996: No. 2 OSU (10-0) vs. No. 21 Michigan (7-3): Michigan wins, 13-9
2001: No. 11 Michigan (8-2) vs. OSU (6-4): Ohio State wins, 26-20
2004: No. 7 Michigan (9-1) vs. OSU (6-4): Ohio State wins, 37-21



**James' note: Denotes the biggest upset in the history of The Game according to Ohio State football historians and Big Ten sports writers.


PROGRAM ART COURTESY: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, THE UNVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

A Little Ohio/M*ch*g*n History

I remember when I started hating that team up north.

I was living in Illinois, as I had since I was 5, so I didn't have the benefit of living in the 'Birthplace of Aviation' to have my OSU fandom nurtured. I had just started the seventh grade and my chemical science teacher was a smug, arrogant, feminist who insisted on making maize and blue references just about every day. I couldn't stand her in the least and she let me know that the feeling was mutual. So it was only logical that I hate the team she liked. You know, it's funny that hating M*ch*g*n felt so natural, so right.

Simply hating scUM wasn't enough, however. I couldn't deny the feeling of being virtually alone. I felt like an outsider undercover within the Midwestern kingdom of the Big Ten. All around me in the small farming community of Morton, IL were either hardcore Illini fans or had jumped on board Bo's bandwagon. About three months into school was when I realized that what I was missing was my own hometown team.

Champaign nor Ann Arbor could replace the city beside the Olentangy River. I realized I was an expatriate who longed to 'go back to old Columbus Town'. I couldn't be honest with myself and yell "Go Illini" and I certainly wasn't going to cheer on that team up north. So I embraced my Buckeyes, giving them my full sport-allegiance, and haven't looked back.

***

If you weren't born in these parts or if you haven't spent any time as a resident in the area, you probably don't know that the Ohio State - M*ch*g*n rivalry goes back further than American college football. It goes back beyond the War Between the States. It can be traced back to 1835 when a state/territory border came under dispute.

You can read a much more lengthy explanation of the Toledo War here but here is the basic storyline:

Both the state of Ohio and the territory of M*ch*g*n claimed this narrow strip of land from the Indiana line to the western edge of Lake Erie called the Toledo Strip. Depending on who you talk to, there was (according to Ohioians) or was not (M*ch*g*nd*rs) gunfire during the war but militia from both territories were mobile and active along the disputed ground. It took acts of Congress and President Andrew Jackson to force the territory up north to give Toledo to Ohio in exchange for the remaining land of what we now call the Upper Peninsula.

This was in 1836. It is now 2008 and I want my money back.

***

The first battle on the gridiron took place in 1897 between the perennial powerhouse M*ch*g*n Wolverines and an infant football club from Ohio State. The outcome was 34-0 in favor of the maize and blue. It wouldn't be until 1919 when Ohio State would get their first win in the series thanks in large part to the now legendary halfback Charles "Chic" Harley, who was Tim Tebow before Tim Tebow was Tim Tebow. The next two games also fell into OSU's win column again due in large part to Harley. This prompted the university to begin a campaign to build a football stadium near campus in Columbus. Ohio Stadium would be completed in 1922 and nicknamed, "The House that Chic Built".

The annual series, now known as The Game, hit the national spotlight in full force during a 10-year stretch of time when two men, who once had been assistant coaches for the same team, squared off in epic battles against each other to not only decide a conference championship but often a national championship. Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler became the four-star generals who would lead their armies into battle every November from 1969-1978 in the 10-Year War. Bo would claim victory in the 10-year war; his record 5-4-1. 1978 would be the last year Woody would ever coach the Buckeyes. He stuck a Clemson player who had just sealed a Gator Bowl win over Ohio State with a fourth-quarter interception.

***

It's been 18 years since I found Ohio State and made it mine. I don't hate my seventh grade chemical science teacher (anymore) but I still loathe those winged-helmet wearing bozos from Ann Arbor!

And I love every minute of it!

The record for the previous 104 games is 57-41-6 in favor of the team up north. This Saturday will mark the 105th meeting of, what ESPN in 2000 called, the greatest rivalry in all of sports and coach Jim Tressel, who has won 6 of the last 7 years, is expected to add another notch in the win column for O-HI-O.

Here's to an Ohio State record fifth win in a row over M*ch*g*n!

Here's to another pair of gold pants for the Buckeyes!

Here's to 57-42-6!

Here's to OH-IO!

Can He Really?

On the heels of a particularly historic evening in American history, I can't help but wonder about what the little-known, inexperienced, controversial Illinois senator turned President-elect Barack Obama is going to do once in office. 62 million of my countrymen think he is ready to occupy the oval office while 56 million would rather he prove he is ready for the job first.


How will a President Obama govern when it comes to tough issues? He has no record of governance on which to look back. When called upon to take a stand, Mr. Obama displayed an uncanny habit of voting 'present' therefore his voting record in the Senate cannot be drawn from confidently.


The future President of the several states has claimed, and even promised according to some of the pundits, a desire to work with both sides of the political aisle to solve America's problems. I hope that he makes good on his words because he's been in congress since 2004 and I haven't seen any substantial moves to the center.


Barack Obama has promised to scale down our military, especially when it comes to ICBMs, at a time when just today the President of Russia announces plans to place short-range missiles at the Polish border. Is this wise? Will he listen to the generals and commanders beneath him before he, a man with no military experience whatsoever, makes strategic maneuvers with our armed forces?

Barack Obama wants to personally sit down with leaders of rogue nations and discuss relations and other diplomatic exchanges without pre-conditions (but with 'preparation'...whatever the hell that means). While I appreciate that he wants to get his hands dirty in this face-to-face approach, I'm not sure I want both an executive and negotiating novice trying to 'talk down' a delusional mad-man with his finger on a nuclear hair-trigger? I'm not sure what Obama hopes to accomplish in so doing but I hope that for your sake and mine he is successful.



He has said time and time again that it isn't fair that the wealthy get to keep their money while there are those in this country who have to live without. He wants to 'spread the wealth' which means stealing money from those who have to give it to those who have proven they can't save or budget it. This is not about the well-off not being charitable, rather this is about the government taking money from the pockets of citizens against their will. Does that sound fair? I don't remember hearing this narrative as apart of the 'American dream'?



Mr. Obama claims that he has a better tax plan for the working families of America. However, I'm not sure he is square on what that means exactly. First he said that anyone making less than $250,000 will not see their taxes go up a single dime. Then, that figure changed to $200,000. Then Vice President-elect Joe Biden said that if you make $150,000 or less you would receive a tax cut. And who can forget Barack Obama's repeated statement, "under my tax plan, 95% of working families will get a tax cut"? Well, this too is suspect because Obama plans to do away with Bush's temporary tax cuts we are all enjoying right now. This means that in 2010, every one's taxes are going up. How is that good for America's working class?



Lest we forget Barack playing to the 'victim crowd" when he spoke of his grandmother's fear at being around young black men because she was a "typical white person". The portion of the black community that constantly feels victimized will chant about 'the struggle' for any reason at any time. However, now that a man of color has achieved the highest office in the land, is 'the struggle' over? I would think that most folks would say, "somewhat" or "largely so", but the truth is that as long as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Jeremiah Wright, et al. still roam the streets, Booker T. Washington's words will still ring true. Will President Barack Obama push the black community out of this mentality and toward true progress or will he coddle them for his political gain?



Yes, I could go on and on but I'm afraid my point is this:



I'm both amazed and bewildered that Barack Obama has being chosen as the 44th President of these United States. And for him and my nation I will pray.

Our Homecoming

It was a very warm summer morning. I didn't know it at the time but it was the dawning of a new era; a day that was filled with an unfamiliar excitement. My mom had tried to explain what "moving" was all about but my juvenile brain couldn't fully wrap around it.

Since rising earlier than usual, my brothers and sisters were frantically scurrying from room to room searching for items to secure in towering boxes that had been labeled with black marker. Every face wore the emotion of purpose. Everyone understood that there was work to be done before the movers arrived. Everyone but me. It was surreal walking around my house that morning and feeling an almost electric buzz in the air and not being sure of exactly what was going on.

Then the "Mayflower" pulled up to our front door. It was gigantic! To my bewildered eyes, the green and yellow 18-wheeler looked like a loose train car that had broken free from the track and rumbled to our house on Pepper Ct. As I stood with saucer-eyes and mouth agape, three guys dressed in blue jumpsuits hopped out of the truck and started into the kitchen. Slowly but surely, my house was emptying as the mayflower filled to the ceiling. Not long after they arrived, the moving crew had slammed the trailer door and my family piled into our two-toned brown suburban...it had been packed like we were going on a long trip. Two days later, I found all of my belongings in a new home, in a new neighborhood, in a new state.

It was 1983 when my family left Westerville, Ohio for Morton, Illinois. It wouldn't be until June of 2006 that I would return to the state of my birth. It would be two more years before I would really and truly come home to central Ohio.

Last Saturday, Amy and I successfully moved from NW Ohio to a suburb of Columbus, Ohio where family is just a few minutes away and my hometown is as close as it has been since I was 5 years old.

We are incredibly excited to move from what we've felt was a holding pattern in our life to the next step in growing as a family and as a married couple. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my ecstasy about being so close to my Ohio State Buckeyes, the only team in all of sports on whom my loyalty rests.

We look forward to what God has in store for us but we're hoping that my leaving meteorology and broadcasting after 7 years was a good decision. I've been trying to secure a new career in sales/advertising with little to no success. Please pray that my fortunes begin to align with God's plan for us!

Go Bucks!

President YOU!

President Canterbury, in his first one-hundred days, would:


*Seal the northern and southern borders. Beef up border patrol by re-assigning 50% of the national guard to said borders. If you are in the national guard, shouldn't more of you be "guarding the nation"?

*Work for the immediate drilling of any and all domestic oil resources with the least impact on the local environment. This while research is conducted on other alternative energy including natural gas, nuclear, geothermal, and hydroelectric. At the same time, offer a life-time tax holiday to the makers of the first viable and proven battery that can sufficiently store solar energy to power your home at night. Wind is not going to cut it folks! I'm just telling ya!

*Bring home 80% of our military personnel currently serving in Europe and Japan. The remaining 20% can "monitor the situation" just fine, thank you.

*Publicly call out every member of congress...this, the worst congress in American history...for not working together to get one single important piece of legislation passed. Then, work to set term limits.

*Strip down the Federal government's responsibilities to national defense, foreign policy, and homeland security (The supreme court will remain untouched). Everything else will fall under the jurisdiction of each of the several states.

*Halt any new legislation from the hopper until we have researched whether or not existing legislation would accomplish the same goal. Why enact new laws if we're not enforcing the ones we already have?

*Abolish the IRS.

*Adopt the gold standard.

*Enact the 5% income flat tax. This is plenty of money to cover all necessary programs and services taken on by the Federal government.

*Tell the UN to set up headquarters elsewhere.

*Discontinue billions and billions of foreign aid dollars that are just handed out like candy. If a country needs help so bad, they can ask for it. We reserve the right to say no.

*Cut all welfare and entitlement for those who can work but don't. You are endangering your family by your willingness to sit on your ass and shirk your responsibilities. Therefore, if you refuse to provide for them, your children will be removed from your "care" and placed in foster care.

*Work to only allow abortions for specific, medically-proven circumstances. This will be a compromise that I'd hate to make but fewer children killed is fewer children killed and that's the goal.

*Get out of the nation building business.

*Work to make the burning and general desecration of the U.S. Flag a crime punishable by fines and/or jail time. Look folks, I like free speech just as much as the next guy, but if you can yell "fire" in a movie theatre and get charged with inciting a riot, then you should be charged for destroying a national symbol that's proper care is clearly defined in the flag code.

*Remove all governmental influence from the bedrooms of consenting adults. If two guys or two girls want to get married, let the church make that call. It is not the job of the government to limit who can and can't get married.

*Allow each state the right to vote on legal drinking age. If they can decide their own speed limit, why not the drinking age?

*Find smoking bans unconstitutional that don't allow private businesses the right to serve both smoking and non-smoking clientele.

Then on day 101, I'm taking a nap!


What would you do?

To Raise Awareness

I just cannot stand this phrase! Why? It doesn't do the cause justice.

Think about it.

You are a speaker at a Light the Night Walk, a fund raiser for leukemia & lymphoma research. You've just come down from the stage after a heart-wrenching message to families and friends of survivors about your personal experience with the bastard that is blood cancer. The audience has been touched by hearing about the people lost to this evil. They have been moved to come to this event in memory or honor of a loved one and have pledged to do and give more to fight cancer.

As you descend from the stage, a reporter approaches you with microphone in hand and asks you why this event is important. And your response is, "Oh, we just want to raise awareness about leukemia and lymphoma.

Bull Crap!

Raising awareness just means more people know about your cause. You don't just want more people to KNOW about blood cancers, you want people to get pissed off that this diabolical disease can kill loved ones. You want folks to get off the couch and donate to local, state, and federal research organizations. You want medical professionals to discover symptoms that can be detected early for disease prevention.

You don't want wives to ask husbands, "Honey, are you aware of lymphoma?". You want neighbors to band together and raise money for the Light the Night Walk and participate in this sometimes life-changing event!

Please, if asked to give a quick interview on your event, don't cheapen all of the hard work, dedication and effort you and your team put into it by copping out with, "Oh we just want to raise awareness".

Let's just be honest, you don't want to raise awareness, you want to raise money. There is nothing wrong with wanting to raise money!

Just be honest and advance your cause.

Three times Ten equals birthday!

My favorite number is three. Has been ever since I knew I had a favorite number. Beyond the dozens of times that 3 appears in my life, I've discovered I also tend to categorize my favorite things into "Top 3s" rather than top 5s or 10s like most folks. For example, my Top 3 favorite foods are Pizza, Steak, and Waffles.



Today, my lovely wife made sure that I got all of my Top 3s for my 30th birthday!



Her day started at 8 in the AM. I thought she really wanted me to sleep in but she was really hard at work whipping up homemade waffles, tropical fruit, juices, and even decorated the house with balloons and party streamers for the family party later that day! I was greeted by all of this two hours later when I finally rolled out of bed.



Waffles. Check.



My parents and other immediate family arrived at our house not long after to go to Joey Fratello's Pizzeria for lunch. Joey Fratello's is a local success story around this area. The owner brought the business into a building, which had sustained flood damage, almost immediately after the record flood waters of the Blanchard River went down last August. It was a bold move especially when you consider the number of businesses that had to close up shop due to flood damage. One year later, his carry-out and eat-in business is going so well that he doesn't advertise...he doesn't have to, his restaurant is packed nearly everyday.



Pizza. Check.



After lunch, everyone came back to our place for cake and the bestowing of gifts for my major accomplishment (since when did surviving one more trip around the sun become an accomplishment? Oh well, I got presents for it). The party soon broke up and family parted ways to reconnect another time.



When dinner came around, I was sure we would be eating leftover Joey Fratello's...but no. My lovely bride mentioned that we were 2/3 of the way to a culinary tri-fecta and we were going to finish this race. Outback, here we come!



Steak. Check.



Ah, if everyday of my thirties is half this good, I'll be doing alright!



**********



If you would, please take 30 seconds to pray to the Lord God for a cure for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. A dear friend from my college days who is now a 28 year-old father of two very young girls was diagnosed just this week with this bastard of a disease. Please pray for him, his wife and girls, and his family and friends during this challenging time!

He Provides...

So, I was unemployed for a grand total of 55 hours.

Wow!

I knew something was brewing with a good friend of mine, Fred, who owns Gridirons Gifts and Collectibles in the Findlay Village Mall but I wasn't sure when he would be ready for me to begin taking hours.

Today was the day.

I worked 7 hours with him today and I'll be catching another 13 by closing on Friday evening. So, if you are in the area and wanna stop by, please do! Gridirons doesn't yet have a shop-able website but it's under construction and should be up and running within the next two weeks.

Once the site is up and online, all shipping and handling will be free for the first month. I'm just sayin'!

I know that this gig is temporary and doesn't pay what I was making at WTOL but I choose to look at this as God's way of rewarding those who are resolved to work their way through difficult times.

I can't do it without God and He won't do it without me!


*Picture taken at Gridirons on June 1, 2008, during Troy Smith Autograph show.

A 2008 Big Ten Preview

The teams that make up the Big Ten conference have a big job ahead of them. Theirs is the task of reshaping the national opinion of the Big Ten as a weak conference. What's the best way to gain the respect of college football nation? Win. Lots.

A few teams will improve on last year's record, some will continue to struggle, and still others will take a step back. Who will do what? How will the season take shape? What will the landscape look like as we prepare to go bowling? Here is my take heading into late December.

The Final 2008 Big Ten Standings.



1. OHIO STATE
8-0 12-0

Key Moments:
This team has 20 returning starters including three guaranteed first-day draft picks. OSU is loaded in most areas that matter. However, Todd Boeckman and the two receiver Brians Robiskie and Hartline are not spectacular. The Buckeyes will win what will be a great match up against USC in Los Angeles. Quarterback Mark Sanchez and a young offensive line will prove the Trojans undoing. Expect a 3 to 7 point victory for the Scarlet and Gray. Ohio State also has to travel to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison to face the only Big Ten team against whom Jim Tressel has a losing record. This will be a high energy, night game filled with back-and-forth action. The Badgers will have to survive a healthy diet of Chris "Beanie" Wells (and likely Terrelle Pryor) in order to stay within striking distance of Ohio State. This game should end with a 7 to 10 point victory for OSU. Will Jim Tressel increase his BCS Championship Game record to 2-2?

Bowl Game:
BCS National Championship Game (against Oklahoma, USC, or Georgia)





2. WISCONSIN
7-1 11-1

Key Moments:
To borrow a line from my favorite movie, Bret Bielema "doesn't suffer fools nor strikes a bargain with one". He knows what it takes to follow in the footsteps of Barry Alvarez; a man who took a program when it wasn't and made it into (according to SI) the Number one college football town in the country. Wisconsin is one of the few Big Ten schools to have successful records against SEC teams in the last 10 years and this focus on winning will not lax this year. Their only loss this season will come at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes in Madison. UW has incredible depth in a backfield that is led by P.J. Hill. Hill is cast in a similar mold as that of Ron Dayne; a big, bruising back who punishes those who come to tackle him. On Wisconsin.

Bowl Game:
BCS Rose Bowl (against USC, Oregon, or UCLA)





3. PENN STATE
5-3 8-4

Key Moments:
The Nittany Lions will show improvement over last years' conference record of 4-4. JoePa's team should bring a good air attack and a competitive rushing game. PSU's biggest emotional victory will be against a rebuilding and restructuring Michigan team while the biggest win of real consequence will come in South Bend against Charlie Weis and Notre Dame. And, yes, someone somewhere will wonder if this is JoePa's last season.

Bowl Game:
Capital One Bowl (against some SEC team that will win pretty handily)





4. ILLINOIS
5-3 8-4

Key Moments:
Gone is the back who allowed Ron Zook's spread offense to work so well, Rashard Mendenhall. J Lehman has exited the middle of the Illini linebacking core. Isaiah "Juice" Williams will continue to be a legit dual-threat signal caller but I see this team taking a step backwards this season due to the lacking ability to fill those voids. Illinois' biggest win will be in Happy Valley on September 27th but will suffer at the hands of Michigan, Wisconsin, and OSU. Faith in Ron Zook is well placed nonetheless because he knows how to recruit. So this down time will not last long.

Bowl Game:
The Outback Bowl (Save me a bloomin' onion)





5. MICHIGAN
4-3 8-4

Key Moments:
Rich Rodriguez's first year at Michigan will not be as bad as some have predicted as he'll score one more win than his counterpart in Columbus during his first campaign. Their similarities continue as RichRod must re-tune a group of instruments who are used to playing the song "three yards and a cloud of dust" into an orchestra blarring "catch me in open space if you can". This transition will take time to become fully incorporated as Michigan has few key returners. The number one pick in the 2008 NFL Draft Jake Long, Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Mario Manningham, and Shawn Crable are all gone. Should I mention Justin Boren? Maybe not. ***Upset Alert***Look for another first game loss this year as Utah comes to the Big House and stuns the winged helmets.

Bowl Game:
The Insight Bowl (college football's answer to Hollywood's, "Dude, Where's My Car")





6. MICHIGAN STATE
4-4 7-5

Key Moments:
Mark D'antonio has learned quite a bit from one year ago and Devon Ringer is still running strong. Those of you in Michigan have circled October 25th on your calendar. This is the game that I had the most difficulty calling. In a very close, likely overtime featuring game, I'm expecting the green and white to fall in the Big House in what amounts to the biggest rivalry game for State. It looks like this year will be one of those most typical for East Lansing...start 5-0 then inexplicably coming apart.

Bowl Game:
The Alamo Bowl (don't forget it)





7. PURDUE
4-4 7-5

Key Moments:
Revel in QB Curtis Painter and Head Coach Joe Tiller for one more year, boys and girls. Painter will be one of the top three Quarterbacks in terms of pass efficiency and passing yards in the Big Ten this year. It's too bad he has few targets to get the ball to. Purdue's biggest game will also take place in South Bend and it will be a close one. Actually I'm not entirely sold on Notre Dame losing this game especially if QB Jimmy Clausen is as good as he is hyped to be. Thankfully, PU doesn't play Wisconsin this year otherwise they would be registering three losses to the conferences historically top teams; Michigan, Ohio State, and the Badgers. Bang that big bass drum like there is no tomorrow for the old gold and black...that should lift your spirits.

Bowl Game:
Champs Sports Bowl (the winning team to receive a $50 gift card to Champs Sports)





8. NORTHWESTERN
2-6 6-6

Key Moments:
The Wildcats will have one of the three best backfields in the conference running free this year. However, don't look for great things out of the purple and white's defensive unit. Tyrell Sutton and QB C.J. Bacher will do what they can to bring a bowl game appearance to Evanston, IL (which will be enough to defeat Iowa in Iowa City on September 27th). If Iowa can survive Pittsburgh, NU will be staying home this December. If not, a confident Sutton will run this team to a bowl game. It's too bad football games are not won by G.P.A. These guys would be National Champions every year!

Bowl Game:
Motor City Bowl




9. INDIANA
2-6 5-7

Key Moments:
Last year, this team drew strength from each other after their head coach Terry Hoeppner died of cancer mid-season. His mantra, "play 13" became a source of motivation for the crimson and cream to reach their first bowl game since 1993 (during the Antwaan Randle El era). After a field goal in the last 30 seconds of their final game against Purdue, the dream was a reality as they won a spot in the Insight Bowl against Oklahoma State. They lost that game and it appears that the loss of momentum will carry over into this season. While the Hoosiers return RB Marcus Thigpen and QB Kellen Lewis, this team says goodbye to star receiver speedy James Hardy. This brings their three-dimensional offense down to 2-D. ***Upset Alert*** Ball State will be an interesting game in Bloomington on September 20. Good luck, IU, you'll need it.

Bowl Game:
NA





10. IOWA
2-6 4-8*

Key Moments:
The bright spot for Kirk Ferentz's team this year is the non-conference schedule. The bad news is the rest of the entire conference schedule save for Indiana and Minnesota. Even the Cyclones of Iowa State will have the Hawkeye's number in this year's rivalry game. It's a good thing the black and yellow plays the likes of Maine, Florida International. ***Upset Alert*** Pittsburgh will likely win their match up on September 20.

Bowl Game:
Toilet Bowl brought to you by Kohler




11. MINNESOTA
0-8 3-9

Key Moments:
A new outdoor stadium.

Bowl Game:
Where should we go for Christmas this year, kids?

Is the Environment finally winning?

Depends on who you ask.

Perhaps the better question is, "Are the Environmentalists finally winning?"

Every time you turn on the television there is another company, brand, or famous person proclaiming the benefits of "going green". While this is not a new occurrence, the shear number of said happenings is staggering these days. What is even more staggering is the reason for what you're seeing on TV. But more on that later.

When I say "winning" what do I mean? The environmentalist movement has been battling for your heart and mind since the 60s. Up until recently the battle has been, for the most part, uphill. Sure there have been some aerosol victories here and there. Yes, recycling is a big hit. Now, tuna is dolphin safe. But on the whole environmentalism has not been a major consideration in popular opinion. They have banged their drum, we have stopped to notice, and then returned to our lives unaffected.

I hearken you back to the years of "Save the Planet". A fair attempt by hippies to persuade the masses to take protective action on behalf of mother earth. This initiative fell short of a ground swell response. The main reason: too much scolding not enough sense-making. The populous was tired of being brow-beaten for all of the world's ills and was completely turned off to the message. With no one to listen to them, the beatniks beat it.

Then came the global cooling scare of the 1970s. Yep, for a few short years the natural community stepped to the plate wielding this little beauty. But this too, like so many other plights, failed to resonate with the vast majority of the American public. This time, the problem and its solution seemed too daunting for any one person to do anything about. A sentiment that is correct on so many levels. The activists got the point and shut up.

Lest we forget the hole in the o-zone layer of the late 1980s and early 90s. I swear when I was in sixth grade I was convinced that all of the girls in my youth group were guilty of my impending death thanks to the pounds of Aqua-net they put in their hair. I was sure I would be killed by skin cancer before my 12th birthday. That and Antarctica would be gone by the time I learned to drive. Of course neither happened. Few listened and the messengers got quiet.

The early 2000s brought a new message of mass hysteria. This time it was global warming. Probably the most formidable dreck of propaganda to date thanks in no small way to the ever stimulating wordsmith himself Al Gore and his wildly popular mockumentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". Top that off with the IPCC's findings that man was responsible for the degradation of the climate (imagine that) and you've got a massive campaign that could really make people freak...I mean think.

But this scheme too would fall victim to the truth. If the temperature isn't rising everywhere, then it can't be global warming. It's not so it isn't. Also, you can't swing a cat these days without hitting a scientist who has removed his/her name from the report thanks to it's wildly irresponsible accusations and highly speculative "scientific statistics and figures". As had all the others, this rallying cry too went silent.

However "global warming" morphed to "climate change " which is no better seeing as it is an oxymoron. Redundant if you will (and I will). The climate has always been in a constant state of change and it will be that way until Earth no longer exists (most scientists believe this will happen when the sun expands and swallows Mercury, Venus and Earth in several billion years).

Try as they might, the tree huggers are losing. That is until now.

There is one message from the environmentalist movement that is markedly different than all the others. This one refrains from placing blame on mankind. The marketing machine has not gone the way of a crying Native American standing on a roadside that is littered with garbage. No, my friends, this grass roots campaign has swept through the country and has not lost its steam. It is changing the way we live, the way we think, and the way we raise our children. What is this message?

It is two words: "Energy Efficient".

These two words are reverberating in American ears unlike any other Sierra Club attempt. Even the mildly popular "Go Green" can't top the massive response to changing the way we use, produce, and store energy. Car manufacturers are shutting down SUV and truck assembly plants and cranking out 2 and four-door sedans and smaller, more fuel efficient hybrids. Solar energy has more R&D money flowing into it than ever before.

Even oil companies such as BP and Marathon are researching new technologies for alternative energy sources as well as how to use different types of crude that we can't yet get to.

People are shutting off lights when leaving rooms and putting their work computers on standby when going to lunch. More and more folks are buying more fuel efficient cars or are plugging into mass transit systems. Motorcycle sales have skyrocketed in recent months and not since Plymouth Rock has corn played such an important role in the future of this country. Neighborhoods are featuring more and more bike riders every week.

Without "Energy Efficient" we would have never heard of E-85 or bio diesel let alone hybrid. Why even the car that runs on water is showing some promise in laboratory testing.

With this newly found sense of pride in reducing, reusing and recycling you would think that the green crowd would be thrusting their fists in the air in triumph.

While a few are, the rest know the dirty little secret to all of this success and it has nothing to do with wanting to save the polar bears or heal the earth.

What's the only reason for all of the environmental awareness?

Finally, after forty years of being told how bad we are and how costly it is going to be to fix the planet, it is actually saving you green to go green.

And that's the truth...no matter who you ask!

Super Delegates...Why?

If the Democratic party's super delegates can vote anyway they deem necessary, why let the people voice their opinion in primaries and caucuses? Doesn't it seem like a waste of time to tell people, "your vote matters", when in actuality, it doesn't?

Couldn't the same be said for the electoral college?

Do these two voting collectives need abolished?

Just be a Follower

In the broadcast industry, the time in between news shows is usually slow. The studio lights are off, the cameras have been pushed to the back wall, and the buzz of the people in the newsroom has dulled to a low hum. You can still hear a phone or two ringing, but the operation speed of the newsroom has declined by a great deal.


It is during these times that I have the opportunity to read e-mail, surf the Internet for fun mini-vacation ideas, check bank account statements, watch TV, or call family and friends to catch up on life and their little corner of the world. I also like to take these few hours to think, meditate on and read God's Word (via the Internet), and pray...not nearly as much as I should, however.


Several months ago I was sitting at my desk in between the 6 and 11 o'clock shows; I believe it was a Saturday evening. I was recalling a conversation I had with a dear friend of mine on benevolence. The simple act of giving. I remember discussing how different churches use the offering and which of these practices made no sense. For example, continuing to pay a youth minister when the vast majority of the congregation wasn't happy with the quality of his work. To dish out more and more of your congregants money like this is maddening! There are much more productive ways to use weekly contributions than that!


I'm not sure why, but after recounting that conversation my mind took flight. I began a series of thoughts along the lines of "If I Could Just be a Christian". My brain raced with all sorts of ideas of how Amy and I could spend our time if all we had to be concerned with was simply being Christ's followers. Of all the possibilities, my mind and heart came together solidly on one.


If I Could Just be a Christian I would work to bring the Bible, appropriately translated, to every nation in the world. That's it! If we didn't have to worry about providing money, health, security, safety, and a future to our families this is what I would do.


It sounds daunting. It sounds insurmountable. It sounds impossible. I know.



I once heard a joke that went, "You wanna make God laugh...tell Him your plans". I must have had the Almighty Creator of the Cosmos rolling out of His desk chair and on to the golden street outside of Heaven's Gates when he heard me think like that.


But what a mission that would be! The hours spent tracking down translators of rare languages, planning and coordinating with a church body in the host country, building relationships with its people, praying over the work and letting God have full control. Knowing that all the while you toil it is only God's grace and mercy that will give the increase.


That is truly living!


Imagine accompanying each and every delivery of God's saving Word to the people of a land controlled by tyrannical governments. Seeing the faces of those who are, at that very moment, braving pain of death just to have the chance to read their own copy of the New Testament would be almost too much to witness. Knowing not a single word of their native tongue but speaking Christs' love just by holding the hands of these brothers and sisters in Christ as ear-to-ear smiles go unceasing... talk about having a purpose!


I will likely never get that chance but...


If I Could Just be a Christian, I would take a translated Bible to every nation in the world.


What would you do?

Kwestions by Kenny Part II

Kenny Simpson, over at his blog, FootBaskTrack Coach has asked for opinions on whether or not the words of Rev. Wright have hurt Barack Obama's campaign. I responded on his site with only minor changes from what you'll read below. Join in on the discussion if you like.

____________________________________________________


Yes, Wright hurt him. I also think that Obama hurt himself.

While Obama did try and distance himself from Wright's comments somewhat, he did concede that "the anger is still there"...meaning the black community is still angry. In my view, this comment has done just as much damage do his campaign as the comments from Rev. Wright and I'll tell you why.

There is one key demographic that outshines all others in voter turnout and that is the white male. This article carefully and dutifully points out that this demographic is not racist but

"annoyed and disappointed when people of certain backgrounds exhibit behavior
that typifies the worst stereotypes of their race".

Let me point out that I do not think Obama typifies the worst stereotype of a black American. However, what you will find is the "Angry White Man" will be immediately turned off when he hears a rich, educated, accomplished black man say that "the anger is still there".

The "Angry White Man" will sit steaming red-faced as these words roll off the tongue of an affluent, Chicago-area lawyer who threw his maternal Grandmother under the bus last week when he said that in essence "white women are bred to be scared of young black men". Here is the full quote:

"... .. The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any
racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person who, uh, if she
sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know there's a reaction that's been
been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in
the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to
break through it..."

- Senator Barack Obama

I wished that race would not have been an issue in this campaign season (because it's not an issue) but the Democrats have let it be such.

I openly welcome the rebuttal of anyone who disagrees with me. I hope that, by listening to each other's point of view, we as Americans will learn to respect one another... which will bring us closer to true unity.

I will leave you with one final thought.

I hope you, dear reader, will check out http://www.tucc.org/ and look at the "About Us" section. Please read their 10-point vision for the black value system, read about their unconditional commitment to a black worship service, and read the words that say "black religious experience".

Then ask yourself...

Would this website be viewed in the same light if it was for a "white" church?