NCAA brackets, Pravda, etc.
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
With a secure, good-faith bank loan of $5 in hand, my NCAA college basketball tournament bracket is now complete.
I have the cats winning it all.
Maybe it's the Wildcats, maybe it's the Bearcats, maybe it's the Bobcats (good luck, OU) or maybe it's the Tigers.
But I won't reveal my bracket until all bets are in.
Frankly, I'm tired of having my efforts, be they professional or otherwise, stolen or plagiarized, so fill out your own bracket!
* * *
There's something about a sunny, 60-degree day in late winter that brings a body back to life. Today was one of those days.
After working a few hours on some lingering housekeeping matters, I decided to make the best of the rarity of a 64-degree weekend afternoon in early March.
That could only mean three things: Colin and I played baseball, football and basketball, in that order. We played our first three games of one-on-one basketball on a warm Sunday afternoon. The Old Guy won the first two games. The Tall Guy won the third and final game.
As the years have taken away my speed and quickness on the court, I'm left with a relatively few "tricks." Trouble is, after a game or three, my son catches on to the head fakes, ball fakes and fade-aways. He's a sharp one, don't you know.
While I try to convince myself that the early season victories were earned, the reality is that I can no longer defeat my son, who is 17 and just over six feet tall (with a wing span that would make monkeys envious).
By the end of this summer, Colin will have won many more basketball games than his old man. But I will take a measure of solace in knowing that I can still play and, more importantly, that my son does have some mercy in his soul. (Though not very much.)
* * *
On a completely different court – this one of the public opinion kind – I found myself in rare agreement with local liberal John Hiestand this weekend.
John called out one of those anonymous online commenters (Salted Again) for lacking the intestinal fortitude to identify himself (or herself).
John has a good point (for a change). When he posts comments or submits letters to the editor, John always – to the best of my knowledge – identifies himself. So does Charles Leach.
That takes a measure of courage that anonymous writers like A. Blinkin and the Salted one don't have.
For the past few months, I've deleted the vast majority of the anonymous online postings. Yes, there are exceptions, when the rules of good taste are followed. But those who think they can attack public officials behind some wall of secrecy have come to the wrong place.
Our rules of etiquette are relatively simply and easy to follow:
• Have something worth saying.
• Say it politely.
• Avoid name-calling and potentially slanderous remarks.
We don't have to agree with your comments. But we do have to find some value in them. If you don't have anything worth saying, we'll give your comments their just due.
* * *
One last item of note this week comes from english.pravda.ru.
Which reminds me: Creed Culbreath and I once hosted a group of journalists from Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan back in 1996.
I recall asking (through our interpreter) at the Wooden Spoon Restaurant, "Is there any Pravda in Pravda?"
"Pravda," of course, means truth.
That said, I'll leave the following to your own interpretations.
From english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/07-03-2012/120708-arizona_sheriff_obama-0/# we read by Dianna Cotter:
"A singularly remarkable event has taken place in the United States of America. This event occurred in Arizona on March 1 and was an earth-shattering revelation. A long-awaited press conference was given by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a five-time elected sheriff, which should have made national and international headlines.
"Arpaio's credentials include serving in the U.S. Army from 1950-53, service as a federal narcotics agent serving in countries all over the world with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and he served as the head of the Arizona DEA. Without doubt, this is a serious law enforcement officer, not one to be taken in by tin-foil-hat wearing loons. Yet, in the five days since his revelations, there has been little in the way of serious reporting on the findings he presented.
"With six short videos – www.wnd.com/2012/03/see-evidence-of-fraud-in-obama-birth-certificate/?c… – the sheriff and his team presented a devastating case, one the tame U.S. press is apparently unable to report."
We'll let the Pravda report go at that. If you are interested in watching the sheriff's report, the online links are readily available. If not, well, good for you.
We don't make this stuff up!
Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
I have the cats winning it all.
Maybe it's the Wildcats, maybe it's the Bearcats, maybe it's the Bobcats (good luck, OU) or maybe it's the Tigers.
But I won't reveal my bracket until all bets are in.
Frankly, I'm tired of having my efforts, be they professional or otherwise, stolen or plagiarized, so fill out your own bracket!
* * *
There's something about a sunny, 60-degree day in late winter that brings a body back to life. Today was one of those days.
After working a few hours on some lingering housekeeping matters, I decided to make the best of the rarity of a 64-degree weekend afternoon in early March.
That could only mean three things: Colin and I played baseball, football and basketball, in that order. We played our first three games of one-on-one basketball on a warm Sunday afternoon. The Old Guy won the first two games. The Tall Guy won the third and final game.
As the years have taken away my speed and quickness on the court, I'm left with a relatively few "tricks." Trouble is, after a game or three, my son catches on to the head fakes, ball fakes and fade-aways. He's a sharp one, don't you know.
While I try to convince myself that the early season victories were earned, the reality is that I can no longer defeat my son, who is 17 and just over six feet tall (with a wing span that would make monkeys envious).
By the end of this summer, Colin will have won many more basketball games than his old man. But I will take a measure of solace in knowing that I can still play and, more importantly, that my son does have some mercy in his soul. (Though not very much.)
* * *
On a completely different court – this one of the public opinion kind – I found myself in rare agreement with local liberal John Hiestand this weekend.
John called out one of those anonymous online commenters (Salted Again) for lacking the intestinal fortitude to identify himself (or herself).
John has a good point (for a change). When he posts comments or submits letters to the editor, John always – to the best of my knowledge – identifies himself. So does Charles Leach.
That takes a measure of courage that anonymous writers like A. Blinkin and the Salted one don't have.
For the past few months, I've deleted the vast majority of the anonymous online postings. Yes, there are exceptions, when the rules of good taste are followed. But those who think they can attack public officials behind some wall of secrecy have come to the wrong place.
Our rules of etiquette are relatively simply and easy to follow:
• Have something worth saying.
• Say it politely.
• Avoid name-calling and potentially slanderous remarks.
We don't have to agree with your comments. But we do have to find some value in them. If you don't have anything worth saying, we'll give your comments their just due.
* * *
One last item of note this week comes from english.pravda.ru.
Which reminds me: Creed Culbreath and I once hosted a group of journalists from Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan back in 1996.
I recall asking (through our interpreter) at the Wooden Spoon Restaurant, "Is there any Pravda in Pravda?"
"Pravda," of course, means truth.
That said, I'll leave the following to your own interpretations.
From english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/07-03-2012/120708-arizona_sheriff_obama-0/# we read by Dianna Cotter:
"A singularly remarkable event has taken place in the United States of America. This event occurred in Arizona on March 1 and was an earth-shattering revelation. A long-awaited press conference was given by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a five-time elected sheriff, which should have made national and international headlines.
"Arpaio's credentials include serving in the U.S. Army from 1950-53, service as a federal narcotics agent serving in countries all over the world with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and he served as the head of the Arizona DEA. Without doubt, this is a serious law enforcement officer, not one to be taken in by tin-foil-hat wearing loons. Yet, in the five days since his revelations, there has been little in the way of serious reporting on the findings he presented.
"With six short videos – www.wnd.com/2012/03/see-evidence-of-fraud-in-obama-birth-certificate/?c… – the sheriff and his team presented a devastating case, one the tame U.S. press is apparently unable to report."
We'll let the Pravda report go at that. If you are interested in watching the sheriff's report, the online links are readily available. If not, well, good for you.
We don't make this stuff up!
Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]