Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  I’ll be rooting for Kansas City Chiefs today…not because I don’t like the San Francisco 49ers, but because it’s been since 1969 that the Chiefs have played in a Super Bowl…now that’s a mighty long time!  Won’t it be terrific for Kansas City to win a Super Bowl again after all these years???  GO CHIEFS!!!

And Happy Groundhog’s Day!  I haven’t heard yet if the groundhog saw his shadow in Pennsylvania.  All I can say is that I think we should cancel the month of February except Valentine’s Day and the celebration of President Washington’s Birthday & President Lincoln’s Birthday…our two best presidents thus far!  I’m ready for Spring…how about you?

Speaking of celebrations, here’s to family friend Sara, who celebrated her birthday yesterday (Feb. 1st) and to long-time friend and better half of esteemed Kiwanian & beloved friend Gary, Joan, who celebrates her birthday tomorrow (Feb. 3rd).  Here’s to you two!  Happy Birthday wishes also go to one of my favorite comedians, Tom (Tommy) Smothers of “The Smothers Brothers’ Comedy Hour” fame, who turns 83 today; to Rock singer-musician Graham Nash, of “Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young” fame, who is 78 today; and to model Christie Brinkley (who looks mighty fine in a swimsuit!), who turns 66 today.  Here’s to all of you!

What do you think of all of the impeachment proceedings that have been going on for quite awhile?  It’s been pretty exhausting, I have to say.  I’ve gotten bits and pieces of it on public radio (I find that listening to something like this on public radio helps me focus on what is being said and eliminates some of the unnecessary distractions and theatrics that are played out on TV through the various cable channels that all seem to have a different axe to grind.  My take away from all of this is that, while the President acted inappropriately by trying to get a foreign government to investigate a political rival (he should have asked for an investigation of not only the Bidens, but any possible corruption that was taking place in Ukraine through our country’s Justice Department), it was difficult to conclude that his inappropriate actions rose to the level of an impeachable offense, based on the manner in which the House of Representative undertook their investigation.  Although due process can be messy and frustratingly slow, our nation’s founders wisely laid out that course of action to follow in the course of impeachment proceedings, something the Democratic members of the  House failed to follow in the rush to try and remove a President they don’t like from office.  Otherwise, the whole impeachment process becomes merely a partisan political effort.  The proper course would have been for them to pursue their efforts to obtain more evidence and witnesses through the courts.  Without the third branch of government having the opportunity to weigh in on the process, the impeachment proceedings didn’t pass the standards that our founders laid out.  I believe all parties involved in this process (the President & Congress) acted shamefully and it’s a real embarrassment for our nation.  Now it’s time to move on and get back to doing the people’s business and tackling the pressing problems of our time.  Enough of these distractions!  The people will have an opportunity to make their judgement on the President in the upcoming election.  As many of you know, I am no fan of our current President and wish we could find a more civil leader for our country.  I do agree with many of his administration’s foreign & domestic policies and we have seen improvement in many areas, especially our economy.  It will be interesting to see who the Democrats come up with as their nominee…hopefully someone who reflects where most people are at politically…somewhere around the center…neither strongly left nor strongly right.  I’m keeping an open mind on who I will ultimately vote for, but I must say I long for a strong third-party alternative to the current major parties…both are failing our country miserably…we need a party that will do a better job of bringing our country together.  Remember, in 1860 a third-party movement produced one of our greatest, if not THE greatest president in our nation’s history…Abraham Lincoln.  Perhaps it will happen again?

Speaking of good leaders, Spokane lost one last month when legendary Gonzaga Prep High School Football Coach Don Anderson passed away.  He led the Gonzaga Bullpup teams to a number of state football championships and Greater Spokane League championships.  He coached one of my former business associates, Ron Hawkins, when Ron led the team as quarterback to a championship in the 1980s, I believe.  Coach Anderson’s obituary described him as follows:

“Don was widely honored for his many achievements as an inspiring coach, accomplished athlete and encouraging teacher.  However, it was loving relationships with  his family, friends, and students that he most treasured throughout his life.”  Here’s to Coach Don Anderson and the inspiring legacy he leaves behind in the lives of his players and students.  A life well-lived, for sure!

Speaking of great football figures, I came across the 1969 Topps Football Card for one of my all-time favorite players, George Blanda of Oakland Raiders fame.  He holds the record of playing 26 seasons, the most seasons of any professional football player in history.  How about that?  He was born in 1927 in Youngwood, Pennsylvania.  His father was a coal miner.  He played high school football for Youngwood High School and went on to play college football at Kentucky under legendary football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.  Blanda was signed by the Chicago Bears in 1949 for $600, an amount that owner George Halas demanded back when he made the team, as Blanda was given a lucrative contract for much more money.  The amazing thing about Blanda is that he played a number of different positions throughout his career, but primarily won acclaim as a quarterback and place kicker, playing at a high level in both positions in games…quite an accomplishment!  Blanda played for the Chicago Bears for 8 years, the Houston Oilers for 8 years and then finished his career with the Oakland Raiders.  I remember as a kid watching him play for the Houston Oilers & the Oakland Raiders.  He was always one of my favorites…he played in some exciting games, as I recall!  I remember that he one more than one game through his field goal kicking skills.  George Blanda finished his 26 professional football seasons having completed 1,911 of 4,007 pass attempts for 26,920 yards and 236 touchdowns…AMAZING!  He holds the record with seven others for the most passing touchdowns in a game (7); the most seasons scoring a point (26) and was one of only two players to play in 4 different decades (he played in the 40s, 50s, 60s & 70s).  Not only that, he has the most PATS made (843) and attempted (959); he’s the oldest player to play in an NFL game at 48 years, 109 days old; he’s the first player in NFL history to score over 2,000 points; and the oldest quarterback to start a title game.  George was married to Betty Harris  from December 17, 1949 until his death on September 27, 2010, ten days after his 83rd birthday.  Here’s to the legendary George Blanda!  Thanks for all the terrific football games in which you played!

Here’s the word definition for the day:

Punctilious (punk-TIL-ee-uhs):  “Concerned with strict adherence to rules and codes of conduct…”Precise or nitpicky.”  Wouldn’t it be grand if our current political leaders would be “punctilious?”

Here are some thoughts for the day:

“I never played much golf as a kid.  I caddied quite a bit but never got serious into golf until about age 15.”

—Lee Trevino, PGA golfing great

“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God.  The world is crowded with Him.  He walks everywhere incognito.”

—C.S. Lewis, “Letters To Malcolm, Chiefly On Prayer”

Here’s to a great Super Bowl Sunday and “GO CHIEFS”!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)