The Baby Ruth

One lazy summer a zillion years ago I was hanging out with Ronnie and Phillip at Randy's house in their fancy backyard patio. Randy was a little older than us and was just so cool. He had a Lionel electric train set with the fancy engine, and red caboose. He even had a special freight car that supposedly contained a Baby Ruth. We had been planning for days to play with the train and try and talk Randy again into tearing apart that freight car to see if there really was a candy bar inside. After running that train around the track only a couple of times, Randy's mom got home and came out to see what we were up to. She asked Randy if he had cleaned his room, as he had previously agreed to complete the task. He replied, "I'm busy Mom, I'll do it later." To which Mrs. A. replied, "Boys, it's time to leave. Randall can't play until his room is cleaned." This was followed by a lame attempt of negotiation, some yelling, tears, and as Mrs A. dragged Randy out of the patio, she exclaimed, "Come back another day." We dejectedly exited the play room as Mrs. A. locked the door behind us. We were so mad! Randy's mom was a real meanie. What was so important about having a clean bedroom, for heck's sake. Our plans were quashed! We were locked out!

Fast forward four and half decades later and history is repeating itself in the NBA. Unless, you have been holed up in a cave somewhere with Osama bin Laden's old buddies for the past several months, you know that the NBA owners and players finally came to their senses and ended their protracted lock-out. Free agency and work-outs started last Fri. Two of the most coveted commodities, Orlando center Dwight Howard and New Orleans point guard Chris Paul made it known they wanted out from their respective teams. So, the whirlwind began. The league's number one franchise, the LA Lakers worked out a 3 team trade that would bring Chris Paul to the Lakers and send Lakers Pau Gasol to the Rockets and Lamar Odom to the Hornets. But, hold on a sec.... The woeful Hornets are owned by the NBA....So, after this trade had been worked on for weeks, that old meanie Commissioner David Stern, stepped in at the last minute and nixed the deal! Just like Randy's mom. The fall-out?

Happier Days

Lamar Odom was crushed, didn't attend practice on Fri and then demanded a trade on Saturday. The Lakers accommodated him, sending him and Khloe to the defending champion Mavs, for a worthless draft pick and a trade exemption. Kobe is upset! Now that's not good! Meanwhile, Pau handled everything very professionally. Who would expect anything else? Supposedly the trade was later reworked, but ultimately, the Lakers pulled out. Then today, those hapless up and coming Clippers worked out their own deal for Chris Paul where they would have sent out their back up point guard and center Chris Kaman to the Magic for Paul. But, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Mean old Stern showed his ugly face again, telling the Clippers they needed to sweeten the deal by adding budding superstar Eric Gordon, a couple of other guys whose names I can't pronounce, their waterboy, Elgin Baylor, and at least two minority families, to be named later, that owner Donald Sterling had evicted from one of his properties! Needless to say, the Clips said, "No thanks."It looks like they may have to settle for Chauncey Billips who they just picked up on waivers from 12 Oaks Retirement home. And the Lakers? Supposedly they are working on 'two deals for marquee players' according to GM Mitch Kupchak. I hope he doesn't mean Jason Kapono and Josh McReynolds. Will the Lakers land Howard? Will they acquire the more needed point guard? Please, we can't go another season with D Fish as a starter.Without another significant move, the Lakers won't have quite enough to contend for a championship. Kobe's window is closing fast. Is the lock-out over or not? I'd venture to say our local teams would say no. Message to Stern: But out, dude! You are that mean old mom that ruined all the fun for everyone. Put your keys in your pocket and go away. Nobody wants to see or hear from you anymore. Maybe my old friend Randy could figure out a way to put you in that freight car with the Baby Ruth and send you off into oblivion!

ZOWIE IT'S MAUI!

Priceless!

Turtle in the Sky

Hagoth Arrives..

The last time Kar and I ventured to Maui was almost 34 years ago on our Honeymoon. We have been to the islands many times since, but somehow we always missed the Valley Isle. I used a medical seminar as an excuse to spend another week on the beach at Ka'anapali at the fabled Hyatt Regency. Needless to say, we had an awesome time! Enjoy a few pics from the adventure........

Butterfly in the Iao Valley

                                          

The Road to Hana

The End of the Rainbow

                                                 

The Lighted Church Honors Her Dead

Prepare for lift-off

Kahului

Clouds topping Maui

A Lonely Moloka'i River to the Sea

The Joy of Flight

For Harry White

Kar on the Zip-line below Haleakula

30 miles as the crow flies from Haleakula to Mauna Kea

Haleakula Crater

Flying above the clouds on Top of the World!

Many decades ago in Mrs. Swenson's 9th grade English class, we were assigned to read Nordoff and Hall's "Mutiny on the Bounty", a fictional account based on the true story that transpired on the British naval ship in the South Pacific in 1789. I have been in love with the Isles of the Sea ever since. Having had the opportunity to serve two years as a missionary in the islands Tonga, only deepened my affections. It was in Tonga that I found my passion for photography. Ever since, I have been searching for that perfect sunset. Many glorious vistas have touched my lens, but the search goes on....................................

The Life of Riley

The dream of every diehard sports fan is to be in attendance for their favorite team’s most glorious moments. You want say, “I was there!" On a crisp night in December 2005 at Staples Center, with one of my best friends MJB, we deliriously watched Kobe Bryant drop 62 points (in 3 quarters!) on the poor Dallas Mavs. The Lakers won 112-90. I was next to another buddy, Steve D, on September 13, 2008 at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, UT, witnesses to the Cougars’ destruction of the Bruins visiting from UCLA, 59-0. I even got to meet Cougar running back Harvey Unga later that night! What a weekend that was! And, only a few weeks ago at Dodger Stadium, we marveled at Matt Kemp’s monstrous 3-run blast (his 38^th of the season) that seemed to disappear into the nighttime sky above center field! It was high-fives all-around! This past weekend another “I was there” moment was etched in my book of sports memories. Once again, with my brother-in-law, Edwin K, we were nestled in our perch up high in the south end zone at Lavell Edwards Stadium as the Cougars faced in-state rival, Utah State. BYU has struggled this season, but the hope was for an offensive breakout. Meanwhile, the Aggies had been snake bit, coming from ahead to lose two heart breakers earlier this year to Auburn and Colorado St. The Aggies easily could have been 3-0 coming in to this match-up. For almost three quarters it was more of the same for both teams. USU was rolling and the BYU offensive attack, misled by QB Jake Heaps, had been mediocre at best, as the Aggies had built a 24-13 lead. The silence inside the stadium was deafening. Most of the scattered Aggie fans were jubilant. Although, the 20-something Aggie next to me muttered, “I can feel it. We’re going to blow it.”  To which I responded, “No way, we suck.”….. At that moment everything changed…….BYU head coach, Bronco Mendenhall had seen enough. 

He benched Heaps and brought in the southpaw senior from Logan, UT, Riley Nelson, much to the delight of the BYU faithful, who had also seen enough of Heaps. In just over one quarter of play, Riley ran and passed the Cougars to two scores and a dramatic come from behind victory. The win was punctuated by a 96-yard drive in the game's final 2:36. The crowd was chanting, RI-LEY, RI-LEY, RI-LEY! He did not disappoint as he fearlessly lowered his head, hair flowing from under his helmet, scrambling for first down after first down, launching a 40-yard prayer that was answered by WR McKay Jacobson. And then, the winning score on a ricochet pass caught in the end zone by Marcus Matthews with only 11 seconds remaining. BYU wins, 27-24!!!!!!!!!! The Aggies had blown it again!  We went wild, Edwin and me high-fived, we were numb in the frenzy, while the Aggie next to me put his head down and wept.   Another moment, captured in time!!!!!

Epilogue: As Edwin and me made our exit from the stadium, we listened intently to post-game Cougar Talk on the local radio waves. Of coarse, the big question was, who will start at QB next week? The consensus of fans, teammates, and assistant coaches is Riley. My vote would be to keep Jake Heaps in headphones and with a clipboard for the remainder of the season. We'll find out right before kick-off this Sat night.........Having not seen the national broadcast on ESPN, we missed J.J. Di Luigi's temper tantrum on the BYU sideline. After is near disastrous dropped fumble, J.J. was caught on camera banging his own head twice with his helmet in frustration, after which he clearly dropped the dreaded F-bomb. At anywhere else along the College Football landscape, a lost fumble is much worse than uttering the F-bomb on national TV, but at not at BYU. Ouch, Honor Code Violation! Then we have Riley Nelson's hair. If you have watched an NFL game lately, you certainly have noticed that long hair hanging out of the helmet is all the rage, i.e. Steeler Troy Polamalu. This fad is now sweeping college football, as well. Riley is in the groove! But, wait a minute, not at BYU. Honor Code Violation! I feel Riley's pain. While attending BYU in the 1970's, I was constantly in hot water because of long hair. C'mon, it was the 70's! I got narked on by some dweeb who worked at the bowling alley in the Wilkinson Center and was subsequently summoned to the Office of University Standards. In preparation for my inquisition, I borrowed some of my wife's hair product and slicked my hair back like Pat Riley, (Those dang Riley's) taking special care to keep my long locks glued behind my ears. Upon my arrival at the office, after a short wait I was invited into the Big Kahuna's office. Big Kahuna said, "OK, do a 360 for me." I twirled. I felt like a Victoria Secret model! Then Big Kahuna said, "Get outta here!" I was never bothered by them again. Heck, I liked the way my hair looked that day so much that I have been wearing that way ever since. However, I never had much of a modeling career. Thank you Big Kahuna! Good luck J.J. and Riley! Hope things work out as good for you as it did for me. Go Cougars.

Lions, Tigers, and.......Bears?

For the past quarter century we have lived in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains at the southern edge of Angeles National Forest, in beautiful La Crescenta, CA. Here in So Cal we have the best weather on earth and dwell only minutes from the sea or the slopes. We are not alone. A wide variety of wildlife also spends time with us. We have a fine assortment of beasts residing on our property, some invited, some not so much. A couple of pugs, a 23 year-old cat, an African Grey parrot and 8 or 9 turtles out in the pond.  Occasionally, I have to chase off fierce raccoon-giants and stinky skunks. Once, we even trapped an opossum in the back yard. Finches, Robins and Blue Jays delight us with their song. Quite often, an hummingbird floats by. One Saturday afternoon not to long ago, thousands of Monarch butterflies flew right down our street. Tragically, over the years, we have lost Fiend, Alex, and Meggie Cleary O'Neal, fine felines all, to the ever prowling predatory coyotes that stalk the streets at night. No, we don't have to turn on the Wizard of Oz and hear Dorothy sing about Lions, Tigers, and Bears. All we have to do is open the door and step outside and watch for a bit. A few weekends back, La Crescenta was abuzz with activity on Saturday night. Helicopters were circling, what was up? Turns out a bear was roaming in the neighborhood! He was foraging for a little dinner, knocking over garbage cans and creating a panic. I'm not sure what became of him, but I hope he's OK. No sign of him lately. The sight of a bear two blocks from the house really struck me as an amazing irony. We have been to Yosemite every year since 1985 and guess what? We have never spied a bear. We have seen the warnings, the food boxes, the films of cars being ripped apart by a caniform in search of a loaf of bread. But, alas, we have never seen the actual living creature. Awhile back we visited the most hallowed haven of the Ursus Horribilis on earth, Yellowstone National Park. Same old story....We spotted deer, elk, moose and had to wait while a heard of buffalo crossed the road, but.... no bears. Holy cow, now we have bears in La Crescenta..... But, come to think of it, I did run into some rather petite bears at Yellowstone. You don't believe me, I know. Well, I have proof, check out the photo below:

Sometimes, you just have to take things into your own hands....................

Gone to Texas

Both of my parents were BYU Cougars. My mom was even a Cougarette! Growing up, my dad was a season ticket holder for BYU football. I can still remember those crisp fall afternoons where games were played at the original Cougar Stadium, where today’s Richards Building now stands. Bleachers were built into the hillside east of the stadium. Airborne, streaming rolls of toilet paper were a common site. That was a far cry from today’s Lavell Edwards Stadium, also the site of many fond memories. I can still remember Virgil Carter rolling up 599 yards of total offense against the hapless UTEP Miners in 1966, tossing passes to Phil Odle and Casey Boyette. I idolized those guys. Then everything changed when Lavell took over in the early 70’s. Nielson, Sheide, Wilson, McMahon, Young, and Bosco, every year an All-American QB. In 1980, the Cougars appeared to be on their way to their fifth consecutive bowl loss, trailing SMU 45-25 with four minutes left in the Holiday Bowl. During these final four minutes, the Cougars scored 21 points, capped my Jimmy McMahon’s Hail Mary TD pass to TE Clay Brown as time expired, to upend the Mustangs and record one of the greatest comeback wins in college football history. The National Championship in 1984. The glory years! Thanks, Lavell. Fast forward 27 years to the Bronco Mendenhall/ Independent era. Everything is different now, but we still love it! I traveled last weekend with 3 buddies to Austin, TX for the big showdown with the Longhorns. In Texas, football is everything. Everywhere you go in Austin, all you see is Hook 'em Horns! On our way into The Renaissance Hotel, much to our delight, we spotted two BYU team buses parked out front. We were staying at the team hotel! Consequently, we rubbed shoulders with university VIP’s, players, cheerleaders and fellow fans. What a treat. We gorged ourselves on authentic Texas BBQ at Rudy’s and Salt Lick. Our spirits were high and our expectations even higher. Being typical BYU fans we always have lofty expectations. Sometimes these expectations are based on past performance, or tradition, or scouting reports, or on blogs or tweets. Quite often, those expectations are unrealistic. The bottom line: when the teams go out on that gridiron, our hearts and hopes go out there with them and all the predictions go out the window. Unfortunately, last Sat night, in the dry 95 degree heat at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, the BYU faithful put their hopes and dreams in the hands of So. QB Jake Heaps and Coach Bronco Mendenhall, but the upset was not to be. Sure, the Cougars battled, going down in defeat to the No. 24 team in the nation with a respectable 17-16 score. We really have nothing to be ashamed of. But, it woulda-coulda-shoulda been a win. After a dominating BYU 1st half performance, it seemed the teams swapped uniforms at halftime. Texas made the adjustments, BYU did not. Texas made plays, BYU did not. Translation: A one point heart-breaker.....Yet another near miss at national recognition. Another lost opportunity on the national stage. We sat transfixed with the Cougar contingent in our remote northeast corner of the stadium until time expired. Along with the other 100,881 fans in attendance, our insignificant group of 4 made the long walk from our seats to the parking lot. Then we navigated our rented F-150 through a river a burnt orange clad UT fanatics, dissecting the game as we returned to the hotel. But, today is another day and this Saturday we have another game, against our hated rivals, the U of U Utes. Even after a crushing defeat, I will be there again, cheering on our new heroes, knowing we will win again!

Go Cougars!