Omaha and the CWS

CWS: It's time for the NCAA to return the love
By Glenn Tanner - June 21, 2007

Yesterday I took my family and camera to the awesome Henry Doorly Zoo, right next to Rosenblatt Stadium, then to two College World Series games.

The zoo was incredible, the weather was perfect and the baseball was top notch. It looked like another perfect day in Omaha. Looks, however, can be deceiving. Mostly because there is a group of suits that just don't seem to get it.

Somewhere this week, an NCAA committee is meeting to decide the CWS's future in Omaha. Not sure when or where, but this group of administrators whose primary goal is to maximize revenue for the world's most profitable non-profit organization is locked away somewhere brainstorming how to get more money out of Omaha.

That committee has supposedly decided that Rosenblatt stadium in its current state is not adequate. It's so inadequate (ie, not profitable enough for them), that reportedly there are already plans to tear down college baseball's original Field of Dreams.

The City of Omaha's plan was to build a $50 million stadium downtown to replace Rosenblatt, but we've received word this week that the NCAA is not pleased with the specifics of that plan, either.

So these meetings to decide the fate of Omaha and the CWS basically boil down to the committee deciding how big of a gun to point at Omaha's head and how much money to demand from the city.

Yet while these meetings go on, CWS fans proceeded as normal yesterday. Let me take that activity and explain something to the committee:

There are tons of reasons to keep the CWS in Omaha (tradition, central location, good weather, etc.) but here's the best reason for the event to stay here -- every one of those people I took pictures of is from the Omaha area.

And it's not like I was searching out Omahans. I'd see someone interesting, ask if I could take their picture, then ask them where they were from. Every time, the answer was "Omaha." Every time. Think about how amazing that is.

Let me explain something to them. If you move this event out of Omaha, you will ruin the College World Series.

This is the 15th anniversary of my first CWS trip. It's astounding how much this event has changed in that time. That first year, the crowds were half as big, the stadium was a rickety old minor league park, 13th Street was fairly clear, not much went on in the parking lots, and you could sit practically anywhere you wanted.
Omaha has grown this event into what it is now.

You have capacity crowds, a beautiful stadium, a spectacular atmosphere, and one of the greatest sporting events in the world because of the city of Omaha and its people.

The NCAA ought to have a permanent oh-face because of what the Big O has done for them, but instead we have this never-ending process of signing short-term contracts to keep the CWS here only because Omaha agrees to toss millions and millions of dollars every year into the pile.

The NCAA might find a city that will promise them more money and a modern stadium, but they'll never find a place that will love and support the College World Series like Omaha.

It's time for the NCAA to get the dollar signs out of their eyes for a change and make a decision based on what's best for college baseball instead of what's most profitable.

It's time for the NCAA to return the love and make a long-term commitment to keep the CWS in Omaha, even without a new stadium.

John Herschel Glenn Jr. - Astronaut

John Herschel Glenn Jr. was born on July 18, 1921 in Cambridge, Ohio. He is an American astronaut, Marine Corps fighter pilot, ordained Presbyterian elder, corporate executive and politician. He was the third American to fly in space and in 1998, at the age of 77, he was the oldest person to fly in space.

Shortly after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Glenn enlisted in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program and became a Marine pilot. He flew 59 combat missions in the South Pacific during World War II. When the Korean conflict began, Glenn asked for combat duty and flew 63 missions. For his total of 149 missions during the two wars, he received many decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross six times.

Glenn's experience and skill made him a logical candidate for the astronaut corps being formed during 1958. In 1959, NASA selected him as one of the first seven astronauts in the U.S. space program. On February 20, 1962, atop an Atlas rocket, he rode into space and piloted the Friendship 7 spacecraft around the globe three times, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.

Raised in Cambridge and well as New Concord, Ohio, Glenn married his childhood sweetheart, Anna Margaret Caster. They are the parents of two children, David and Carolyn.

John H. Glenn 1998

The American Greenback

"Always try to rub against money, for if you rub against money long enough, some of it may rub off on you." (from Damon Runyon's story, A Very Honorable Guy).

Greenbacks, dough, moolah, rhino, jack, buck, bread, c-note, dead presidents just a few names for our American dollar. No matter what you call it, money is necessary and money is wanted. But the question is, “how do I get it”.

Lets see, you could have inherited it, i.e. Kennedy, Romney, Bush, and other billionaires in the United States. Or, you could have won the national Lottery (as opposed to that one that you keep getting emails from in Nigeria), hit the jackpot at a casino or, like Jed Clampett, be “shootin’ at some food” and strike oil.

Although we personally don’t have debt problems, we did find it necessary to refinance our home last month. Our ARM loan was growing like weeds in a garden...every month the payment was a little higher.

We thought about a home equity line of credit, but since this house has little equity in it, that wasn’t an option. Our credit is outstanding, so credit counseling wouldn’t have helped. We just needed to make some extra money!

Our first attempt, several years ago, was to join the Amway group. Unfortunately, although they have great products, most people didn’t want to pay the prices for quality products. They could "get it cheaper" at Wal-mart or Target. We didn’t make any money.

Next, I started selling Tiara glassware, another great company. I was doing pretty well, taking the glassware to home parties, a la Tupperware, until the company went out of business. I had high hopes that I would be one of their greatest salespersons, and would win one of the wonderful trips that were sales incentatives. Maybe they gave away too many trips causing the company to go "belly up".

Our last and current endeavor is selling on EBAY….we sell some things, but aren’t getting rich that way either. Ebay’s charges and fees are killing any profit that we could make. And, people are looking for bargains and unless you are offering items that are really special, unique or outrageously cheap, things don't sell.

That leads me to this blog.....I enjoy doing it, it doesn’t cost me anything, so I’ll keep on writing! Maybe someone will enjoy it enough to keep coming back.....and using some of the products offered.

John Wayne - American Patriot

Visit the tribute to John Wayne - American Patriot

http://www.jwplace.com/

"I have long been a fan of John Wayne. Through his honesty of living and grace in the face of adversity and criticism as well as all the glory he showed us all that he was truly a man of honor. John Wayne said that his father told him: "Always keep your word, never intentionally insult anyone, and don't go around looking for trouble." I believe he kept his fathers wish all during his life. We all could learn something from this man. I hope you enjoy my tribute to the Duke - actor, patriot, man of honor. " Author unknown

John Wayne had a deep love for his country. This patriotism is reflected throughout his life. John Wayne once said,"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been and never will be."

John Wayne: The mere mention of his name produces images of courage and patriotism.

The life story of John Wayne began in the central Iowa town of Winterset. He was born Marion Robert Morrison on May 26, 1907, the son of Clyde and Mary Brown Morrison.

His father Clyde was a pharmacist who worked on the south side of Winterset's town square. In his youth, Clyde attended nearby Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. John Wayne described his father as “the kindest, most patient man I ever knew.”

Wayne’s mother Mary was of Irish descent, and the Duke said “she was a tiny, vivacious red-headed bundle of energy.”

Wayne's family moved to Palmdale, California and then to Glendale, California in 1911, where his father worked as a pharmacist in a drug store. A local fireman at the firehouse on his route to school in Glendale started calling him "Little Duke", because he never went anywhere without his huge Airedale Terrier dog, Duke. He preferred "Duke" to "Marion" and the name stuck for the rest of his life.

John Wayne won a Best Actor Oscar for True Grit (1969). Wayne was also nominated as the producer of Best Picture for the Alamo one of two films he directed. The other was The Green Berets (1968) , the only major film made during the Vietnam War to support the war.

During the filming of Green Berets, the Degar or Montagnard people of Vietnam's Central Highlands, fierce fighters against communism, bestowed on Wayne a brass bracelet that he wore in the film and all subsequent films.

In 1964, Wayne was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent successful surgery to remove his entire left lung and four ribs. Wayne announced he had cancer and called on the public to get preventive examinations. Five years later, Wayne was declared cancer-free. After his operation he chewed tobacco and began smoking cigars.

John Wayne died of stomach cancer on June 11, 1979 at the UCLA Medical Center and was interred in the Pacific View Memorial Park cemetery in Corona del Mar.

Time in a Bottle

Who wouldn't like to "save time in a bottle"....who wouldn't want to go back to a time when all you thought about was playing ball in the park, going to the 10 cent movie, or listening to your favorite stories on the radio.
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My time would be in 1948 when I was 10 years old. We lived near a park where we spent most of our time....playing "Tag" and chasing each other until we ran out of breath and tumbled onto the ground. No bad guys roamed the streets, parent's didn't worry about children's safety and we all knew that it was time to go home "when the streetlights came on".

My parents, brothers and sister were alive and I remember the fun we had together. We didn't have a television, computers were some big magical machines in a far away office, and we had a telephone that was attached to the wall by a cord. Dinner was at 5:00 in the evening.....and we were expected to be there.

We didn't belong to scheduled leagues of anything. If we played ball, it was in the corner lot, if we played soccar, it was just kicking a ball around in the park.

We grew up loving our country....respecting our flag.....an having no fear of police, just a good healthy respect for their authority.

We also respected our school teachers or feared them enough to behave in class. And if we didn't, if we were in trouble in school, we knew that we'd be in even more trouble when we got home. The only "time outs" we were familiar with were those spent in the school "cloak room".

We had many good friends. Sometimes you fought with them, but the next day you were best friends again. You were your own little community....and your life was good.

So my "time in a bottle" contains memories.....and I'll never forget them.

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that Id like to do
Is to save every day

Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
Ive looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them

Ive looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

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Jim Croce sang this song in his 1972 album

"You Don't Mess Around With Jim".

Things floating in eyes???

Nope, I don't have anything serious but am/was bothered with floating things in my eyes. I kept thinking that I had little bits of dog hair or something since some of them were thin and slender.

I went to my doctor and he said I had dry skin around my bottom eye lashes (he had a actual medical name for it, which, I can neither remember nor could spell if I did) and little flakes, etc. would get into my eyes.

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For once I received an inexpensive solution.....just wash my eyes and lashes with baby shampoo....."No More Tears", "Mother's Choice" (sold at HyVee) or any one that advertises "no tears".

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So, whenever I take a shower, I put a little Mother's Choice into the palm of my hand, add a goodly amount of warm water, make suds, and wash my eyes.......opening them and rubbing the suds into the upper and lower lashes. It doesn't burn. And, my eyes probably are grateful that makeup, mascara and dirt are finally being thoroughly washed away.

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I can see the change....no strange things floating across my eyeballs!

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I can't guarantee that it would solve your problem, but it wouldn't hurt to try!

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BTW, I don't use baby shampoo on my hair .....I use a natural product that does not contain the dreaded Sodium Lauryl Sulfate ...