Manti Te'o and Leading by Example

Old news for some, but it is still amazing to see how remarkable this young man is.

How different our world would be if we could all be a little more like this:

Winter Arrives in Green Bay

Yesterday I got out and golfed.  While it was only in the 30's, the course was open, and I was dressed for it.  I ended up shooting a 92, which tied my best round of the four I played over the past six days.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Golf in November in Green Bay.  What a concept.

That was all put to bed today, as we got 2 1/2" of the white stuff overnight:

  
I had to get out and snow blow for the first time all year, and while I got wet, it went OK:

The whole change in the weather created a unique scene in the garage, with the snow blower, once relegated to the corner, now taking a place of prominence, and the golf cart, the favored chariot of summer, now in second place:

I guess it needed to come to an end some time.  But what a golf season we had!

A Fist Bump for a Big Brother

Context for thankfulness.  Hat tip to House Baby.

Get the Kleenex again...

Thanksgiving Golf!

Thanks to some incredibly wonderful fall weather, the golf season in Green Bay has extended well into November.  And the course is still quite beautiful:

So yesterday, on Thanksgiving-eve, my Mom, Aunt and I went and hit the links.  We had an awesome time, even though my photography was poor:

Here is a better shot of the ladies:

With a 12:30 tee time (the course was packed!) and the limited sunlight, we were able to barely finish our round.  Had we needed to play one more hole beyond 18, we likely would not have been able to due to darkness.

While the course is officially closed today, I'll be hopping on the cart here shortly for one last round of the season.  Temps here are going to plummet 30-40 degrees tonight as winter finally shows up, so this looks to be the last hurrah.  

In looking at the season, I shot my first round the day after St. Patrick's Day, and will shoot my last on Thanksgiving.  Not a bad year.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  

A Man, A Dog, A Church, and A Miracle

Best story you'll hear all week.  

Get the Kleenex.  Trust me



Donations for the church can be sent to the following:

St. John's Chapel Fundraiser
Frandsen Bank & Trust
125 1st Street South
Montgomery, MN 56069 

Gagliardi Retires

All good things must come to an end.

86 year old John Gagliardi, head coach of St. John's University, announced his retirement yesterday.  He retires with the most wins in college football history, and at 489 wins it is likely a record that will go unbeaten.

John (no disrespect in using that name - that's what he asked to be called, even by his players) was a unique coach.  No whistles, no screaming, no tackling in practice, no showboating, no practice if the weather or bugs were too bad.  His team would drill on things like "the walk away drill" where they would practice walking away after suffering an imaginary cheap-shot.

And that unorthodox philosophy, the antithesis of the cliche blood-and-guts college coach, led to 27 conference championships and 4 national titles.  

Today did a story on him from 10 years ago:



He coached at St. John's since before I was born.  He coached there 25 years after I graduated.  John was as much a part of St. John's as anything, and it is hard to imagine the team and the school without him.

St. John's will not be the same.  College football will not be the same.  But both are definitely left better because of the legacy and imprint left by John Gagliardi.

Cards from My Uncle

A couple of months ago, I was at Mom's house, and we were going thorough a bunch of Dad's old stuff.  Some of it was throughout his life and some of it was from his time up at the Wellsted. 

One of the things we ran across was this:  

This is a stack of cards written from Dad's brother, my uncle, to Dad while Dad was sick.  

Take a good look at this stack.  It's huge.  And what I'm not showing you is what is inside the card.  It wasn't just some token "Love, Your Brother" sign off.  Each and every one contained a long, hand written note.  

Now, to those of you that know my Uncle that will come as no surprise, as he is a man with a fantastic gift of gab.  But what is remarkable is the quantity, quality and the care.  Remember: Dad was horribly sick for most of this period.  And that upon receiving a card, and perhaps reading it, he'd have no memory of it just seconds later.  And at the end, he wouldn't have been able to read it at all.  But that didn't matter to my Uncle - the cards just kept coming.  

And while Dad may not have been able to enjoy them, I can't convey how nice it was, when visiting Dad, to go through his "mail" and read and talk about what my Uncle had written.  It was such a nice thing to discuss, but more than that, it always lifted my heart to know that someone out there still remembered Dad was there and that somebody still cared.  In a very tangible way.  

As a big brother, I'd like to think that what my Uncle did was just the kind of thing that big brothers do.  But that would not be fair.  His kindness a love were extraordinary, and on behalf of the rest of the family, I'd like to thank him, albeit late.    

College Football Craziness

Last night both #1 Oregon and #2 Kansas St. were upset and served their first respective losses on the year.  Earlier in the day, Notre Dame took care of its business by soundly defeating Wake Forrest during Senior Day, so once the dust settled on the day, the Irish sit atop the rankings as the #1 team in the nation.

Who would have thought it?  A team not even ranked by AP pre-season now the best team in the nation...

Notre Dame is not perfect.  They've shown when they take penalties and/or turn the ball over, that they can absolutely be beaten.  If they are sloppy, they can go down.

But when they put it all together, they absolutely are the best team in the nation.  Their defense is a monster, and their offense effective.  

The Irish have their work cut out for them.  Their next game, at USC, will be a tough one.  The Trojans have underachieved this year, and if they were to knock off the #1 Fighting Irish, they'd be able to salvage the season.  This will be USC's biggest game of the year, and I would expect that they'll play like it.

But in the meantime, after a crazy Saturday, the Irish stand atop the rankings.  Incredible.