These are the musings of a diverse dude. We'll discuss sports, politics, family, music, hunting, fishing, and of course, all things that hold the interest of yellow dogs and those that patrol with them.
The last two years, Fox Sports Wisconsin has picked up some Minnesota Wild NHL games. Between the nationally televised games in which the Wild played, plus the handful that FSW picked up, I was able to see about a third of the team's total games. With the Wild's significant upgrade in talent for this season, I was not going to be content to just a third of the games. Hence, I stated to look at the NHL Game Center Live; a way to watch out of market games through the NHL. It is the same type of service that I use to follow the Twins through the MLB service. But then the team published it's media schedule, and I was able to see how many games FSW would pick up. Yahtzee!
This is a big year, as with a short schedule, anything can happen. And with the new talent the team has acquired, along with a return to health of some important players, the Wild has a chance to do some good things.
And the beauty of it all is that I'll be watching most of it from the comfort of my basement recliner here in Green Bay.
Eight days ago I wrote about how this year's Gopher basketball team was different. Boy, was I wrong. Since then, the team has suffered two humiliating losses to ranked teams; one at Indiana and one last night in the Barn against Michigan. In both games the Gophers were out-disciplined, out-shot, out-hustled, and out-classed. This team, while deep, does not have the talent level to take on top 10 programs while coasting. It can't take nights off. But that is exactly what they've done the last two games. Coach Tubby Smith has a big task ahead of him in terms of getting this team's attention and stopping its sloppy, uninspired play. Those last two losses were brutal, and the guys likely need to feel how brutal via some heavy doses of cardio via running baselines ala Herb Brooks. This program is a hot mess right now. Smith needs to fix it immediately, because his NCAA seed number is falling by the day.
I personally know four people right now that are battling cancer - two friends, a buddy's son, and another buddy's daughter. One of those buddies just about died two months ago after heart surgery. Another childhood buddy took his own life two weeks ago. All of this makes the crosses I bear trivial in comparison. I pray for those above, as well as all others that have a much more difficult road than I. And I also offer a prayer of thanksgiving that my lot is the way that it is, and that I maintain my perspective and do what I can to help.
With Vice President Joe Biden set to deliver his recommendation on what to do about guns, it is time to call out a couple of things about the complete lack of sincerity many have when espousing their gun control talking points:
The "if it saves even one life" argument - What utter hogwash. You want to save "even one life?" Drop the speed limit to 20 MPH for every road everywhere. You'll save tens of thousands of them. But at the end of the day, it is not about saving lives, is it?
The "we need to protect our children" argument - If it were about protecting the kids, why would there not be guards at schools already? But no. Here we stand, nearly a month after Sandy Hook, and nothing has been done to make schools significantly more safe. Instead, we get a lot of political platitudes, and we wait for the next massacre to occur.
The "high capacity magazines and assault rifle control" argument - What folly. Exactly what kind of guns are killing a majority of the people in the US? Handguns. Now, the tough question: exactly who is it that is using those guns? The bottom line is that the vast majority of our gun deaths are inner-city killings done by gangs and criminals. New York did something about it (albeit to the detriment of the 4th Amendment, but that is a separate rant) and their murder rates have fallen appreciably. Chicago has done nothing but pass gun legislation after gun legislation, and they have become the murder capital of the nation.
Hunters and common citizens are not killing people in this country. Hardened criminals are.
Let's get real here: the outcome of additional gun laws will only make it harder for law abiding citizens to take lawful action. It will do nothing to curb the criminal element. Gun violence will continue, and additional calls for more "control" will continue as well, and the cycle will continue.
But that's by design. The anti-gun argument isn't about saving lives, or the children, or controlling just one segment of firearms. It is about disassembling the 2nd Amendment, brick by brick. Not wanting to waste a good crisis, that is exactly what some folks intend to do.
And they're more than happy to leave our kids exposed to ensure that it happens.
The Yellow Dog had a pretty tough fall season. She gained weight and lacked drive and energy. Since she's approaching her 8th birthday, I was chalking it up to old age setting in. And it wasn't limited to her performance in the field, either. On walks with Mrs. YDP, the dog just didn't have the same spring.
While I attempted to treat it via pain medicine, my wife felt it was something more, and a couple of months ago took the dog in for a check up. My wife, a sufferer of thyroid trouble herself, felt the dog showed a lot of the same symptoms as one who did not have the right level of thyroid flowing through their system.
Sure enough, she was right. The tests came back and showed that the dog was indeed hypo-thyroid.
An "I told you so" was also summarily delivered.
We started the dog on synthetic thyroid, and within 10 days she showed immediate results. The excess weight fell off quickly, the energy level came back, and the spring returned to her gait. It was remarkable.
Between the timing of her diagnosis, the busy retail season, and the hustle of the holidays, I did not have the chance to get the Yellow Dog back out into the field since she started on the treatment. Yesterday I leveraged the opportunity of warm Green Bay weather to hit my hunt club and work up a couple of birds. While the weather wasn't perfect - there was a strong 30 MPH wind which would make scenting and shooting difficult - at a minimum it would be a good excuse for a long walk. And it would also be a test to see how the dog was doing.
What a difference! My dog was back! The dog hunted hard all day, and showed an energy level she hadn't shown in nearly two years. It was like someone had turned back the clock. Here is some video:
We had put out 6 roosters, and ended up bagging all of them, although I might have had to do a lot of shooting to accomplish it. It made for a good photo:
When we got home, the dog leveraged some hard earned couch time, although it wasn't as nice for Mrs. YDP:
It was great to have my dog back. I mean all the way back. Thanks, honey, for taking matters into your own hands. I owe you one. Again.
One of the best parts of our bi-annual trip to the Bahamas is that rare occasion where we're able to encounter a dolphin while on our boat. We've been able to see multiple, in singles and pairs, through the years, with some being very close encounters. However, we've never encountered anything like this:
This video was taken off the coast of California by a whale-watching junket. I'd say that folks on that trip go their money's worth.
