The Minnesota Wild - The Worst Team in the NHL

Here are the top five reasons why they flat out suck:

1. We have an arena that is the envy of the league, and has sold out every night, yes every night, since the team came into existence, but we still can't find the money to put a quality product on the ice.
2. We have a team in which our best players would be 2nd line (at best) or 3rd line (at worst) for most other NHL teams, and a flat refusal by ownership to field the team with quality pro players. We do have the best goon in the league in Derek Boogaard, so at least the team is not a total bust.
3. We have ownership that would rather launch another jersey design to cull even more merchandise income from the fans instead of putting a quality product on the ice. You heard me right. Tonight the team unveiled their fourth jersey design in nine seasons. Fourth jersey design. When your NHL team has more jersey designs than playoff appearances, you officially suck.
4. Former coach Jacque Lemaire was run out of town last year - accused of playing a boring brand of defensive-minded hockey. Todd Richards was welcomed into the head coaching position with great fanfare, as he was going to bring offense back to Minnesota hockey. The result? A paltry 2.1 goals per game average; among the worst in the league. Again. And a record that is way worse than anything Jacque ever put up.
5. The team plays the same organ riffs and music snippets played at every stoppage in play ever since the team started. The exact same. It makes me cringe even during televised games. How hard is it to find a new song to play when we take a penalty? If I hear the organist play a lame-ass version of Genesis' "Misunderstanding" one more time when we take a penalty, I will puke. It was cute until about the 253rd time I heard it...

Finally, tonight, the "team of 18,000" took off their rose colored glasses and gave the franchise something it has only rarely had - a rousing chorus of boos. Oh, yeah, the Wild eventually landed an overtime win. However, the way this season is continuing, those boos might get softer, but it won't be because the fans are happier. It will be because the arena that owns the consecutive games sold-out record will finally develop a raging case of empty seats.

It is only a matter of time.

2009 Minnesota Pheasant Season - Week Two

Week two of the Minnesota pheasant hunting season continued to be better than expected. The North Point yielded no birds this time, but the new food plot put in by my partner generated two roosters, and one of our young hunters' first rooster.

We got a number of birds up again this week, and had good luck finding them in the set aside adjacent to the standing corn. The harvest on corn still has not begun, so the total bag of three roosters is pretty remarkable.

We're up to seven roosters off the property thus far, and the best is yet to come.

Trigeminal Neuralgia - A Trip to the Mayo Clinic

Yesterday I headed down to Rochester, MN to head to the world-renown Mayo Clinic to get an evaluation on the Trigeminal Neuralgia with one of their great neurologists. I met with the same doctor that worked with us all of the while with dad's Pick's disease. He's an incredibly learned, personable, and kind man, and I was lucky to get in to see him.

He concurs with the diagnosis of Trigeminal Neuralgia, and recommended an increase in my dosage of Carbamazepine. I have been having pains of late, especially in highly stressful situations. I was in a pretty tough meeting on Monday, and it really let me have it, so getting this advice is probably good timing. I still have quite a bit of runway with the dosage of my meds, so this makes me feel good. Had I been closer to the end, I think I'd opt to just take the pain.

He also reviewed my MRI from August, and pointed out a mass in my left sinus (he called it a polyp). It could be a ton of things, but given its location, it is worthy of a lot more analysis. He sent the MRI off to their folks for their interpretation, and I expect to hear back on next steps shortly. Also, we have teed up an appointment with a neural surgeon in the event that this thing ever gets bad enough to require surgery sometime in the future. I pray we'll not get to that point, but it is nice to have things in place should it become a necessity.

Overall, it was a positive visit, and I'm happy to be in such great hands.

Mayo itself is absolutely incredible. The facility, people, and experience are so atypical from the standard trip to the hospital that it is almost impossible to reconcile. It compares to the most classy and luxurious experience one can have - flying first class, staying at the Four Seasons, buying a Lexus, and eating at Manny's all rolled into one. The facility itself is a beautiful marvel. It keeps its art deco theme throughout, but is entirely modern. Floors are marble, artwork is everywhere, and even little things like the restrooms or examination rooms are so substantially nicer than anything you've ever seen that you just wonder at them.

Here are just a couple of photos to give you the tone:

While I wish no one ill, seeing Mayo first hand is something that one needs to do sometime. It is a beautiful jewel, and I am so lucky to have it right here in my back yard. It is easy to see why people come from all over the world to go here.

2009 Minnesota Duck Season - Week Three

We awoke Saturday to fog of Biblical proportions. As Fuzzy and I set the decoys, we had to move our bluebill string more that once as the straight line we thought we were on actual turned out to be a ninety degree angle. For about a five minute period there, we were actually lost in the fog and weren't exactly sure where we were on the lake. We eventually ran into land, hundreds and hundreds of yards from where we thought we were. It is amazing how lost one can get in that thick stuff without a constant point of reference.

We set up on the point, and had a great crew of three adults and three kids. By legal shooting time the birds came, usually in pairs or singles, and the action kept up the entire morning. Amazingly, the fog never lifted. By mid morning we could look up and see a clear blue sky, but 100 yards in front of us all that was there was a wall of fog. Finally, at 11:30 the fog dissipated.

Despite some poor shooting and giving the kids the best shots, we took a bag of 15 birds - a nice harvest!

On Sunday Fuzzy and I headed for the north end, where things got more tough. We were clearly not on the flyway path, and it made things tricky. Most of our shots were quick passing shots, save for two big bull canvasbacks that came right down our string just like they do in your dreams. It made the whole weekend. Bag for Sunday was three birds total, plus a lost mallard and Canada goose. Don't ask me how we lost the goose - we searched for nearly 30 minutes and came up empty. Frustrating, and something all hunters hate.

Back to back good weekends means we have to be primed for a bust one of these outings. Let's hope it doesn't happen when the southern contingent arrives in two weeks.

Dad's Birthday at the Famous Manny's Steakhouse

We celebrated dad's birthday by attending his favorite restaurant, Manny's. My sis had flown in special for the event, and it turns out it was a good thing as she was able to address a medical issue while in town as well.

My brother picked out a fabulous wine, and we feasted on some of the finest steak you can have anywhere. My dad would have absolutely loved it.

We closed with the obligatory picture in front of the painting of their iconic bull. A nice African-American gentleman, fresh off attending the Vikings game against the Ravens (he was still clad in Baltimore colors) watched us taking the photo, and wanted to make sure that "we got the balls."

Indeed, the balls made the photo. Mom doesn't look too happy about it...

Japanese Provide New Low in Society's Death Spiral?

Attached is a snippet of a video from a new Japanese "game show." A lot of the talk on the web and elsewhere is that the video is funny as hell. Check it out:



I'm sorry, but if putting people in realistic, traumatic episodes is entertainment, we're sunk as a society. This is sick, sick, sick.

Seriously, what's next? No doubt filming such light-hearted pranks like these:

- Fake plane crash for terrified passengers
- Fake military officers tell a mother her son has been killed in action
- Fake doctor provides diagnosis of terminal cancer
- Fake child's suicide for an unsuspecting parent

Where does it end?

Am I overreacting to this? Post up a comment and let me know.

Awareness, Or How the Present Is Way Cooler than the Crap in My Head

The start of my enlightenment at our retreat two weeks ago was around the concept of Awareness. Ever since I was a kid, I have been preoccupied with the tapes running in my head that covered my past, or in frivolous projections of possible futures. As a result, there have been so many times that I have been unavailable, either partially or totally, to those around me.

There are two big ramifications of this: 1) I missed a lot of life! I was simply too busy wrapped up with some crap that I had hauled into my head to enjoy/understand/feel what is happening right now. 2) I did a total disservice to those around me. I should have been fully engaged – fully in the moment and culling out that specific experience. Instead, I was only 90% there. Or 50%. Or 30%. How rude.

Too much of my life had been going on cruise control. What I did, what I felt, how I acted, what I ate, how I spoke, all of it was just so rote. I was not in tune with my environment – both internal and external. As a result, there have been ramifications. My relationships aren’t as close as they should be. My heath isn’t as good as it could be. And I’ve become withered by the nearly constant internal dialog that is perpetually dredged up about every negative thing that I did (or did not do) to myself or others. My God, it is a depressing and shallow way to live.

Hence I’ve begun a new path to be ever conscious of my immediate environment, my body, and my emotions (and their source). I’m more actively engaged and actually take physical stances to be more successful at remaining fully engaged and aware. While I’m not totally successful, I know that I am making significant progress from where I was before, and my interpersonal relationships are better than they were. I’m also not constantly kicking my own ass for stupid stuff I did in grade school. Oh yeah, it was that bad.

I have a long way to go, and much more to practice, but these last two weeks feel like I’ve lived my life far more fully, it seems, than I ever have. Let’s hope the progress continues.

2009 Minnesota Pheasant Opener

The season opener for pheasants was held last weekend, and the pheasants held the aces. In the freezing temps, they were going to need to feed, and feed aggressively. And, unfortunately for us, the corn harvest has not yet begun (we're likely weeks away), so over 100,000 of acres of unharvested corn in the county provided ample hiding spaces.

Despite this disadvantage, the Yellow Dog Patrol (Plus One Black One) resumed activity and were quite successful. We had four active hunters and bagged four birds, with a couple of roosters escaping to flush another day.

Overall, we flushed approximately 20 birds, and given the corn situation, that's a really good number. Our two food plots put in by our partner are a great food source and great cover, and should be bird magnets for the season, and a vital refuge for what appears to be a long and hard winter.

Here we are, on patrol.