Are You Ready to RUMMMMBLLLLLLLE?

Welcome to our 20th season with the Chargers! The team I love because they wear my initials... and because the coaching staff is great, and they let me be on the sidelines instead of far away in the stands! My excitement for the first game is like a kid on Christmas Eve. It's here -- let's get started!

Thanks to the wonders of modern computing (I guess), the printed score books I'd used have become obsolete. A few years ago, I designed my own, drawing it on graph paper and getting it printed each season. This year, it seemed like time for a change, so I have been working on an Excel template instead. I still want to fill it out by hand -- if I entered the data directly onto my laptop, I'd be stuck way up in the stands. Where's the fun in that?

So, I printed a few sheets of the new form and looked for a recorded game to use for a test. The first one I found was an AFC Divisional Playoff between the Bills and the Browns. This was in 1989, recorded from television and posted on YouTube. No computerized markers to show line of scrimmage or first down, fewer replays, sideline camera angles -- a pretty good simulation of real life for tonight's high school game. I had forgotten Bernie Kosar's sideways stance under center. The commentators recounted Ron Middleton's highs and lows as his son was born 12 weeks premature and Ron was released and rehired a couple of times that year. I remembered a few names -- Jim Kelly, Pete Metzelaars, Thurman Thomas, Cornelius Bennett, Ozzie Newsome. In a promo for the next day's game, baby-faced Bob Costas and OJ Simpson were pictured. My, how the times change.

Ahhh... good nostalgia. But now I must make a few last adjustments to the score sheets and get them printed again. Sharpen the pencils, dig out the clipboard, it's time for FOOTBALL!

Oh, and if you'd like to share my little trip down memory lane, here's the link to that video. Enjoy!

Another Way to Waste Time?

• Activities for a good day...

a good night's rest

a bowl full of fresh water

big grass with fresh scents

snack (with milk, please)

more water

more grass

a nice run with favorite tennis balls

more water

more rest (preferrably on couch or the big bed)

another snack

more grass

another run

Now, we ask you, where does television-watching fit on our list? IT DOES NOT! Although we are very adept at sleeping through the artificial noise, why don't our people just take naps with us? Why do they have to watch that thing? And now they have television on the computer, too? What's next, obedience videos?

That said, Mom did find an amusing clip from Ye Olde Sesame Street on YouTube. We didn't actually watch it with her, but the title seems to indicate something about security settings on library computers. We're sure it's very enlightening. Here's the link -- and can we go outside to play now?

No Cookies in the Library!

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