Friday, June 20, 2008

Summer Update

Wow, there isn't much to write on here in the summer months, what with coach Pelini cracking down on the drunken shenanigans of our players. That's a good thing of course, as nobody likes to see anyone missing time because of spending time in the police blotter.....On the other hand, that leaves me with next-to-nothing to write about, whereas last year we had the Mo saga to talk about. So you're probably wondering what exciting escapades have been happening with me......No? Well tough sh*t, because I gotta write about something, and dammit you're going to have to suck it up and read it.

First off, summer actually only started about two days ago when we finally broke through the 70-degrees-and-breezy mark. Don't get me wrong, I usually love that weather. Plus, I'm sure there's people in Iowa and Illinois that would kill for it over the flooding they have been dealing with (more on that later).But it's really not conducive to fun boating trips, and it sure as hell doesn't heat up our lakes. We are finally hitting 80+ the next five days, and with it has come the patented Minnesota humidity, capable of killing small children, animals, and drunks who don't properly hydrate. Thus far, it's been the usual bar hopping and working, so it's been a lackluster summer. Next weekend I head down to my farm in Western Iowa to hang out with some family and pick up my brother, who is working there this week. Most people wouldn't get excited about a trip to Iowa, but you'd be surprised how much fun townie bars can be (something city folk will never understand), particularly when you run into people you haven't seen in five or six years.

I was excited to see Kevin Garnett and the Celtics win the title, like pretty much every other Minnesota resident. In doing so, the C's proved my previous post about Kobe Bryant, as he was for the most part ineffective for the entire series (he only had one good game), and they completely shut down his penetration (though someone telling him no hasn't stopped before, hey-oh!). All jokes aside, it was a fun series to watch, with several historic comebacks and a complete annihilation to clinch it. Unfortunately, with the end of basketball season, it means all we really have to do the next two months till camp and the Olympics start is watch baseball.......yeah, baseball.......ugh...

Getting back to the floods in Iowa, I just wanted to say that it's difficult to watch the suffering taking place in America's heartland. I lived in Iowa during the flood of '93, and I can vividly remember that you wanted to, you could have jet-skied from town to town, the valley was flooded that bad. So when I hear that this one is even worse, I can't help but feel sick for the farmers and townsfolk of those communities along the Mississippi. What is truly terrifying is that there appears to be no lull in the immediate future, as more rain and storms are forecast throughout the summer, and as bad as that is for Iowa, it spells trouble for Missouri and other states as well. Factor this disaster with our already-troubled economy, and it's looking like a tough year for a lot of people. My prayers go out to all of those affected, as corny as that sounds.

Hope everyone else's summer is going well. Hopefully nobody on the team will give me any reason to get on here again any time soon. After all, no news is good news, even if it makes for a slow and boring summer. GBR