ALMOST POST SEASON

Although I'm anxious to see the game this Sunday, I'm a little sensitive to the fact that it's going to be a long eight months before they take the field again for other than training camp and exhibition games. That makes me a little pensive. Isn't it amazing how some over-paid and boorish athletes can command that kind of following?

What really has begun bothering me is that they (the players) seem to becoming more and more oblivious to the fans and the laws that govern all of us. They seem to think they are DUE their million dollar salaries and no matter what antics, drugs or peccadillo's they become embroiled in; it is of no consequence and no penalty to them. They rail against their coach as well as their fellow players if their complaints aren't heeded. Their antics off the field are those of THUGS!

On top of that, I've become aware that veteran NFL players can't get the medical attention they sorely need. These players who laid their bodies on the line have been forgotten by their union and, of course, NFL Owners. What gives with that? I understand it would take only $25 per current NFL players to set up an insurance policy for medical injuries that would offer them some protection.

The NFL Owners have no problem in raising the ticket prices every year even if the team has a losing season. We've had three. The Owner we have in Nashville (who lives in Houston)not only has control and revenue from the sponsor's sign (LP FIELD) but earns concession revenues and has approval over any event that is held at the stadium during off season and gets revenue from that as well. Let me remind you that this stadium was built with taxpayer money, not Bud Adam's! He has a sweetheart deal no matter which way you cut it.

So, maybe the objective of this rant, is to help me remember all the bad things about the NFL and not think about missing a bunch of cretins who bring very little to the table that enable a better life for all of us.

Bring on Baseball (who cares about a little self-inflicted juice!)

ANOTHER OPENING, ANOTHER SHOW!

Gee, I really wish I felt that excited about 2007. Let's just say, I have "compressed optimism." What that means is that I am always hopeful for good in the next hour, day, week, etc., but I've also lived long enough to realize our lives don't reside in OZ where there are beautiful lollipops, quick justice to evil and everyone gets what they need to be complete. This realization, I hope, lets the good flow in, embrace it and go forward. It also lets the bad in, recognize it and let it go if there's nothing I can do to change it. The key is, as they say in AA's 12 step, recognizing the difference what you can do and what you can't do.

I lost a good friend on New Year's Day. Gene Wright and I had one thing in common, we were both Sagittarians. From that point on, there wasn't a lot of common ground. He thought I was a "tax-cutting for the rich" Republican and I thought he was a "tree-hugging liberal" Democrat. The truth, as usual, was somewhere in between and we had a long, warm, caring friendship based on mutual respect and love.

Gene was a counselor for people who had drug and alcohol abuse problems. Over the years it's hard to say how many people Gene's kindness, humor and civility healed long scabbed over wounds. All I know is that, in the 20 + years I knew Gene, there were many people who would come up to him and thank him for the difference he made in their lives. These reactions were always profound and Gene would hug them close and tell them they were in words to this effect: "God's child and that's what they needed to remember to continue the healing."

In addition to his regular therapy for substance abuse, he also dedicated his Saturday's to help other dysfunctional people with art therapy. He was a brilliant artist himself and he told me he had some real breakthroughs with people who used the art he was teaching them to start their process of healing.

I've known a lot of people and I've lost a lot of people, but I never knew one who truly made a hands-on difference in other people's lives like Gene did. He made a difference in my life (in spite of our differences of opinion) because of his loving patience, his quiet humor and most of all, his civility and courtesy. His loss makes these qualities even more rare in our world today. I guess my prayer would be to thank God for Gene being in my life, but also pray that in honor of Gene, we would all try to emulate his personal kindness and training in the humanities. What a DIFFERENCE that might make!