Yum

After I found out UK had indeed gotten the number one seed in the NCAA tournament and would be playing in Louisville, I starting trolling around for tickets. I found out I could some lower arena seats at a reasonable price. I talked to Josh and he was all for it. Jonathan had a mid-term in one of his classes and couldn't go. I bought two tickets and got a hotel room outside of Louisville on I-64 and Josh agreed to meet me there.

I had no trouble getting there. Josh met me after work at the hotel and we headed out. There was a Zaxby's about a mile away so we decided to get food from there. It was OK but it wasn't up to the usual Zaxby's quality. The chicken strips were smaller than usual. We ate as we drove to the Yum Center where the game would be played. We ran into a little traffic on the way there but nothing terrible.

I had scouted out a parking lot but upon arriving, we found it would be 20 to park. One block further away (at the Louisville Slugger baseball stadium) it was only 10.00 so we parked there. We had plenty of time so we walked around. We went down to the Ohio river shore and then walked to 4th Street Live. Josh had visited that area several years ago on a school trip. He was heartbroken to find a place in the food court where he'd gotten good breadsticks was gone. As we exited, we could see dark clouds and some lighting. The began to really pick up so we ran for the Yum Center.

The Yum Center is the new basketball arena in downtown Louisville where the Louisville Cardinals play. I wanted to see how this new place looked. As we got close there was a huge crowd trying to get in and beat the storm. They only had a few doors to come in to. We managed to squeeze in seconds before a downpour started. It was still jampacked inside. There was one escalator and two sets of stairs to get up which created another bottleneck. We finally got up to the seating level. It's a pretty nice new looking stadium but honestly I wasn't very impressed. I am biased but I like at Rupp how you actually are inside while waiting in line to have your ticket scanned. There are also are a lot more lines to get in there.

The seats were excellent. The stadium was full of Blue of course with a few Western fans sprinkled around. UK jumped out to a 10 point lead then let Western catch up. They didn't play really well but finally generated a run to go up by 19 at the half. Kentucky roared out to 30 point advantage but let up several in the last 5 minutes to win by 15. They still looked very good though. We decided to stay and watch part of the Iowa State-Connecticut game. I was really concerned about UConn because I thought they had the talent to hang with UK. My fears were unfounded. They looked terrible and as if they didn't care at all. They got down 20 in the fist half.

We left with a few minutes to go in the first half. We had no problems getting back to our car and no problems getting out and back to the hotel. We stopped and got a Frosty at Wendy's just like old times. I watched ISU finish off UConn. Josh drove back to Lexington and I went to bed. We had a thorougly enjoyable time.

PCS

A couple of Saturdays ago, I had something happen to me that started off a couple of the most bizarre weeks I've ever had. I got up early Saturday morning (about 1AM) with an upset stomach. I went to our front bathroom because I thought I was going to throw up. I remember feeling really hot and clammy and thinking I was having a heart attack. Next thing I know, I am laying in the floor with Donna and Jonathan looking over me. The back of my head is really bleeding and they are really upset.

All I can figure is when I thought I was having a heart attack, I got up to go get Donna and I passed out. Donna said she heard this loud crash and found me in the floor. I managed to crawl to the couch to lie down. Donna woke me up every hour or so to see if I was OK. I got up that morning and felt a little tired but thought I was OK. I even got up the next morning and went to church and even taught Bible class. However, I knew I wasn't quite right. I would get really dizzy when getting up and my head had this full feeling.

I was no better Monday morning. I tried to go to work, but stayed only an hour then came home. Donna called Dr. O'Bryan and he wanted me to come to his office and see him immediately. I got there and he checked me over. When I laid down and tried to get up, I was really dizzy. He ordered blood work and a CT scan. He got on me a little bit for not going to the ER Saturday morning. To be honest, the last few times I'd been to the ER with mom, it was so crowded and crazy, I didn't want to go again. So, he talked to Western Baptist to have the tests run outpatient. I went and it was amazing. I was in and out with both tests in less than and hour and a half. I couldn't believe it.

When they gave us my results, I had not had a heart attack or stroke. My CT scan showed no bleeding on my brain. Dr O'Bryan had told me if all these tests were clear, I had Post Concussion Syndrome. I'd heard about this from keeping up with the NFL. He felt I'd suffered a concussion and PCS is simply the result of that and it takes anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks to get over it. He told me I had to lay around and rest for a few days with no driving. I rested til Thursday and wasn't much better. Donna called him and he said as long as I had no new symptoms, that I should be OK. It took two full weeks before I was better.

It was a good thing on one way. Since I wasn't supposed to work, I was able to sit with mom the last few days she was alive. If I'd been working, I would have wrestled every day with whether to go to work or be with her.

I learned a couple of lessons. One, if I hit my head hard, I should go to the ER. Two, I need to have more sympathy for NFL players who get concussions and don't go right back to playing. I remember Kevin Kolb got one for my team, Arizona. He sat out several weeks and ending up missing the game I went to see them play against the Bengals. I couldn't understand why he couldn't play. Now, I totally understand.

My mom..

Yesterday was my mom's funeral and these were my notes when I got up to talk about her. A lot people told me they really enjoyed and appreciated what I said, so I am posting them.

I want to thank all of you for coming here today to honor my mom.
It’s impossible to say all the things I could say about my mom without talking for hours and hours. She of course was the best mom a son could have. We had a really good relationship. I can only remember one thing we really disagreed on. I had really really long hair when I was in high school. I wore it down to my shoulders and only got it cut twice a year. She didn’t like it at all. In fact, she pronounced the ultimate mother’s curse on me “Stuart, you’ll never get a girlfriend with that long hair”. I remember her bribing me once to get my hair cut. I had just gotten a brand new 8-track tape player for my car. If you are under 45, you’ll need to ask someone older what that is. My mother offered to buy me a brand new set of speakers if I got my hair cut. I did and she kept her end of the bargain and she bought me my new set of speakers. And by the way mom, I got a haircut yesterday.

She taught me a lot of things in my life. She taught me that a parent will always care and be concerned for their children no matter how old they are. I remember when I’d go on trips for my company and would fly, I would tell her and she’d always want to know that I got there safe and made it home OK. I turned one of those milestone birthdays last year. I planned to run a marathon when that happened. I told my mom about planning to do that. Her reaction was “Stuart, are you sure you can handle that”? You see, when I was a little boy, I had allergies and asthma really bad and my mom spent a lot of days and nights taking care of me. I had trouble running very far at all then but I eventually got to where it didn’t bother me anymore. I ran the marathon last December, and you know who the first person I called when Donna and I got back to our hotel. I could hear the pride in her voice as I told her about my accomplishment. Now that my sons are adults, I know exactly how she felt about me.

My mom was a big fan of the Wildcats and the St. Louis Cardinals. She’s the one that really taught me to love the Cardinals. The first year I was really a Cardinals fan was 1974. My mom took my brother, sister and I to St Louis to see a couple of games. I remember we took a taxi from the hotel to the stadium and how neat I thought that was. I saw Bob Gibson strike out the 3000th batter of his career in one of the games. I remember her commenting years later about that and saying “I can’t believe I managed to handle taking you all on that trip”. I remember listening to a game on the radio in September of that year. The Cardinals tied the Mets in the top of the 9th inning on a home run by Kenny Reitz. I remember going to bed after that. I heard a strange sound at about 1:00am. I went into our kitchen and mom was listening to the game. It was in the 19th inning still tied. I listened to a few innings and fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning I was frantic to know who won – see there was no Internet, no ESPN to find out from. My mom had stayed up for the whole 25 innings and told me how the Cardinals won on a bunt single and a wild pickoff throw. I went to several playoff games this year and I remember my cousin Donna Miller telling me how mom excitedly told her she’d seen me on TV. She was so happy when they won the World Series last year.

Another thing she taught me to care for others more than myself and that’s one I still don’t do like I should. She was the one who always was my room mother at school, helped with Cub Scouts, and volunteered with the PTO. I’ve seen a lot of Facebook posts from our childhood friends who remembered how mom always welcomed them into our home and treated them like her own. I’ve learned how much she cared for my cousins Donna and Johnna when their mom (her sister) died when they were young. I remember how she treated my wife Donna like her own daughter. We used to laugh that it seemed like she actually got nicer presents for Donna then she did me for Christmas. She gave Donna a beautiful plaque called “My Other Daughter” that still hangs in our house to this day. Whenever there was a get-together to eat anywhere, my mom was always the one serving everybody and making sure they were well taken care of and she always ended up being the last one to eat. When she got older, she embarked on a new career of caring as she worked at Lourdes Child Care. She ended up with hundreds of extra grandchildren in addition to the seven she had. Every time we went to Lourdes, most everybody we met working there knew “Miss Nell” and remarked how wonderfully she treated their kids. I guess to sum up, she showed me that love wasn’t a pie that you only had a limited amount to split up. She taught me love was like a spring or a well so that no matter much you took out there was always a never ending supply to give.

And that flows into the most important thing she taught me and that was to be a faithful Christian. With what I’ve gone through the past several weeks, I know I could not have made it without that faith and the help of my Heavenly Father. I don’t know how people without this make it through difficulties. When we were young, she would get us up every Sunday morning and take us to church. I can tell you that I sometimes put up a resistance but she would make sure we went. I remember how happy she was when I was baptized into the Lord’s church as a teenager. I remember when I went away to UK she asked some people she knew that lived there to make sure I had a place I could worship. When I first got out of college, I worked in Louisville. I was not faithful at all and I would remember her chastising me whenever I got home to go to church. I ended up coming back in 1984 to work in Paducah. She got me going back to church then. I now have a wonderful Christian wife and two wonderful Christian sons ultimately because of her. I am a deacon at the congregation here and I remember seeing her cry with joy when I went up to say a few words when I accepted that responsibility.

That last day mom was alive, my sister asked me to read some scriptures from mom’s Bible that I have right here. I’ll leave you with a final thought from that. I read the account from II Samuel 12. King David’s newborn baby boy was really sick. David spent days in fasting and prayer to God. But, the baby died and his servants were afraid to tell him fearing what he might do. They were surprised at the fact that he merely cleaned himself up, ate and worshipped God. Verse 23 of that chapter is his explanation why. I am even more resolved to make sure I live the life I should in obedience to God to make sure I go where she has gone. I can tell all of you here that nothing would make her happier than if the people that are here in honor her would make sure they live their lives in obedience to God so they could be where she is now too.

Thank you again for being here and may God richly bless all of us.

WKCTC

Last week, WKCTC (which I shall always call PCC)finished in the top five for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. They received a $100,000 prize for doing so. This of course reminds me of my days there and how much I enjoyed it and how great a place it was (and still is).

I had some great professors there. Jackie Moss made Calculus I seem pretty easy. Sarah Penry got me through the mysteries of Calc III and IV. John Robertson taught me a lot of things about Economics that I still remember. Dr. Neil Adams was a great Physics teacher. Dr. Counce made Psychology an interesting topic (even though I was forced to take the class for my degree). And who could ever forget Dr. Chun Ro? I made some great friends there. They let us play basketball in the gym and I probably played every day I was there. The main thing though is I was well prepared to move on to UK when I was done. The only thing they lacked with a few of the freshman-sophomore level Computer Science type classes I would need. But, I managed to get those in at UK later. I also never worked up the nerve to ask out one of the several nice, intelligent, pretty young ladies I met there (but that worked out for the best).

From my understanding, it's still a very good place to attend. They've expanded their offerings quite a bit in 30 years. They merged with the vocational school next to it to be able to offer a vast array of options for students. It's good for people who are wanting to start college right out of high school or go back to get a degree later in life.

The costs there are pretty reasonable. The tuition costs are about 2000 a semester (based on 15 hours). This is comparable to 3300 at Murray State and 4600 at UK (and even more at private schools). That doesn't even include the fact that most students attending there don't have to leave home and save all that room and board cost. There is also plenty of scholarship money available. In fact, all you have to do is make above a certain GPA or ACT score (or a combination thereof) and you can get part or all of your tuition paid. Plus, Kentucky residents can use their KEES money with this. If you have good grades and a decent ACT score, you can pretty well cover your tuition with no problem. Going there can save a student a lot of money and even keep them from running up the large amount of student loan debt most seem to exit college with nowadays.

The other benefit is a high school graduate can more gradually ease into college life. College classes and expectations of professors/teachers are radically different than high school. If you couple that with the newness of living on your own for the first time (and everything that goes along with that), it's a lot dumped on an 18 year old. I know a lot of young people who went away to school and end up back at home in a year because they simply couldn't handle all that. If they go to WKCTC, they only have to deal with the first issue and can get used to that before having to deal with learning to live on their own later.

Of course, one needs to research whether the college they plan on transferring to after WKCTC will accept all of the classes they take there. They also need to be sure they can get enough of their pre-requisite courses at WKCTC. There can be colleges and majors that simply are not good fits for a person to complete by starting at WKCTC.

Finally, I will hear the argument that "It's not a real college" (my own son most likely will tell me this after reading this entry). I can tell you of numerous colleagues and friends who went there (back when I did and even recently) who have done very well in their careers. I know in hiring where I work, I never knew PCC/WKCTC to cause the least bit of hindrance in hiring someone.

I would tell any young person (or older person) who is planning to attend college to at least consider the option of WKCTC. I certainly feel it's a very viable option

The Day John Lennon Died..

(I am ignoring the obvious story of the day for what I originally planned to post here today). This is one of those days I will always remember. 31 years ago, I was watching Monday night football when Howard Cosell broke in with a stunning announcement. John Lennon had been murdered outside his apartment in the Dakotas in New York City. I was not a huge Beatles fan at the time, I became one over the next few years. But I remember thinking how sad this was.

John Lennon had taken five years off from his singing career. He had started to become successful again. His freshly released album "Double Fantasy" was climbing the charts as well as the ironically named single "Starting Over". After he was murdered, the album rose to the number 1 position and stayed there for almost two months. The single stayed number 1 for five weeks. The album ultimately won the Grammy for Best Album. I remember watched the Grammy show while at UK and being surprised that it won. "Starting Over" lost out to "Bette Davis Eyes" for Song of The Year.

I remember this day for an entirely different reason now. It's my lovely wife's birthday. It's always a running joke when Donna will say "What's tomorrow?" and one of us will say "It's the day John Lennon died".

Proving that you can find anything on Youtube, here's a clip of Howard Cosell breaking into the Monday Night Football to announce John Lennon's murder. This moment regularly makes Top Ten list of the MNF most memorable moments. Howard Cosell announced it as New England tried to win the game on a last second field goal (which was blocked) and the game went to overtime. Notice how primitive the graphics look compared to today.

Marathon Man

To all my readers, I owe you an apology. I've been keeping a secret from you for the past five months. It's part of the reason I've not been blogging as much (only partly, partly is sheer laziness). I've been working on something on my bucket list; something I said I'd do for the first time when I turned fifty (which I turned last month). I've been training to run in the St Jude Marathon.

I got a plan from Runners World that was an 18 week training plan for the marathon. I got very familiar with tempo runs, Yassos, and strides. I also got used to the weekly "long run". With most training plans, you build up gradually to several long runs of 20 miles. The most I've ever run at once is 14 miles (in training for a couple of half marathons I've run). When those long runs started hitting 16, 18 and finally 20 miles, that was rough. A lot of it is mental, it's hard to keep your mind occupied on a task that long. I listened to a lot of Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard pod-casts to make it through. The first 14 weeks or so went really well. Then, on my second 20 miler, I couldn't make it. I ragged out at 15 miles and was really discouraged. The next week started my taper where you reduce your mileage in the few weeks before the race to allow yourself to be fresh for the run. So, that little bit of doubt started to creep in.

Then the week before, I felt myself starting to get sick. I had congestion and a cough. I toughed it out til the Monday before the big day and finally decided to go see the doctor when I developed pink eye. My doctor (Dr. Pittard) wasn't in, but I saw the urgent care doctor (Dr. Grumley). He gave me what he called a "cocktail" of medicines plus antibiotic eye drops (which I referred to as magic eye drops). I dutifully took them even taking liquid cough medicine (which I usually cannot handle). I started finally getting some sleep and recovering.

That old enemy doubt kept creeping in. I kept saying how I didn't finish that last long run and now I've been sick. I tried to talk myself out of going. My two encouragers keep me going though. Donna told me she had been so impressed at how I'd stuck with my training and she knew I'd be able to do this. Jonathan gave me "tough love" saying "Old Man, don't wimp out now". I made sure to get plenty of sleep each night. I carbo-loaded all week. When Friday came and it was time to leave, we got our rental car and headed for Memphis.

The drive went well. Donna drove the whole way so I could rest. We stayed at the Hampton Inn on near Beale Street and the start of the run. I had managed to get a very nice two room suite with our Hilton Points. Donna and I walked to Huey's to eat dinner and had ice cream at Maggie Moo's. I felt fine and thought just maybe I'd pull this thing off. I went to bed early and offered up a prayer that I'd do OK the next morning.

The next day dawned with temperatures in the mid 40's. It was going to be a perfect day to run. I would not have to weigh myself down with gloves, hat, or sweat pants. I ate a good breakfast and loaded my pocket with my Mp3 player and a couple of packets of Chocolate GU and I was ready to go. We walked to the start about 7:30am to wait for the 8:00am start. I used the bathroom one last time and got into my corral. At St Jude, they have corrals you get into based on your projected per minute pace. I knew especially having been sick I need to get in one of the back ones. I got in the corral and found the pace man for a 5:10 marathon (they hold up a big stick with that number on it). Donna gave me a hug and kiss and one more word of encouragement and I lined up with my corral to start.

They release each corral about 2 minutes apart as to not clog things up. So, it was about 25 minutes before my corral got up to start. I was still OK. We got the signal to go and off we went! Everything was good. The only issue was people had gotten in corrals that were meant for faster people and we ended up having to slow down and ultimately dodge them. There were even walkers in front of us (which should never happen). We ran through down and past the Mississippi riverfront. Then, we ran down Beale Street. Donna was there and I waved and gave her the thumbs up that I was still fine.

After that, we turned and headed for the actual St Jude property. On the way, there were all sorts of young people entertaining us with singing and music. Running through the St Jude Campus is amazing. A lot of the kids and parents are out there high fiving you as you run through. It's hard not to get a lump in your throat when you see them holding up signs saying "I'm a Survivor thanks to you" or "I'm alive because of you". There was a lot of parents holding up signs thanking you for helping their kids. If that doesn't encourage you, nothing can. The race has fabulous encouragement all the way through. Even the policemen and women doing traffic control shout out encouragement all the way.

The first 13 miles went well. My pacer went a bit too fast though. He was supposed to do about a 11:49 mile and he did about 11:29. I did fine though. At about the 12.5 mile mark, the half marathon's head for Auto Zone park to finish and the crowd thins out. You loop back through Beale Street again. Donna was there again and I gave her the thumbs up to let her know I was fine. Now, you head out to the Fairgrounds (which I remembered from seeing UK's Liberty Bowl victory in person there a few years ago). Things started to get rougher and as I knew it would, my pace slowed. I had one more ace up my sleeve. Kentucky was playing North Carolina and I was able to listen to it. That got me through the next 8 miles. I am sure people thought something was wrong with me as I kept yelling and grimacing as I ran. I walked through the water stations as I drank powerade and water each time. I had a packet of GU each five miles. The encouragers were still there though and it helped a lot. I crossed the 20 mile barrier and was still OK. I kept up fine. At mile 24, a lady and her son had pretzels and Dixie cups of coke. That gave me a nice little boost and I knew I could make it. I got to mile 25 and I knew I'd make if I had to crawl.

Right before you get to Autozone ball park, you have to climb a ramp. I made it fine though and I knew it was downhill into the stadium. I was able to pick up my pace and run in just fine. There were plenty of cheering people there and I held up my arms in celebration as I ran around the warning track and across the finish! I had done it! I looked at my sports watch and saw I'd run a 5:32 time. I was very pleased with that. I got my medal and looked for Donna. She hugged me and told me how proud she was of me. She said how impressed she was with how strong I looked at the finish. They had a food area and I went through grabbing all sorts of things to eat as I walked. They even had Krispy Kremes so I had to grab a few and eat them as we walked back to the hotel. My legs were tired, but I had no pain. When I took off my shoes, I had no blisters or black toenails. My knees were fine too. I went back to the hotel and spent the rest of evening resting. I did manage to get up about five and walk a block with Donna to get burgers at Dyer's. I felt OK the next morning and we headed for home. We worshiped with the brethren at Hayti church of Christ (who were very friendly) and got home about 2pm.

I still have the glow of this accomplishment. I finished and I didn't finish last in my age group or overall. I had set a goal and made it. If a fifty year old man can run his first marathon and finish, you should be encouraged to set a goal for something you've always wanted to do and pull it off.

Bob Forsch

I got an email from Donna last week with bad news. She mentioned she had seen where Bob Forsch had died. She remembered that he was the person who threw out the first pitch of the seventh game of the World Series. I remember thinking how fit he looked, you'd have thought he could throw a few innings if need be that night.

1974 was the first year I was really into the Cardinals. It was exciting year with Lou Brock chasing Maury Wills stolen base record. The Cardinals pitching staff was not that good. Bob Gibson was fading. Off season pickup Lynn McGlothen started fast at 12-3 and even pitched in the All-Star game but faded as the season wore on. Veterans like Alan Foster and Sonny Seibert weren't pitching well either. In mid season, the Cardinals brought up a young rookie named Bob Forsch. He pitched well for the Cardinals and they just missed winning the NL East that year.

Bob anchored the Cardinals staff for the next 14 seasons. He won 20 games in 1977. He pitched two no-hitters. They were the only two thrown in that Busch Stadium and he's the only Cardinal pitcher to throw 2. I remember listening to the first one in 1977 (vs the Phillies). I didn't know about the 2nd one in 1983 until somebody told me at work about it. I worked in Louisville and they didn't cover the Cardinals like back home. He pitched in three World Series. Bob Forsch was one of my favorite Cardinals.

I imagine Bob Forsch was on top of the world after throwing out that first pitch in Game 7 and then watching his Cardinals win the World Series. He never dreamed what would happen to him in a week. He never would have thought his old manager (Whitey Herzog) or Cardinal great Stan Musial would outlive him. This just shows how fleeting life can be.