In Defense of Cheating

This little bit of bitterness comes from another blog.

After the most exciting NFC Championship Game in my memory and the most boring AFC Championship Game that followed, we have two teams ready for the upcoming Super Bowl.  The New England Patriots...and the Seattle Seahawks.

THIS is an exciting game for me, as it pits two of the very, very best at what they do--cheating.

What we have are two cheaters as coaches.  New England is coached by a man who paid the highest penalty for cheating in NFL history.  He was so obvious that South Park mocked him in a sendup of Stand and Deliver (a fine movie--the best teaching film ever).  Today, there are indications that the Patriots deflated the footballs for last night's AFC Championship Game.

On the other coast, you have the man who helped USC enjoy years of sanctions, including a vacated Heisman Trophy.  A man who called time-out four times in a half during the referee lockout.  At the beginning of this football season, he and the Seahawks paid over $300,000 in fines related to player contact.

Sure, you can be disgusted, but I will remain amazed and impressed.  Consider some other things:

Bill Belichik is the longest tenured coach in the NFL (among active coaches).  Teams tend to keep winners.  He has three fully-fuctional adult children.  Pete Carroll has been married for 38 years. He's a grandfather of two.  Both coaches are noted for giving chances to players in need of a little more understanding.  Though neither has a perfect track record, both are generally decent human beings in society.  They're just cunning on the field.

Football is a game.  There are rules.  If you break the rules (and get caught), then you pay a fine...or draft picks...or other such things.  Nobody gets physically hurt in this kind of "cheating."  It's not like the Saints--who paid players to inflict concussions.  It's not like the Ravens--who can't stop beating women and killing people.  Seems like I mentioned that last one sometime earlier...

As Jim Rome often says:

If you're not cheating, you're not trying...and...it's only cheating of you get caught.

In fact, Rome is willing to discuss the right way to cheat.  It's a game, after all.

There are those who follow the rules perfectly, but have not the character to prove the rules meaningful.  These two coaches know that you push the envelope, just like athletes do.  When they get caught, they pay the price and move on.  Were we all that capable and willing.  In other cases, we see teams split apart by "commitments to religion" that equate stealing signs as a sin.  It's a game...try not to get so bitter.

This is a perfect Super Bowl matchup for me: a supreme battle between the two greatest cheaters in the NFL.  It won't matter who wins on February 1, 2015; the trophy will be vacated five years from now.

And NOBODY will consider the loser to be the "true" champion.

Perfect.

It's Fine...

I'm OK.

I want to tell a lot of people that right now.

At about 2:10 a.m., I made a left turn toward an on-ramp. There was a curb (not painted, not obvious) that looked a lot to me like the right lane. N-n-n-n-n-nope. THAT was an epic crunch. I spent the next hour alone (NOBODY enters that turnpike ramp?). I changed the tire. Once I did that, I realized the car was deeply un-drivable--and I didn't have the ability or tools to make it function. Nobody stopped to help until I'd given up after 75 minutes. After that it took another 45 minutes to get to a room.

The trip started in the south suburbs of Denver in a blinding snowstorm. Neck pain, headache, strained eyes & strained nerves. After 10 or 11 hours of straight driving, I was three miles from my hotel.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday. (Mary Schmich)

Here's another multi-thousand dollar surprise. 2014 was the worst year of my life. At this point, 2015 looks to continue the pattern. A lesser man would die from this life, but I can't even seem to sleep! For about two hours, I became an angrier, lesser version of myself. Every once in a while, I find a dark chamber in my heart. When things get so emotionally overwhelming, I fall in--or choose to walk into it. Fortunately, that mindset never takes hold permanently. Satan may kill the car, but God wins the day.

What I offer in this post is some insight into how I tick.  There are a few "power questions" that I try to remember throughout the course of a day--and certain questions I use to keep me from just giving up on things.  Today, I present my current state of mind in light of my crisis question:

What would make this worse?

You'll note most people tend to think in terms of "What would make this better?" Professionally, that question can be somewhat helpful as a start.  On the other hand, this question tends to lead to dissatisfaction when things go well. In fact, it could lead to all Seven Deadly Sins if you let it.

1/2/2015--WWMTW:

Immediate danger would make this worse.  I'm in a Holiday Inn.  There is heat, coffee, an internet connection, carpet, a better bed than I'll have for a month, working cable...all kinds of good things.  I wasn't physically injured (except for a few scrapes changing the tire, etc.)

I could be on the Safety Corridor or next to a feedlot on the Texas Panhandle. It became apparent to me to "head east" on my return trip. I avoided a lot of the ice & snow. This accident happened in one of the largest cities in North America--one with over 300 body shops.

This could be a minor loss--or no loss.  I was trying to GET somewhere. Trying to see my son's soccer game. I have a son. He plays a sport I love. He has two sisters, too. I love them, as well. Whether in a broken Ford Focus or a rental car. I likely will see them soon. I'm not headed to a funeral, either. Was reminded of that scenario when I passed through Blackwell, Oklahoma last night.

I could be truly alone. Yes, I'm physically alone, in terms of close friends/family in Oklahoma City. Still, I feel like I have to blog. I want to explain my frame of mind to a lot of people--people that have reached out. People that are worried. People that deserve to know I'm fine.

Lack of resources to fix the Focus. I will PAY for this--because, eventually, I will be able to pay for this. I still have some credit left; I still have a means of income.

This could have happened on 1/2/1995. If that were the case, I wouldn't be able to blog...or connect...to all who would care about my well-being.

This is my initial list. I'm still working on others.  I will continue to do so. You get to choose where you focus your attention (usually).

I'm fine--OK, I will be fine.  Thank you for helping me get there.