73\u00a0 bar steady 29.86\u00a0 0mph NNE dew-point 68\u00a0 sunrise 5:50 Sunset 8:49\u00a0 Summer<\/p>\n
Last Quarter of the Thunder Moon<\/p>\n
Ever wonder about people who spend $2 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water?\u00a0 Try spelling Evian backwards.\u00a0 George Carlin, RIP.<\/p>\n
Ancientrails will go dark for two days, Friday and Saturday, with a probable posting late Sunday.\u00a0 Unless, that is, I find a spare computer in Texas and get a chance to post, but I’m not counting on it.<\/p>\n
The reason?\u00a0 No computer on this trip.\u00a0 Three days away, minimal luggage with the fees for checking baggage, and the old laptop we have is too heavy.\u00a0 Also, the time frame makes for a compressed week-end with family, the focus.<\/p>\n
A Few Seconds of Panic by Stefan Fastis recounts a sportswriters time as a walk-on place kicker for the Denver Broncos.\u00a0 This book at least seems to present a detailed picture of what life is like for the players.\u00a0 It is a hard life, filled with psychological and mental challenges as well as physical ones.\u00a0 It is also well-remunerated if you can make it into a starting role and addictive emotionally.<\/p>\n
Football and I have a strange relationship.\u00a0 On the one hand I want to understand it, understand it as the intellectual, chess-like strategy game it is for those who manage it; on the other hand, I feel weird about liking football, as if I violate the intellectual’s code of honor (necessary to staying in the secret club) by my interest. I know, this is my problem for sure.<\/p>\n
The players also fascinate me, violent and elegant, they have an archetypal presence, athletes who risk it all each week for as long as they play. They are, too, spoiled children, at least by report, dependent on a phalanx of specialists who handle everything from dalliances to drug charges for them.\u00a0 There is, also, the often hidden, but apparently real, physical downsides of life after football: early dementia, constant pain, physically abusive behavior and sometimes drug dependency.<\/p>\n
With the trades the Vikings have made in the offseason at least 13 Sunday afternoons will have a familiar activity.\u00a0 God, I’m glad we bought that big TV.<\/p>\n
See you on the Sunday flipside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
73\u00a0 bar steady 29.86\u00a0 0mph NNE dew-point 68\u00a0 sunrise 5:50 Sunset 8:49\u00a0 Summer Last Quarter of the Thunder Moon Ever wonder about people who spend $2 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water?\u00a0 Try spelling Evian backwards.\u00a0 George Carlin, RIP. Ancientrails will go dark for two days, Friday and Saturday, with a probable posting … Continue reading Violent and Elegant<\/span>