April 2010

Monday, April 26, 2010
Yogi Berra - In His Own Words
Posted by Michael at Monday, April 26, 2010 0 comments
Labels: Yogi
Monday, April 19, 2010
MASTERS Augusta 2010 " Lefty "
Mickelson's win a victory for women
By Rick Reilly
ESPN.com
Archive



Phil Mickelson won his third green jacket but having his wife, Amy, by his side means more to him.


AUGUSTA, Ga. -- It's not often women win the Masters, but they did Sunday.

Actually, Phil Mickelson won, but for millions of women around the country, it must feel like a lipstick-sized victory. Mickelson, in case you forgot, is the guy who stayed true to his wife. He's the guy who's been missing tournaments the last 11 months while he flies her back and forth to a breast cancer specialist in Houston. He's the guy who didn't need reminding that women are not disposable.



Mani-pedis for everybody!



Also winning Sunday: karma, which proved to be alive and well. And guys who never had a temper in the first place. And endings that make you wipe your tears on the couch pillows.



Mickelson is the guy whose heavy head on the bed pillow lately wasn't self-inflicted. Both his wife, Amy, and his mother, Mary, have breast cancer. Usually, those two are at every tournament he's in, but for the last year they've been fighting, resting, and fighting again at home. And Mickelson has gone back to his rented homes alone.



So when Amy turned up on the 18th green Sunday at Augusta National for the first time in 11 months and Mickelson practically fell into her outstretched arms, you wanted to hug somebody yourself. Mickelson hugged and cried. And his wife hugged and cried. And his coach and his caddy hugged and cried. And 10 minutes later, the caddy was still crying.



So when Amy turned up on the 18th green Sunday for the first time in 11 months and Mickelson practically fell into her outstretched arms, you wanted to hug somebody yourself.


"This is way beyond golf," said caddy Jim "Bones" Mackay, who's been with Mickelson for 19 years. "This is about a guy who loves his wife. This is about a guy who had a really hard year. Twenty years from now, nothing will compare with this. This is his greatest win, by far. Because of Amy, because of his mom, everything. God bless all those women that go through what Amy and Phil's mom have gone through. Because I've seen it and it ain't easy."



"Of all the majors I've been involved in," said Mickelson's coach, Butch Harmon, "be they with Tiger, Phil, anybody, this is the most emotional by far. This year has been a big, big strain on him. His game has suffered. What he really wanted was to be home with his family."



You figured a guy who came into this Masters having played only seven tournaments this year -- and never placing better than eighth in any of them -- would have a snowball's chance. But something melted in him when his wife and three kids showed up for the first time in nearly a year on Tuesday.



"He just had this peace to him that I haven't seen in awhile," said Bones.



Amy was still hurting, so she wasn't able to come to the golf course, but it was close enough. Each morning, Mickelson would take his oldest, Sophie, to a local coffee shop and play chess for an hour. At night, the whole brood would watch dumb movies. Mickelson came through that door each night after work like it was Christmas morning. You don't know how dispiriting it is to come home after a long day to a strange, empty house. Come to think of it, maybe Tiger knows.



"It's been tough," Mickelson said. "The meds that she's been taking have been very difficult and she didn't feel well and she doesn't have energy and she's not just up for a lot. But to have her here, man …"



[+] EnlargeAP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Amy Mickelson attended a golf tournament for the first time since last year's Players Championship.

Amy Mickelson is the kind of walking rainbow that could put a smile on a mortician's face, so when she showed up, everything started looking up. The golf gods started raining favors down on Mickelson's curly hair. On Saturday, golf balls started going into tiny little cups from great distances. Sunday, it got even better:



At 9: ball hits tree, bounces back into fairway. Par.



At 10: ball hits tree, bounces back into playable territory. Par.



At 11: ball hits fan, bounces into short, happy grass. Par.



"Got an assist there," Mickelson said.



Did the guy say anything?



"Ouch?" Mickelson guessed.



The big lefty took it from there.



At 12: looked into his "book of reads" for the 20-foot putt -- the green-studying book that Bones and he spent "days and days" putting together on a trip this year to Augusta -- and buried it. Birdie.



At 13: pulled off the most audacious, swashbuckling shot of his life at 13 -- from the right woods, off pine straw, through two trees (4 feet apart), over Rae's Creek, from 207 yards, to 3 feet. Two-putt birdie.



At 15: smashed an 8-iron from 205 yards -- yes, 8-iron to 15 feet for a 2-putt birdie.



Suddenly, the guy who'd spent a career being eaten alive by Woods had left him 5 shots behind. It was only a matter of lag for par, lag for par, 10-foot birdie and get the Kleenex ready.



"I saw Amy just before I putted," Mickelson said. "That was so great. I mean, I didn't know if she would be there. To walk off the green and share that with her is just very, very emotional. We'll remember this the rest of our lives."



Contrast that with Woods, who spent the week reverting to form -- acerbic answers, sprayed swear words, and curt interviews. He finished fourth, which shows that the golf game is very close. The personality makeover, though, looks like it needs some work.



Soon enough, though, Woods will win tournaments like this, pass Nicklaus, and order will be restored in the universe. But for this one Sunday in a flower-stuffed pocket of Georgia, the good husband, the good son, the good man actually got rewarded.
Posted by Michael at Monday, April 19, 2010 0 comments
Labels: Phil Mickelson and Amy
Thursday, April 01, 2010
AARP - Disappointing - Letter to AARP
SNOPES : CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED






I find this very interesting reading, so let's keep it going if you agree. It only takes a few days on the Internet and this will have reached 75% of the public in the U.S.A. Seniors need to stand up for what is right, not what the politicians want or big Corporations want.

The disillusionment on the Internet is becoming increasingly repetitive - the country's backbone is waking up. Will they listen? Or do we have to embrace the radicals she mentions?

This was sent to Mr. Rand who is the Executive Director of AARP.


THIS LADY NOT ONLY HAS A GRASP OF 'THE SITUATION' BUT AN INCREDIBLE COMMAND OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!


Dear Mr. Rand,

Recently you sent us a letter encouraging us to renew our lapsed membership in AARP by the requested date. I know it is not what you were looking for, but this is the most honest response I can give you. Our gap in coverage is merely a microscopic symptom of the real problem, a deepening lack of faith.

While we have proudly maintained our membership for several years and have long admired the AARP goals and principles, regrettably, we can no longer endorse it's abdication of our values. Your letter specifically stated that we can count on AARP to speak up for our rights, yet the voice we hear is not ours. Your offer of being kept up to date on important issues through DIVIDED WE FAIL presents neither an impartial view nor the one we have come to embrace. We do believe that when two parties agree all the time on everything presented to them, one is probably not necessary. But, when the opinions and long term goals are diametrically opposed, the divorce is imminent. This is the philosophy which spawned our 200 years of government.

Once upon a time, we looked forward to being part of the senior demographic. We also looked to AARP to provide certain benefits and give our voice a power we could not possibly hope to achieve on our own. AARP gave us a sense of belonging which we no longer enjoy. The Socialist politics practiced by the Obama administration and empowered by AARP serves only to raise the blood pressure my medical insurance strives to contain. Clearly a conflict of interest there!

We do not understand the AARP posture, feel greatly betrayed by the guiding forces that we expected to map out our senior years and leave your ranks with a great sense of regret. We mitigate that disappointment with the relief of knowing that we are not contributing to the problem anymore by renewing our membership. There are numerous other organizations which offer discounts without threatening our way of life or offending our sensibilities.

This Presidential Administration scares the living daylights out of us. Not just for ourselves, but for our proud and bloodstained heritage. But even more importantly for our children and grandchildren. Washington has rendered Soylent Green a prophetic cautionary tale rather than a nonfiction scare tactic. I have never in my life endorsed any militant or radical groups, yet now I find myself listening to them. I don't have to agree with them to appreciate the fear which birthed their existence. Their borderline insanity presents little more than a balance to the voice of the Socialist mindset in power. Perhaps I became American by a great stroke of luck in some cosmic uterine lottery, but in my adulthood I CHOOSE to embrace it and nurture the freedoms it represents as well as the responsibilities it requires.

Your website generously offers us the opportunity to receive all communication in Spanish. ARE YOU KIDDING??? Someone has broken into our 'house', invaded our home without our invitation or consent. The President has insisted we keep the perpetrator in comfort and learn the perp language so we can communicate our reluctant welcome to them.

I DON'T choose to welcome them.

I DON'T choose to support them.

I DON'T choose to educate them.

I DON'T choose to medicate them, pay for their food or clothing.

American home invaders get arrested.

Please explain to me why foreign lawbreakers can enjoy privileges on American soil that Americans do not get?

Why do some immigrants have to play the game to be welcomed and others only have to break & enter to be welcomed?

We travel for a living. Walt hauls horses all over this great country, averaging over 10,000 miles a month when he is out there. He meets more people than a politician on caffeine overdose. Of all the many good folks he enjoyed on this last 10,000 miles, this trip yielded only ONE supporter of the current administration. One of us is out of touch with mainstream America . Since our poll is conducted without funding, I have more faith in it than one which is power driven.

We have decided to forward this to everyone on our mailing list, and will encourage them to do the same. With several hundred in my address book, I have every faith that the eventual exponential factor will make a credible statement to you.

I am disappointed as hell.






I am scared as hell.

I am MAD as hell, and I'm NOT gonna take it anymore!



Walt & Cyndy
Miller Farms Equine Transport
Posted by Michael at Thursday, April 01, 2010 0 comments
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